Dear ACS Families and Community,

We have almost completed two full weeks of school and the students (and teachers) are definitely getting into the routine! It is wonderful to greet the happy faces coming to school every morning.

I want to thank all of the parents who were able to join us at Back to School Night last week. It was great to put a face with a name! The teachers were also excited to meet you and show you all of the exciting things they have planned for this school year.

The new school hours went into affect on Monday and have gone smoothly. Thank you for your understanding and support of these changes. These small changes will help to ensure we are in compliance with the state and district!

Our first fire drill will be on Wednesday, August 29. The teachers will go over the fire drill procedures with their students this week and next. We want all students prepared in case of any real emergency. We will hold monthly emergency drills and future drills will not be disclosed.

On a more fun note, ACS is buzzing with excitement every afternoon as volleyball, soccer, and cross country begins! The first home game for soccer is September 4 and September 6 for volleyball. Come on out and cheer on our teams!

As always, it is a pleasure to work with you and your children. Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Yvette Brown
Dean of Academy Charter School
email: browny@academycharter.org

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.

Important Dates

• Friday, August 24- K-5 Testing Day
• Friday, August 24-MS-regular school 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!

Dear Families and Friends of ACS,

Thank you for your attendance last week at Back to School Night! It was great to see you there! I hope those of you with students in middle school enjoyed moving through your student’s schedule to get a glimpse of what their day is like as well as having a chance to meet our fabulous middle school team!

These past two weeks, students have been learning about the exciting new things they will be covering this year as well as learning the procedures for each of their classrooms. Teachers have been working hard assessing students in order to gauge where to begin lessons with their various content areas. I know they are very excited to get into the “meat” of our curriculum and I think our students are as well!

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., 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!

I want to remind middle school parents that we love to have you volunteer your time in middle school! Please contact Mrs. Belfrage to see how you can help!

As a reminder, Mrs. Sowter and Mr. Ross will begin MS Band next Monday, August 27th during the elective time. All students who are interested in MS Band should report to the Cafeteria at 2:57. After school Band and Orchestra will begin the following week on Tuesday, September 4th. There should be more details regarding this later in the newsletter.

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

A lot of volunteers came in to have their name badges made yesterday and I am so glad! The badges look very nice and I think this will be a better system than the previous one. Soon I will have a holder on the volunteer table that will hold everyone’s name badge. Please remember to clip your name badge on when you are volunteering in the building. If you were unable to get your picture taken yesterday, we can take your picture here in the office and email it to the photographer to have a name badge made for you.

The ACS Pre-school needs 20 volunteers willing to help install their new playground equipment on Saturday, September 29th. They would like to have 10 people help during the morning shift and 10 more to work in the afternoon. Please let me know if you are willing to help with this important project. Please note, this is an activity that working parents can get involved in.

I am still in need of Classroom Coordinators for many of our classes. Please let your student’s teacher know if you are willing to serve as this very important contact. I would like to have coordinators assigned for every classroom by the end of next week. Don’t

be shy, volunteer to help your student’s teacher this year!

Remember, one person makes a difference!

Anne Belfrage
belfragea@academycharter.org
Volunteer Coordinator

Schedule Items

• September 19 – PTO Executive Mtg. 6-7PM; 7-8PM General Mtg. – ACS Cafeteria

PTO Meeting

Attend the September 19th PTO meeting and enjoy a pizza dinner with your family and FREE babysitting for the meeting following dinner!

In lieu of our restaurant nights we are providing dinner for our busy ACS families. Dinner will start at 6:15pm and run till 6:55pm, then drop your kiddos off downstairs for FREE babysitting by the 8th graders! The meeting will last approximately 1 hour.

Little Caesar’s Pizza is the featured restaurant for this meeting. Please look in your Friday folder for your pre-order form so we know how much to order!

Special Messages

BOX TOP BERTIE IS LOOKING FOR NEW BUDDIES!

Box Top Bertie is always looking for new buddies to keep her company. She’s been feeling a little neglected, so please don’t forget those Box Tops. She loves to see the Box Top box overflowing with box tops because she knows that means more money to ACS. Box Top Bertie wants to remind students and parents that this is an easy way to help ACS, just by cutting off the box tops from your favorite foods. Don’t forget to write your child’s name, grade and teacher on the box tops or slip your box tops into a baggie and write the information one time on the baggie. Remember, fun surprises will be given to 3 “Box Top Bertie Buddies” every month at the ACS assemblies for the most box tops placed in Bertie’s bucket each month.

Thank you for your continued support of the Box Top Fundraiser!

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

Social

We need your help!! Every month we have the opportunity to feed our fantastic teachers! Please look for our sign up sheets on the PTO board or give us an e-mail that you are interested in helping out. The great part – you are able to get you volunteer hours in!! Just keep track of how long it took you to prepare your meal or picking items up. Our teachers truly look forward to these meals. We have some amazing chefs out there!

Please sign up for either (or both) of the following:

August 31st

September 28th

Thanks for your willingness to help out

Allyson Ford allyson4d@hotmail.com
Gina Ordunez rchincha88@aol.com

Academic – oversees curriculum, assessments and staff development.

Communications – communicates though newsletters, meetings, surveys, etc., and handles board elections, and state, district and community communications.

Operations– oversees 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 – works on the vision for ACS for the next 3 -5 years, in the areas of Gifted and Talented, middle school enrollment, teacher retention, land issues, and technology