Aspen High School
Student and Family Weekly Update
August 7th
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Dear Students & Families,
Wow! Happy August; summer sure has flown by. We have new floors throughout the school and an amazing Compass Rose in our lobby; the Skierdome Floor has been refinished and is gorgeous; we have a new Chrome Zone; a Senior Lounge in the works; and the campus has been spruced up so we can enjoy classes outside. Please do not forget that the first day of school is August 21st, and that Ex Ed courses begin as early as Saturday, August 24th. Students must be here to start the year and Ex Ed is required. We are excited to welcome everyone back to school! My communications will be back to every Wednesday beginning today. Be sure to read through everything as there is a lot of important information, including our new cell phone policy and close/open campus policy!
⭐Skier Spotlight⭐
Aspen High School Freshman Ann Perlmutter, Aspen Middle School guidance counselor Melanie Thulin, and Aspen High School Best Buddies chapter president Josie Jacobs attended the Best Buddies International Leadership Conference in Bloomington, Indiana on July 22 alongside other Aspen and Basalt students and faculty.
IB Spotlight
Seniors Julia Diaz and Makenzie Roy are hosting a charity race for their IB CAS project that supports Challenge Aspen.
Summer Homework Reminder
All students have summer work! Please click on the links based on your grade level. This information will live on the AHS Homepage, too.
Closed/Open Campus Policy
New this year, Juniors and Seniors may leave campus for lunch; they may not come and go during free periods, just lunch.
All 9th & 10th graders must stay on campus until they are dismissed for the day.
Fall Sports
Golf begins August 5th
All other sports begin August 12th.
Students must be registered, with a current physical uploaded, in order to practice on Day 1.
To ensure a smooth participation process, please take a moment to explore our Aspen High School Athletics website for detailed information about our offerings: Aspen High School Athletics website
Aspen Student-Athlete Registration: All students participating in athletics must complete this registration, which includes critical information, insurance details, and a physical examination valid for 365 days from the examination date. Please complete this registration using the following link for your convenience: Student-Athlete Registration
CHSAA Eligibility: IF YOU ARE NEW TO AHS and entering 10th, 11th or 12th grade, please contact John Castrese at your earliest convenience at jcastrese@aspenk12.net so we can initiate the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) Transfer Portal. This step is essential to determine your child's eligibility to compete in CHSAA sanctioned events at Aspen High School.
Aspen High School Bell Schedule 24-25
Next year, AHS classes begin at 8am and end at 3:25. We understand that the shift to one bell schedule is a big change for people after four years of a much later start. The change was required to increase our instructional minutes for CDE and IB, and to ensure we could do one bus run, which keeps costs down for transportation.
We will begin the day with SET, so that students will have time to mentally prepare for their day: meet with teachers first thing, get questions answered, finish reading, finish studying or just get caught up. In addition, having SET at 8am allows our student-athletes to check in with teachers before they depart for contests.
From Post Secondary
IT’S “GO TIME” SENIORS!
Mark August 20th on your calendar for Senior Bootcamp!
The fall college application season is right around the corner and our job in the Post-Secondary Counseling office is to make sure that every single student is prepared. This year college admissions reps will join Bootcamp to help us support students with the Common Application, their activities list, and their personal essay and supplements. We'll make sure everyone understands the college application timeline, tasks and the programs and resources we offer for every step of this important process. We will also offer a session on trades schools and community colleges for students thinking of attending those types of programs.
And, don't forget, seniors can reach out to Karen or Brennan over the next two if they need help with anything. khawkes@aspenk12.net bdignan@aspenk12.net
SENIOR PARENTS, WE NEED YOU!
Food Donation for Bootcamp
The annual tradition of Senior Bootcamp the day before the start of school is such an important right of passage and the first official opportunity for the whole class to be together as seniors. We want Bootcamp to be exciting and fun for the Class of 2025 and, toward that end, we hope to offer the kids lunch, snacks, and drinks during Bootcamp to keep the energy and enthusiasm up. Would you please click here to sign up for a food donation? We all know that food is so good for morale, especially for teenagers. Thank you in advance!
Counselor Recs & the Parent Response Form
Parents, if you haven't done so already, please fill out this Parent Response Form. These forms are so helpful for us when we write our Counselor Recommendations for students. And, the sooner we have them the better!
Senior Parking Passes are Available
Only Seniors may park on campus; they are required to have a parking pass and are only permitted to park in the AMS lot. It is first come, first served for parking spots; once the back rows are full, seniors must find off campus parking; they may not park in spots designated for staff, nor park in illegal spots like a fire lane.
New Staff at AHS
I want to extend a warm welcome to our new staff members: Ina Ropotica, Spanish; Anita Moose, CTE; Kearstin Cameron, Counseling; Rubit Gonzalez, MTSS Para; Coady Skelley, ESS Para; Janeth Lara, Attendance Admin; Stephanie Gorman, Hope Center Therapist; Brett Gordon, Science; Pegi Pickett, ESS; Emma Scudder, SLP; Isaac Barnes, Social Studies long term substitute; we are also excited to have Haylen Gonzalez-Pita taking over as the AHS Librarian; and to welcome back Cerena Seeber in ELA.
Student Intent to Withdraw
Please complete this form to notify Aspen High School that you intend to withdraw your child from school and to confirm that your child will not be attending AHS for the 2024-2025 school year. Our School Registrar, Jolaine Pfeifer, will follow up to provide you with the required withdrawal form and information on how academic records will be provided to your child's next school.
Sarah Strassburger
Principal, Aspen High School
School Phone #: (970) 315-3516
Email: sstrassburger@aspenk12.net
Website: https://ahs.aspenk12.net/en-US
Location: 235 High School Road, Aspen, CO, USA
Aspen School District Main Phone #: (970) 925-3760
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AspenHighSchool
