Aspen High School

Student and Family Weekly Update

January 8th

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Dear Students & Families,

Happy New Year! I hope that your holidays were filled with joy and relaxation. Another huge shout out to all of our students, families, and community members who work tirelessly over the holidays to ensure our little town is a magical place. We see you and we appreciate how hard you work! Finals begin on Monday, January 13th, so please be aware of the amended schedule. Good luck, everyone!

IB Spotlight

In IB Lang & Lit we are putting the spotlight on our seniors this week!

Teal Bishop wrote an analytical essay on Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven which displayed an incredible amount of growth, critical thinking skills, and the ability to comprehend a text at a deeper level.

Areysi Galvan went above and beyond to create a pastiche about the things that she would miss in an apocalyptic event, using multiple mediums to showcase her ownership of a text by making personal connections and realizing what she values.

Barukh Zuniga has been inspirational being a leader in Socratic Seminars and always sharing his creative, poetic perspectives to enrich the whole class' perspective and make us think about things from fresh angles.

Skier Spotlight

Congratulations to the following students whose artwork has been selected for this year’s Roaring Fork Valley art show, entitled "5x17", at the Aspen Chapel Gallery: Jack Berro, Wyatt Calliham, Caroline "Coco" Clettenberg, Aife DeStefano, Kirilee Eklund, Grace Gallagher, Linda "Lin" Green, Zariah Green, Lucy Halferty, Suki Manuel, Hudson Miedema, Camilla Mendoza, Tarel Ramos, Zoe Riboud, Emma Scherer, Farah Stevenson, and Graceann Viola. The show includes 17 pieces of art from five different schools in the valley.

Artwork was first submitted for consideration by art teachers Julie Trahon and Whitney Zordan. To practice curation, the IB Visual Art seniors then selected the final seventeen pieces for the show. The opening reception is Saturday, January 11th from 2-4 PM. The exhibition will be up from January 11th until February 9th and the chapel hours are 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM, daily. Please come out to support our student artists!

Skier Spotlight

A big congratulations to sophomore, Emma Scherer, for winning the Aspen Rocks flyer competition! Emma's flyer was created in the new graphic design course, Computer Graphics & Photography, and will be used for Aspen Rocks auditions!

Skier Spotlight

Senior Henry Hurd finished 1st Runner-Up for the Colorado Gold Helmet Award this year which is presented annually to the state’s top football player, scholar, and citizen. Henry was also featured in the Denver Post for his achievement. Congratulations!

IB MYP 10th Grade Personal Project

Now that students have returned from break, they will reflect on their products and their process as they write Criterion C of their report. They are required to submit their report no later than January 16th.
The 10th-graders' hard work will be celebrated on February 12th when students present their projects and products at a Community Showcase in the Skier Dome.

S1 Final Exams

Click here for the S1 Final Exam Schedule
There will NOT be an amended bus schedule; students may stay at AHS to study, make plans to be picked up at 1:15, or take RFTA.
All Students are required to sit for exams at the appointed time. Students may not take exams at an alternate time without pre-approval from Sarah or Becky.
Please note: all work (if the department allows late work) must be completed and turned in by January 10th.

Semester 2 Schedules

Students will be able to view their S2 schedules tomorrow, Thursday
Students may meet with Josh & Kearstin next week during finals to make changes
All students must attend their assigned classes January 21st & 22nd.
Students may meet with counselors January 23rd-28th to make any schedule changes.
Last day to DROP/ADD is Tuesday, January 28th

Host Families Needed!

Sister Cities is in need of two more host families for students visiting from Chamonix. If you are willing to host a Chamonix student, Feb 9-18, please reach out to Jane Larsen jlarsen@aspenk12.net

From Post-Secondary Counseling

SENIORS:

Tonight! Wednesday, January 8th | 5:30pm virtual for parents

LOCAL SCHOLARSHIP INFO SESSION

Learn about the 30+ community donor groups that provide $450,000 in scholarships for AHS graduates. Please see the Local Scholarship webpage for more information and for the meeting recording.

FAFSA

2025/26 FAFSA application is open and all senior families are encouraged to submit. Click here for FAFSA and Financial Aid Tips.

JUNIORS:

Individual Meetings

All juniors are encouraged to schedule an individual meeting with their Post-Secondary Counselor. Students with last names beginning A-K will work with Karen Hawkes, L-Z with Brennan Dignan. Parents are welcome (but not required) to join the meeting either in person or virtually. Please note, meetings may not be scheduled during class time, but rather during SET, lunch or a free period. Before the 1st Individual Meeting, both students and parents are asked to complete short intake surveys. Intake for Students|Intake for Parents.

Headphone Reminder

Students must use wired headphones at school; they may plug these into their chromebooks during class time or even on free periods. Students may not use airpods or wireless headphones in keeping with our cell phone free learning environment.

Virtual Parent Coffee

Join us January 20th for the next Virtual Parent Coffee with Sarah Strassburger.

The meeting will be recorded, and posted to our website, for those who cannot join.

https://meet.google.com/bed-vnim-jqo?hs=122&authuser=0

Safe2Tell Update

Please use Safe2Tell to anonymously report any concerns! These reports go directly to law enforcement and school administration. Please be sure to say on the report so that the intake operator can ask more questions; there is no way for any of this information to be traced back to you!