Weekly Newsletter

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. The following two weeks will fly by with fun festivities and holiday preparations. Right now, we are in the middle of mid-year iReady testing. These tests are essential because they inform us how our students are "Leveling up" academically. Our next school-wide level-up goal is to have 85% of our students meet or exceed their mid-year growth goal on their iReady testing. Please encourage your children to take their time and do their best on these assessments, as they influence our instruction and programming.

Recently, there has been an increase in the number of tardies each morning. Students must be in their classrooms and ready to learn at 8:15. If they are dropped off at 8:13 or later, they may be late to class (especially middle school students who need to visit their locker) and are marked tardy. I know the line gets backed up later in the carpool window in the morning; however, it is usually wide open every morning from about 7:55 to 8:05.

Due to some confusion in the morning drop-off, we revised our procedures to make it easier for everyone. Starting January 1, we will be using the following procedure for morning drop-off.

1. Students should not be dropped off before 7:45 a.m. unless they have tutoring, extracurriculars, or appointments. We have seen an increase in students being dropped off too early. Please note that we offer BASE in the morning and parents should sign their students up for BASE if they need to drop students off early. If a student is consistently dropped off early, we may begin to charge a fee.
2. Morning drop-off begins once the doors are "propped" in both A & B Zones. You can begin to pull around or let your students out of the car when you see the doors propped open.
3. This change is now for all Preschool to Grade 8 students and A & B Zones and Preschool. When the doors are closed, your student(s) is late and must be signed in by a parent or guardian. If your student(s) is late, please park and walk into the Main Entrance and sign them in with our Front Office staff. Any student who comes in late without a parent to sign them in will receive an unexcused tardy.

We understand that weather and traffic can cause delays in our morning carpool, which is why we believe the doors "propped and not propped" are an easy visual for our community.

I appreciate the support in limiting the amount of non-water drinks coming into the school in the morning. We have seen a significant reduction in students bringing in Starbucks and other morning beverages. Thank you!

Have a great weekend!

Diana Simpson
Principal

Please visit to get the most updated events or other activities going on.

Important Upcoming Dates

🎼 December 5 - 5th Grade Musical

💌 December 6 - Thank An Aide Day

🏒 December 6 - Colorado Avalanche Spirit Wear Day/Spirit Wear Friday

🎼 December 10 - After School Choir Performance

🚫 December 13 - No Morning BASE

☃️ December 16 to 20 - Holiday Spirit Week

⚡ December 17 - Board Meeting

👕December 20 - Dress of Choice

🎉 December 20 - K - 5 Winter Parties

⛄December 23 to January 3 - Winter Break

Please visit our Bi-Monthly Newsletter dated December 4 for Grades K - 4.

Please visit our Bi-Monthly Newsletter dated November 22 for Grades 5 - 8 and our Supplement Newsletter on December 5.

Please visit our Bi-Monthly Newsletter dated December 4 for our Pre-K 3s and 4s.

Open Enrollment Offers

As of 8:00 a.m., December 11, parents/guardians who completed Open Enrollment (OE) for the 2025-26 school year, will be able to check for first-round offers from the EngagED Portal. The deadline to accept an offer from the Portal is 4:00 p.m., December 18.

Online Registration (OLR) - Prepare NOW! For the 2025-26 school year, DCSD K-12 registration is moving completely online and will be managed by Choice Programming.

Parents/Guardians who accept a:

Kindergarten Offer

• Parents will receive a link for OLR from BFAs director of admissions/registrar before winter break.

• OLR Deadline: 8:00 a.m., January 10.

• Collect these required documents BEFORE starting Registration.

1st-8th Offer AND whose child is new OR returning to the district (not currently at another DCSD school)

• Parents will receive a link for OLR from BFAs director of admissions/registrar before winter break.

• OLR Deadline: 8:00 a.m., January 10.

• Collect these required documents BEFORE starting Registration.

1st to 8th Offer AND whose child is currently enrolled at another DCSD school do not complete Registration. The student will automatically be enrolled at BFA for the 2025-26 school year. BFA will become the student’s assigned school through eighth grade.

If your child receives an offer and you have general questions, email Colleen Bobbin, BFA's Director of Admissions/Registrar. She will reply to emails received by Dec. 18 before leaving for Winter Break. Parents who email after December 18 will hear back after Winter Break.

Direct All Questions about OLR to Starla Cordova, Coordinator Charter Operations, Choice Programming.

Preschool enrollment for the 2025-26 school term will open to current BFA families is now open for Current BFA families, please visit our webpage.

🧦 Monday- MistleTOE Monday - full uniform with festive socks

🌲 Tuesday- TreeTopper Tuesday - full uniform with festive hats, headbands

❄️ Wednesday - Winter Wonderland Wednesday - winter tops (think blue, white, silver and snowflakes) with uniform bottoms

🧸 Thursday - Long Winter's Nap Thursday - wear your favorite holiday pajamas - no crocs or slippers.

✨ Friday - Festive Friday - Dress of Choice and Holiday Sweaters

Please see all the wonderful things our School Committees are doing in this week's Committee Newsletter. This includes, Community Events Committee (CEC), Parent Teacher Organization (PTO), School Accountability Committee (SAC) and STEM Committee.

Let’s show our appreciation for all of BFA’s amazing aides with ‘Thank an Aide Day’! We would love to have your students help us shower the aides with thanks by bringing in a small token of appreciation on Friday, December 6 – a card, flower, or one of their favorite things. A list of each aides’ favorite things can be found here. Click on the Instructional Aide Tab.

Mark your calendars for the PTO’s December Spirit Night on December 9 at two Zell's Panini and Crepes locations. Zell's will donate 20% back on orders placed at either their Highlands Ranch or Centennial locations (all day!) to the BFA PTO.

Tell your cashier that you are there for the BFA fundraiser or make a note on your online order to get credit for your purchase (no 3rd party ordering platforms please). See below for location and hour details, and get ready to enjoy some delicious crepes, panini, and more! Zell’s is one of our valued BFA PTO sponsors, so please spread the word and show your support. We hope to see you there!

Highlands Ranch Location

Hours: 8 a.m. - 2 p.m.

2229 Wildcat Reserve Pkwy #A4

Highlands Ranch, CO 80129

Centennial Location

Hours: 7 a.m. - 7 p.m.

7521 S. University Blvd #D13

Centennial, CO 80122

Just a reminder that there is no BASE the following dates.

December 13 - no morning BASE only

December 23 - January 3 - No Base

Have a wonderful and safe holiday.

A Parent or Guardian needs to sign them in or out of school. Whether they are late, need to leave early or returning from an appointment, parents need to walk their student in and sign them in/out of the front office. Students cannot come in or out of the building without a parent/guardian signing for them.

We offer many before and after school Fine Arts clubs throughout the year. We update our webpage frequently, so look often.

Arts

Music

For those who purchased Original Works, orders are starting to come in. We will organize them and send them home with your students.

After School Choir Upcoming Performances - 2nd to 8th Grade

Wednesday 12/11: Concert starts at 6:00 p.m., student call time is 5:40 p.m.

Tuesday 12/17: No Choir Practice

Wednesday 12/18: After School Choir field trip

• Please sign the permission slip on MSB before 12/18
  
• dress in formal uniform with optional holiday accessories
  

Winter Sports are gearing up. Our game schedules will be posted in our Monthly Calendar for all our upcoming sports. Visit our Athletics Page for more information about our Athletics Programs at BFA.

When attending after school athletic games, as a courtesy, please do not park in the 6 clearly marked parking spots for the BASE parents during the hours of 4pm-6pm.

Our lost and found will be cleared out on December 20.

Please pop in and take a look before it is all donated.

Our 1st Trimester has been a time of incredible growth and learning for our students! From hands-on projects to creative activities, they’ve embraced new challenges with enthusiasm. As the trimester wraps up, report cards are now available in Gradelink for families to review and celebrate their students' progress.

Our school code is 656. You received a flyer and an email at the beginning of school with your parent username and password.

You can also download Gradelink App from the Apple Store, Google Play or Amazon Appstore

Just a great reminder that the weather can change fast in Colorado.

Layers and coats should always be sent with students. It is very rare for us to have indoor recess for an entire day and those early morning recesses can get chilly. Don't forget to label items. It can be 25 degrees at 10 a.m. and 55 degrees at 2 p.m.

BFA follows the direction of the Douglas County School District (DCSD) regarding school closures/delays due to weather so if DCSD decides to close school for the day, then BFA will be closed as well. The Douglas County School District has been divided into three areas: Highlands Ranch, Parker and Castle Rock. It is possible for the district to close or delay school in only one of the areas. This is rare, but it is possible.

Please remember to give yourself extra time to get here. Unless there is a delayed start, we expect our students to be in their seats and ready to learn at 8:15 a.m.

If a Snow day is announced by DCSD, Ben Franklin Academy will be closed. All activities scheduled for that day will also be canceled, including BASE, athletics and extracurricular activities.

Sometimes, the weather is not severe enough for a closure, but may be significant enough to have a delayed school start. If the district calls for a delayed start, school at BFA will start 90 minutes later than normal.

If it’s been announced that BFA is on a 90-Minute Delayed Start, the following is the schedule:

• BASE: Before school care opens at 8:15 a.m. Please do not drop off your child earlier than 8:15 a.m. for before care, as no one will be at BFA to supervise your child.
• Before School Activities: All activities are canceled.
• Carpool: Carpool on a delayed start day begins at 9:15 a.m.
• School: School starts at 9:45 a.m. Students are expected to be in their seat and ready to learn by 9:45 a.m.
• Half-Day Kindergarten: Morning kindergarten starts at 9:45 a.m. and ends at the normal time. Afternoon kindergarten times do not change – normal start/end times apply.
• Preschool: BFA preschool will open at 9:40 a.m. and dismiss at the normal time. Afternoon times do not change – normal start/end times apply.

DCSD & BFA will always post notifications via email, text, website and Social Media. Follow us on Facebook or Instagram and make sure your information is updated in Infinite Campus.

All school closures can be seen on most of the local TV channels in the morning. You also may call the DCSD weather line at 303-387-SNOW (7669) to hear the latest updates on school closures or delayed starts.

If you see on the TV or hear on the weather line that Douglas County is listed as closed or delayed start that means all of the schools are closed or delayed. If you see or hear that the Parker area is closed or delayed that means that Highlands Ranch and Castle Rock are open.

You always have the option of keeping your child home if you feel that the roads are unsafe even if the school is open. This will be listed as an excused absence.

Harper Arts registration is open for January 2025! There are a few rare openings for music lessons at school so don't delay, sign up today!

We offer private piano, guitar, ukulele and voice lessons during, before and after school hours for your convenience! All students are welcome to register for lessons during DEAR time, advisory, recess, carpool and other non-academic times. CLICK HERE to learn more and sign up or go to harperarts.org!

Our delicious lunch is provided by DCSD. Check out the menu for the first weeks of school.

If a student has a specific dietary restriction or allergy, parents must contact DCSD Nutrition Services to arrange an allergy/restriction lunch section.

BFA does not provide breakfast at this time.

Mission:

Our mission is to create young adults with character like America's founding Renaissance man, Benjamin Franklin: well-read, scientifically curious, and civically engaged.

Vision:

Our students will excel academically through a challenging, sequenced curriculum that emphasizes math, science, the arts, and literacy. We will be a data-driven institution, focusing on individual students. Our students, teachers, parents, staff, and leaders will be held accountable for the success of our school. Finally, we recognize that an education is incomplete without fostering social emotional development, character, sports, and nature.

13 Virtues:

Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Purity and Humility.