Dear Family and Friends of ACS,

Parent/Teacher Conferences are Thursday, March 16, and Friday, March 17; below is some very important information about conferences:

• Parents of Elementary students- The Parent/Teacher Conference letters have already been sent home for you to accept or decline the conference time. Please turn them back in to your teacher as soon as possible, so they can get their conference schedules confirmed. Elementary Parents, don’t forget that it is at your Parent/Teacher Conference time that you can discuss or turn in a written request to your student’s teacher if you would like to request a teacher for your student(s) next year. Our teachers do the best they can to honor requests as they complete the class lists for next year; however, we cannot guarantee that a request will be honored, since it is impossible for us to honor all. Thank you for your support with this school policy.
• Parents of Middle School students- Thursday will, once again, be an open time that all parents can visit their student(s) teachers. No appointment is necessary and you may visit all classes or the classes you feel you need to. Friday will be scheduled Parent/Teacher conferences with parents that our Middle School teachers have requested. Parents may also request a conference if they feel they need one. Parent/Teacher Conference letters for Middle School students will be sent home tomorrow (Friday) for you to accept or decline the conference time. If you would like to request a conference with a teacher(s), please call our office to set up an appointment.
  Once again, we tried to coordinate Elementary and Middle School times for your convenience.

Our 2006- 2007 school calendar, which was just approved at our February Governing Board meeting, was accidentally not attached to last week’s Newsletter. I apologize for the inconvenience and it has been attached to this Newsletter. The calendar has a few differences compared to past school years, so please look over the calendar carefully and email or call me with any questions you may have. We will also be posting it on our website soon.

Earlier this year our ACS PTO awarded us $35,000 to update our Elementary and Middle School Computer Labs. I am happy to announce our Network Administrator, Robert Fortelka, and our Middle School Technology Teacher, Mike Hall, worked many hours of overtime to complete the Elementary Computer Lab update. We are now waiting for the rest of the computers to update the Middle School Lab. The computers that were in the labs will be installed in classrooms, as some of the classroom computers are very old.

A Look Ahead:

• Friday, February 24- PTO Breakfast
• Friday, February 24- Elementary Virtue Assembly, 8:50, Cafeteria
• Friday, February 24- MS Virtue Assembly, 2:50, Cafeteria
• Friday, February 24- MS and Specials Newsletter goes home
• Thursday, March 2- End of Third Quarter
• Friday, March 3- Teacher Work Day- No Students
• Week of March 6-10- All-school Spirit Week for CSAP’s- alternative dress
• Monday, March 6- Beginning of Fourth Quarter
• Thursday, March 16- Parent/Teacher Conferences- Early Dismissal
• Friday, March 17- Parent/Teacher Conferences- Early Dismissal
• Friday, March 24- Dress Down Day
• Monday, March 27-March 31- Spring Break- School Closed

Have a fantastic weekend!

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

Dear ACS Families and Friends,

The 3rd through 8th grade CSAP schedule is complete. Below are the dates when students in grades 3-8 will be testing for CSAP. Please keep in mind that all testing times in the morning begin at 9:45 a.m. and afternoon times begin at 1:30 p.m. We would ask that you schedule any appointments around these times if at all possible so we can have the best testing environment for our wonderful ACS students! Elementary teachers will have CSAP snack sign up sheets posted outside their classrooms and classroom coordinators for middle school will be organizing the snacks for our middle school students.

3rd Grade:

• Tuesday, March 14th, and Wednesday, March 15th, in the morning both days.
• Tuesday, March 21st in the morning and afternoon.

4th Grade:

• Tuesday, March 14th, morning and afternoon; Wednesday, March 15th, morning and afternoon; Thursday, March 16th, morning only.
• Tuesday, March 21st, morning and afternoon; Wednesday, March 22nd, morning and afternoon.

5th Grade:

• Tuesday, March 14th, morning and afternoon; Wednesday, March 15th, morning and afternoon; Thursday, March 16th morning; Friday, March 17th morning.
• Tuesday, March 21st, morning and afternoon, Wednesday, March 22nd, morning and afternoon; Thursday, March 23rd, morning and afternoon.

6th Grade:

• Tuesday, March 14th, morning and afternoon; Wednesday, March 15th, morning and afternoon; Thursday, March 16th morning only.
• Tuesday, March 21st, morning and afternoon; Wednesday, March 22nd, morning and afternoon.

7th Grade:

• Tuesday, March 14th, morning and afternoon; Wednesday, March 15th, morning and afternoon; Thursday, March 16th, morning only.
• Tuesday, March 21st, morning and afternoon; Wednesday, March 22nd, morning and afternoon;

8th Grade:

• Tuesday, March 14th, morning and afternoon; Wednesday, March 15th, morning and afternoon; Thursday, March 16th, morning; Friday, March 17th, morning.
• Tuesday, March 21st, morning and afternoon, Wednesday, March 22nd, morning and afternoon; Thursday, March 23rd, morning and afternoon.

Student Council is hosting an All School CSAP Spirit Week March 6th-10th. We will be having a CSAP kick-off rally in the ACS gym on Friday, March 10th. Please see the flyer under the student council banner for more details. Flyers will be sent home in this week’s Friday folder (elementary) and in the Friday packets (middle school).

Middle school Parents- I wanted to remind you about our communication procedure when a student’s grade falls below a ‘C” in any subject in middle school. As you may recall, Dean Nelson informed the ACS community about the change in this procedure from last year in several issues of the newsletter during the first quarter of the year. Middle school teachers will notify parents whenever a student’s grade falls below a ‘C’ via a progress report in that week’s Friday packet. It is up to the individual teacher whether they require a parent signature on the progress report. I hope this clarifies this procedure as we head into the final week of third quarter.

As a reminder, the after school drama club informational meeting was held last Thursday, February 16th, in Ms. Been’s classroom. Auditions for major roles will be held on Monday, February 27th, from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. in the gym. Students will be expected to have a 1 minute poem or monologue memorized.

Thank you, as always, for your support of Academy Charter School!

Kendra Peters
Assistant Dean of Academy Charter School
email: petersk@academycharter.org

It is always so refreshing to see all the parents who come in and work with our students in the hallways and the classrooms on a regular basis. You folks are contributing so much to our school and your students’ education—thanks for your faithfulness!

Wendy Walker has a need for volunteers to help with the Education Expo. Please contact her if you would like to help—this is something you can do from your own home. You can call Wendy at 303-814-9192.

Ms. Marsh, our elementary art teacher, needs help to hang artwork in the school hallway next week. Please contact Amy or myself if you can come in and help hang student artwork in the halls.

Mrs. Arnell is looking for a girls Soccer Coach for the upcoming soccer season. The middle school girls start to practice on March 13th—we really need someone soon! Please contact Lisa Arnell or me here at the school regarding this opportunity.

I would like to thank all the volunteers who participate in preparing the staff PTO sponsored breakfast. You folks do an awesome job and everyone on the staff really enjoys the delicious food you provide each month for us. If you would be interested in providing food for this breakfast, please contact Jackie Radcliffe, 303-663-7498 or Michelle Scheibe, 303-663-9661, who head up the wonderful PTO Social Committee.

Kirsten Williams generously came in this week and helped us do our student hearing re-checks.

Thanks again, parents, for continuing to “Make a Difference” at ACS!

Anne Belfrage
Volunteer Coordinator
belfragea@academycharter.org

Please click here for the 2006-2007 ACS calendar.

Starting March 15th, you’ll be able to walk the halls of ACS and see the amazing artwork created by your very own artists! This year we will be awarding 1st, 2nd and 3rd place ribbons for the best artwork for each grade. You won’t want to miss it!

The gallery will be open during school hours and during Parent / Teacher conferences. Please stop by and see these amazing one of a kind creations!

Original Works has once again offered us a unique opportunity to take these masterpieces and turn them into amazing keepsakes. We have some new products just in time for Mother’s Day. Stay tuned - more details will be coming home shortly.

Cindy Hazlehurst
ACS Original Works Coordinator
303-688-9134

Spirit Week

Click here for more details

Drama Club

Click here for more details