October 31

Dear Parents,

We are having such a fun day celebrating Halloween today. Thank you to the PTO, room parents and all of the volunteers who made today extra festive and fun for our students.

Tomorrow, open enrollment for Douglas County begins. If you have an incoming kindergartner or another student not currently enrolled at BFA, you must go through open enrollment for next year. All of the information can be found here.

If your students are not going to attend BFA next year, please email our Director of Admissions, Mrs. Bobbin, to let her know as soon as possible. While we are sad anytime students and families leave, we understand that life circumstances change or sometimes moves are unavoidable. Many families would like to join our community, so when we know about future openings, we are able to fill those spots, giving future families time to prepare for the upcoming year.

Our School Accountability Committee wants your feedback. The Fall Survey helps BFA see how our families are feeling about the current school year and provides an early snapshot of students' educational experiences. Your participation is important! More information is below, including incentives.

Please plan to vote by next Tuesday if you still need to vote. Participation in our democracy is vital to maintaining it. I hope you all take the time to turn in your ballots before the deadline.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day off tomorrow, November 1 and have a great weekend!

Diana Simpson

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

Important Upcoming Dates

🏫 November 1 - School Closed for Teacher In Service Day

⏰ November 3- Daylight saving ends

📥 November 1 to December 1 - Open enrollment for kindergarten families

🎩 November 4 to 8 - School Spirit Week

🎫 November 5 - School Tour

👕 November 6 - Formal Uniform Day (may alternatively wear Fancy Clothes)

👕 November 8 - Spirit Wear/Crazy Sock Day

🪩 November 9 - Middle School Dance

🇺🇸 November 11 - Veteran's Day Celebration

📷 November 12 - Last Day for Individual Picture Retakes

🏫 November 13 - End of Trimester

👕 November 15 - AR Dress of Choice (1st - 5th Only)/Spirit Wear/Crazy Sock Day

🏫 November 19 - Board of Directors Meeting

👕 November 22- Dress of Choice/Spirit Wear/Crazy Sock Day

🦃 November 25 to 29- Thanksgiving Break

Please visit our Bi-Monthly Newsletter dated October 31 for Grades K - 4.

Please visit our Bi-Monthly Newsletter dated October 24 for Grades 5 - 8.

Please visit our Preschool Newsletter dated October 31 for Pre-K 3s and 4s.

Did you know that the Douglas County School District has 92 schools and a $300 million backlog of capital investments that are needed in these buildings? Did you know that 85% of BFA's 8th grade students will attend a Douglas County High School? Did you know that BFA would benefit from any district wide security upgrades that are funded by this bond?

Please take a couple of minutes to watch this brief video where our Superintendent explains in more detail. To learn more about 5A, visit DCSD bond overview webpage.

Election Day is fast approaching. Please be sure to turn in your ballot by 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 5. You can track the status of your ballot and find the locations of ballot boxes and other polling centers. Remind your friends, family and neighbors to turn in their ballots as well!

Want to learn more? Visit our DCSD page!

The First Round of Open Enrollment (OE) for the 2025-26 school year begins tomorrow, Friday, Nov. 1. closes at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, December 2. This process is open to families who live inside and outside of Douglas County, but we want to make sure our BFA families have the info today!

To ensure priority status, any BFA family with a child:

• entering kindergarten MUST complete OE during the First Round (Nov. 1 - Dec. 2) for the child to be eligible for a BFA offer.
• entering 1st-8th grade who currently attends a different school (not BFA) MUST complete OE during the First Round (Nov. 1 - Dec. 2) for the child to be eligible for a BFA offer.

If your child is a current BFA K-7th student and will return for the 2025-26 school year, do NOTHING. Your child will automatically be enrolled at BFA for the 2025-26 school year.

If your child is graduating from BFA this year, to be eligible for an offer to a DCSD high school other than their address-assigned high school, you MUST complete OE, ideally during the First Round.

If your child will not return to BFA for the 2025-26 school year, please contact Colleen Bobbin, BFAs director of admissions/registrar. She will provide the needed details and forms about the transfer process.

Open Enrollment Suggestions and Reminders:

• For BFA, all OE applications are randomly ordered (like a lottery) during the First Round. Consider waiting until next week, when there are fewer parents accessing the OE tool.
• To Complete OE during the First Round, log in to the EngagED Parent Portal. (The link to OE will be live as of 8:00 a.m., Nov. 1.)

**Parents who do not have a Portal account can create one once the First Round begins Nov. 1.
**Parents who have a Portal account but do not remember their DCSD login credentials, can retrieve their username and/or reset their password.

• DO NOT create a new account. Doing so will cancel your child's BFA priority status and may negate the OE application entirely.

REMEMBER: Your email, pair your Infinite Campus (IC) Portal username and @p.dcsdk12.org.

For example: If your IC username is jsmith, your EngagED email will be jsmith@p.dcsdk12.org.

Your IC password and EngagED password are the same.

• Select the Email Option: At the conclusion of the OE process, parents have the option, and should select, to email themselves the selection(s) they made. This email serves as the sole confirmation that the process was completed. During the First Round (Nov. 1 - Dec. 2), BFAs director of admissions and records, Colleen Bobbin, cannot see who has completed OE.
  

Please use the following OE resources to understand the OE process and answer questions you might have:

• DCSDs Open Enrollment page
• BFAs New K-8 Enrollment page

Many parents have expressed interest in preschool registration for the upcoming 2025-26 school year, and it's incredible how quickly it approaches! Click on our Preschool Enrollment Page for more informaton.

Ms. Bobbin is our registrar and works extremely hard getting families into our BFA community. She works with our DCSD counterparts all the time and her success has been recognized. Ms. Bobbin earned a DCSD Rock Star Award for her exceptional skills and her proactive approach to her job. We are so lucky to have Ms. Bobbin!

Ms. Bobbin joined the Ben Franklin Academy office staff in January 2013. She worked part-time as the receptionist and then, from 2015-2018, shared the office manager role. In June 2018, she transitioned to her current role of Director of Admissions & Records, handling student records and all new K-8 student enrollment.

Ms. Bobbin is originally from New Jersey but was raised in Northern California. She moved to Colorado from San Francisco in 2001 and married her husband, Nathan, two years later. They have a daughter and a son, both of whom started at BFA when the doors opened in September 2011.

Ms. Bobbin thrives on the interaction and fast-paced environment of the Ben Franklin Academy office. When she’s not working or with her family, however, she loves to run. It’s a great way to stay fit, unwind and experience the beauty of Colorado.

Click here to see her favorites.

Next week, our Student Council will be having a fun School Wide Spirit Week.

See our November Spirit Week Page for more details.

• Monday - 💤 PJ Day (NO slippers)
• Tuesday - 🐠 Tropical Tuesday (sandals and flip flops permitted ONLY on this day. Students who have PE must wear appropriate shoes for this special.)
• Wednesday - 👔 Dress to Impress (formal uniform OR get fancy!) (this is NOT a normal uniform day)
• Thursday - 🎥 Despicable Me Day (dress like your favorite character from the movie!)
• Friday - 🟥⬛Color Wars🟦⬜ - see our spirit week page for color assignments
  
  

*Participation is optional for Grades K - 8. Students who do not wish to participate will wear normal uniforms. If your grade is on a field trip during this week, you still must comply with our Formal Uniform on that day.

All clothing must be appropriate for school and follow our Uniform Policy. Students who are not compliant will be asked to call their parents to bring a uniform.

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.

The purpose of the Fall Survey is to give staff an early snapshot of students' educational experiences so modifications can be made as needed over the coming months. The Board of Directors also uses the survey data for evaluation. Your participation is very appreciated and contributes to the success of the school.

Survey Dates:

Open from now through Nov. 4.

One survey per household and use your Family number (carpool tag). If you need the number, email the Front Office Staff.

Incentives:

2 hours volunteer time for filling out

Extra dress of choice for 80% class participation

Our Veteran's Day celebration is fast approaching. This is a special event at BFA, one in which we are proud to honor our Veterans and current service members. If you have a special Veteran or service member you would like to invite, please read the invitation for more information and RSVP by Nov. 1st.

Parents, we would love to have you participate in this celebration with us. This year the CEC will host two ceremonies:

• 10:15 - 11:15 a.m. - traditional ceremony including grades 4-8
• 11:45 - 12:30 p.m. - smaller ceremony including grades K-3

Calling all volunteers - we can't do this without YOU! We have several volunteer opportunities for this event including setup the weekend prior and day of activities. Please see the sign-up for available opportunities.

There is still time to purchase (donate) a pie to show our appreciation towards our teachers, administrators and staff. The pie drive is taking place NOW - Nov. 7th and we can't do it without your help. We are requesting $15 donations to cover the cost of each pie. If interested, please visit MySchoolBucks or use the QR code to donate. We thank you in advance for your generosity!

Did you know every 2 seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood? You have just over one week to donate towards our community blood donation. To better meet your donation needs, the event is being held virtually this year. Donate at your convenience anytime between now - Nov. 9th at any Vitalant location.

To schedule an appointment, visit Vitalant website and use blood drive code SaveLife-4988-S. If you have any questions please contact CEC.

BFA SPECIAL: Call for details please, 303-586-6839

Top T Alarms is your one-stop shop for all things fire alarms. Whether you need help with service, test and inspection to comply with local AHJ requirements, monitoring, a new or modification to your existing system, we can help. With over 40 years of combined experience, there is nothing we can’t do for you.

Get Your Cold Weather Gear and Holiday Gifts!

The PTO’s online spirit wear store (in partnership with locally owned and operated Denver Athletic) will be open from November 4 through November 17. No orders will be accepted after the store

closes. You can place your order and pay online through the Denver Athletic website. If you have any questions, please email Gen Townsend, PTO spirit wear committee manager.

We hope you’ll join us for an Evereve shopping Spirit Day/Night on November 4 from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Evereve Aspen Grove (7301 S. Santa Fe Drive, Littleton) will donate 15% of purchases made to the

BFA PTO! It's the perfect time to shop for holiday items or get a head start on your gift shopping! Please tell the cashier that you are there for the BFA fundraiser.

Our first STEM Family Night of the Year
is November 21, 2024.

We are so excited to announce our upcoming Family Friendly Engineering Night hosted by the BFA STEM Committee! Get ready to put your engineering skills to the test at our Balloon-Powered Car Competition! 🏁🎈🏎️

For more information, visit our webpage or our Committee Newsletter.

1st: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4AA8A62FABF5C52-50895521-1stgrade

2nd: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4AA8A62FABF5C52-50895550-2ndgrade

3rd: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4AA8A62FABF5C52-50895574-3rdgrade

4th: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4AA8A62FABF5C52-50895605-4thgrade

The bulletin board: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4AA8A62FABF5C52-51041711-science

Our Health Room is requesting used uniforms in our smaller sizes. If you have size 3 - 4 pants or skorts, please deliver them to the Health Room.

Middle School (Grade 6 - 8) is having their fall dance on November 9, 2024. Check out all the information on our webpage. Parents will need to sign a permission slip in MySchoolBucks and print a ticket.

To help volunteer with donations or help at the dance, please sign up here.

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

Arts

Music

Our Kindergarten to 5th grade students created amazing artwork. The Original Works is a wonderful opportunity for parents to support their child’s school while celebrating their creativity!

Order now through November 14, 2024 to ensure delivery for the Holidays. You can still order later for home delivery.

Ben Franklin Academy Access Code is on the cover page of each artwork. However, you can look up your student's artwork here.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

DCSD is committed to implementing equitable practices to increase access to advanced/gifted learning opportunities. Based on state and national recommendations and requirements, we implement Universal Screening for students in 2nd grade (February) and 5th or 6th grade--a student's final year of elementary school (November).

5th/6th Grade Universal Screen

As part of this process, ALL students in fifth grade not identified for gifted programming will take the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) in early November. This assessment indicates the level and pattern of cognitive development of a student in comparison to grade and age mates. These general reasoning abilities, which start developing at birth and continue through early adulthood, are influenced by experiences gained both in and out of school.

If your child is already identified for gifted programming, they will not participate in this universal screen testing. Your Gifted Education Facilitator will contact you directly with information about this process.

Gifted Identification Referral Testing

• If your child is in grades 3, 4, or 6 and you believe they need evaluation for Gifted Identification and Services, you may refer your child for testing by initiating the Gifted Identification Process.

• NOTE: Requesting this assessment automatically initiates the process to evaluate for Gifted Identification.

• Please request CogAT testing for your child by completing the Referral for Gifted Identification form.

• Upon receipt of this form the Gifted Education Facilitator will connect with you to discuss next steps in the gifted identification process.

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.

As of today, you will find the 2024-2025 Apple Award Nomination link LIVE on the FoundationDCS.org website.

The 2024-2025 Apple Award Nomination window will be open from Monday October 1, 2024 through Sunday November 11, 2024. We invite our DCSD students, teachers, staff and community to join us in nominating their favorite teacher(s), principal, classified employee and department employee.

The Nomination window closes on November 11th.

The Colorado Rapids are back in the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs! Be there at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park as this young and hungry Rapids team led by Djordje Mihailovic, Rafael Navarro, and Cole Bassett take on LA Galaxy on Friday, November 1 at 7:30 PM in Game 2 of Round One.

As an exclusive offer for Ben Franklin Academy families, their first playoff ticket is HALF OFF with the purchase of at least one ticket to the game. A portion of each ticket purchased will be donated back to Ben Franklin Academy . Don’t miss the first Rapids playoff game at home since 2021 as the team looks to bring MLS Cup back to Colorado!

Get your tickets today!

There are group ticket discounts available for Rapids home playoff games in 2024, starting at just 10+ people. CLICK HERE to learn more on how you can create once-in-a-lifetime memories by participating in an on-field experience or enjoying a home playoff game from a premium hospitality space.

Questions or need help purchasing? Feel free to reach out to George or 303-727-3595

French Toast Sale Ends November 1st.

Educational Outfitters is moving.

Tommy Hilfiger sale until October31.

Tommy Hilfiger: PROMO CODE REQUIRED: TREAT31OCT Offer starts 12 AM CT on 10/30/24 and ends 10/31/24 at 11:59PM CT. The Promotion Code is required during checkout.

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.