 Dear
Family and Friends of ACS,
What an excellent start to our school year! I hope you all
feel like the year is off to a good start. After two years
of administrating K-8, I finally feel like things are coming
together and organized, just as they did after two years
of administrating K-5. I am very excited for this year!
The first day of school was wonderful, but we did have lightning
during carpool. If there is lightning during afternoon carpool,
please be aware that carpool will shut down for student,
parent and staff safety. If it is shut down, you will be
notified while in the carpool lane, if possible. If the lightning
is too bad for staff to walk to the carpool lane and notify
you, please understand that carpool will be shut down when
we can see lightning in the sky, even if it looks far off
for the moment. We all know how fast a storm can move in
and we will not have staff or students entering or exiting
the building in these hazardous conditions. Once carpool
is shut down, you have the choice to either park and walk
into the building to retrieve your student(s), or wait safely
in your car until the lightning has ceased, which ACS strongly
recommends. You will not be penalized for taking this recommendation
and retrieving your student late. Thank you for your support
on this important matter!
This year we have added Lockdown Drills to our monthly drill
schedule. Our teachers in all grade levels will be discussing
Lockdown Drills with their students and we will be performing
these drills monthly as we do Fire Drills. We need to have
students practice what to do in the case of someone or something
in the building that could harm them.
Our classroom teachers in grades K-8 have also had age-appropriate
discussions with all students about the Student Rights and
Responsibilities: Code of Conduct and Discipline handbook
given out to parents at registration. This handbook is extremely
important because it discusses appropriate behavior in school
and items that cannot be brought to school! Please read through
this handbook with your child, and if you did not receive
one, please see our office for a copy. If you have a Middle
School student, they were also told about this handbook,
and some of the things in it, at an assembly I held on Tuesday.
Thank you for your help with this, as even ‘innocent’ actions
by students will have harsh consequences if they break these
codes of conduct.
I also need your support and help during carpool. We have
tried to put in every safety measure that we possibly can
during this chaotic time; however, I do have some parents
that are using other doors in the school rather than the
front door and some kids that are still running across the
parking lot unattended. I am pleading with parents and/or
carpool designees--please use the front door to enter the
building and walk your students across the parking lot while
walking from or back to your cars! I do not want a student
to get hurt before we all follow the rules; I just want everyone
to follow the rules so no one gets hurt (or worse)! Thank
you very much!
Parent/Student Handbooks will be handed out during Back
to School Night tonight. If you have an Elementary student
(K-5), your student's teacher will give you your handbook.
If you have only a Middle School student, please see your
student's Language Arts teacher for your Parent/Student handbook.
Any handbooks that are not picked up tonight will be sent
home to you by next week. Thanks!
Once again, Academy Charter School staff would like to thank
you for choosing to send your student(s) to ACS! We will
strive to meet your student’s needs throughout the
school year in order to create academic excellence for each
of our students. The staff at ACS wants to challenge each
student to reach their potential and our teachers would be
happy to create a plan of success for your student(s) if
you believe their needs are not being met. Please call your
student’s teacher to discuss student issues with them
at any time during the school year.
Have a wonderful school
year!
Kindra Whitmyre-Nelson
Dean of Academy Charter School
email: nelsonk@academycharter.org
web: http://www.academycharter.org/deannelson
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 Dear
ACS Families and Friends,
I can’t believe how fast the summer flew by, but I am
very excited about the upcoming school year! I have really
appreciated all of the support that staff and parents have
given me as I begin my third year at ACS! It truly is a wonderful
school with the best staff, parents, and of course, students!
We have had some staff changes over the summer in our elementary
grades. I’d like to introduce you to our new elementary
teachers- Nina Pears will be teaming up with first grade,
Tina Villari and Erin Frederiksen are our new additions to
second grade, and Kaely Johnson will be teaming up with fourth
grade. We also have some new Specials’ teachers to
introduce to you. We have Judi Huskins who will be teaching
art in grades K-8, Wendy Hollister will be teaching computers
to students in grades K-6, and Jennifer VanKooten will be
teaming with Karen Palm as one of our Reading Specialists.
As you know we made some changes in our Middle School schedule
this year going from a “modified” block schedule
to a traditional, period schedule. We hope this change benefits
our students by providing more continuity and consistency
with seeing teachers which will in turn make their learning
more effective as well!
We have added many new teachers to our staff in Middle School
and they are so excited to be here! I would like to begin
introductions by printing their names for you-Ryan Gudmundsen
will be teaching MS History, Christy Groener will be teaching
MS Science, Christine Spangler will be teaching 6th grade
Math/Science, Jill Condon will be teaching MS Math, Tara
Lindburg will be teaching 6th grade Language Arts and History,
and Angie Hotzfield will be our new 6th grade Study Skills
teacher and MS tutor.
Our electives in middle school have also changed this year.
We are offering some new electives- Drama, Raising your Voice,
Investigating Careers, Creative Writing, and Making a Difference
for the Planet. We hope students enjoy the new electives
being offered! Another change regarding electives will be
that any student in 2nd, 3rd, or 4th quarter who is below
a “C” in language art, math, or science will
be required to attend a tutoring elective for that quarter
in order to get assistance in those content areas. The goal
is to get their grades back to a “C” so they
can return back to regular electives in the next quarter.
Mrs. Sowter will continue to provide instruction for Band
in middle school during elective time as well as after school
to our 4th and 5th grade students. Mr. Ross will be offering
orchestra to advanced students and Mrs. Sowter will be working
with our beginning orchestra students. We had a band assembly
yesterday where Mrs. Sowter gave students in grades 4, 5,
and 6 a chance to see and hear these instruments. She will
be with us at back to school night in the cafeteria to answer
any questions you might have regarding band or orchestra.
She will also have an “instrument test-drive” after
school next week. Please be sure to look for the flyer giving
more details regarding this in your Friday Folders!
I hope you all had a relaxing and safe summer! I am looking
forward to seeing you all at Back to School Night this evening!
Thank you again for your support of Academy Charter School,
its staff and our students!
Kendra Peters
Assistant Dean of Academy Charter School
email: petersk@academycharter.org
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I hope you are all feeling ready for the new school
year. It is such a pleasure to have you and your students back
in the building! When I am working here in the summer, it always
seems so empty without our students—Welcome Back!
We will be needing classroom coordinators for each teacher
in the K-5th grades and a coordinator for 6th, 7th and 8th
grade also. Please talk to your student’s teacher and
let them know you are interested in being the classroom coordinator
if they are in elementary school. I have a coordinator for
the 8th grade students, but I need a coordinator for both 6th
and 7th grades. Please let me know if you are willing to help
in this way. We will be having a training for classroom coordinators
in the near future to go over the responsibilities entailed
with this position.
You will notice that we have changed our volunteer hour log
system—we will be using the large index cards that are
out in the hallway by the name badges. When you come into the
building to volunteer, please put on your name badge (if you
are new to the school this year, you will need to use a stick-on
one until we get the new badges made). When you are finished
volunteering, please record the hours you worked on your own
family card.
There are many opportunities to volunteer here at our school
and I know the PTO and the Governing Board are now looking
for volunteers for some specific positions. Our volunteer team
is now forming, and I hope you are ready to join our team this
year!
Anne Belfrage
Volunteer Coordinator
belfragea@academycharter.org
2006-2007
ACS PTO BOARD MEMBERS
PRESIDENT
Misty O'Leary
jimandmisty@comcast.net
303-688-6631
TREASURER
Bonnie Buckley
bonnie_buckley@hotmail.com
303-660-1334
SECRETARY
Sharon Hunter
sharon.hunter@uchsc.edu
720-838-3892
FUNDRAISING
Kristen Bushlack
bradbushlack@msn.com
303-663-8966
Brandi Essegian
BEssegian@aol.com
303-814-2332
ENRICHMENT
Sherry Hill
s.hill@beef.org
303-814-2115
COMMUNICATION
Greg Polashock
Greg@GregIsFinancingSolutions.com
303-887-0672
SOCIAL
Jennifer Greenwald
j_jgreenwald@comcast.net
720-323-2333
ELEMENTARY REPRESENTATIVE
Heather Fortelka
fortelkah@academycharter.org
MIDDLE SCHOOL REPRESENTATIVE
Tara Lindburg
lindburgt@academycharter.org
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Welcome back, ACS students, parents, and staff!
The Governing
Board held its regular monthly meeting this past Monday evening.
Board meetings are always the second Monday of each month at
the school. Working sessions are followed by a general meeting
at 6 p.m. ACS parents (and staff) are urged to attend at least
one Governing Board meeting per school year as part of their
volunteer commitment to the school.
Attending a meeting is an excellent
way to keep abreast of the happenings at ACS! Meeting times and agendas are posted
in the front window of the school, and announced in the school
newsletter.
We need your help! The Governing Board is looking for interested
folks to serve on sub-committees of the board. Because we are
a parent-run school, you are highly encouraged to volunteer
your time and be involved at ACS – serving on a committee
is one way to do so! The descriptions of our five committees
are listed below, along with the committee chairperson and
their email address.
Committees are being formed now, so please contact the chairperson
or any Governing Board member as soon
as possible if you would
like to help out.
Academic Committee – Robin
Gray – drgii@msn.com
Oversees curriculum, assessments, and staff development
Communications Committee – Cynthia
Heikes – cdfheikes@msn.com
Handles parent/community/district /state communications, school
surveys, volunteerism, and board elections
Operations Committee – Billy
Bennett – b2inspects@earthlink.net
Is in charge of facility, finances, budgeting, and personnel needs
Policy Committee – Clayton
Watson – cwatson@bristol-realty.com
Reviews and updates policy, procedures, bylaws, SAC, and Dean
evaluation procedures
Strategic Planning Committee – Ellen
Neal-Eakin – esneal@wmconnect.com
Oversees long-range planning, budgeting, funding, grants, technology – short
and long term goals, teacher retention, and middle school enrollment
The next Governing Board meeting has been set for 6 p.m. on
Monday, September 11, at the school. Let’s start the
year off with some great attendance from our enthusiastic,
energetic parents and hard-working staff! We look forward to
seeing you there.
School Pictures Scheduled
Skow Photography will be here on Wednesday, August 23rd,
to take pictures of students who did not have them taken
during registration. An order form will be sent home in Friday
folders so watch for this form. This picture time is an additional
time for only those students who
haven’t already had
their pictures taken. Middle school students will also receive
their ID’s at this time. We will have a re-take time
in September after you have received your picture packets
that you previously ordered.
If you have questions regarding these pictures, please feel
free to contact me in the office.
Anne Belfrage
Volunteer Coordinator
belfragea@academycharter.org
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