News You Can Use!
Fathers / Male Guardians Only Coffee Thursday, September 19th at 8:00 a.m.
Elementary counselor, Robert Lipson and Family Liaison, John Adams, will host 4 sessions of the Fathers/Male Guardians Coffee this school year. Sessions focus on How Dad’s engagement in their child’s education supports academic and social success, The Strengths of Father’s Presence as well as other topics. Engaged fathers/guardians provide a strong foundation for their child’s well-being in school. Research demonstrates that students of engaged father/guardians maintain strong attendance and grades and develop adaptive social skills. During this conversation, fathers/guardians will discuss what it means to engage in your child’s education, the value in role modeling pro-social problem-solving skills, Zones of Regulation, and much more. Each conversation starts with socializing and getting to know one other while enjoying a cup of coffee with bakers’ confectionary.
Please email Mr. Lipson rclipson@aurorak12.org and Mr. Adams jadams@aurorak12.org to sign up. A notification/reminder will be sent out later.
6th Grade Ropes Course - Permission slips & $10 due!
Please read this letter about the Ropes Course that all 6th grade students will be participating in on Thursday, October 3, 2024 from 8:00 AM- 5:00 PM at the High Trails Nature Center in Florissant, Colorado.
Signed permission slips and waivers must be turned in to Aurora Quest by Thursday, September 26, 2024. We can't wait to participate in this amazing experience with our 6th-grade students.
For ore information about the Nature Place, please click on the logo.
The cost is $10 and you can pay with check or cash.
Parent Feedback Requested
Your input is important to us. We are contemplating hosting a parent education night to discuss parenting in today's digital world. In order to get as many parents to come as possible, we ask that you fill out the attached survey so we can offer it at a time that will allow us to offer it to as many families as possible. We appreciate your helping us accomplish this by completing this form.
Community Eligibility Form
We are very fortunate that our district allows for all students to eat lunch free of cost. The community eligibilty form that was used in the past to determine eligibility is now used as a way to keep track of the changes our school community continues to go through. By taking the time to fill this form out you are helping us get an accurate view as to how many of our families would actually qualify for free or reduced lunch. The information helps us solicit sponsorships, donations and programs for our students and families. Plus it also is a great representation of our parent involvement, which is the best in the district!
If you need help, feel free to call the front office at 303-343-3664.
Parent Portal Check In
Please be sure to do your check in for your students. You can update emergency contacts, phone numbers, home address and give permission for field trips, pictures as well as sign the new technology contract.
If you have problems logging in or in case you have forgotten your Username and/or Password, please, reach out to me and I will provide you with the correct information and help you with resetting your password. CLICK HERE for the link and also to read and discover why it is important and beneficial to have access to ICPP. Do you still have questions? Don't hesitate to call Mr. John Adams, Family Liaison for help with this. The best way to respond to me is replying to this email.
đź’˛DISTRICT UPDATE ON TECHNOLOGY FEESđź’˛
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Aurora Public Schools has not charged students and their families for any damages to district-issued technology devices like Chromebooks. APS has followed this policy to ensure that students and their families had easy and equitable access to remote learning while schools were closed or students were ill, even after the pandemic ended.
Now that remote learning at most schools has ended and additional federal funding for devices is no longer available, schools will again begin charging families for any damages incurred to district devices during the 2024-25 school year. Please note that the first incident of damage will not be charged. Any following incidents will be charged based on the type of damage.
During online registration and online student check-in for the 2024-25 school year, parents will now sign a student technology device contract that also lists potential costs for any damage to district-issued technology devices. Parents must sign this contract for their student to be issued a Chromebook or other device that they can bring home.
BE A VOLUNTEER!
We need chaperones, coaches, team leaders, and more! As you can see we have so much going on for our students that parents can make a huge difference in making sure we continue to offer so much!
Our parent volunteers make it so much easier for us to navigate through the school year. If you are interested in volunteering, here is how to get your badge and clearance.
STEP 1: In order to become a PV for this school year, you need to complete the Screening Process (Background Check). Click Here to be directed to the Aurora Public Schools' website for the screening process.
STEP 2: Send Mr. Adams, our Family Liaison an email with a picture of your valid driver's license (front only) and a picture of yourself with a plain background for your badge AFTER you have completed the screening process (STEP 1). Mr. Adams will submit the "Volunteer Approval Form" with both pictures to the Safety & Security Department.
STEP 3: After approval from the Safety & Security Department, your volunteer badge will be sent to the school and you will be informed so that you can pick it up.
Crosswalk Volunteers Needed!
Our school needs some Parent Volunteers that are willing to take over the Crosswalk Duty from our staff members. You will be trained and will receive every morning a Safety-Security Vest as well as a STOP-sign. As you probably know, we have two (2) crosswalks in front of our school where we need 2 volunteers for the morning as well as during release. We are requesting this for the whole school year. The times are:
7:20am to 7:45am (be present at 7:15am)
2:30pm to 2:50pm (be present at 2:25pm)
Our hope is that enough parents/guardians sign up for the Crosswalk Duty, which will give us the opportunity to create a schedule and have a substitute scheduled for each day as well in the event of sickness or other unforeseen circumstances.
Send an email with your Name, Telephone Number where you can be reached and Availability to: John Adams jadams@aurorak12.org
Library Volunteers Needed!
Want to help out at Quest? The Quest Library needs adult volunteers to check-in and shelve books! If you are available once a month on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday for 2 hours in the morning or afternoon during school, we need your help. No experience necessary; all volunteers will be trained. Email Valerie at vschowin@hotmail.com to sign up.
Lost & Found is getting bigger!
Please remind your students to check lost and found often.
Also, please talk to your student about taking an item left outside to the lost and found. We have had a some items thrown in the trash by other students. The rule is "treat other people's lost items as you would want your lost items treated." Thanks for your help with this!
Learning from Your Mistakes
In Mrs. Smith’s first grade classroom, this week’s social emotional learning lesson focused on managing conflicts. Students identified and discussed how conflict is a part of life so doesn’t it make sense that we learn skills to process through conflict when it does arise? Students defined conflict, and took note that most conflicts occur with the people with whom we are close to, not strangers. Students identified school behaviors that trigger conflicts such as play during unstructured free time, i.e. recess, lining up, having “bossy” classmates, and feeling that you are not being treated fairly. Students examined healthy and unhealthy responses to conflict. Students looked at three types of responses to conflict: passive, aggressive, and assertive. We discussed the benefits of having an assertive conflict style. The lesson finished with conversation about a win-win resolution versus a win-lose resolution. This is a big topic for students so additional related lessons will follow.
In Mrs. Morris’ kindergarten class, this week’s social emotional learning lesson focused on fairness versus equal. For young students in particular, a sense of fairness is of high importance. In this lesson, students discussed how fairness isn’t everyone getting the same thing. Fairness is everyone getting what they need in order to be successful. This will look differently for different students. Students discussed that in being fair, such that each student is getting what they need to be successful, as a consequence, means that things will not always feel equal.
This lesson triggered a lot of student-led discussion such that we ran out of time for our cooperative play activity. Today, Thursday, I will return to Mrs. Morris’ classroom for a cooperative play activity with the students.
Before all lessons in kinder’ through fifth grade we begin with five or six repetitions of Smell the Roses & Blow Out the Candles. This is our breathwork practice that helps foster emotional regulation. Breathing in through the nose (i.e. smell the flowers) and out through the mouth (i.e. blow out the candles), provides students with practice utilizing a proven technique that supports emotional regulation.
~Rob Lipson, Elementary School Counselor, rclipson@aurorak12.org
We Have A Facebook Group!
Wondering what is going on? Curious about upcoming events? Wanting to volunteer during
fundraisers but not sure how? This is your one stop shop for how to support the school,
fundraisers and overall school community. Please be sure to answer the questions when
you ask to join. It's a way that we ensure that our Quest information stays within our
community.
www.facebook.com/groups/1743613152521317/
Phoenix Feathers:
Yearly our PTA spends a starting average of $60 per student to provide all or part of your
signature learning experiences at Quest. This includes fieldtrips, student enrichment, and
transportation to name a few. By purchasing a feather for $60 you help chip away at our BIG
goal. Next time you stop into the school be sure and check out our beautiful new Phoenix!
King Soopers Rewards: (EASIEST way to passively fundraise)
Help our school by buying your groceries! This is the easiest fundraiser and takes less than
10 minutes to set up so sign up if you haven't already. A huge THANK YOU to our current
participants!!
ď‚· Go to: www.kingsooperscommunityrewards.com
ď‚· Click on Enroll Now.
ď‚· Sign in to your account.
ď‚· Click on Community Rewards
Enter Aurora Quest K8 PTA or “BX352”
Shop as usual using your rewards card or alternate ID.
***Be on the lookout for more passive opportunities in the future!***
PTA Meeting: Our next meeting is September 10th from 6-7pm. We welcome all parents
and support parents to join us especially as we have several items on the table to vote on at
this meeting. If you are interested in voting rights for decisions that affect the school
membership is $10. You can become a member on the school website under the PTA tab or
at any meeting or event we are hosting as well as at the meeting. We are hoping to go LIVE
at this meeting so it’ll be easier for more to access.
Dates to be on the lookout for:
~ September 25th - Run For Funds is our BIGGEST fundraiser of the year and we are hoping that if we all do this to the best of our ability we can lower the frequency of future fundraising this year! We need 3-4 volunteers for each run. We don’t have a schedule yet but wanted to get a date out ASAP.
~ Butter Braids will be going live end of Oct with a delivery date of 11/20 (volunteers will be
needed for a quick turn around on hand out)
2024/2025 Aurora Quest K8 PTA Board
Dre Sneddon, President
Nidhi Kotecha, Vice President
Angelica Upton, Secretary
Susan Milo, Treasurer