BFA Elementary Newsletter

Hello ~

As you probably know by now our school wide theme for this year is Level UP! Our staff and faculty have incorporated this theme in their daily work. 3rd grade is Leveling Up! with iReady Math lessons to earn an ice cream party. Kindergarten is using creative interactive ways to teach "Motion" in Science.

These are just 2 examples of what our classrooms are doing to "Level UP!" this year. To find out more about what each grade is doing, scroll down to view what the classrooms are doing.

Michael Peterson
Assistant Principal K-4
Ben Franklin Academy

Brenda has been teaching for more than 18 years. She did her undergraduate work at the University of Arizona and received a BA Exercise Sports Science. She received her Masters in Elementary Education from Grand Canyon University. She has taught Physical Education at the middle school and elementary level most of her career. She was so excited to have the opportunity to help open BFA and create the Physical Education program.

Brenda is a Colorado native and loves all of the active opportunities Colorado provides. Brenda lives with her Husband and 2 daughters in Castle Rock. Her oldest daughter, Brianna, will be in her 2nd year of Law School at Pepperdine University. Her youngest daughter, Kaylyn, will be a Junior at San Diego State University.

Brenda loves the BFA community and teaching at a STEAM school where all students are provided with a well-rounded education!

See her Favorites here.

Mrs. Cain and Mrs. Harrell are working together to Level Up! our reading support program using iReady and Lexia. They are inviting students in the Reading Club to join them in the morning before school so they can provide these students with extra support.

This past school year, Mrs. Cain completed her tenth year working with elementary-aged students in the Douglas County Charter School system. Prior to her Charter School experience, Mrs. Cain began her career working for a major test-prep company, where she prepared students for college, grad school, and medical licensure. When not on the sidelines watching her kids play sports, she can be found hiking, biking, snowboarding, or READing!

You can find her Favorites here.

Mrs. Bauer and Mrs. DePasse's kindergarten classes have been busy exploring the forces of motion! While climbing the rock wall in the gym, they discovered that their arms pull while their legs push them up. They explored the pull gravity while engineering a domino construction and explored the pull and push of magnetic forces with various magnet activities. It is safe to say that these kids were not "at rest."

1st grade is learning about the body, from skeleton bones to the digestive system. They got to learn by moving flat skeleton to see how joints and bones work together. They also had to walk around the classroom learning about 2D shapes by counting how many they could find.

Ms. Whelan's math class is learning how to count in American Sign Language. They learned how to count 10 but will be Leveling UP! to math sentences in the next weeks.

Our Third Graders are learning how to multiply by 0, 1, 2, 5, 9, and 10. This is a huge shift from adding and subtracting but they are learning with Step by Step word problems with Envision Math.

Fourth Grade is learning how being the oldest on their side of the building comes with responsibility and leadership. They are showing our younger students that they always walk in the hallways with Respect and Silence. With this months virtue being Silence, they are rocking it.

ThunderRidge Elementary Instrumental Music (TREIM) came during the 4th grade specials to teach our students about all different types of musical instruments. From flutes to trumpets to violins, our students not only learned about the instruments but got to test them out.

Fall break is just around the corner. If you would like for your child(ren) to attend the week long break, Oct 14-18, please register them through your MSB account.

Registration Is NOW OPEN.

There will be 45 spots available. Once those spots have been filled you will no longer see it in the drop down menu. The cost for the camp is $250 per child for the week. There will be lots of fun activities planned and we hope to go to a pumpkin patch as well.

If you have not paid the one time yearly family BASE registration fee of $25, you will need to pay this as well.

Please email Leigh Savoy with any questions.

Basil is our beloved honorary librarian. She comes to school almost everyday and helps the students during reading time. She started coming this week and all the students can't get enough of this fluffy fixture in our library.

We are so lucky to have Basil at our school.

Book Fair will be held the week of Oct. 7th thru Oct. 10th the same week as Parent-Teacher conferences.

This year, Book Fair will be a NO CASH event. We are encouraging families to set up an e-Wallet account through Scholastic. We will accept credit cards, debit cards and Google/Apple Pay. Students can use e-Wallets only, unless accompanied by an adult.

We realize that the kids want to use their own money but every year we have had so many tears over lost money or the students feeling like they had to give some of their cash to a friend so that friend can buy something and then they have no money left to buy something for themselves.

We realize this is a big change so that's why we are getting the word out early. We will talk with the students about this change closer to the Book Fair.

Library is one of the best places to volunteer your time. Please read all instructions before signing up and limit to signing up for a couple of spots at first so everyone has a chance. If there are still open spots in a couple of weeks, please go back and fill up those spots.

Check your student(s)' teacher's pages to find out what day their class comes.

Sign up on Sign Up Genius and check back often. Thanks for all your help.

Check out our Principal newsletter for information about SORA! So many books just waiting for your student.

Now that school is underway, it is time to update and add new families to the BFA directory! Again, this year, BFA will be using DirectorySpot for our online school directory. It's an incredibly handy resource, that contains each family's class roster(s) and contact information, as well as the entire BFA directory.

DirectorySpot is an app-based online directory. The free app is available for download through the App Store and Google Play, simply search for: "DirectorySpot". Once this year’s directory is ready, you will receive an email from DirectorySpot with your one-time password. If you would like to update your family's information for the directory or opt out, you need to act today!

You have until Saturday, September 28, to do the following:

1. If your child goes by a nickname or shortened name, contact our PTO Vice President.

2. If you have recently moved or changed an email address or cell number, you can update your information in Infinite Campus AND email the school registrar.

3. If you DO NOT want any or all of your personal information listed in the directory, contact ptovp@bfacademy.org. You may OPT OUT completely, or partially. If you take no action, your information will be included in the BFA Directory.

If you have questions, please contact Andreya Flanigan, PTO Vice-President.

Our Elementary Website can be found here.

It has wonderful information for parents and students. Each grade level has their own webpages also. You can find lots of information on homework, what your student is doing in class, what the upcoming week looks like and so much more.

Kindergarten

1st Grade

2nd Grade

3rd Grade

4th Grade

Join Douglas County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Highlands Ranch Metro District park rangers to learn the basics or advance your angling skills. Colorado Parks and Wildlife will provide fishing rods for each participant to use and take home. This is a catch and release event.

Saturday, Sept. 28

8-11 a.m.

Fly’n B Park

$15 ($18 for nonresidents)

Discounted group rate available for registrations of 3 or more.

Register Here

September's Virtues are...

Silence – There is a time and place to speak up and a time to listen. You learn more by listening than speaking.

Justice – Be respectful. Give everyone a chance to work or play. Give others a chance to express themselves. Share. Remember that others are counting on you, so live up to your duty.

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.