Dear Families and Friends of ACS,

I hope your student’s first week back at school has been a successful one! It is nice to see all of our students at school again!

This summer I sent home a letter communicating that Dean Peters and I will share more administrative job duties this year. In order to promote effective communication with parents and community members, I have outlined in more detail our Administrative Job Division below:

Dean Nelson- 'Administrative Dean'

• All Policy and Procedure development, support and reinforcement
• District communication and meeting attendance
• Parent communication
• Monthly Planning Meetings with all teams and Dean Peters
• Student Discipline
• School Improvement Goals
• Developing and holding staff meetings
• Developing and holding staff development to meet SIP and other goals
• Classroom Visits
• Formal evaluations, informal observations, goals and PP with teachers
• Yearly timeline and deadline support and reinforcement- for District, State and Charter deadlines
• All other Administrative paperwork and deadlines
• Board Meeting Reviews*
• ISS Coordinator
• 504 Coordinator

Dean Peters- 'Curriculum and Instruction Assistant Dean'

• Curriculum support and reinforcement
• Teacher and Student Schedules to support above curriculum and instruction
• Standards Coordinator (Standard checkpoints and BOE)
• CBLA Coordinator (ILP’s)
• Weekly Planning Meetings with all teams
• Parent Communication as it relates to curriculum and instruction
• Student Meetings
• Classroom visits
• Student Grading support and alignment
• Attendance at Board Meetings to support Curriculum and Instruction piece of Reviews*
  • Support of School Improvement Goals
  • Support of staff meetings and staff development
  • ISS Support thru Instruction
  • 504 Support thru Instruction
  • Other Administrative Tasks as delegated by Dean

Dean Peters and I hope this will support parents in communicating with the correct Dean for future feedback, questions and concerns.

MS Parents- our MS has adopted a few new communication procedures. First, student papers will be going home on Fridays just like our elementary. Please look for your student’s work in their backpack every Friday. Our MS students will also receive an individual class progress report attached to the above student work if their grade has fallen below a C. This will give you, as the parent, notification that your student’s grade has fallen and you can email or call the particular teacher with questions or a meeting. If you are not receiving these papers, please talk with your student to see where these papers are going. Please note that if your student already has a C, you have been notified and we do expect you will call the teachers for more communication, since you may or may not receive another notice. If your student is in need of more support, you can call me for an individual student plan. An individual student plan includes teachers signing student planners or an individualized plan and more parent communication.

MS Parents- I would also like to make sure all parents of students in the 6-8 grades know that I am implementing a new program for students who receive consistent detentions. If a student has been sent to me three or more times in a quarter for the same issue, like bullying, anger issues or conflict issues, the student will be assigned a specific learning program in the area that they had the detentions. Once the student is assigned, the student will participate in their learning program at their very next lunch period, which can last anywhere from one to five days. When the program is completed, the student will be able to return to their regular lunch schedule. Notification will be sent home if this does occur to your student.

MS Parents- I had an assembly with the 6-8 grade students on Wednesday morning. This assembly is similar to the one I held at the beginning of last year. My purpose for this assembly is to outline our school rules and consequences, dress code details and consequences and to share with them some Student Code of Conduct items. The Student Code of Conduct is a handbook from the district that communicates to parents, students and school personnel certain school infractions and their consequences. I believe in sharing with our MS students, to the best to my ability, the things that are not allowed in our school and what will happen if they choose to participate in them, like fighting or bullying. I would appreciate it if you would please look through the Code of Conduct handbook and go over it with your students also as there is so much information it is impossible for me to tell them about all the infractions and consequences. Thanks for your help!

All Parents- Safe2tell is a toll-free Colorado hotline that has been designed to help with issues that happen in schools today. This hotline has been created for teachers, students and parents. It is a non-threatening way for anyone to call with information about a crime that has or may occur. Anyone can call Safe2tell to prevent a tragedy, help a child who is in trouble or to solve a crime. If you have seen something suspicious, been bullied, feel threatened or notice that a friend needs help, call Safe2tell at 1-877-542-7233. This information has been made into a sign that will be posted in all classrooms and throughout the school. Teachers have shared the poster with their students and I would appreciate it if all parents would share this information with their students at home. Thanks!

All Parents- I would like to remind all parents of our school policy when there is lightning present or during a lightning storm. We will not send students out to recess, lunch or carpool when there is lightning. This is a District Policy that we enforce strictly as each student’s safety is very important to us! If there is lightning during recess or carpool, students will not be allowed to leave the building unless accompanied by their parent or guardian. It is your choice as the parent or guardian to enter or leave the building with your student. We will not penalize students or parents during this time with Academy Kids fees if you are late in picking up your student because you are waiting until the lightning has ceased. You are also welcome to wait out the lightning in the school building before returning to your car. I appreciate your support!

Once again, I am glad to see all of our students back and have a wonderful weekend!

Kindra Whitmyre-Nelson
Dean of Academy Charter School
email: nelsonk@academycharter.org
web: http://www.academycharter.org/deannelson

We have a couple of volunteer opportunities available! Mrs. Arnell, our physical education teacher, is starting a Mileage Club for the students, and needs adult volunteers during the lunch hours! You will be either monitoring the kids as they walk/run laps, or stamping their cards as they finish! This would be 2-3 days a week, and the shifts can be split. If you are interested, please contact Lisa Arnell (Arnelll@academycharter.org).

Also, we need tennis balls to put on the bottoms of the chairs and desks in the classrooms! If you have any, or any contacts at tennis clubs, etc. that you think would be willing to donate them – well, we need hundreds! Please contact the front office for more information. Thanks!

If you are interested in volunteering in the classroom, please contact your classroom teacher. If you would like to help out in the library, please sign up outside the library door.

Anne Belfrage
Volunteer Coordinator
email: belfragea@academycharter.org
web: http://www.academycharter.org/volunteer

We have had a lot of questions about the revisions that were made to the Dress Code late last year. If you have questions, please feel free to come into the school and look at the display in the lobby. The front office personnel are also glad to provide clarification on Dress Code issues.

In order to help facilitate a positive learning environment, we ask parents to adhere to the following steps when trying to resolve a conflict.

1. Parents should always go directly to the staff member involved first to ask questions and gain clarification. Remember, students have different perspectives than adults, and it is always best to hear both sides of a situation.
2. If you do not feel that the situation has been resolved, you may arrange a meeting with the Asst. Dean, Kendra Peters, for academic issues, or Dean Kindra Nelson for all other issues.

Please refer to your Parent/Student Handbook, pages 25-26 for more information on this important policy.