AVA Newsletter

Newsletter

August 15th, 2019

Admin Address

My Challenge to You!!!

At Aspen View Academy, we depend on the wealth of talent our parent community has to offer the school, the staff, and, more importantly, the students. Research has shown that students may achieve at a higher academic level if their parent(s) are involved in their child's education. There are so many opportunities that we offer parents that it should not be difficult to get involved and, at the same time, fulfill your volunteer requirement.

AVA believes that the success of each student will be a shared responsibility of students, teachers, parents, staff, and community leaders. Volunteers enhance the school and its culture and character through their involvement. Accordingly, a strong family involvement program will be implemented. AVA expects 30 volunteer hours per family per school year. Single-parent families are expected to volunteer 15 hours per school year. The volunteer school year shall coincide with AVA’s fiscal year, and hours shall accrue from July 1 through June 30. If your family has special circumstances that make it difficult for you to meet the expected volunteer hours, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator. Many volunteer opportunities exist within AVA’s PTO. The PTO is an organization comprised of parent volunteers for the purpose of providing community support, fundraising and planning various events within our school community.

Preregistration on the Raptor Volunteer site is required, this only needs to be completed one time.

To log volunteer hours, please visit the Volunteer Portal.

For a moment, please do not look at volunteering as a nuisance or burden. Please focus on the fact that it is a great way for you to get involved with the school and your child's education. The amazing culture that we have established at Aspen View Academy has so much to do with the countless volunteers that give their time and energy to the school.

Now, back to my challenge. I do not recall a charter school that had 100% of their families participate in volunteer activities. Let's be the first charter school that accomplishes this goal. Let's have 100% of AVA families log at least one hour of volunteer service to the school.

I know you can do it!

Sincerely,

Bob Barber

Announcements

If you sold uniforms at the Used Uniform Sale, please stop by the office to pick up any money and/or uniforms that did not sell. Any money or uniforms left after Friday, August 23rd will be donated.

We will be providing the All School directory to families again. This directory is available through the Aspen View Academy app for smart phones. You can download the app by visiting your phone's app store and search for Aspen View Academy. The directory will be on the app early in September. Once the directory is available it will be password protected so please look for the password in an email early in September. All families are automatically opted in UNLESS you opt out by completing this form. The deadline to complete this form is August 28th.

Please email me if you have any questions,

Thank you,

Sheri Cahill

Each year we provide families with resources to help with carpooling to and from school. This service is provided by a third party, Way to Go. We share the information with them and they will mail families vicinity maps to help you in coordinating a carpool with other AVA families who live in your area. We give families the opportunity to opt out of this program if they do not wish to have their information shared with other AVA families in your area. If you choose to opt out please click here. You will have until August 28th to opt out.

Please email me if you have any questions,

Sheri Cahill

Treats with Grandparents

To get a head start on celebrating Grandparents Day, we invite students to spend quality time and share treats with their grandparents on Friday, September 6th in the cafeteria at 7:30am. An RSVP email will go out in a few weeks. Stay tuned!

Third Annual AVA Family Fall Carnival

Back by popular demand, Saturday, September 21st from 2-5pm on the AVA field, we invite you to join us for a fun-filled afternoon full of games, food, music and festivities! Save the date and we will provide more information as the event gets closer.

On Thursday, August 29th from 10:30am-8:30pm MAD Greens will donate 20% of revenue from your order to Aspen View Academy. Click here for the flyer.

Shopstravaganza at Castle Rock Outlets on 9/14

Shop with your AVA friends for a good cause on Saturday, September 14th. Sign up here to get tickets, chances at amazing raffle drawings and to support our school all in one event! $20 of each $30 ticket sold will go directly to AVA. Support today!

Lock in HALF your annual volunteer hours NOW!

Want to volunteer, but can’t make it to the school, or would prefer to mainly help from home? Now’s your chance! Join the Fundraising Sub-committee and watch those hours add up. It’s a great way to stay involved in your student’s school and create amazing activities for the AVA community. For more information, please contact [email protected].

An AVA Family is looking for your support.

Tom & Katie Ruekert and their two boys ( Ayden: 6th & Nolan: 4th) have been a part of the AVA community since the school was a mere thought back in 2011 and they are also a Founding Family.

We are asking that you please consider joining the Ruekert Family as they walk towards the very first treatment for FSH Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD). Katie was diagnosed with this form of Muscular Dystrophy (not to be confused with Multiple Sclerosis or MS) in 2011 and in 2016 they created a local fundraising event, known at the Colorado Walk & Roll to Cure FSHD. The event supports researchers working towards a very first treatment for this devastating muscle disease.

This year’s 4th annual event will be held at the Amphitheater at Philip S. Miller Park on Saturday, September 7th from 8am-11am. Registration is FREE and a post walk pancake breakfast is included. This family friendly event supports such a great cause!

To learn more about this community fundraiser and FSHD or if you are looking to walk with the Ruekert Family or make a direct tax deductible donation, please click on the link provided: Team Ruekert Warriors

Aspen View Academy will be also be offering a Pay to Dress day on Wednesday, August 28th with all proceeds benefiting the 4th Annual Colorado Walk & Roll to Cure FSHD.

Last year, the AVA community was able to help raise $1,800 towards the event’s $68,000 grand total!! Lets see if we can beat the amount we raised last year and help out all those in our community living with FSHD.

Important Information: Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT)

Universal Screening

As part of the Douglas County School District’s Universal Screening Process, ALL students in Grades 3 and 5 will take the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT 7) the week of September 9th. This assessment indicates the level and pattern of cognitive development of a student in comparison to grade and age mates. These general reasoning abilities, which start developing at birth and continue through early adulthood, are influenced by experiences gained both in and out of school.

If your child is in grades 3 or 5 please see detailed information about this assessment here: Universal Screening Information.

Gifted Identification Referral Testing

If your child is in grades 1, 2, 4 and you believe he/she needs evaluation for Gifted Identification and Services, you may refer your child for testing by initiating the Gifted Identification Process.

NOTE: Requesting this assessment automatically initiates the process to evaluate for Gifted Identification.

Please request CogAT testing for your child by completing the Referral for Gifted Identification linked HERE.

Helping an AVA family in need

One of our families has suffered a loss and we are requesting a meal train for the next month, to help them through this difficult time. Please sign up here to prepare and deliver meals. We are so fortunate to have a strong AVA community to lean on.

At AVA we use the Raptor System to check in volunteers and track hours. Every adult will need to complete the volunteer registration online through the Raptor System. The registration will only need to be completed one time, but your ID is still required to enter the building. Click here for the link to pre-register.

Click here for the Events Calendar

Middle School Sports

Dear AVA Parents,

My name is Adam Johnson and I'm the new boys soccer coach. I'm very excited for this opportunity to coach at AVA and help develop everyone into better soccer players, teach winning attitudes and continue to build a great successful AVA soccer program! My kids attend AVA so I am fully vested in focusing on making soccer a bigger part of AVA (my boys play soccer too). Here are a few notes about who I am when it comes to soccer. I played D-1 soccer at Western Illinois University, won 3 D-1 conference championships and made 3 NCAA tournament appearances. I hold a National C License from US Soccer and have over 7 years of club soccer coaching experience. My club experience began with coaching for the club in my hometown to the best club in Atlanta GA. Currently, I coach at the MAC every Saturday for our local Soccer Buddies program and have coached all ages from U6 through U17 boys and girls. That said, I am confident I have the experience, knowledge, passion and drive to make an impact on your child's soccer development and I truly hope you consider signing your boy up for soccer this fall. This is a great age for everyone to develop new skills and learn/maintain good soccer habits. So, no matter what your boy's soccer experience if they seem interested, have them come tryout or check out one of our practices. I look forward to seeing you on the pitch!

Respectfully,

Adam Johnson

For information regarding joining the Boys Soccer Team, please email Lindsay Alguire.

Students are required to have a complete Athletic Packet (which includes a physician's visit). Please click here for all of the information regarding middle school sports.