Dear Family and Friends of ACS,

We are still experiencing problems with our phone voice mail system. Hopefully, we will have these problems corrected and voice mail will be working again by Monday! I apologize for the inconvenience this has been for everyone involved.

Don’t forget to check our Event Calendar on the school website, as it has been updated to include many ACS events through the year, such as game times for our Sports programs and our music programs for the entire school year.

We just received a check for $389.61 from Target as a result of parents contributing 1% of their Target shopping (through use of their Target credit card) to our school. I would encourage everyone who shops at Target and uses their credit card, to participate in this easy fundraiser called Take Charge of Education. You can designate our school in one of three ways:

• Visit Target.com/tcoe
• Stop by the kiosk in your favorite Target store
• Call 1-800-316-6142

Thanks for considering this painless way to contribute money to our school.

In the unlikely event of an emergency or disaster, agencies such as National School Safety Strategy Forum have recommended that schools be prepared for 24 hours without outside intervention. This would also require that your child’s school store essential, life-sustaining medications and medical supplies for 24 hours for your student. We are endeavoring to be prepared to provide food and to be able to house students and staff for 24 hours if necessary. If your student takes essential medications, such as seizure medication or insulin, only at home, these now should be sent to school with a clearly marked pharmacy label and will be appropriately stored. Send a limited supply for 24-48 hours only.

Dates to Remember:

September

• Tuesday, September 19- Boys Soccer Game- home- 4:00
• Tuesday, September 19- Girls Volleyball Game- home- 4:00 B Team Only
• Wednesday, September 20- Boys Soccer Game- away- 4:00
• September 20- Kindergarten Literacy Night, 5:30- 6:30
• Thursday, September 21- Girls Volleyball Game- away- 4:00 & 5:00
• Friday, September 22- Teacher In-service Day- No Students
• Monday, September 25- MS Specials Third Rotation for First Quarter
• Tuesday, September 26- Boys Soccer Game- home- 4:00
• Tuesday, September 26- Girls Volleyball Game- away- 4:00 & 5:00
• Thursday, September 28- Boys Soccer Game- home- 4:00
• Thursday, September 28- Girls Volleyball Game- home- 4:00 & 5:00
• Friday, September 29- Breakfast- PTO
• Friday, September 29- Elementary Virtue Assembly, Cafeteria, 8:50
• Friday,September 29- MS Virtue Assembly, Cafeteria, 2:50
• Friday,September 29- MS and Specials Newsletter goes home

October

• Tuesday, October 3- Girls Volleyball Game- home- 4:30 & 5:30
• Tuesday, October 3- Boys Soccer Game- away- 4:00
• Thursday, October 5- Girls Volleyball Game- home- 4:00 & 5:00
• Thursday, October 5- Boys Soccer Game- home- 4:30
• Friday, October 6- Elementary Believe Assembly, 8:50, Cafeteria
• Tuesday, October 10- Boys Soccer Game- home- 4:00
• Wednesday, October 11- Girls Volleyball Game- away- 4:00 & 5:00
• Thursday, October 12- Dress Down Day!
• Thursday, October 12- End of First Quarter
• Thursday, October 12- Girls Volleyball Game- away- 4:00 & 5:00
• Thursday, October 12- Boys Soccer Game- home- 4:00
• Friday, October 13- Staff Work Day- No Students
• Monday, October 16- MS Specials First Rotation for Second Quarter
• Monday, October 16- Beginning of Second Quarter
• Tuesday, October 17- Book Fair Preview Day
• Wednesday, October 18- Book Fair Preview Day
• Wednesday, October 18- Girls Volleyball Game- home- 4:00 & 5:00
• Thursday, October 19- Parent/Teacher Conferences-early dismissal @ 12:40; conferences from 1:40- 6:00
• Thursday, October 19- Book Fair!
• Friday, October 20- Parent/Teacher Conferences-early dismissal @ 12:40; conferences from 1:40- 6:00
• Friday, October 20- Book Fair!
• Friday, October 23- 27- FALL BREAK!! School Closed!
• (Sunday, October 29- Daylight Savings Time)
• Monday, October 30- Girls Volleyball Game- away- 4:00 & 5:00
• Tuesday, October 31- Harvest Fest Parties

Kindra Whitmyre-Nelson
Dean of Academy Charter School
email: nelsonk@academycharter.org

I hope you all had a wonderful three day weekend! I know I had a great time spending it with my family!

Please be sure to check out the ACS website where you can find your student’s weekly homework assignments, upcoming projects and test dates. If your student is in elementary, click on the elementary tab and go to the corresponding grade level. If your student is in middle school, click on the middle school tab and go to the corresponding content area. Elementary teachers and core middle school teachers update this information weekly.

For information regarding after school activities such as band and orchestra or sports, please see Mrs. Sowter’s and Mr. Ross’s schedules located under the “activities” page on the website. You will also find the current schedule for our fall ACS middle school sports- boys’ soccer and girls’ volleyball.

Next week on Friday, September 15th, we will be having a bullying assembly for all ACS students. Please see the calendar on the website for the specific times for grades K-2, 3-5 and 6-8. Dr. Ed will speaking with students about what bullying is, what rules are in place, and the top ten facts about bullying.

I know we have quite a few new families to ACS this year and I want to take this opportunity to review our grading scale for students in grades K-8. Students in K-2 receive grades in the form of a minus (-) = below grade level, check ( ) = at grade level or plus + = above grade level. If you have a student in these grades, you should have received these grading guidelines from your classroom teacher. For students in grades 3-8 we use the following grading scale which is listed below for your reference:

• A+ 99.5, 100, 100+
• A 98-92
• A- 91-90
• B+ 89
• B 88-82
• B- 81-80
• C+ 79
• C 78-72
• C- 71-70
• D+ 69
• D 68-62
• D- 61-60
• F 59 and below

I’d like to remind everyone that every Friday, students in grades K-5 will receive a physical folder which contains your student’s papers. Middle School students will receive a “packet” of their papers which will be distributed during homeroom at the end of the day. Please note that information from PTO, etc., which used to come home in “paper” form, will now be included in our weekly newsletter as a way of reducing our copying costs. If you do not have email, you will continue to receive a “hard” copy of these items!

Thank you as always for your wonderful support of ACS, its staff and our students!

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

Attendance Reminder

I would like to remind parents to please call the office when your student is going to be absent. It is very important that we are notified in the office about your student’s absences. We also need to know when your student is coming in late due to an appointment or some other reason. Lori Burgos, our attendance secretary, is doing a great job but she does need your help in maintaining our attendance records. Every day she spends lots of time calling to confirm absences that could have been reported to her by the parents. Once our voice mail system is restored, you may call before school even starts to report absences.

Thank you for your cooperation and attention to this very important matter.

Anne Belfrage
Office Manager
belfragea@academycharter.org

ATTENTION ALL 8th GRADE PARENTS!!!!

There will be a meeting on Monday, September 11, at 5:30 p.m. in the library to start planning the annual Washington D.C. trip. Trish Kakenmaster, who has helped previous classes plan their trip, will be there with information and to answer questions. If your child is interested, please plan to attend.

Schedule Items

• September 7, – 6:00 p.m. – PTO General Meeting, ACS Cafeteria
• September 13, - Deadline, Entertainment/Gold C Books
• September 14, - 6:00 p.m. – PTO Executive Meeting, ACS Cafeteria

Fundraising

There is less than one week left for our Entertainment/Gold C Book fundraiser. This short and very important fundraiser can benefit Academy Charter very much only through your support. This promotion is one of only two sales-oriented fundraisers PTO will be offering this year. Please give your full support. Thank You.

Flu Shots Available

It's that time again! Flu season is coming and ACS is offering a flu shot clinic with a new company this year.

The CDC is recommending that school aged children be vaccinated. Studies have shown a drastic reduction in flu in the elderly and at risk population, when school aged children receive flu shots.

When: October 5th, Thursday, 8-10 a.m. (we will offer another clinic Wednesday, November 1, 11:30 to 12:30 pm in the conference room for employees or those who still need to be vaccinated)

• Where: ACS Cafeteria
• WHO:
• FLU SHOT Cost $25.00

4 years or older (A parent/guardian must be present if child under 18 y/o). **Pregnant women do not have to have a doctor's prescription and the CDC recommends that pregnant women be vaccinated.

**For children under 9 who are first 0- time flu shot recipients, two doses at least one month apart are recommended to maximize the likelihood of a satisfactory antibody response.

PNEUMONIA SHOT Cost is $42.00

Must be 18 y/o or older to receive.

FluMist Nasal Spray Cost $30.00 will be made available if you sign up prior to Oct. 5th with Jaynee Hodgkins at JMHodgkins@msn.com.

For ages 5-49 if not at risk (ie. asthma). This is a great option if your child hates shots!

Website for questions about the flu shots etc. go to www.frontrangeflu.com

Questions about the ACS flu clinic or for more locations in the Douglas county school district, email Jaynee at JMHodgkins@msn.com.

There is no cost to those with Medicare part B, Secure Horizons and Rocky Mountain HMO insurance if their insurance card is presented.

Let's have a healthy school year!

Attention 6th Graders....

Tired of sweltering in the summer heat? Sick of the sunburn and burnt out on boiling outside games? Start thinking snow like the rest of us at Colorado Ski Country USA! Applications for the 6th Grade Graduate Pass are available on our website NOW: www.coloradoski.com/gradpass!

The 6th Grade Graduate Pass is very similar to the 5th Grade Passport you had last year. The Graduate Pass consists of three lift ticket coupons to each of our 25 participating member resorts. You will also receive discounts on other services such as lessons, equipment rentals and more. As a previous 5th Grade Passport holder, the Graduate Pass is available to you for ONLY $59 now through November 5th, 2006! That's less then 80 cents per lift ticket!

Don't wait till the snow falls, be ready and buy today! Applying is a cinch! Go to www.coloradoski.com/gradpass

Deadlines:

• November 5: $59.00
• November 6- January 31: $79.00
• January 31: $99.00

Questions: call 303-866-9707 or email passport@coloradoski.com.

Check out our new Event Calendar on the front page of the website. It has all the important ACS events you need to know about. Click here to take a look!