I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Kindergarten

Roundup

3

Challenge 4

School of Choice 4

Pillar

Information

6/7

C H E R R Y C R E E K

S C H O O L D I S T R I C T

J A N U A R Y 1 0 , 2 0 1 3

P A R E N T ' S

M A R K Y O U R

C A L E N D A R :

January 15th

New Family school tour

2:00 PM

January 16th

New Family School tour

9:30 AM

January 21st

NO School

ACE Compass

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year and welcome back to school! I hope winter break and the few inches of snow provided ample time to spend with family and friends. A new year means a New Year’s resolution. My resolution is to keep a positive, healthy per-spective on what is truly important and that is family and friends. I feel especially blessed to be a part of the Aspen Crossing family. The staff and I are very excited to be back with your children as we begin the year 2013. We are ready to get back to teaching and the students are eager to learn.

Before break we honored Aspen Crossing’s Teacher of the Year. The honor went to Shelly Schmidt who teaches Kindergarten. Shelly has been at Aspen Crossing since it opened 8 years ago. A common theme from Shelly’s nominations is her determination to help all children succeed, and her kindness and patience. We are very proud of Shelly! Please congratulate Mrs. Schmidt if you get the chance.

We would like to thank all of the parents, staff, and children who filled out the Teacher of the Year nomination forms. Everyone had great things to say about all of the teachers at Aspen Crossing, which reinforces the great work the ACE staff does with our children each and every day.

This time of year begins the state testing season as well. Students will be taking their mid-year MAPS assessment which helps us measure growth throughout the year. We have our English Language Learners taking the ACCESS assessment and the TCAP (testing dates to follow) will begin the last week of February. We would like to thank the entire Aspen Crossing family for their support over the next few months. We will continue to inspire all students to think, to learn, to achieve, and to care. I hope the year ahead is a safe and successful one for you and your fami-lies.

Sincerely,

Scott

Join us for the General PTCO meeting Monday January 14th 7:00 PM.

Child care is available no need to sign up.

Your student’s name will be entered into a drawing for lunch with Mr. Schleich .

Topics to discuss will include security procedures here at Aspen Crossing.

Pointing you in the right Direction!

P A G E 2

Don’t forget

to call the

attendance

line

720-886-

3795, if your

student is

going to be

absent or

late.

Attendance Calls

Please call the Attendance line at 720-886-3795 if your child is going to be out or ar-

riving late. Please leave the following information:

*Students first and last name

*Grade and teacher

*Reason for absence, if no reason is left it will remain unexcused.

Thank you to these students who donated books to the

library in October, November and December

for Birthday Book Club.

Jonathan V. Emily S.

Caitlyn S. Rayannon R.

Nahom S. Darian T.

Hayley F. Tanner P.

Garrett K. Shreya D.

P A G E 3

Inside Story Headline

P A G E 4

Challenge School Applications 2013-2014

Challenge School started accepting applications for the 2013-2014

school- year November 5. Challenge is a K–8 magnet program in Cherry

Creek School District designed to meet the needs of academically ad-

vanced and motivated students. Applications and information are

available on the school’s website at challengeschool.info. Completed

applications are due by January 29, 2013.

For further information please call Challenge School at 720-747-2100.

School of Choice Applications 2013-2014

The School of Choice application process for the 2013-14 school year

is an electronic application that you will be able to access online until

February 1st from any computer, at any time. Please note that there

will be NO PAPER FORMS available for the School of Choice applica-

tion process.

There is a limit of one (1) application per student and all information is

verified for accuracy. Applications are considered on a space available

basis with priority given to families with siblings at the school and to

the children of employees of the district. Parents will be notified of

the decision by March 15th and any appeals must be submitted in writ-ing to District Admissions by April 15th.

Students currently attending a school under School of Choice or an

IntraDistrict Transfer approved to the highest grade level do not

need to submit an application to return to that school next year. Non

-Resident applications will be available online starting April 1, 2013.

P A G E 5

P A G E 6

The Six Pillars of Character at

Aspen Crossing Elementary

By Brian Felker, LCSW

Our character is formed when we are young and stays with us

throughout our lives. When we are young, our character guides our

choices at home, at school and at play. As we get older, our charac-

ter determines how we interact with friends, family, coworkers and

society. “Character” describes who we are on the inside and what

kind of choices we make, even when no one is looking! This definition

also describes the word “integrity”.

At Aspen Crossing Elementary, we teach your child the Six Pillars of

Character: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Car-

ing, and Citizenship. Your child learns that it is best to have GOOD

character because it helps build trust with you, their teachers and

their friends. It also helps them not get into trouble!

The Character Counts website (www.charactercounts.org) has this

description:

“The Six Pillars act as a multi-level filter through which to process

decisions. So, being trustworthy is not enough — we must also be

caring. Adhering to the letter of the law is not enough — we must

accept responsibility for our action or inaction.

The Pillars can help us detect situations where we focus so hard on

upholding one moral principle that we sacrifice another — where, in-

tent on holding others accountable, we ignore the duty to be compas-

sionate; where, intent on getting a job done, we ignore how.

In short, the Six Pillars can dramatically improve the ethical quality

of our decisions, and thus our character and lives.”

The Six Pillars are: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fair-

ness, Caring and Citizenship. At the beginning of this school year we

focused on the Pillar “Citizenship” and we just finished the Pillar

“Caring”. Our next newsletter will catch you up on the definitions of

these Pillars.

P A G E 7 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

The Six Pillars of Character at

Aspen Crossing Elementary

By Brian Felker, LCSW

Our character is formed when we are young and stays with us

throughout our lives. When we are young, our character guides our

choices at home, at school and at play. As we get older, our charac-

ter determines how we interact with friends, family, coworkers and

society. “Character” describes who we are on the inside and what

kind of choices we make, even when no one is looking! This definition

also describes the word “integrity”.

At Aspen Crossing Elementary, we teach your child the Six Pillars of

Character: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Car-

ing, and Citizenship. Your child learns that it is best to have GOOD

character because it helps build trust with you, their teachers and

their friends. It also helps them not get into trouble!

The Character Counts website (www.charactercounts.org) has this

description:

“The Six Pillars act as a multi-level filter through which to process

decisions. So, being trustworthy is not enough — we must also be

caring. Adhering to the letter of the law is not enough — we must

accept responsibility for our action or inaction.

The Pillars can help us detect situations where we focus so hard on

upholding one moral principle that we sacrifice another — where, in-

tent on holding others accountable, we ignore the duty to be compas-

sionate; where, intent on getting a job done, we ignore how.

In short, the Six Pillars can dramatically improve the ethical quality

of our decisions, and thus our character and lives.”

The Six Pillars are: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fair-

ness, Caring and Citizenship. At the beginning of this school year we

focused on the Pillar “Citizenship” and we just finished the Pillar

“Caring”. Our next newsletter will catch you up on the definitions of

these Pillars.

Responsibility

Do what you are supposed to do

Persevere: keep on trying!

Always do your best

Use self-control

Be self-disciplined

Think before you act — consider the consequences

Be accountable for your choices

In future newsletters, we will use this space to share defi-

nitions and examples from our students and teachers.

Keep reading our newsletters to see if your child’s defini-

tion or example is published!