The Cub Reporter
The Newsletter of Big Sandy Schools
February 2012
School will be held on five Mondays this year:
- February 13th
- March 5th
- May 14th
There will be no school on the following Fridays:
- February 17th
- March 9th
- May 18th
Vacation for 2011-2012:
Spring Break: March 27th – 30thSchool Closure and Early Dismissal Information
Periodically weather and/or other factors necessitate the closing of school. If this is necessary, an announcement will be listed on www.Flashalert.net and then we will contact all local radio and television stations. We are also using Shout Point to call everyone within the data base in regard to school closure updates.
Big Sandy Schools has a late start schedule that can be used to start school at 10:00 A.M. instead of 8:00 A.M. The decision to close or delay school will generally be made before 6:00 A.M. each school day. We will try to avoid middle of the day dismissals, but on occasion we may have to dismiss early. We ask that you please make sure you have updated your child’s emergency contact and early dismissal information.
Board of Education Meetings
The regular meeting of the Board of Education is scheduled for the third Wednesday of each month starting at 7:00 p.m. or 6:30 P.M. during daylight savings time. All board meetings are open to the public.Dear Big Sandy School District Community,
Big Sandy School District is pleased to announce the availability of our 2010-2011 Annual Report to the Public. Every year, school districts in Colorado report about their performance to their communities, based on requirements in the No Child Left Behind Act.
Most of the information required by federal law is now available on the Colorado Department of Education’s Web site in the SchoolView Data Center www.schoolview.org/performance.asp. The remaining information will be available in the Data Center next month.
The SchoolView Data Center for Big Sandy School District includes the following information, except as noted:
Assessment Data
- CSAP results by grade level for each school and for the district. Results are disaggregated by race/ethnicity, English language learners, economically disadvantaged students and students with disabilities.
- School and district CSAP performance for the last two years, compared with the state of Colorado as a whole.
- CSAPA results (for students given the alternate assessment), if applicable.
- National Assessment of Educational Progress results for Colorado students as a whole and disaggregated by race/ethnicity, English language learners, economically disadvantaged students and students with disabilities .
Accountability Data
- Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) results. Adequate Yearly Progress is the federal accountability measure for schools and districts under the No Child Left Behind legislation. The report includes the overall AYP determination for schools and districts as well as their specific AYP results.
- The names of schools in your district that are identified as Schools on Improvement under No Child Left Behind.
Teacher Quality Data
- The percent of classes not taught by Highly Qualified Teachers, and disaggregated by high and low poverty schools.
- Information about teachers including the professional qualifications of teachers, and the percent of teachers with emergency licenses.
This information is also posted on the district’s Web site here: http://bigsandy.ppboces.org/. If you would like a hard copy of this information, please contact the school office.
CSAP Testing-Our 3rd grade students will take their reading test on Wednesday, February 29th and Thursday, March 1st. Then starting the week after Spring break, the 3rd through 5th grades will take the rest of the CSAP tests in reading, math, and writing. In addition, 5th grade will be tested in science and depending on the schedule they may take their test before Spring break. The results for the 3rd grade reading test will be returned in May. The rest of the results will come back to the school in late July or early August and will be given to parents at back to school testing in August.
Writing Month-February is Writing Month at Big Sandy Elementary. Your child brought home a calendar with different topics and forms of writing for the month of February. Your child can either write about the topic of the day or something of his or her choice. Please return signed calendars at the end of the month.
Hop To It-The elementary will be exercising from 1:30 p.m. until 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 14th in both gyms. 1st and 2nd graders will be in the old gym jumping rope and exercising while the 3rd-5th graders will be in the new gym either participating in basketball activities or jumping rope.
Valentine’s Day-Tuesday, Feb. 14th. All kindergarten students will attend the morning session and celebrate from 10:30 a.m. until 11:20 a.m. First through fifth grades will have their parties from 3:00 p.m. until 3:55 p.m. Thank you room parents for the parties.
Parent/Teacher Conferences-Thursday, Feb. 16th starting at 4:00 p.m. by appointment. Parents will receive a sheet with the scheduled conference time. Due to the number of students and the time restrictions, teachers may be scheduling conferences during lunch or after school. If you cannot make your scheduled time, please contact your child’s teacher to reschedule or hold a phone conference.
BEST Update-We are continuing to design the new school and the Board will be hiring the general contractor the first of February.
February Accountability Meeting-Tuesday, February 14th at 3:00 p.m.
Have a great month.
Student Honors –
Honor Roll – We had 52 Junior High and 70 High School students achieve a 3.00 grade point average or greater for the first semester. Names are posted in the school, within this month’s Cub Reporter, and in the Ranchland News. The National Honor Society recognized these students by serving them ice cream sundaes during lunch.
Perfect Attendance – We had 14 students obtain perfect attendance for the first semester. Each student was given a treat, by Mrs.Swennes.
Safety Procedures
We want to thank parents and visitors for their continued cooperation with the decreased number of access points into the building. Visitors/parents, please continue to check in with the office before visiting or picking up a student.
School on Monday, February 13th – Due to the State Wrestling Tournament on February 17th – 18th, we will have school on Monday, February 13th and NO SCHOOL on Friday, February 17th.
Attendance Reminder – It is the belief of the Big Sandy School District that students who attend school regularly learn more and are more successful. Doing the assignment for the day, can never completely make- up for the learning that is missed during an absence from school. As a parent, you can help Big Sandy and your student by assuring their regular attendance each day. If it is necessary for your child to be absent, please contact the office at 541-2291. Absences that are not reported are automatically considered unexcused and can carry both attendance and academic consequences. As we begin a new semester, review the teacher expectations with your child and revisit your student handbook for clarification of the attendance policy (page 19-22). Research says that missing just one or two sessions of a class can start a downward spiral (Chung, Parent Institute, 2006). Here are three ideas to help your son/daughter make the most of his/her educational experience:
- Limit late-night work hours to the weekend;
- Make sure your student has a loud alarm clock; and
- Stress why he/she needs to get to school on time. An employer will not let him/her show up whenever he/she feels like it.
NHS Guidelines
Students having a 3.5 GPA after the second semester of their sophomore year are considered for membership by a faculty committee. The committee also looks at a student’s character, leadership abilities, and community service. Applications have been given to students, and we will begin the selection process in the near future.
Parent-Teacher Conferences
This semester parent-teacher conferences will be held on Thursday, February 16th, from 4 – 8 p.m. Some students in 6th grade will have scheduled conferences during this time. The remaining students in 6th through 12th grades will have open conferences during this time. If you are unable to make it to conferences please feel free to call or email any of your child’s teachers to set up a separate appointment time or you can do your conference over the phone.
February Students of the Month:
Jr. High – Andrew Feasel, Trevor Clements.
High School – Jessica Linton, Jed Clements, Kristen Garza, Seanna Forte.
Perfect Attendance
HIGH SCHOOL
Hannah Lutz
Lindsey Medina
Michael Opperman
Samantha Talbert
Morgan Dwyer
Mikayla Korinek
Silver Robison
Aaron Thieman
Aaron van Zoeren
Tanna Boyle
Kenzi Mitchell
Kexin Peng
Travis Talbert
Leah Archer- Case
Austin Traver
Angela Wirsching
JUNIOR HIGH
Marissa Bonham
Madison Dwyer
Daniel Gordon
Garrison Raley
Jeremiah Raley
Michael Smith
Angel Tovar
Andrew Weaver
Kolten Barlow
Dillon fladgard
Rhett Lavender
Ashley Robison
Benjamin Smith
Timothy Smith
Breanna Tinnes
Angel Valdez
Blake fladgard
Jason George
Cornelis van Zoeren
Counselor Notes: Chad Thieman
SENIORS:
It’s time to focus on completing the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid)! All seniors have been given the opportunity to apply for a PIN number during senior seminar. Parents also need a PIN number (1 per couple). PIN numbers are required to electronically sign the FAFSA which expedites the processing of your submitted information. A copy of the FAFSA on the Web worksheet was mailed home in January to all families who have a senior planning to attend college. After your FAFSA has been submitted, expect a Student Aid Report (SAR) to be sent via email. The most important item on this report is your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). This number is used by colleges to determine what to offer you as Financial Aid. Carefully review your SAR to make sure that the information processed is correct. There is a process to make changes if needed. The web site to access the FAFSA is www.fafsa.ed.gov.
FAFSA Help! I am available to assist families in completing the application. If you need to use a school computer to take advantage of our high speed Internet connection, I can help set that up for you. If you have questions on how to complete any or all of the application, please feel free to call or come by. Please remember that I am not qualified to give financial advice as it pertains to this process.
Students are continuing to work on scholarship applications during Senior Seminar. Our students are provided information on hundreds of scholarship opportunities. The only sure way to not receive a scholarship is to not apply!
Don’t forget that each senior is given the opportunity for a job shadow experience and/or a college visit. Seniors may miss 2 days of school for these activities without affecting their attendance for the year. Mr. Thieman has forms to be completed if a student is going on a job shadow or a college visit.
Parents – please feel free to call my office any time that I can assist you in the college admission and financial aid processes. A great deal of information about both topics is available on the Internet. Two useful websites are: collegeincolorado.org and fastweb.com.
JUNIORS AND SOPHOMORES:
Colorado AHEC is hosting a Summer Health Career Institute for high school students (ages 16 and 17) throughout the state at the University of Colorado’s Health Science Center at the Anschutz Medical Campus. Tuition, room, and board are provided by The Colorado AHEC program. The goal of this program is to encourage high school students with interests in health and abilities in math and science to pursue health careers and to provide them with information and experience which will help them make intelligent career choices. During the week these students receive a comprehensive introduction into the field of health care requirements necessary to enter the field. This year’s program will be held from July 8th – 14th. See Mr. Thieman for application details. The deadline for receipt of the completed application is April 6.
JUNIORS:
The United States Air Force Academy will be having an Admissions Information meeting on Wednesday, February 8, at the Pine Creek High School Auditorium. The address is: 10750 Thunder Mountain Ave in Colorado Springs. You can learn more about the Air Force Academy including the admissions process, academic and athletic programs, cadet life, and career opportunities after graduation. More information can be found at www.academyadmissions.com.
SOPHOMORES:
PLAN and PSAT test results were handed out in January. Parents – please check with your student if they have not shared those results with you.
FRESHMEN:
EXPLORE test results were handed out in January. Parents – please check with your student if they have not shared those results with you.
ALL GRADES:
TCAP testing will begin soon! Our 3rd graders start us off with a Reading test in February. The remainder of the TCAPs are given to 3rd – 10th graders in March. Content areas tested are: Reading, Writing, and Math. 5th, 8th, and 10th graders also take a Science test. TCAP scores are used to monitor a student’s progress through the content areas and for the state of Colorado to evaluate our school’s ability to provide quality instruction. Parents can help by making sure that their students have plenty of rest and good nutrition throughout the testing period.
The Higher Education Admissions Requirements (HEAR) for admission to Colorado’s 4-year public colleges and universities are as follows: 4 years each of Math and English, 3 years each of Science and Social Studies, 1 year of Foreign Language, and 2 Academic Electives.
The counseling office is available any time for students to talk about any issue. Student/counselor conversations are kept confidential unless something is shared that may involve harm to the student or to another person. Encourage your student to stop by the counseling office if they would like to talk!
A lot of exciting happenings have been going on in regard to our new school building project! SlaterPaull was hired to be our architect. In this current, very competitive market for construction, we had many quality companies apply. SlaterPaull started immediately after being hired. They reviewed our preliminary work that was done over the past year and are currently designing our building.
We had 12 companies apply to be our CM/GC (Construction Manager/ General Contractor). We narrowed these 12 companies down to 4 quality companies that have quality teams assigned for our project; we will interview them on January 31. Once we get the CM/GC on board, we will be working as a team with SlaterPaull, the CM/GC and the school. The “school” includes many different aspects such as our community, staff, students, parents, the Town of Simla, Elbert County, and others.
On our school website, we have a link that will be updated weekly to keep everyone abreast on the latest developments with the building. Our website is http://bigsandy.ppboces.org
Finally, after applying and spending a lot of time checking into a possible move to the East Central Board of Cooperative Educational Services, the ECBOCES invited our school district to join them. We have declined the invitation for next year. ECBOCES will be reviewing and possibly updating a policy that has a significant financial impact unique to our school if we were to join at the present time. After their review of this policy, we will reevaluate the financial impact and possibly reconsider our current decision.
School Nurse
Flu shots for children will not be available at school.
If you wish your child to have the flu shot, you may get it at:
Elbert Co Nurses, call for appointment: 303-621-3144 (cost is $14, no cost if enrolled in Medicaid)
Your medical provider office
Your local pharmacy
If you receive notice of out-of-compliance immunization status, please respond as quickly as possible
No date is set yet, however a shot clinic is planned for the Tdap compliance (6th-12th grades) and Meningococcal (available for seniors and other high school students) and for any student needing school compliance immunizations.
Thanks, Mrs. C. ! Edith Vick
Miscellaneous Items
Will you please include the following within the next 2 months of the Cub Reporter?
Anyone signing up for or renewing their Direct TV service please use the Account #57992179 and Big Sandy School will receive a $100 rebate. Thank you!