Dear Family and Friends of ACS,

I am thrilled to announce that it is time for the 2nd Annual Apple Awards nomination! The purpose for this prestigious nomination process is to honor teachers who have demonstrated a superior ability to foster excellence in education while contributing to the continuous improvement of student learning and school environment! Last year, Academy Charter School’s Apple Award nominee was Mrs. Christie Marble. She was celebrated district-wide at the Apple Awards dinner and you can see the plaque honoring her in our hallway as you turn the corner right after the Library. We are now calling for teacher nominations for this year’s Apple Awards. If you would like to nominate a teacher, please follow the key points below:

• Nominations will be accepted from September 18th through October 27th
• Nomination forms can be printed from our website, picked up in our office, or click here for a direct link
• Please turn the nomination form back to our office when you have completed it adhering to the dates above
  All schools will have a representative and these representatives will move to the feeder area level. From this level, two semi-finalists will be chose, one elementary and one secondary.

The federal No Child Left Behind law allows parents to obtain certain information about the professional qualifications of their child’s teacher(s). Specifically, as a parent or guardian, you have the right to request the following information:

• whether the Colorado Department of Education has licensed or endorsed your child’s teacher for the grades and subjects taught
• whether the Colorado Department of Education has decided that your student’s teacher can teach in a classroom without being licensed or qualified under state regulations because of special circumstances
• the teacher’s college major; whether the teacher has any advanced degrees and, if so, the subjects of the degrees
• whether a teachers’ aide or similar para-educator provides services to your child and, if they do, their qualifications.
  If you would like to receive any of this information, contact Dean Nelson through email at nelsonk@academycharter.org or by calling our office at 303-660-4881. You will receive a request form to complete and return to our office. You will receive the information within a timely manner.

The Family Support Line can be a lifeline when family concerns arise. Whatever your child’s age or your issue, you will be treated with compassionate listening, practical answers and information on all aspects of family life and child development, as well as referrals to community resources. The Family Support Line is a program of Families First, a private, non-profit, non-sectarian agency devoted to strengthening families and protecting children. Other support services include parenting classes, seminars and Circle of Parents groups. In Metro Denver, call 303.695.7996 or call toll-free in Colorado, 1.877.695.7996. For Spanish-speaking families, Consejos Para Familias, 1.866.LAS-FAMILIAS (866.527.3264). Operators are available from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. seven days a week. You can also visit Families First online at www.FamiliesFirstColorado.org.

The State of Colorado passed a law in 2004 requiring public schools to provide parents and guardians with information on how to access information regarding registered sex offenders in their communities. In Douglas County, parents and guardians can request the sex offender registry by contacting their local law enforcement agency or online at www.dcsheriff.net. For a statewide list of certain high-risk registered sex offenders, go to www.sor.state.co.us.

In addition, the Colorado Sex Offender Management Board publishes the School Resource Guide to Sex Offender Registration, including information about the list itself and facts about sex offenders. For a copy of the resource guide, go to www.cde.state.co.us/cdesped/download/pdf/ChildAbuse-SchResGU.pdf. For information about how the district deals with issues involving sex offenders in Douglas County, contact the office of School Safety & Security at 303.387.9999.

September is Child Injury Prevention Month! Accidental injury is the number one killer of America’s children, taking more lives than disease, violence and suicide. The flyer attached at the end of the Newsletter, from the SPSG experts, highlights statistics and tips for ensuring the safety of all of your students and staff. Additional safety tips can also be found at www.safekids.org.

Don’t forget to check our Event Calendar on the website, as it has been updated to include many ACS events through the year, like game times for our Sports programs and our music programs for the entire school year. I am also in the process of working with our Network Administrator, Robert Fortelka, in order to update and improve our current website. Stay tuned for more information regarding the new and improved ACS website!

Dates to Remember:

• Monday, September 25- MS Specials Third Rotation for First Quarter
• Tuesday, September 26- Boys Soccer Game- home- 4:00
  September 26- Girls Volleyball Game- away- 4:00 & 5:00
• Thursday, September 28- Boys Soccer Game- home- 4:00
  September 28- Girls Volleyball Game- home- 4:00 & 5:00
• Friday, September 29- Breakfast- PTO
  September 29- Elementary Virtue Assembly, Cafeteria, 8:50
  September 29- MS Virtue Assembly, Cafeteria, 2:50
  September 29- MS and Specials Newsletter goes home

• Tuesday, October 3- Girls Volleyball Game- home- 4:30 & 5:30
  October 3- Boys Soccer Game- away- 4:00
• Thursday, October 5- Girls Volleyball Game- home- 4:00 & 5:00
  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!
  October 12- End of First Quarter
  October 12- Girls Volleyball Game- away- 4:00 & 5:00
  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
  October 16- Beginning of Second Quarter
• Tuesday, October 17- Book Fair Preview Day
• Wednesday, October 18- Book Fair Preview Day
  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
  October 19- Book Fair!
• Friday, October 20- Parent/Teacher Conferences-early dismissal @ 12:40; conferences from 1:40- 6:00
  October 20- Book Fair!
• 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

Have a very safe and relaxing weekend!

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

Dear Families and Friends of ACS,

We have many exciting events coming up in the next month and I would like to take this opportunity to share them with you.

Student Council is busy preparing for the first Middle School Dance for the 2006-2007 school year. The Fall Ball will be held on Friday, September 29th, from 6:00-9:00 p.m. in the ACS gym. There is a flyer attached to this week’s newsletter with more details.

We have our first virtue assembly scheduled for next Friday, September 29th, at 8:50 for our elementary students in the cafeteria and at 2:50 for our middle school students. We’d love for you to be there and give congratulations to our virtue winners for the month of September! You can find the dates for all of our virtue assemblies on the website on the event calendar.

PTO will be having their kick-off assembly for the “Believe” campaign on Friday, October 6th, at 8:50 for our elementary students. This is always a fun assembly and the students are so eager to see what kind of prizes they might win for being top sellers in this PTO fundraiser!

The Scholastic Book Fair will be here the week of conferences so don’t forget to stop by and see the great collection of books that will be there! I know our librarians will be giving you more details in the next few weeks.

I’d like to thank Dr. Ed Peteroy for talking to all of our students last Friday during our bullying assembly regarding what bullying is, what rules are in place, and the top ten facts about bullying.

Our middle school students are being introduced to a supplemental character education program called “Second Step.” This program is designed to assist students in how to deal with interpersonal conflicts, how to show empathy, and many other facets of communicating appropriately with peers. This program will be taught to students in 6th grade as part of study skills with Ms. Hotzfield, in 7th grade with Mr. Hall and Mrs. Greer as part of academic assistance and in 8th grade with Mrs. Greer as part of academic assistance. We will, of course, be focusing on our school-wide virtues as well in middle school!

Parent teacher conferences are approaching and our teachers in grades K-5 are preparing to send out sign-up sheets this week as well as next week. Please see the current class newsletter to see if they came home today or will be sent out next week. During these conferences, teachers will be going over the SSLP’s, Report Cards, and ILp’s (if applicable). If you have more to discuss with your teacher than what can be covered in the 20 minute time frame, please be sure to set up another time to meet with your teacher while you’re at conferences.

In middle school, we have a set day for “scheduled appointments” which will be on Thursday, October 19th. Friday, October 20th, will be a “drop-in” day where parents can come by the middle school and visit with their student’s teacher(s). We had several reasons for this change and I would welcome any feedback after conferences regarding this change. Parents will be called for “scheduled appointments” to meet with middle school teachers in the next few weeks. Of course you can always request to meet with your middle school student’s teachers as well.

Remember that parent/teacher conference days are early release days and students are released at 12:40 on Thursday, October 19th, and Friday, October 20th. Conferences run from 1:40-6:00 p.m. each of those days.

We have a busy month ahead and I will try my best to keep you all informed of all the events scheduled! Have a great weekend.

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

I want to thank the folks who took time to attend the Volunteer Training today. I believe it was well received and a lot of good information was passed on. If you were unable to attend and would like information about volunteering, I would be glad to give you handouts from this training.

It was nice to meet with the Classroom Coordinators and pass them some much needed information. The Coordinators do a great job for us as they help to schedule volunteers in the classrooms.

We will be having some prizes awarded for volunteer hours logged starting next month, so I would encourage you to log your volunteer hours in the card file on the Volunteer table.

Thanks again, for playing on the ACS Volunteer Team!

Anne Belfrage
Volunteer Coordinator
belfragea@academycharter.org

Encouraging Your Child To Read

Scholastic.com is a valuable resource for tips on helping your child fostering a love for reading. Advice for all age levels, Birth through 8th Grade, is available for FREE! Go to www.scholastic.com/parents/ to check it out!

Along with reading, Scholastic.com offers other valuble articles and activities to help jumpstart your child's education. Come check it out www.scholastic.com and help make your child's future a success.

Schedule Items

Fundraising

The Entertainment/Gold C Fundraiser ended September 13th. If you have not turned in books or sales funds, please do so as soon as possible.

Restaurant Nights

Restaurant Nights this school year will be for the benefit of specific grades and departments. Any funds generated above the $150 allocated by the PTO will be disbursed for the benefit of that grade/department. October’s Applebee’s Restaurant Night (10/1) will be for the benefit of our Art Department. Please participate and show your support of our Art Department. October’s Chick-Fil-A Restaurant Night (10/19) will be for the benefit of our First Grade classes. Everyone is welcome to participate and, First Grade Families, this is a great chance to show your school spirit by literally putting your money where your mouth is!

Budget Requests

Budget Request deadline for the Nov. 9 meeting is October 26. Please remember, all budget requests must have completed its process and be in the PTO Board’s possession two weeks prior to a budget meeting. For more information, contact a PTO Board Member.

Teacher “Wish Lists”

Don’t forget to check out the teacher “Wish Lists” located on the ACS website. This is a great way to support the teachers and departments for the extra needs and wants that make the teachers jobs easier and more creative, and ultimately make our students learning experience even more fun.

How to Eat Fried Worms Book Club

The library will be hosting a How to Eat Fried Worms book club on Friday, September 29th from 3:45-5:00. This book club will be for students in 3rd-5th grades who have read the book by Thomas Rockwell. We will be having lively discussion about the book and comparing it to the new movie, playing a “wormderful” game and eating “wormy” snacks. All interested students please sign up on the sheet outside the library and make sure you have read or reread the book recently. Sign up soon as the book club will be limited to 20 participants!

Spread the Word Book Drive

Do you have unused children’s books at home? Please join our school, Governor Owens and The Fund for Colorado’s Future in participating in the Spread the Word Book Drive. This book exchange is designed to boost literacy among disadvantaged children by providing them with much needed reading material. Please begin to collect your gently used books at home during your fall cleaning and bring them in to school the week of October 2-6th. (Please no coloring books, text books or adult books). During this week there will be boxes available in the halls for donations to be placed in. We had wonderful participation in this book drive last year and would love to see even bigger participation this year. The top two schools will receive a $1000 library grant! Click Here for a flyer.

Student Council Fall Ball

What: Middle School Dance
When: September 29, 2006
Time: 6:00- 9:00
Where: ACS Gym
Cost: $2.00 advanced or $3.00 at the dance
Dress: Casual

Student Council is having a welcome back dance for the middle school. This dance will be on September 29, 2006 in the gym, from 6:00-9:00. The cost is $2.00 in advance or $3.00 at the dance. This dance is a fall dance and is casual. We will also be selling snacks and drinks. Mr. Orcutt will be the DJ at the dance.

If you have any questions, you can e-mail student council at
stuco@academycharter.org.

Thank you,
Sarah Freeman
Student Council Secretary

ORIGINAL WORKS IS BACK WITH NEW PRODUCTS!!!!

This great program is back and just in time for the holidays! Ms. Huskins has our students working on a special project in art class. Original Works will take these works of art and turn them into beautiful full color products, such as magnets, mugs, journals, shirts and much more. New items this fall are ornaments, hand towels, night lights and a newly designed key chain! Posters and samples will be on display in the lobby for you to see. Information about the program and how to order these products will be in the October 6th Friday Folders. Orders will be due on October 12th to ensure we receive them in time for the holidays.

This is a great opportunity to purchase one-of-a-kind gifts for family members and friends as well as help raise money for the art department. All proceeds from this fundraiser go directly to the art department to replenish art supplies, fund special classes and more. If you have any questions about this program, please do not hesitate to call Ms. Huskins or Cindy Hazlehurst (303-688-9134). Thank you for your support!

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 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!

DIRTY CAR???

The 8th graders will be having a car wash on Saturday, September 23, at Wal-Mart to earn money for their trip to Washington, D.C. Come have your car washed between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. and help support their efforts. Thanks!

Are you registered to vote?

In Douglas County School District, our Board of Education’s vision is to produce students who acquire the knowledge and abilities to be responsible citizens who contribute to society. What better way to model that behavior for young students than to exercise your right to vote.

This year, Douglas County is offering its residents new voting equipment! The County continues to try to meet the needs of busy people with busy lifestyles! This year’s election has three different ways for residents to vote! But, don’t waste time, deadlines are approaching.

In the County, you can vote via absentee ballot, register for early voting, or visit one of the many vote centers located throughout the County. The General Election date is November 7, 2006. If you have recently moved or had a change in name, you must complete the Voter Registration/Change of Information Application and sent it to the Election Department to ensure you get to vote and your vote counts. Key dates are:

The County website offers a quick and easy way to check to ensure you are registered to vote in this November’s election. Go to www.douglas.co.us/clerk/douglasvotes/ and click on “Am I registered?” The website also allows you to download Change of Information Applications and Absentee Ballot Applications. Additionally, you can find information and a list of all 29 voting centers available for your vote. If you want to vote in an election, you are required to mail or deliver a voter registration application form to your County Clerk and recorder no later than 29 days before the election in which you want to vote. Make your vote count!

Additional information about upcoming elections issues can be found on Douglas County School District’s website at www.dcsdk12.org, or you can contact the Communications Office at 303.387.0033.