Happy Saturday PTAA Families,

I am so excited about the 2024-2025 school year and I am happy to report that we are in full swing! Staff and Students are getting comfortable with their schedules and back to work. We welcome all our new scholars and our fantastic teachers who have joined our growing team.

Even with the construction, our driveline has been going very well, and we will continue to shave off time in the next couple of weeks. Thank you to the PTAA PTO Community volunteers who heard our need for a safety team to volunteer during "weather events" for driveline.

This newsletter, I will share information that has gone out through our REMIND and other communication avenues. If you have not joined the 24-25 PTAA Colorado School REMIND site, please do! This is the best place for real time communication/announcements. This can include fun events, meetings, safety announcements, weather, and much more. (The code is: @ptaaco2425). We are up to 420 members on the REMIND site, so we are getting there! If you have not joined your child's teacher REMIND site, please find their codes on the Staff Directory page on the PTAA Colorado Springs Website at: https://www.ptaacoloradosprings.com/faculty-and-staff

If you missed it, or have not heard through the "PTAA Grapevine," we have already welcomed two precious babies to our PTAA Staff Family in the past month! We welcomed Mrs. Mitchell-Beers, baby boy, Luca in July and Mrs. Lopez's baby girl, Kira this past week! Both babies are healthy and beautiful and you can bet we will see those precious PTAA mini Rockets on the campus throughout the year!

Thank you all for being patient as we manuever through the final stages our our Middle School build. Perseverance, flexibility and grit are great qualities and ones that we all have had opportunity to practice. We are happy to report, we are on target to have our new addition open and ready for students when we return from Labor Day Weekend.

Let's have the best year yet as we "REACH and LEV8." Looking forward to another great week!

Very Truly Yours,

Shannon Houston, Principal

shouston@ptaa.org

• August 19th: PTAA PTO Community first Meeting 6:00 p.m. (enter from the East Door/by Yellow Shed)
• August 20th: DIBELS BOY Assessment Window Closes
• August 20-21st: Hearing Screening (K,1,2,3,5th Grades)
• August 23rd: PTAA Rocky Mountain VIBES Baseball Night/UC Health Stadium 6:35 pm
• August 27-28th: Vision Screening (K,1,2,3 5th Grades)
• August 28th: Student EARLY RELEASE (11:45-12:00)/Teacher PD Day
• August 29th: STAR BOY Reading/Math Assessment Window Closes
• August 29th: Jeans for a Dollar Day! (Teacher/Staff Fun-Raiser!)

2024-25

REACH & LEV8

Below is the framework that our teachers and school will use to build community and for supporting character development. There is also a document with the same information hanging on the front welcome bulletin board. We will be awarding students and faculty/staff showing these qualities with REACH and LEV8 (Elevate) Awards and Shout Outs!

PTAA’s Educational framework will use the acronym "REACH & LEV8" (Reach and Elevate) outlining eight key principles. By integrating these principles into the classroom, PTAA educators will create a well-rounded learning environment, supporting our students to develop academically, socially, and emotionally.

1: R - Respect: Teach students to show respect for themselves, their peers, and their teachers. This includes listening when others are speaking, valuing diverse opinions, and demonstrating kindness and empathy in their interactions. Model respectful behavior in all interactions.

2: E - Engagement: Create an engaging learning environment that captures students' interest and keeps them motivated. Use interactive activities, hands-on learning, and real-world applications to make lessons more relevant and exciting (PBL). Incorporate technology and multimedia resources to make learning more dynamic. Adapt teaching methods to cater to diverse learning styles and needs.

3: A - Achievement: Set clear, attainable goals for students to help them track their progress and encourage students to set their own goals and strive for academic and personal achievement.

Recognize and celebrate achievements and successes, both big and small, to boost confidence. Provide constructive feedback to guide improvement and growth and support your students in overcoming challenges.

4: C – (4 C’s) Collaboration, Communication, Creativity and Critical Thinking: Encourage teamwork through group projects and collaborative learning activities. Model and teach students effective communication and conflict resolution skills. Create opportunities for peer-to-peer learning and support. Foster creativity by allowing students to explore their imaginations, think outside the box, and express themselves through various mediums such as art, writing, music, and problem-solving activities. Teach students critical thinking and problem-solving skills that will help them become self-directed learners throughout their lives.

5: H - Honesty: Instill the value of honesty in students. Teach them the importance of integrity in work and behavior and of being truthful in their work and interactions and help them understand the consequences of dishonesty. Address dishonesty promptly and constructively, and always encourage students to take responsibility for their actions.

6: L - Lifelong Learning: Instill a love of learning by showing enthusiasm and curiosity and promoting the idea that learning is a continuous journey. Encourage independent research and exploration that extends beyond the classroom.

7: E - Empathy: Cultivate empathy by teaching students to understand and share the feelings of others. Use activities like literature, role-playing and discussions to help your students understand and relate to different perspectives, feelings and experiences to build their emotional intelligence. Foster a supportive classroom environment where students feel safe to express themselves. Encourage and celebrate acts of kindness and community service.

8: V - Values: Help students develop strong personal values such as responsibility, integrity, perseverance and grit and integrate lessons on core values such as responsibility, fairness, and perseverance. Incorporate discussions and lessons on ethical behavior and decision-making into the curriculum. Model value-driven behavior and highlight examples from history and current events.

We are super excited to be opening the School Bus Library space after we return from Labor Day Holiday! We thank Mr. Davis for his creative and hours of work for the interior space which is whimsical and inviting for our students and we are thankful to our Selina Robinson for scanning all our books into a check out system, this summer!

This year our "Big Idea" fundraising focus will be on completion of the exterior for the School Bus Library, including a fresh paint job on the bus and a seating area (possibly decking) around the bus, With the addition of the Modular Building we have plans to remodel the small playground. This space will be surrounding the bus, directly outside the Gym doors.

This space also includes our childrens Garden, with the hopes that classes, with the help of volunteers will plan to utilize our great garden beds!

Playground equipment is costly, and this effort will take planning and time and come in stages. We are excited to work with the PTAA PTO Community in fundraising efforts to be focused on this big undertaking! Our Front Entrance Bulletin Board will have a School Bus Library Playground Visual that we will share our fundraising progress. Soft review on playground equipment and guidance from our past PTAA sister school endeavors shows equipment is costly and for this type of space can be upward to 30-40,000.00. This is a stretch after coming off of our Modular expansion this summer. The PTO President and PTAA Administration met over the summer and came up with a more attainable but healthy goal of $16,000.00. for the school year. We will post events and fundraising progress on the front board and through all communication avenues! We are excited to see what we can do together for our students health and wellbeing enjoyment! With just a couple of fundraising efforts to kick off this year, PTAA has already earned $1600.00, and this does not include the PTO Skate Night or the upcoming PTAA Baseball Night. It will take a village, but we can do this!

We are doing well with order and movement of the Drop off and Pick Up at driveline even with the construction and crazy RAIN!

• PLEASE remember that the crosswalks on the campus must not be blocked during the driveline in the morning and afternoon. We have many students that use the crosswalks and they come FIRST for safety. When you wait in line, make sure you are not parked/or waiting on these marked areas. (We have had parents report there are some that are doing this and we ask that this stops). Please also make sure your car is in PARK as you wait, especially when you are around the crosswalk spaces.

• Remember to not use the exit lane on Peterson as an entry. This is illegal and very dangerous and has caused an accident in past years.
• Never enter the gates on Dublin. This is an EXIT ONLY. The driveline flow is one way from Peterson to Dublin. Once the Construction is complete, we will lock the Dublin gate and only open during Driveline times.

Thank you for all continuing to work together to make our system work as best as possible and safe for our students.

As we are now in full swing of the 24-25 school year, we will ask families to please partner with the school and remind your student that they need to follow the school expectations and protocols. This includes:

• Keeping hands and feet to yourself.
• No rough play during recess.
• Proper and Safe Hallway practices, including no running, jumping or yelling (this should be a QUIET ZONE).
• Always be in uniform compliance, including no hoodies, proper colored polos (light blue, royal blue and gold only), no hats or caps and no flip flops, slides or crocs.
• No Cell Phones turned on or used during school (this includes smart watches).m Must be kept in backpack at all times.
• No earbuds

Please read Handbook expectations and go over these things, as these are the usual "hotpoints" that come up. Our main concern is keeping a safe environment and one for all our students to learn and excel. Thank you for your help and partnerniship!

Please help us to adhere to PTAA handbook standards of Uniform dress and compliance of cell phone and device use. Students will be in Formal Uniform on Mondays and Tuesday-Thursday polos of the right color (gold, light blue or royal blue). Students may wear jeans with PTAA spirit shirts on Friday. Fleece jackets with PTAA emblem or solid color only black or royal blue. No hoodies are allowed at any time. No sweatshirts or jackets with other logos (sports, designers, etc.) are allowed. Please reach out to front desk if you have any questions or need help with purchasing items. Students not in compliance will be sent to front office to call home after the first warning.

Cell phones, smart watches and ear buds are not allowed. If your child brings a phone to school, it MUST be turned off and kept in their backpack. If they are found to have the phone on them or using the phone, it will be taken up by the teacher and brought down to the office. Thank you for following the expectations of PTAA that have been set by the PTAA Board of Directors.