Grade 1 News
Friday February 1, 2019
Dear Parents,
Please see below for information in 1st grade this week.
History
We are continuing our unit on Ancient Civilizations and will focus on the incredible Aztecs who built their city in a lake! Students will learn a new song to remember some important facts about the Aztecs. If you would like to review at home, please refer to the contents in WYFGNTK.
Science
In Science next week, we will continue our new unit on Earth’s Place in the Universe. We have been focusing on patterns we see during the day and comparing them to patterns we see at night.
Literacy
Next week in Literacy we will be focusing on writing a proper paragraph with complete sentences. Students will get the opportunity to describe what they would do during a snow day.
Art
Mrs. Fisher is getting ready for the end of the year Art Show. Please use the sign up below if you would like to volunteer to help.
Volunteer Sign Up for the end of the year American Academy CP Art Show: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B084AA8A92FA4F49-2019
Dear American Academy Parents,
Can you believe it is almost February? I am in shock that we are almost a full month into 2019 already.
Special Thank You:
Thank you to all of our incredibly supportive families for participating in our first American Academy Backs the Blue Campaign. Your efforts paid off and have allowed American Academy to donate over $4000 to the Douglas County Fallen Officers Fund.
Thank you to our incredible PTO for supplying a delicious Red Robin Burger Bar for our active and retired officers that visited us on January 9th.
What’s Happening Around Campus:
As the school year continues, students are developing their routines and study habits. The staff of American Academy Castle Pines continues to encourage students to put their best foot forward and enjoy the educational journey they are embarking on.
KICKBOARD
As you may have noticed, Kickboard completed phase 1 of their new “Family Portal” rollout. Parents are now able to create their own account with multiple students under one login. Students are also able to create their own accounts now as well. For both parents and students, your login will now be your email address (students must use their American Academy email).
With the end of second trimester quickly approaching, be on the lookout for sign-ups and news of our second trimester Rebel Bucks parties.
SPORTS AND ECA ELIGIBILITY
Students who participate in an ECA or sport at American Academy are required to maintain acceptable grades to participate. Per the Extracurricular Activities Policy, students who have an “F” in a core subject will be ineligible to participate the following week in their activity. Students and parents will receive notification from the Dean with regard to their eligibility.
What’s Happening Outside of Campus:
As technology continues to advance, so do the outside pressures that our students face. From YouTube Challenges to marketing of hazardous items to today’s youth the only way to stay abreast of all of it is through daily research. My hope is that the information provided in this section can give parents a starting ground of what is going on and open communication lines in regard to social media, hazardous items, and how to lead by example versus following the “cool” new trend. By no means am I able to list everything that is going on through social media, but hopefully this acts as a starting point.
INTERNET & SOCIAL MEDIA AWARENESS
Currently, the internet has many different challenges that are tempting kids to make very unsafe decisions. Active conversations with your children regarding social media and internet awareness is a great starting point to protecting their personal information and the content they are exposed to.
HELPFUL TIPS AND APPS
Rethink App
o This is an app that was created to assist in the prevention of cyber bullying. By installing this app, a new keyboard is utilized that catches trigger words before sending. When the words are caught a pop-up appears on the screen asking the user if they would like to “rethink” what they wrote. For more information click here.
OurPact
o This app is a catch-all family locator and screen time management application. For more information click here.
AMERICAN ACADEMY CHARACTER:
During the month of January our character focus has been on Courage. During the month of February our character focus will be Humility. Over the course of the two months, teachers will incorporate lessons on courage and humility into their planned lessons and activities. Staff throughout the building will encourage students to be courageous and humble and model the behaviors we expect to see from our students.
Courage
o Begins by knowing what is good, true, and right.
o Building courage comes from thinking through what you should do in specific situations.
o To master this trait one must start with the little things:
Know the truth
Get help when one is afraid
Do what is right
Be willing to stand alone
Help those who are bullied or abused
Humility
o Recognizing the people and factors that have shaped one’s life.
o To master this trait one must start with the little things:
Be thankful
Be happy for other’s accomplishments
Be able to forgive
Be willing to learn
STUDENT UNIFORMS
As you all know, part of American Academy attendance includes our Student Uniform Policy. All uniform tops and bottoms must be purchased through Dennis Uniform. Please note that with cold weather and snow, students who choose to wear boots to school MUST have a change of shoes to wear throughout the school day.
Important student uniform reminders:
Students MUST wear approved Dennis Uniform shorts, pants, and tops.
Students MUST bring a change of shoes to wear throughout the day when they enter the building in snow boots. Students will be asked to call home if they do not have a change of shoes.
Students are NOT allowed to wear long-sleeved undershirts under their American Academy short-sleeved uniform shirt.
On dress of choice days, students MUST follow the guidelines of the uniform policy. Students cannot wear tank tops or any shirt that does not cover the shoulders.
On dress of choice days, students who choose to wear leggings MUST have shirts that are the length of their fingertips when their arms are placed down at their side.
Students are NOT allowed to wear smart watches, including Fit Bit, Gizmo, Apple, Garmin, etc.
Students CANNOT have any colored hair dye in their hair. We understand that some sports teams have their players color their hair to rally for a big game; please be sure to have this dye washed out by the next school day.
Students who arrive at school outside of uniform will be asked to call home for the appropriate attire.
Parents, I truly hope that this newsletter has been informative and helpful. If there is additional information that you know of that would be fantastic to share with families, please reach out to me via email with details, links, etc. and I will add them to the next month’s newsletter. As we all know, it takes a community of partnership and communication to ensure the safety and success of our students.
Thank you in advance for allowing me to positively impact their educational journey.
Ryan Kolb
Dean of Students, Castle Pines
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
American Academy
Castle Pines Campus
P : 720-292-5287
F : 303-660-5550
rkolb@aak8.org
Sincerely, the 1st Grade Team
Mrs. Anthenien, Mrs. Curl, Mrs. Miller, and Mrs. Valentine
Dear Parents,
Please see below for information in 1st grade this week.
History
We are continuing our unit on Ancient Civilizations and will focus on the incredible Aztecs who built their city in a lake! Students will learn a new song to remember some important facts about the Aztecs. If you would like to review at home, please refer to the contents in WYFGNTK.
Science
In Science next week, we will continue our new unit on Earth’s Place in the Universe. We have been focusing on patterns we see during the day and comparing them to patterns we see at night.
Literacy
Next week in Literacy we will be focusing on writing a proper paragraph with complete sentences. Students will get the opportunity to describe what they would do during a snow day.
Art
Mrs. Fisher is getting ready for the end of the year Art Show. Please use the sign up below if you would like to volunteer to help.
Volunteer Sign Up for the end of the year American Academy CP Art Show: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B084AA8A92FA4F49-2019
Dear American Academy Parents,
Can you believe it is almost February? I am in shock that we are almost a full month into 2019 already.
Special Thank You:
Thank you to all of our incredibly supportive families for participating in our first American Academy Backs the Blue Campaign. Your efforts paid off and have allowed American Academy to donate over $4000 to the Douglas County Fallen Officers Fund.
Thank you to our incredible PTO for supplying a delicious Red Robin Burger Bar for our active and retired officers that visited us on January 9th.
What’s Happening Around Campus:
As the school year continues, students are developing their routines and study habits. The staff of American Academy Castle Pines continues to encourage students to put their best foot forward and enjoy the educational journey they are embarking on.
KICKBOARD
As you may have noticed, Kickboard completed phase 1 of their new “Family Portal” rollout. Parents are now able to create their own account with multiple students under one login. Students are also able to create their own accounts now as well. For both parents and students, your login will now be your email address (students must use their American Academy email).
With the end of second trimester quickly approaching, be on the lookout for sign-ups and news of our second trimester Rebel Bucks parties.
SPORTS AND ECA ELIGIBILITY
Students who participate in an ECA or sport at American Academy are required to maintain acceptable grades to participate. Per the Extracurricular Activities Policy, students who have an “F” in a core subject will be ineligible to participate the following week in their activity. Students and parents will receive notification from the Dean with regard to their eligibility.
What’s Happening Outside of Campus:
As technology continues to advance, so do the outside pressures that our students face. From YouTube Challenges to marketing of hazardous items to today’s youth the only way to stay abreast of all of it is through daily research. My hope is that the information provided in this section can give parents a starting ground of what is going on and open communication lines in regard to social media, hazardous items, and how to lead by example versus following the “cool” new trend. By no means am I able to list everything that is going on through social media, but hopefully this acts as a starting point.
INTERNET & SOCIAL MEDIA AWARENESS
Currently, the internet has many different challenges that are tempting kids to make very unsafe decisions. Active conversations with your children regarding social media and internet awareness is a great starting point to protecting their personal information and the content they are exposed to.
HELPFUL TIPS AND APPS
Rethink App
o This is an app that was created to assist in the prevention of cyber bullying. By installing this app, a new keyboard is utilized that catches trigger words before sending. When the words are caught a pop-up appears on the screen asking the user if they would like to “rethink” what they wrote. For more information click here.
OurPact
o This app is a catch-all family locator and screen time management application. For more information click here.
AMERICAN ACADEMY CHARACTER:
During the month of January our character focus has been on Courage. During the month of February our character focus will be Humility. Over the course of the two months, teachers will incorporate lessons on courage and humility into their planned lessons and activities. Staff throughout the building will encourage students to be courageous and humble and model the behaviors we expect to see from our students.
Courage
o Begins by knowing what is good, true, and right.
o Building courage comes from thinking through what you should do in specific situations.
o To master this trait one must start with the little things:
Know the truth
Get help when one is afraid
Do what is right
Be willing to stand alone
Help those who are bullied or abused
Humility
o Recognizing the people and factors that have shaped one’s life.
o To master this trait one must start with the little things:
Be thankful
Be happy for other’s accomplishments
Be able to forgive
Be willing to learn
STUDENT UNIFORMS
As you all know, part of American Academy attendance includes our Student Uniform Policy. All uniform tops and bottoms must be purchased through Dennis Uniform. Please note that with cold weather and snow, students who choose to wear boots to school MUST have a change of shoes to wear throughout the school day.
Important student uniform reminders:
Students MUST wear approved Dennis Uniform shorts, pants, and tops.
Students MUST bring a change of shoes to wear throughout the day when they enter the building in snow boots. Students will be asked to call home if they do not have a change of shoes.
Students are NOT allowed to wear long-sleeved undershirts under their American Academy short-sleeved uniform shirt.
On dress of choice days, students MUST follow the guidelines of the uniform policy. Students cannot wear tank tops or any shirt that does not cover the shoulders.
On dress of choice days, students who choose to wear leggings MUST have shirts that are the length of their fingertips when their arms are placed down at their side.
Students are NOT allowed to wear smart watches, including Fit Bit, Gizmo, Apple, Garmin, etc.
Students CANNOT have any colored hair dye in their hair. We understand that some sports teams have their players color their hair to rally for a big game; please be sure to have this dye washed out by the next school day.
Students who arrive at school outside of uniform will be asked to call home for the appropriate attire.
Parents, I truly hope that this newsletter has been informative and helpful. If there is additional information that you know of that would be fantastic to share with families, please reach out to me via email with details, links, etc. and I will add them to the next month’s newsletter. As we all know, it takes a community of partnership and communication to ensure the safety and success of our students.
Thank you in advance for allowing me to positively impact their educational journey.
Ryan Kolb
Dean of Students, Castle Pines
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
American Academy
Castle Pines Campus
P : 720-292-5287
F : 303-660-5550
rkolb@aak8.org
Sincerely, the 1st Grade Team
Mrs. Anthenien, Mrs. Curl, Mrs. Miller, and Mrs. Valentine