Dear ACS Families and Community,
As we enter into the 2007–2008
school year, there is a definite sense of excitement at Academy
Charter School.
Our Facilities Manager, Morgan Pears, and cleaning crew have
worked very hard over the summer to make our building look
great! The interior of the building was also painted over
the summer and the walls are fresh and bright! Teachers and
staff have busily prepared for your students and the start
of an exciting new school year. During the first day of school,
I was able to meet every student during grade level assemblies.
What a wonderful group
of students! You would have been so proud and amazed at
the wonderful behavior and polite demeanor of every student.
I am so excited to be here this year and have felt an overwhelming
warmth and welcome to this school. Thank you!
The first
week of school literally started off with a bang, by that
I mean lightning! As part of our policy, if there
is lightning during carpool, we will shut down carpool
for the safety of our students and staff. If
carpool shuts down for this reason, please park your
cars! You
have two options at this point, walk in and retrieve
your student(s) or wait
safely in your car for the storm to pass at which point
carpool will resume. Please be aware that you will not
be penalized
for retrieving your student(s) late during this situation!
Thank you for your support and understanding in making
this a safe environment for all of our students and staff!
I
look forward to an exciting school year and partnership
with the ACS Community. Thank you for trusting me and
my staff with your wonderful children. We will continue
to
strive for academic excellence and commit to servicing
your students’ needs! Sincerely,
Yvette Brown
Policy Reminders
- Afternoon
carpool will not be changed until the parking lot expansion
is complete.
- We will continue with Lockdown and Emergency
Drills throughout the school year.
- Per the Parent/Student
Handbook p. 17-19, drop off students no earlier than
8:10 and pickup students by no later
than 4:00
- All students not adhering to this policy will be
placed in Academy Kids and charged appropriately.
Important Dates
- Thursday, August 16- Back to School Night,
6-9 pm
- Monday,
August 20-Parent Info Night-Sports, 6-7pm
- Wednesday,
August 22-Picture Make-ups and Volunteer Pictures-8:30-10:30
- Friday,
August 24- K-8 Testing Day
- Tuesday and Wednesday,
August 28-29 Instrument Tryout 3:30-4:30
- Friday, August
31- Dress Down Day
- Monday, September 3- Labor
Day- School Closed!
Yvette Brown
Dean of Academy Charter School
email: browny@academycharter.org
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Dear Families and Friends of ACS,
I can’t believe how fast the summer flew by, but I
am very excited about the upcoming school year! It’s
going to be a great year! I’d like to express my appreciation
for all the support that staff and parents have given me
over the past three years. ACS is truly 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
teacher, Jill Condon, who will be teaming up with third grade.
She moved from middle school to join this team and is very
excited to be with our third graders!
We’ve made some changes in our Middle School schedule
this year. Our 7th and 8th graders will be having a “modified” block
schedule on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and will have a period
schedule on Monday, Tuesday, and Fridays. This type of schedule
allows for the best of both worlds in scheduling by providing
longer periods of time in core classes for bigger projects.
Our 6th graders will be having the same schedule all week
long. This type of schedule allows sixth graders to have
more continuity and consistency as they transition into middle
school!
We have added a few 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-Beth
Amen will be teaching MS Math, Maria Gordon will be teaching
MS computers, Angie Hotzfield will be teaching Language Arts,
Social Studies and Math in 6th grade and Sandy Kelly will
be our 6th grade Study Skills teacher and MS tutor.
Our electives in middle school have had a few changes as
well. We are offering some new electives- Drama with a Musical
Flare, Scrap booking, Money, Money, Money, and Magical Math.
We hope students enjoy the new electives being offered!
Mrs. Sowter will continue to provide instruction with 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. Mrs. Sowter will be
holding a band demo next week for students in grades 4, 5,
and 6 in order to give them a chance to see and hear these
instruments. She will also be having a “instrument
test-drive” after school next week. Please be sure
to look for the flyer giving more details regarding this
in your Friday Folders!
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
Friday, August 24th, will be an all grade reading testing
day. Your teachers in grades K-5 will have a sign-up sheet
posted outside their room starting Friday morning. Middle
school students will be testing in either a group setting
or as individuals on this day. ALL parents who have students
in middle school need to call the ACS office to schedule
an appointment for this day. The office will tell you at
that time if your student will be doing group testing or
individual testing that day. We need your assistance with
this by calling the office ASAP. All middle school students
need to be scheduled no later than Wednesday, August 22nd.
We appreciate your assistance with this!
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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Welcome back to Academy Charter! It is
great to see all of you again and I look forward to a wonderful
year here at ACS! I have chosen the theme, “One Person
Makes a Difference”, for our volunteer program this year.
Don’t you believe that this is truly all we can attempt
to control—what we, personally, can do to make a difference?
As each parent contributes to our volunteer program here at
the school, our total program is enriched and you are sending
a big message to your students about the importance of their
education. If you are interested in being a Classroom Coordinator,
please talk to your classroom teacher about volunteering. We
need a Classroom Coordinator for each classroom in the elementary
grades and one for each of the Middle School grades—6th,
7th, and 8th grades. Please contact me if you would like to
volunteer to be a Coordinator for Middle School.
Since the name badges on the lanyards were such a problem
last year, I have a new name badge solution this year. Our
photographer, Skow Photography, will make our name badges for
volunteers this year and they will have your picture on them.
Please plan to come in on Wednesday, August 22nd, from 8:30
until 10:00 to have your volunteer name badge made. If you
cannot come at that time, we will take a picture and forward
it on to them and have your name badge made. I am very excited
that Skow has generously offered to provide our volunteer badges.
The volunteer log is on the table by the Volunteer Bulletin
board ready to receive all of your hours of volunteer time.
There is one card per family to fill in your volunteer hours.
If you have younger children at home that prevent you from
coming in to volunteer, please try to make contact with someone
else in the school who is in the same situation in order to
trade or share babysitting. Should you choose to do this, you
will receive volunteer hours for taking care of someone else’s
child in order for them to volunteer. I would be glad to try
to help you make contact with others with younger children
if you need assistance.
Please let me know if you have questions or concerns about
volunteering here at ACS. Let’s see how we can make a
difference at ACS this school year!
Anne Belfrage
belfragea@academycharter.org
Volunteer Coordinator
Schedule Items
- September 19 – PTO Executive
Mtg. 6-7PM; 7-8PM General Mtg. – ACS Cafeteria
Special
Messages
We wish to welcome everyone, new and returning,
to Academy Charter School for the 2007-08 school year.
The PTO is very
excited about its role in providing a valuable
service to the parents, teachers, and students this year.
We
encourage your involvement and participation in meetings
and activities.
Please refer to the weekly PTO Corner as part
of the ACS weekly newsletter and the PTO Newsletter,
which will be provided on
a monthly basis.
Enrichment
PTO Enrichment is responsible for providing
supplementary, enriching cultural experiences.
This year we
are hoping to provide a variety of programs.
These
programs include, Mad
Science, Abrakadoodle, Tae Kwon Do, and
golf! Stay tuned for more, later in the year! Please
pay close
attention to the
monthly PTO newsletter. This is how we
will be communicating to you parents of coming
events and the need for
volunteers, if necessary. If you have any
suggestions or special talents
that you would like to share with the students
please feel free to let us know! Thank
you for
all of your
support!
Emily Ragan: ceragan1@msn.com
Julie Harkin: toddpaco@aol.com
Restaurant Nights
The PTO has decided to discontinue Restaurant
Nights for the time being. In the
past, this has seen
a decline in interest.
Fall Sports Parent Information Meeting
There will be a parent information meeting for 6th-8th grade
students interested in playing one of the following Fall
Sports:
- Girl’s and Boy’s Cross Country
- Boy’s Soccer
- Girl’s Volleyball
The meeting is next Monday,
August 20th, from 6:00-6:45 pm in the cafeteria. You will have a chance to go through
the parent/player handbook and ask any questions. The coaches
will be there to meet you as well. If your child is interested
in playing, please plan to attend.
Practice will begin on Tuesday, August 21, in order to be
ready for the first games, which are on September 4. If your
child is planning on playing, he/she must have a physical
form signed by your doctor in order to practice. Forms are
available in the office.
We are in need of coaches for our girl’s recreation
team. If you are interested, please contact Lisa Arnell at
arnelll@academycharter.org.
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Governing Board News – August 16, 2007
Greetings!
The ACS Governing Board (GB) welcomes back all parents,
students and staff for the 2007-2008 school year! The
board is comprised of seven parents who are elected by
the parent community, and also includes our two deans
and two teacher representatives, Beth Midolo and Ryan
Gudmundson. Parents at ACS are required to attend one
Governing Board meeting per year as part of fulfilling
their parent contract. ACS staff members are encouraged
to attend as well.
Our first general meeting of the year was held this past
Monday evening. Read on for highlights of that meeting.
Meeting minutes will soon be available online, and will
also be kept in a binder in the front office for anyone
to read.
The GB filled an open position for secretary on the board.
We had two qualified applicants, parents Sunnie Bottin
and Todd Warnke. Ms. Bottin later withdrew her application,
opting instead to volunteer her time and talents toward
GB committees. Mr. Warnke will serve as our new secretary.
Our Business Manager, Barbara Ireland, gave updates in
several areas. The school’s budget was explained
in detail – where the money comes from and what expenses
we incur. The credit card machine recently purchased was
used at registration to process approximately $10,000 worth
of charges and can be used to purchase scrip, lunches,
etc. The school’s carpet is starting to show its
age and will need to be replaced soon.
Carpool remains an area of concern. Parent Jena Stucky,
from the Carpool Committee, explained why the decision
was made to ultimately eliminate afternoon carpool once
the parking lot is expanded. Several parents weighed in
with their opinions and suggestions. GB President Clayton
Watson reiterated that the previous carpool policy is not
working and we will try the new policy when the parking
lot is complete. The dirt removal for the parking lot expansion
is currently on hold, pending the acquisition of a building
permit.
Those in attendance had a first-hand look at our new dean,
Yvette Brown, as she gave her dean’s report. She
said all volunteers will get free I.D. badges through Skow
Photography – photos will be taken on August 22 from
8:30 to 10:30 a.m. She named the new hires at ACS – Cindy
Keeling as network administrator, and Emily Ragan and Connie
Capps as the two new educational assistants.
Dean Brown also briefly addressed several other topics
including: our new language arts curriculum; the upcoming
GB/staff meeting; the Gifted and Talented program possibilities;
re-evaluating the school’s technology plan and taking
inventory of all of our equipment: forming a SAC (School
Accountability Committee), an academic advisory committee
to assist the dean; and the Back to School Night format
this Thursday – parents only if possible.
Assistant Dean Peters brought us up to date on the middle
school and scheduling issues - one class in 7th grade has
25 students in Pre-Algebra. Prepping the pre-school playground
site for new equipment will require additional funds, which
were approved. She also announced that we have a new home
school director on board – Elizabeth Lawson, and a new home school location off-site from ACS at Castle
Oaks Covenant Church in Castle Rock.
GB Committee reports – there are five committees
of the Governing Board and parents are encouraged to sign
up and participate on one! Times and locations of committee
meetings will be announced.
-
Academic – oversees curriculum,
assessments and staff development. It is still being
determined how this
will differ from the SAC.
-
Communications – explores
ways to reach parents though newsletters, meetings,
surveys, etc. Also handles board
elections, and state, district and community
communications.
-
Operations – in
charge of carpool, building maintenance and
facility issues, finances, budgeting, and personnel
needs.
-
Policy – reviews and updates policy,
procedures, by-laws, and Dean evaluation procedures.
-
Strategic
Planning – will work on the vision for
ACS for the next 3 -5 years, in the areas
of Gifted and Talented, our middle school enrollment,
teacher retention,
land issues, and technology
In response to comments from our spring parent survey,
we will have a calendar change for one GB meeting. The
majority of our meetings are held the second Monday of
each month, but we have changed November’s meeting
to a Tuesday evening - November 13. Please make a note
of this if you cannot attend one of our Monday meetings.
Parents should also know this: watching someone else’s
children while they volunteer at ACS or attend a GB or
PTO meeting will count toward your volunteer time.
It looks to be a great year at ACS! Come join us at our
next general meeting on Monday, September
10, at 6 p.m. in the ACS cafeteria. We will have a working session on
Wednesday, August 29, at 4:30 p.m. in the
school’s
conference room.
School Uniform Supply
Faze Two, a new children’s consignment
boutique here in Castle Rock, has a good supply
of Academy Charter uniforms. They are located at
4807 N. Industrial Way, which is south of the Outlet
Mall and in the same building as Castle Rock Gymnastics.
They are open Monday through Friday 9:30 to 5:30
and until 1:00 on Saturdays. The phone number is
303-688-3959. This might be helpful for filling
out your student’s uniform needs at a reduced
price.
Attention 8th Grade Parents
It's time to start planning this year's 8th grade
trip to Washington D.C. Please contact me and I
will be happy to go over all of the information
that we have from last year.
Lisa McNeill (303) 660-6279
mkalisa@msn.com
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