Dear ACS Families and Friends,

What a wonderful program by our 3rd-5th graders last night! I am sure you enjoyed it as much as I did. Thank you teachers and staff who helped with all of the wonderful events happening around our school these past few weeks!

I made a mistake in last week’s newsletter; Laura Murphy (not Douglas) helped our children learn sign language for the “Peace on Earth” song. Thank you, Laura Murphy, for your help with the K-2nd program.

The PTO has asked me to remind you of our direct donation program at ACS. After reviewing our parent surveys, the PTO felt parents would like direct donations instead of fund raising. Remember, these direct donations are tax deductible and help our school and staff tremendously. With these donations, we can provide more staff training, better curriculum for students, and technology and equipment for our school. Thank you to those parents and families who have donated. We really appreciate the support.

Below you will find information about Charter Schools, Core Knowledge, and CSAP. I have had many requests for more information in these areas. If you have any special requests for information, please let me know so that I can research it and add it to my newsletter!

I would like to thank everyone who has given me and my staff all of the wonderful gifts and treats. I cannot believe the generosity! In all of my years of working in schools, I don’t think I have ever seen so many gifts and treats. I think I have gained 10 lbs. this week alone.

The ACS staff and I would like to extend our warmest wishes during this holiday season and hope you have a fantastic winter break!

Sincerely,

Yvette Brown
Academy Charter School Dean
browny@academycharter.org

Important Dates

• Dec. 21-Jan.6 Winter Break
• January 7 1st day back to school after break

Charter School Information

Charter schools are publicly funded elementary or secondary schools in the United States which have been freed from some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools, in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results, which are set forth in each school's charter.[1]
State-run charter schools (schools not affiliated with local school districts) are often established by non-profit groups, universities, and some government entities [2].
The charter school movement in the United States began in 1988, when Albert Shanker, President of the American Federation of Teachers, called for the reform of the public schools by establishing "charter schools" or "schools of choice". At the time, a few schools (which were not called charter schools but embodied some of their principles) already existed, such as H-B Woodlawn. As originally conceived, the ideal model of a charter school as a legally and financially autonomous public school (without tuition, religious affiliation, or selective student admissions) that would operate much like a private business – free from many state laws and district regulations, and accountable more for student outcomes rather than for processes or inputs (such as Carnegie Units and teacher certification requirements).[3] Opponents of charter schools suggest that this accountability is rarely exercised, and that the more lax requirements for charter schools result in fewer qualified teachers than at their traditional public counterparts.[4]
Minnesota was the first state to pass a charter school law, in 1991. California was second, in 1992. By 1995 there were 19 states with charter school laws.
There are two principles which guide charter schools. First is that they will operate as autonomous public schools. This is affected by gaining waivers from many of the procedural requirements of public schools. The second is that they may use innovative pedagogy. To justify their waivers and autonomy, they are supposed to produce results superior to non-charter schools. Studies have shown that charter schools are rarely closed for poor academic performance.[4]
The rules and structure of charter schools depend on state authorizing legislation, and differ from state to state. A charter school is authorized to function once it has received a charter, a statutorily defined performance contract detailing the school's mission, program, goals, students served, methods of assessment, and ways to measure success. The length of time for which charters are granted varies, but most are granted for 3-5 years. Charter schools are meant to be held accountable to their sponsor—a local school board, state education agency, university, or other entity—to produce positive academic results and adhere to the charter contract.
Chartering authorities, authorities which may legally issue such charters, differ from state to state, as do bodies legally entitled to operate under such charters. Often it is the State Board of Education which authorizes charters, as is the case in the State of Arkansas. In other states, local school district may be authorized to issue charters, such as in the State of Colorado. Charter initiating bodies, which intend to operate charter schools, may include local school districts, institutions of higher education, non-profit corporations, and for-profit corporations. The States of Michigan and California allow for-profit corporations to operate charter schools. Some educators are concerned that for-profit charter schools are inherently flawed, as they divert part of the funding that in a traditional public school would be spent entirely on education to maintain profits. According to National Education Association - public school teachers’ organization, for-profit charter schools rarely outperform traditional public schools, even when the charter receives higher funding.[5]
Charter school funding is dictated by the state. In many states, charter schools are funded by transferring per-pupil state aid from the school district where the charter school student resides. The Federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Part B, Sections 502 - 511 also authorize funding grants for charter schools. Additionally, charter schools may receive funding from private donors or foundations.

Core Knowledge Information

Students don't learn from rote memorization of isolated facts. Is the Core Knowledge curriculum merely a bunch of facts, ignoring the development of critical thinking skills?
Those who think that the only way to teach specific content is through rote memorization would be astonished to observe the many imaginative, resourceful, and creative ways that teachers in Core Knowledge schools have found to engage their students in active learning of important knowledge: through dramatizations, art projects, writing workshops, collaborative learning groups, research projects, etc. Yes, children may occasionally memorize a poem or the Preamble to the Constitution—but these are valid learning experiences, which, in fact, children enjoy, and from which they get a sense of pride and achievement.
Behind the outcry against "rote memorization" lies a deep prejudice — a prejudice against fact. Many educators object to any curriculum that says, for example, that children should learn the seven continents, because that is "mere fact." To teach facts, they say, is to reduce education to "Trivial Pursuit." Granted, some facts are trivial. Who starred in "Car 54 Where Are You?" That's trivial. But, who was Dred Scott and what was the significance of the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision? That's worth knowing: it gives you insight into the causes of the Civil War as well as historical perspective on race relations in the United States.
No one wants schools to think of curriculum solely in terms of facts. We also want — and students need — opportunities to use the facts, to apply them, question them, discuss them, doubt them, connect them, analyze them, verify or deny them, solve problems with them. All these activities, however, rely upon having some facts to work with. Without factual knowledge about an issue or problem, you can't think critically about it — you can only have an uninformed opinion.

CSAP
Below you will find the link to the released CSAP items from 2004!
http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeassess/documents/csap/released_items/2004CSAPRelItems-AnchorsWeb.pdf

Dear Families and Friends of ACS,

It is so hard to believe we have been in school for one semester and are getting to approach the next! Below you will find some important information regarding some changes in middle school so that students, parents, and teachers are all on the same page when we return from Winter Break.

New Spanish Teacher for 7th and 8th grade:
Our new Spanish teacher for grades 7th and 8th joined this week on Monday for a few hours and spent the day meeting each of her classes on Thursday. Her name is Laurie Hughes and we are very excited to have her join the ACS staff. Please click on the link to read more about Mrs. Hughes in her introductory letter!

Changes to the Middle School Discipline Policy:
The middle school teachers, Dean Brown and I have been discussing our current middle school discipline policy. As you know one of the changes we made was to have detentions occur after school on Tuesday and Thursdays. Another change we will be incorporating when we return from Winter Break, is the elimination of the current method of name on the board, check (PSP), and second check (discipline referral slip to the Dean). Please click on the link to access the new ACS Behavior Management Policy. This only applies to our middle school students and teachers who teach students in grades 6-8. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or any of the middle school teachers.

Late and Missing Work:
I’d like to clarify for you the policy on late and missing work received from our middle school students. Students will receive ½ credit for this work. Please be aware that teachers will not be grading this work the day it is received, but more than likely it will be later in the week after they have graded current assignments. So although the student has turned the work in, it isn’t “actively” a part of their grade until it is graded.

Also, with the use of the Parent Portal, you may see that the grade that was reported to you on Thursday or Friday many look different come Monday morning. Many teachers will grade papers received on Thursday or Friday over the weekend. Our eligibility for sports is based on the grade that was current as of Noon on Friday. This is the grade that determines if a student may participate in the next week’s sporting event, not the grade that is current in IC when you look there.

The middle school team and I have also been discussing some further changes regarding late work for 2nd semester. One difference is that late work will be accepted from the beginning of the quarter until “progress report” time which is about 4-6 weeks from the beginning of the quarter. This work will be due the Monday of the week of progress report. After this time this work will not be accepted. We feel students are not realizing the importance of being timely and responsible if they believe they have the entire quarter to turn in late work. I hope this clarifies these changes for you!

IC News:
If you have not stopped by the office to get your parent GUID number, please be sure to do this as teachers will only be printing off student summaries for those students who do not have internet access at home. We are expecting parents to get their numbers and to check their student’s progress so they can be a part of this process! We of course will notify parents if a student’s grade falls below a C- in the quarter.

Here are a few of the activities that are happening for the rest of 2007 as well as some important events scheduled for January!

• Parents of 8th graders: We will be having representatives from DCHS and CVHS here the week of January 7th to speak to the 8th graders who are planning on attending these high schools next year. At this time they will receive their registration packets as well as course descriptions. Castle View High School will be meeting with students at 2:45 on January 8th. They are planning a parent information meeting on January 10th as well. Please be sure to attend this night if your student is planning on attending CVHS next year! Douglas County High School will be meeting with students at 2:45 on January 14th. Their parent information meeting will be January 14th at 6:00 p.m.
• Movie Night: Student Council is hosting a movie night for January 23rd. We will have more information for you when we return from Break.

I hope you have a wonderful time off with your families over the break! I thank you as always for your support of ACS, our students, and staff!

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

On Thursday, December 20th, several 8th grade students accompanied Tina Rolle, Counselor at ACS, to the Castle Rock Care Nursing Center. They delivered Christmas presents to the various residents at the center. To provide some background, each resident has a tag that is created which indicates what they would like for Christmas. We hang these tags around the office front window and staff, parents, and other community members then select a tag and shop for this person. We always have a wonderful turnout for this event and we want to thank ACS parents, staff, and other community members who participated in this annual tradition. Mrs. Rolle would like to add how impressed she was with the 8th grade helpers: Dalton Ryland, Kendall Einhorn, Ryan Justus, and Kaitlyn Caldwell. They were terrific ambassadors of ACS and brought a tremendous amount of joy to the residents!

Kendra Peters
Assistant Dean