Greetings Osprey Community,

We are looking forward to welcoming prospective students and families to campus next week, as we host our first AHS Information Session of the year on Tuesday evening from 5:30 to 6:30 and our first Shadow Day Thursday.  We will go to lottery on March 1 if we have more students interested in enrolling at AHS for the 2017-18 school year than spaces available ( 80 in 9th and 10th grades and 75 in 11th grade).  Current families will receive enrollment information in February.  New students are encouraged to visit with us and complete the Online Intent to Enroll as soon as possible.  Please help spread the word!

freshman Jem Van Tyn shredsding at Chapman Hill during XBlock

Interested in learning more about how standardized tests such as the SAT, ACT, PARCC and CMAS relate to the college admissions process?  Join AHS College Counselor and Head of School Sean Woytek for an Osprey Parent Talk next Wednesday evening, 5:00 to 6:30, here on campus.  Jess and Sean will discuss the various tests, what their scores mean and how colleges use them in their admissions decisions.  For a reminder of which tests our students will take in April, please refer to the letter about standardized testing that we sent out in the fall or the assessment page on our website.  In addition to the tests that we outlined in the fall letter, 9th graders will be taking the PSAT9, which will better allow us to have connected data to track student growth.

Our 9th graders continue the All Together Now Sex Ed curriculum with educators from the Responsible Sex Education Institute next Wednesday morning.  This will be the third session of four over the course of the year.  

	senior Celia Hale creating beautiful work in Studio Art

Sophomores in Ally Johnson's Humanities classes will put the British colonial government on trial Thursday from 4:00 to 6:00 at the La Plata County Courthouse to determine whether they were responsible for the wrongful death of the protagonist of Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart.  This exhibition is the culmination of the Imperialism on Trial project, in which students explored  the impacts of European imperialism in during the Scramble for Africa through the lens of Achebe's seminal novel, set in Nigeria at the turn of the 19th century. The exhibition is open to the public and all are welcome.

The AHS Yearbook staff needs senior photos and quotations submitted no later than February 1; please send both to yearbook@animashighschool.com.

Finally, we have an Osprey family that is looking for a temporary home for their three-year-old female lab/aussie mix for the next six months or so. Unfortunately, a family member's allergies have been exacerbated by a current illness, but they anticipate this situation will pass. If you are interested in helping this family out by fostering their dog, please reach out to Laurel Rodd at registrar@animashighschool.com.

As a reminder, we do have school next Monday, the 23rd; while Durango 9R schools and Mountain Middle School will be closed for a professional development day, we are open as we had our January professional development day on Monday the 3rd.  Enjoy snowy weekend and many thanks for all you do to help the Ospreys soar!