AVA Newsletter - August 17th 2023

August 17th, 2023

Admin Address

Welcome Back to School!

Whether you are a new family or a founding family who has been here since the beginning, we are so excited to welcome you to the 2023-2024 school year at Aspen View Academy! It was great to see so many enthusiastic faces coming into the building this week (not to mention the eager faces of parents in carpool). The teachers, administration and staff have been at school much of the past two weeks (and throughout the summer) getting ready, and we are happy to finally have the kids in class so we can get down to the business of learning.

Two essential components of AVA that make us special is our commitment to climate and culture. Building a healthy school climate and culture is a complex task, but also one essential to success both academically and in life. It involves a careful balancing act of key ideas such as providing for safety, implementing appropriate consequences when needed, and teaching students the skills they need to be adults. As a school we accomplish this with rules and guidelines, but also with a focus on admirable character traits. We use R.E.S.P.E.C.T. to remind our students about the value of...

· Responsibility

· Empowerment

· Sharing

· Patience

· Excellence

· Compassion

· Teamwork

These character traits are those of the well-rounded individuals that we are guiding our students to become, but they are not always easy. It is sometimes challenging to have compassion for someone who has been rude to you, work as part of a team with an individual you may not especially enjoy or be responsible enough to take ownership for mistakes. While these can be difficult, our wonderful young people are fortunate to have so many adults in their lives to care for them and set the example. When we as parents, teachers, and staff work together to reinforce these ideals we see remarkable growth and learning. Sometimes we reinforce our values through reminders, sometimes through consequences, and sometimes by acting them out ourselves. By constantly modeling our values, and enforcing boundaries around them, we are all creating the recipe for success.

I am looking forward to another amazing year. Please know that you can reach out to me at any time with questions, concerns or comments; sending an email is a great way to reach me. I look forward to hearing from you throughout the school year! I am also excited to announce that I will be having a coffee monthly meeting with the principal. This will be a great opportunity to come in person and hear what is going on at the school and to ask questions that you may have. It will also be a good time to meet new parents.

Again, here is to another amazing year!

Bob Barber

AVA Principal

Middle School Only News

Middle School Fall Sports

Volleyball

Tryouts begin August 14th-19th 3:45-5:15

Regular practice will start August 21st 3:45-5:15

1st game will be August 29th

Parent meeting August 21st after practice in MS gym

Cross Country

Parent meeting on August 24th at 4:45 after practice

1st practice August 21st

1st meet September 1st

Soccer

August 17th- Regular practice followed by parent meeting at 5:30

Student athletics must complete the Athletic packet to participate in a sport. Please find the forms to complete on our website.

Volleyball Coaches Needed

We are looking for 3 parents who would be willing to coach this season for girls volleyball. I am in need of 3 coaches, 1 for JV, 1 for 3rd Level and 1 for 4th level. I can help with practice plans and anything else to help. You can email me back at ssherburne@aspenviewacademy.org. Thank you all.

Please see the attached flyer for Castle View Basketball Boys Gold Crown Feeder Tryouts and to fill out the Preregistration Form. This is open to Boys in 4th-8th grades. If you have any questions, please email Matt Coyne.

Congratulations!

One of our 6th grade students, Kennedy Coppin was just cast as YOUNG ANNA in Frozen at Castle View High School. There will be 10 shows in November at CV. Congratulations Kennedy!

General Announcements

PTO Back to School Party Tomorrow, August 18th

Join us on Friday, August 18th 4:00pm-6:30pm on the AVA field for PTO's Back to School Party! There will be: Entertainment, Photo booth, Games, Popcorn & Prizes, food trucks, bounce house, and obstacle courses. Click here to volunteer at a station.

Student Picture Day-Next Week

Student Picture Day- August 23rd and August 24th

Student Pictures for Yearbook and Student ID are scheduled to be taken during the following schedule:

August 23rd for Grades: PreK and 5th-8th

August 24th for Grades: K-4th

Please note: all students need to be photographed in their AVA Uniform since this photo will be used for both their Student ID as well as the Yearbook.

Additional Dates for Photos

Retakes-Wednesday, October 11th

Please click on the link here to prepay online

Every year we provide this great tool to the AVA Community. The All School Directory is provided on the AVA website and it is password protected. The password will only be emailed to the parents or guardians listed on their student registration. But before it can be published, those families wishing to opt out must complete this form. Please note that you may opt out to all or partial information. If you wish to opt out of all your information, please know your student's name will still be listed in the classroom list within the directory.

The directory will be available on the website beginning of September. Once the directory is available it will be password protected so please look for the password in an email in early September. All families are automatically opted in to the directory.

To OPT OUT of the All School Directory you MUST complete this form. The deadline to complete this form is Sunday, August 27th.

A Note from the Office

DROPPING OFF ITEMS

When you drop off items for your student during the school day, please have all items labeled with your student's name and grade. This includes; lunchboxes, water bottles, coats etc.

COMMUNICATIONS

There are several ways the school sends out communication. For many communications we use Infinite Campus to send messages. Please do not unsubscribe or you will not receive any communications through that means. Also please be sure your contact information in Infinite Campus is up-to-date.

STUDENT ATTENDANCE

Report Absence or Late Arrival:

To report a student absent or late arrival please call the Attendance Line: 303.660.5940 This is available 24 hours a day. Or report their absence through the AVA Website, click on the Attendance button.

If you know someone who didn't receive this newsletter, have them check their spam folder and if they still didn't receive it please have them email me at dcarson@aspenviewacademy.org

Used Uniform Sale-Pick Up

Please stop by the front office to pick up your money and unsold uniforms from the used uniform sale. If the money is not picked up by August 31st, the money will be donated to the PTO.

A message from the nurse

Please remember to drop off any prescription and Over the Counter Medications with the signed MD orders this week. All the medication forms can be found here on our website. If you have any questions please reach out to our school nurse, Jacenta Wirth or our health room assistant, Mindy Baumann.

August PTO Pipeline is live & updated for August. Check it out for upcoming events + volunteer opportunities.

Saturday, August 19th 5-9pm

LOGGING VOLUNTEER HOURS

We are no longer using the Raptor System to log your volunteer hours. There is a computer in the front lobby so you can log hours while you are at the school; you may also log hours at home for any PTO work, at home projects or if you forgot to log your hours while you were at school. All volunteer hours should be logged into HelpCounter within 48 hours.

How to Set up your Account with HelpCounter

Please click on this link and log in using your email address and create a password.
Click on 'Update Profile Information' to add your information and record your student's grade.
Click on 'Update Volunteer Interest Form' to indicate what types of volunteer opportunities interest you. This does not commit you, rather it allows the coordinator to see who is interested in specific opportunities.

To Volunteer you must fill out the Parent Volunteer Agreement form.

The Healthy School Meals for All Program provides free lunch for all students beginning the 2023-24 school year. Please see the DCSD Nutrition Services website here for more information.

The Wolf Shack will be open Wednesday's from 3:00-4:00pm for in-person shopping. If purchasing online, please remember to give your child’s name and homeroom teacher so we know where to deliver. If purchasing for multiple kids, please pick one child and their homeroom teacher to deliver all items to. Happy shopping!

One of our AVA parents is speaking at a family-friendly event on Sunday, 8/20 at the Fairgrounds, on behalf of Rimmel’s Ranch. Please click on the picture above for more information about this event.

Gather your family and friends for some great, discounted fun opportunities brought to you by the Foundation for Douglas County Schools. Better yet, a portion of each ticket purchased goes back to DC Schools! Click on the picture above to find all the opportunities.

Report Anonymously. Any Time. Any Day.

1-877-542-7233

safe2tell.org

Make A Report

New Uniform Vendors

Please visit our website to find the links to shop all 3 of our uniform vendors. There are two new shirt colors added which include a green color shirt for all grades, PreK-8th grade and a black color shirt for 6th-8th grades. As long as you are shopping under Aspen View Academy it will pull up all of the options for you.