Dear Family and Friends of ACS,

Thank you to all students and parents that helped me make our Educational Assistant Week a success! Our Assistants appreciate all of the wonderful surprises and appreciation given to them this week and I really appreciate your help in making them feel appreciated!

A few months ago I was able to announce that our Elementary Computer Lab had been updated with new computers that our wonderful PTO had raised money for and funded. I am now able to announce that Robert Fortelka, our Network Administrator, and Mike Hall, our MS Technology Teacher, were able to update our Middle School Computer Lab. We are so appreciative of our PTO and all the hard work they put in to raise the funds for this technology update. Our students will benefit greatly with this new technology!

Our Eighth Grade Graduation Committee has already started planning this special event and we are actually in the process of raising funds to buy the essential items for graduation, like graduation presents, refreshments, decorations, etc…We are usually able to accomplish a lot on our little budget; however, we still need to raise some money. This is hard to do because we don’t want to compete with our PTO or the parents who are raising funds for the Eighth Grade Washington trip, so I have approved a Dress Down Day fundraiser. We did this last year and it was very successful for the Graduation Committee, but also fun for our students and it didn’t feel like a competition with our other fundraisers. The way this works is that all staff and students get to dress down in appropriate Dress Down Day attire on Thursday, April 27; our regular April Dress Down Day is on Thursday, April 13, but on the extra Dress Down Day we are asking for a $2.00 donation. Now, all staff and students can dress down, of course, with no penalty whether they donate or not, but if you or your student(s) would like to donate the $2.00 that will go directly toward the Eighth Grade Graduation, we would appreciate it! Please mark this day on your calendar and send your student with their donation if you choose. Thank you for your support!

A Look Ahead:

• Tuesday, April 18- Girls Soccer Game- home- 4:00
• Thursday, April 20- Girls Soccer Game- home- 4:30
• Friday, April 21- PTO Breakfast
• Friday, April 21- 2-5 Charlotte’s Web Book Club, 3:45, Library
• Friday, April 21- 3-8 Progress Reports go home
• Friday, April 21- MS and Specials Newsletter goes home
• Week of April 24- Read, Write, Now Week!
• Monday, April 24- Thursday, April 28- Office Appreciation!
• Tuesday, April 25- Author Visit for Read, Write Now Week, Ann Nagda
• Tuesday, April 25- Girls Soccer Game- away- 4:30
• Tuesday, April 25- Orchestra Ensemble, Library, 6:30
• Thursday, April 27- Bring your Son/Daughter to Work Day
• Thursday, April 27- Extra Dress Down Day for 8th Grade Graduation- $2.00 donation if you can please!
• Thursday, April 27- Scholastic Book Fair starts- Buy one get one free!
• Thursday, April 27- Elementary Virtue Assembly, 8:50, Cafeteria
• Thursday, April 27- MS Virtue Assembly, 2:50, Cafeteria
• Thursday, April 27- Girls Soccer Game- home- 4:00
• Thursday, April 27- 3-5 Talent Show, 5:30, Gym
• Friday, April 28- Testing Day- Students by appt- regular hours and professional dress by all staff!

A Look Way Ahead:

• Tuesday, May 2- Scholastic Book Fair Ends!
• Tuesday, May 2- Girls Soccer Game- home- 4:00
• Tuesday, May 2- K-1 Spring Program, Gym, 6:30 pm
• Monday, May 8- Friday, May 12- Teacher Appreciation Week!
• Tuesday, May 9- Band Program, Gym, 6:30 pm
• Tuesday, May 16- 2-3 Spring Program, Gym, 6:30 pm
• Tuesday, May 23- 4-5 Spring Program, Gym, 6:30 pm
• Thursday, May 25- Extra Dress Down Day- for the proposal to the Board
• Thursday, May 25- 8th Grade Graduation, Gym, 6:30
• Friday, May 26- Kindergarten Graduation, Gym, 9:00

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

Dear ACS Families and Friends,

Parents and Students in grades 3-5: Please mark in your calendars as Mrs. Runyan will be hosting a Talent Show for grades 3-5 on Thursday, April 27th, from 5:30-7:30 in the ACS gym. A sign-up sheet for auditions has been posted outside Mrs. Runyan’s room. These auditions will be held on Thursday, April 13th, in room 201 (Mrs. Runyan’s Room).

Parents of 8th Graders: We need your help! Mr. Hall is preparing the 8th grade graduation video and he needs some “baby” pictures of each of our 8th grade students. These pictures can be anywhere from infant to 3-4 years of age! Please send the pictures in a marked, sealed envelope and turn them into the office. We want to be sure ALL of our 8th graders are included, so please send those photos in! Your pictures will be returned once the video is completed! Thank you to those who have already sent your photos in and we’re anxiously waiting to see the rest of our 8th grade graduates!

The Middle School Student Council is preparing for an upcoming fundraising campaign which will help support the battle against Leukemia and Lymphoma. Each ACS classroom will be having a special container where students will be collecting their loose ‘”change.” The class with the most money collected will be honored with a special luncheon sponsored by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. More information regarding this was sent out the Friday before Spring Break. More details are outlined under the “Student Council” banner later in the newsletter.

Our next musical event will be the Orchestra concert on Tuesday, April 25th, at 6:30 pm in the Elementary Spanish room.

Please mark your calendars as our last testing day for the school year will be held on Friday, April 28th.
Elementary Parents: The elementary teachers will be having sign up sheets outside their classrooms the week after we return from spring break, so be sure to stop by and reserve your testing spot.
Middle School parents: Middle School testing will be similar to the testing at the beginning of this year. Some of our students will be individually tested, while others will be tested in a group. Please call our office to schedule a time for your student to come in for testing. The office will let you know if your student will be tested individually or in a group, the times available and how long the testing will take.

Last but not least, Six Flags-Elitch Gardens in conjunction with Mix 100 is offering an incentive for students who have straight A’s. On Friday, June 9th, 2006 bring your report card or proof of grades to Six Flags Elitch Gardens before noon and you’ll get in that day for FREE! Call Elitches for more information and details at 303-595-4386.

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

Our ACS Volunteers are awesome! With the end of the school year in sight, I would like to encourage all of you to continue “Making a Difference” at our school. There are still many opportunities for volunteering at ACS.

The Education Expo that the PTO is putting on still has some needs. The Expo is on May 13th and you will be receiving information this week about this exciting program. They need folks who will serve as monitors for the Expo—they need classroom monitors, hall monitors and bathroom monitors! This is on a Saturday, so working parents have a big opportunity to log in lots of extra hours! Please contact Wendy Walker at 303-814-9192 and let her know how you would like to help out.

Thanks again for “Making a Difference” here at Academy Charter School.

Anne Belfrage
Volunteer Coordinator
belfragea@academycharter.org

April 12 is the Application Deadline for Governing Board Positions!

Next Wednesday, April 12, is the FINAL day to turn in completed applications for a spot on ACS’ Governing Board. There are two open positions for three-year terms that will begin July 1, 2006. Applications can be obtained from board president Kirk Huffstater or office manager Anne Belfrage. Voting for the positions will take place from April 18 to April 21. This is your chance to make a difference at ACS! Call any current Governing Board member for further information.

REMINDER - the next Governing Board monthly meeting will be held this coming Monday, April 10, at 6:00 p.m. at the school. There are only 3 meetings remaining in this school year – mark your calendar and make plans now to attend. Parents and staff are always highly encouraged to come to these meetings and find out what is going on at Academy Charter School!

EDUCATION EXPO
MAY 13TH
CHECK-IN STARTS @ 9:10AM

Look for registration forms coming in the mail today!! Remember the “Early Bird” discounted price ends April 17th, so get your registration forms mailed or walk-in to the office by that date.

Look for an Education Expo table set up in the hall, as well as someone walking around during carpool to answer any questions!

A sincere “thank you” to the following people who have been instrumental in making this new fundraiser happen:

Cynthia Heikes for designing and printing our registration forms.

Anne Belfrage, Brenda Knight, Robert Fortelka, Liz Smith and Barb Cocetti for making copies, sending emails, answering questions, resolving issues and doing absolutely anything and everything asked and/or begged of you. You have certainly helped the planning of this event run smoothly.

Ms. Been for organizing the student council with their skit and announcements, that were instrumental in communicating to the students what a fun and worthwhile event this is.

Kendra Peters for working with the Expo committee in making sure the TV broadcasts of the Education Expo skit and announcements were a success.

Thank you to all Teachers who are helping us get the word out about the Expo. Thank you for your support and encouragement. Thank you for helping us relay to the students that this exciting, new fundraiser is a worthwhile event, full of fun and exciting programs to make their “day camp” special, while supporting their school.

Thank you to the following sponsors for supporting the Education Expo:

GOLD LEVEL:

• Castle Rock Bank
• Sam’s Club
• Allstate Insurance-Eliot Hardy

SILVER LEVEL:

• Karate for Kids
• Sylvan Learning Center
• IREA
• Plum Creek Golf & Country Club
• Preferred Auto Brokers-Rod Greer (303-520-6839)

BRONZE LEVEL:

• Silpada Jewelry-Julie Harkin, Indep. Rep.
• Renee Valentine-Remax Alliance
• Sir Bouncealots
• Irresistibles
• Safeway

Spring Picture Day Coming

Skow Photography will be here on Wednesday, April 26th, to take our class pictures and individual student pictures should you want a special spring portrait (students may wear their choice of clothing for these spring individual pictures). Everyone will be included in the class group pictures. They are also offering a Secure Kids option that includes your student’s fingerprint image and an individual portrait image on a 10” x 5” Secure Kids Security Form.

We will be sending home the ordering information in next week’s Friday folders. Please mark this date on your calendars.