BIG SANDY NEWSLETTER
The Cub Reporter
The Newsletter of Big Sandy Schools
March 2010Calendar of Events
Enclosed is a calendar of school activities from August the remainder of the year. School will be held on following Mondays this year:
- March 8th
- May 17th
There will be no school on the following Fridays:
- March 12th
- May 21st
Vacations for 2009-2010
Spring Break: March 20th-29th
Lunch
Hot lunch prices have changed from last year:
- Grades 1-5 ...…. $2.00 pr. meal or for a month…… $32.00
- Grades 6-12…… $2.25 pr. meal or for a month…….$36.00
- Kindergarten milk/extra milk .30 cents.
Periodically weather and/or other factors necessitate the closing of school. If this is necessary, an announcement will be listed on the following stations:
Radio
KOA AM 850
KYZX FM 103.9
KVUU FM 99.9
KRDO FM 95.1
KILO FM 94.3
KVOR AM 1300
KRCC FM 91.5
KTLF FM 90.5
KKLI FM 106.3
PEAK FM 95.1
KSKX FM 105.5
KKCS FM 101.9
KKCS AM 1460Television
KOAA Channel 5/30
KRDO Channel 13
KKTV Channel 11
KCNC Channel 4In addition to radio and television stations,
there is an Internet web site that students and parents can access for school closures. The web site is: http://www.closureinfo.netWhen you access the web site, you will need to scroll down and select Rocky Mountain, Colorado Springs to display the listings. You can directly access the Rocky Mountain web site at: http://www.rockyinfo.net
The decision to close 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 forms.
The CUB REPORTER is our schools’ monthly newsletter. We mail this first copy to each school family at the beginning of August. During the school year, we will give this newsletter to the students to take home. If by chance you do not receive a copy around the beginning of each month, please talk with your child, call, or come by the school for another copy.
You will be also notified by an email and phone when there are closures.
Board of Education Meetings
The regular meeting of the Board of Education is scheduled for the third Wednesday of each month starting at 6:30 p.m. All board meetings are open to the public.
Principal Greg Mitchell
CSAP- Starting on Tuesday, March 9th and going through Friday, March 19th our elementary students will be taking the CSAP tests. 3rd grade will have writing and math tests, 4th grade has reading, writing, and math, and 5th grade has reading, writing, math, and science. A breakfast will be served each day of testing. It is very important that our students are well rested, focused, and they do their best work. However, if your child is sick, we will have time after spring break for make up tests. The results, with the exception of 3rd grade reading which we receive in early May, will be returned next summer and then the teachers will share your child’s results with you at the beginning of the year student testing.
3rd Quarter-The 3rd quarter ends on Friday, March 5th. Report cards will be sent home with elementary students the following week. There are a lot of new concepts this quarter so our students have been working extra hard to prepare for next year.
March Accountability Meeting-Tuesday, March 9th.
Elementary Easter Parties-Friday, April 4th.
Shout Point-This is the program that calls all families to let you know if we have an emergency or if school is closed, a late start, or early dismissal. If you did not get a call in February, please call the office so we can check your numbers. It does call all listed numbers so you might have received 2 or 3 calls. The whole process takes about 7 minutes to call all of the phone numbers.
Staffing Patterns-We are waiting on the legislators to let us know how much of a reduction in State funding we can anticipate next year. Our goal is to be fiscally responsible, maintain a positive student/teacher ratio, and provide the best education possible for all students in our district. Mr. Wilson will keep the community updated on legislation as it affects the school district.
Writing Month-Great job students and parents. Thank you and please remember to keep reading on a daily basis and write whenever you can.
Student Honors –
High School Wrestling – Your high school wrestlers competed in the Regional Wrestling Tournament on February 12h and 13th. Two, young men qualified for the state tournament. They are: Andrew Scherer and Mike Mullin. We are proud of all of our wrestlers and the hard work, and integrity, they exhibited throughout the season.
Basketball – The State Basketball Tournament will be held from March 11th – 13th in Pueblo.
FBLA State Qualifiers – The Big Sandy Chapter of the FBLA competed in the Regional Tournament in Pueblo on February 10th. We congratulate our entire team for their efforts and hard work put into each competition. Next month, we will report on those who qualified for the state meet.
CSAP Testing – Our District will begin conducting the annual Colorado Student Assessment Program exams during the week of March 8th. Due to the state basketball tournament and Spring Break, we are going to test on March 9th and 10th and then again on March 16th and 17th. Secondary students in grades 6 – 10 will take two to three tests per day. Tests will be administered during the morning hours. Your student’s attendance during this week is vital as teachers and staff members will work diligently to create an optimal testing environment. Students are encouraged to stay healthy during the week, be prompt to school, and get a minimum of eight hours of sleep each night. The school will provide breakfast each morning for every student taking the test.
Spring Break – Just a reminder that Spring Break will be from Monday, March 22nd to Monday, March 29th. School resumes on Tuesday, March 30th.
School on Monday, March 8th – Due to the State Basketball Tournament on March 12th – 13th, we will have school on Monday, March 8th and will not have school on Friday, March 12th
Parent/Teacher Conferences - The second semester conferences were held on Monday, February 8th from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. If you were unable to attend, and you are concerned about your student’s progress, please call your child’s teachers, to request a time to sit and discuss your concerns. This proactive approach is encouraged and will be a meaningful avenue of communication for both the parent and teacher.
Counselor Notes – March 2010
FINANCIAL AID
Seniors - This is the time to be working through the Financial Aid process! Getting your FAFSA submitted in a timely manner is the key to being offered Financial Aid offer from prospective colleges. Work through the following steps:
- Apply for a PIN number at www.pin.ed.gov. Your PIN number allows you to electronically sign your FAFSA making it unnecessary to send in paperwork. The student and his/her parents (1 PIN works for the couple) need a PIN.
- Complete the FAFSA online at www.fafsa.ed.gov. Copies of the publication FAFSA on the Web Worksheet were mailed to each senior’s home address. This worksheet guides you through the questions that you will be asked on the application. If you prefer to complete a paper application, I can print one for you. Remember that the FAFSA has two parts – questions that apply to the student and questions that apply to the student’s parents. I would be glad to help you work through the application if you have questions or are having problems. Make sure to include the colleges on your FAFSA that you want your financial information sent to. If the student has applied to 3 colleges, indicate on the FAFSA that you want the results sent to all 3 of those colleges.
- Your FAFSA will be processed and you will be sent a Student Aid Report (SAR). This report summarizes all of the information provided on your FAFSA. The key result from this report is your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) which appears in the upper corner. Carefully review your report. If corrections need to be made, go to www.fafsa.ed.gov and select “Make Corrections to a Processed FAFSA.”
- The colleges that you have been accepted to and who have received your financial information through the FAFSA process will send you a Financial Aid Award Letter this spring. The college takes the Cost of Attendance and subtracts the Expected Family Contribution resulting in your Financial Need. The award letter will list what the college offers you to help cover this need including: grants, work-study, and loans. They may also include certain scholarships given specifically by that college. Private scholarships are outside of this process.
CollegeinColorado.org provides a complete online section covering Financial Aid. I am available to help community members in this process as well. Feel free to call me at the school if you would like copies of resources or need assistance in the financial aid process!
SCHOLARSHIPS
Seniors should continue to work on scholarship applications. Parents – check with your son or daughter to see what progress he/she is making in this area. We are approaching the “busy season” for scholarships so it is important that seniors stay organized and keep track of due dates. It is important to know if a scholarship application is due to the recipient by a certain date or if it only has to be postmarked by that date. Check out the school website at www.bigsandy.ppboces.org for a link to our scholarship spreadsheet.
I am excited to see how well our students will do this year on the annual CSAP exams. We believe that good test scores is the by product of good instruction and student learning throughout the entire year and not due to some kind of magic during test taking. It is an opportunity for our students to shine and show what their academic progress has been throughout the year. We will look forward to receiving their results in July. We also want to emphasize and have a goal of good instruction and student learning all the way through the end of May.
Congratulations to the winter athletic teams that have completed or are presently competing in post season competition.
Enrollment is currently up 14 students as compared to the October count.
Last month we tested our emergency calling system called Shout Point. We will use this system to call students and parents if we have a snow day, if school is unexpectedly let out early, and for emergency situations. For general information, we will only use the e-mail side of this system. We will continue to use the calling tree to inform staff members in regard to snow days.
The United States 2010 Census is gearing up. Please fill out the Census as it will direct funds toward Big Sandy School District, Elbert and El Paso Counties, and the State of Colorado.
Driver’s Education
Driver’s Education is offered by Rick Kolm in Kiowa with a couple of options. An online class is offered at www.elbertcountydrivereducation.com for $90. This class covers the 30 hour classroom requirement. For $210 the 6 hour driving requirement is covered ($300 total). During the driving portion, he tries to have students drive in downtown Denver, in the mountains, on the interstate, and on country roads. Mr. Kolm also teaches a 5-day class over Christmas break and he teaches a 5-day class during the first 2-weeks of June ($290 total for the classroom and driving). To contact Mr. Kolm, leave a message on his home phone at (303) 621-2696. The youngest students must complete this course within 6 months prior to their 16th birthday in order to count toward the state requirements.
Nurseletter
Shot clinic was held on 24 Feb. 28 shots were given to 24 students. We are very fortunate to have the Elbert Co Nurse available to us to offer shots at only $10 each or free if unable to pay, especially with all the budget cutting in public services. It is unfortunate that more students did not take advantage of this opportunity.
Reminder: STUDENTS WHO are NOT IN COMPLIANCE with the SCHOOL IMMUNIZATION LAW will be excluded.
Music
Kari Venable
Fifth Grade Band has begun! Students have chosen their instruments and are meeting as small groups for instruction. We will put the entire group together after Spring Break!
Nineteen music students competed at the State Solo & Ensemble Contest held in Limon on Saturday, February 27, 2010 from our school. We had 4 piano soloists, 4 vocal soloists, 3 vocal duets, 3 vocal trios, and 2 nine-member vocal ensembles. Results will be in the next update. Thanks for your support!
If anyone is interested in the Michael Ghegan/Keiko Matsui concert in Bennett on Friday, March 19, 2010, please let me know how many tickets to order. The featured performers are internationally renowned jazz musicians. This concert is to benefit our smaller schools’ music programs on the Eastern Plains of Colorado.
ButterBraid pastries and CookieBreaks cookie dough should be delivered beginning March 2, 2010. The junior high and high school music students have worked hard to raise the necessary funds for our trip to the Elitch Gardens Music Festival on Friday, May 21, 2010. Thank you to everyone who helped these students with this fundraiser!
Students in grades 2 and 3 are preparing a mini-musical about why Music Matters. Be watching for more information!
Upcoming events:
Friday, April 16 is BFL Band Day at the Colorado Springs School. Concert black/white clothes will be required for the evening performance.
Saturday, April 24 is Band Day at Coors Field in Denver. The Colorado Rockies will be playing the Florida Marlins at 6:05 p.m. Ticket prices are only $20 for right mezzanine level seating. Chaperones will be needed!
Thursday, April 29 is the Spring Concert for grades 5-12.
Monday, May 3 is Beginning Honor Band at Calhan. Our 5th and 6th grade band students are welcome to audition for this event in early March.
Thursday, March 13 is the Spring Concert for grades K-4. There may be several smaller-group performances in addition to this large group concert. More information will be sent home as these are scheduled.
Friday, May 21 is the Elitch Gardens Music Festival. The junior high and high school music students, both bands and choirs, will be participating.
Saturday, May 29 is Graduation!
School Library News
Did you know that our school library offers your children a chance to view and read some great collections of e-books which are accessible right from your home computer? Check out TumbleBooks and TumbleReadables.
According to Tumble Weed Press, Inc., “The TumbleBookLibrary is a collection of TumbleBooks (animated, talking picture books) TumblePuzzles, and TumbleQuizzes, as well as TumbleResources for teachers. TumbleBooks are created from existing picture books which we have licensed from children's book publishers and converted to the TumbleBook format.”
“Tumble Book Library is an online collection of animated, talking picture books which teach young children the joys of reading in a format they’ll love!” Try it out by accessing the TumbleBookLibrary collection from home:
Log on to: www.TumbleBookLibrary.com
Username: bigsandy
Password: books
TumbleReadables is also a part of the subscription our school offers. Read-Alongs highlight the sentences as they are being read, turn the page automatically, and offer the ability to follow along in 3 text sizes. They also include an innovative bookmarking feature, the ability to switch to manual in order to read at your own speed, and cool color options for the skin of our new Read-Along player.
Try it out!
Log on to: www.TumbleReadables.com
Username: bigsandy
Password: login
To help provide easy access to these subscriptions, we will be adding links on our school web page, which can be located at http://bigsandy.ppboces.org/.
As always, if you have any questions about this subscription or anything other library subscriptions or materials, please call or stop by the school library.
Jeni Montague, Librarian