AVA Newsletter - March 5, 2026

March 5, 2026

Admin Address

Dear Aspen View Families,

With the new season of Survivor kicking off on TV, it got me thinking… if Aspen View Academy had its own season, I’m pretty sure our students and staff would be strong contenders.

Welcome to Aspen View Survivor: Outwit. Outlearn. Outlast.

Outwit

Students are flexing their problem-solving skills daily — whether it’s tackling challenging math concepts, crafting thoughtful essays, or figuring out how to log into their computer with 2% battery left. Strategic thinking is alive and well in our classrooms!

Outlearn

Instead of immunity idols, our students are armed with curiosity, creativity, and determination. From hands-on projects to class discussions, they’re building the kind of knowledge that lasts far longer than a tribal council vote.

Outlast

Let’s be honest — sometimes just making it from Monday morning to Friday afternoon feels like its own endurance challenge. But our students continue to show resilience, kindness, and perseverance. And our staff? They may not receive torches, but they certainly keep the flame of learning burning bright.

If we handed out weekly “Immunity Necklaces,” they might go to:

Students who consistently show respect and leadership.
Teachers who can troubleshoot technology in under 30 seconds.
Families who juggle schedules like seasoned survival strategists.
The cafeteria team — because no one survives long without lunch.

Of course, unlike the show, no one gets voted off Aspen View Island. We are a community, and we succeed together.

As we move through the coming weeks, here are a few important “Survival Tips”:

✔️ Attendance matters — being present is the ultimate advantage in the game of learning.
✔️ State assessments are on the horizon. A good night’s sleep and a solid breakfast are your student’s secret immunity idols.
✔️ Check communication from teachers regularly to stay informed about assignments and upcoming events.

Thank you for partnering with us each day. Your support ensures our students don’t just outlast the challenges — they thrive through them.

At Aspen View Academy, we do not dim the torches, but we do ignite potential.

Outwit. Outlearn. Outlast.

Bob Barber

Principal, Aspen View Academy

Middle School Only News

Boys Volleyball Tryouts

March 9th and 10th

3:45-5pm Middle School Gym

Middle School Winter Sports

Check out the Athletic calendar on our website and come cheer on our AVA Wolves!

General Announcements

Friday, March 6th Spirit Day-Team up with Kindness

Jersey Day with uniform bottoms

Spirit Day at Chick-fil-A (Both Castle Rock Locations)

Tuesday, March 10th 6am-10pm

Please see the flyer below on how to order through the app with the code "aspenview" or mention Aspen View Academy at the check out.

Parent Teacher Conferences

March 10th and 12th

Sign up using this link to find your child's teacher and sign up for a conference time. Please note that the sign ups will close on Monday, March 9th at noon. After this time, you will not be able to sign up through the system. If you need to make any changes after the deadline, please email your child’s teacher directly.

Please note students will attend school as a regular school day on these two conference days.

AVA Board of Directors Information Session

Have you ever thought about joining the AVA Board of Directors? Anyone interested in finding out more about serving on the board is invited to attend the upcoming information session. The information session will be held during the March 26^th board working session from 6 - 6:30PM.

The Scholastic Book Fair is next week.

March 9th-12th!

Create a Book Fair eWallet for your child NOW so they can shop cash-free, worry-free, and independently! It’s easy to set up and easy for others to contribute funds! Start here for easy set up today!!

There are a few spots left to help make this book fair a success! Click here to volunteer at the Book Fair.

HOURS:

Monday 3/9 8:15-4:00pm

Tuesday 3/10 8:15-11:00am, 12:00-7:30pm

Wednesday 3/11 8:15-11:00am, 12:00-4:00pm

Thursday 3/12 8:15-11:00am, 12:00-7:30pm

**Please note that the book fair is closed most days from 11:00-12:00 for restocking/break

Everyone needs groceries, so why not let a percentage of your grocery bill benefit Aspen View Academy?

Sign up Aspen View Academy for King Soopers Community Rewards and automatically be entered into a drawing for a FRONT ROW parking space at AVA. Click here for instructions on how to add AVA to your King Soopers Account and to enter our drawing for a parking spot.

Each quarter King Soopers will donate a percent of what you spend to our PTO. All you need to do is follow the instructions above to link your King Soopers Account to AVA community rewards. Then every time you shop at King Soopers, use your Shopper Card or Alternate ID a percent of your grocery bill will come back to the PTO.

It does not cost anything to enroll. It is Free Money and this is a great way to support Aspen View Academy PTO! This does not affect your gas rewards or any of your KS rewards.

Our volunteers have logged 381 hours in the month of February! Every month we will be doing a monthly drawing to win a gift card. Please visit our volunteer page to see upcoming opportunities.

Our volunteer of the month is Sarah Humbargar! Please stop by the front office to pick up your gift card.

Spirit Wear Day

Thursday, March 12th

On AVA Spirit Wear day students can wear any AVA t-shirt or sweatshirt purchased from the Wolf Shack or from a Wolf Run and they must wear their uniform bottoms. If you are not participating in Spirit Wear, uniforms will be required.

Reminder No School

Spring Break is March 13th-20th

Enjoy your Break!

If you are looking for ways to fulfill your volunteer hours please see our ongoing volunteer opportunities on our webpage. We need help with the bookfair and picture day. See the links in the newsletter.

March 27th Spring Individual Photos and

Kindergarten Cap & Gown Photos

For Spring Individual Photos: Only students whose parents have prepaid online and are purchasing photos will get their picture taken. Please order here.

For Kindergarten Cap & Gown Photos: All Kindergarteners will get their photo taken and parents will receive one complimentary photo certificate of their child. Parents will be able to view and purchase photos 5–7 days after picture day. Kindergarten Cap and Gown Flyer.

Volunteers Needed: We are looking for a couple parent volunteers to help with picture day. If you are able to help, please sign up here.

It is that time of the year -- the annual AVA Parent Satisfaction Survey! The SAC Committee (School Accountability Committee) invites you to complete the AVA Parent Satisfaction Survey (one per family) expressing your thoughts and opinions regarding the current AVA academic year. Your feedback is important to us! The survey should take less than 15 minutes to complete.

As a token of our appreciation, survey participants:

Can claim 1 volunteer hour for completing the survey
Will be entered into a drawing for one of 3 gift cards
And if we get 75% or better family participation, students will receive a free dress of choice day!

Please know that your responses are confidential. The SAC Committee will only use the family number to conduct the drawings for the gift cards. The results of the survey will be shared with the Board and Administration to determine whether AVA meets or exceeds annual goals set for the school. The survey is now open and will be open until March 12th.

Landsharks Running Club

Spring Track Series at

Aspen View Academy

Please click on the photo for more information and to sign up.

Counseling Corner- March

It’s hard to believe that in one week we will be entering the final quarter of this school year. The counseling team is committed to finishing the school year strong with our social & emotional learning lessons. Our lessons for March will focus on the following:

Grades K-2

Accepting ourselves for who we are. We will be reading the book: Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae. This book is about a Giraffe named Gerald who cannot dance like the other animals in Africa but with the help of a cricket Gerald realizes he has his own style of dancing.

Grades 3-4

Rumors and gossip. For this lesson we will be reading the book: Mr. Peabody’s Apples. This story is about a teacher, who is loved by many, is seen by a student taking an apple from a fruit stand without paying. The student spreads the story around but it turns out that he misunderstood the situation. He learns that things are not always what they seem and that our words have power.

Coping skill:

Our coping skill for the month is to think happy thoughts or think about a happy memory. This skill can boost the feel good chemicals in our brain and help us feel calmer.

Wishing you a safe and happy upcoming spring break!

The Counseling Team

STEM Lab is in need of newspapers

Students can drop off newspapers to Room 223. You many log one volunteer hour for a newspaper donation.

Watch for an email on March 23rd for the intent to return form for current Aspen View Academy Students.

CMAS 2026 is coming soon to AVA!

Here at Aspen View Academy, we are hard at work preparing for CMAS testing. Every classroom, every lesson, and every practice opportunity in IXL is a part of helping our students achieve at their highest level.

The Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) tests are given every year to 3rd-8th grade students in every public school in Colorado, measuring students in math, English/language arts, science (for 5th- and 8th-graders), and social studies (on a rotational basis every three-ish years for 4th- and 7th-graders). These tests are used by a lot of different groups:

The Colorado Department of Education and the Douglas County School District look at these results to see how well a school is preparing their students for success based on the Colorado Academic Standards and expectations for graduation.

AVA looks at these results to determine curriculum choices, professional development opportunities, and student support needs.

Prospective/future AVA families look at these results to get a feel for what kind of education their student will receive upon entering the building.

Current AVA families look at these results to celebrate growth with their students and to make decisions about where they can give their students higher-level challenges or provide extra learning opportunities around specific skills.

CMAS also presents ways for schools to be highlighted based on two metrics: how well students achieve (the score they receive) and how well students grow (the difference between one year’s scores and the next). There are two coveted awards that are granted to schools for testing results:

The first is the John Irwin award, which recognizes a school for several consecutive years of high achievement.
The second is the Governor’s Distinguished Improvement award, which recognizes a school for several consecutive years of high growth.

Both of these awards come with awesome banners a school can display on their building to show off their accomplishments as well as a special denotation on their yearly School Performance Framework.

With all of these implications, it’s difficult not to highly anticipate the wonderful things that can come out of CMAS testing.

As a close-knit school community, we already know that AVA is the best school around! CMAS is a great opportunity for us to show off just how amazing we are to the community at large.

To help us in this endeavor, there are several things you can do to help us make this the best CMAS season yet:

Encourage your students to view CMAS as the championships of school! They’ve been practicing all year to show off their skills in the big game. They have been well prepared to be the MVPs.

Plan ways to make the most of CMAS testing days: send your students to school with a special brain-boosting breakfast; give them an encouraging note or a sticker they can wear that reminds them that you’re sending them all your support during testing; plan a fun activity to celebrate that they did their best once testing is over. Your support for your students during these days is incredibly invaluable.

Ensure that, if your student is part of the testing grade levels, (s)he has no scheduled appointments during testing times. (The front office will not be able to call students out of a scheduled testing session.)

**CMAS testing will take place during the first two full weeks of April. You can check the tentative schedule here. Information on excusals from state testing can be found in this same location. Please make sure that any excusals are submitted by Friday, February 27th.**

We are so excited for April to come so that our students can show off everything they’ve learned this year, and we can’t wait to see and celebrate how much every student has grown.

Looking for fun, engaging, unplugged summer activities for your child this summer? Consider Stone Canyon's Summer Camp programs! Join us for a summer of fun, adventure, and friendship. Find registration links and more information here: https://www.stonecanyonedge.org/summercamp

Located in Larkspur, we offer week-long Overnight Camps for 9-15-year-old campers and 3-day Day Camps (including transportation to/from camp out of Castle Rock) for 6-9-year-old campers.

Be a part of Colorado sports history! The Foundation for Douglas County Schools is organizing two community nights to support Denver Summit FC, Colorado’s first-ever professional women’s team.

The National Women’s Soccer League is the fastest-growing league in the country, and demand for this inaugural season is record-breaking. We’ve secured a community discount. Buy your tickets here.