September 30, 2005

Six Week Progress Reports
The end of the first six weeks’ grading period was Wednesday, September 28th. Teachers will submit progress report grades by the end of the day today and progress report grades will be printed and distributed to students on Wednesday, October 5th. You will be able to view progress report grades on the Parent Portal, however, as soon as teachers submit them. Once you login, click on Reports, then S1 First Six Weeks.

Homecoming Dance
The Homecoming Dance for 2005 is fast approaching, but there is some information that AHS students and families need to be aware of. All freshmen are welcome to attend the dance; however, they will be limited to guests from Arapahoe High School. Sophomores, juniors and seniors that are bringing a guest from another school should stop by Mr. Routh’s located in the guidance center to pick up an approval form. All forms are due signed and completed PRIOR to the dance, so don’t wait until the last minute.

Picture id’s, such as student id or driver’s license, are required to gain attendance at the dance. Dress appropriately, (e.g., no jeans or shorts); those of you inviting guests, you are responsible for making sure your guest is dressed appropriately. Dance attendees must be under the age of 21. If you have any questions or comments, please see Mr. Routh in the Guidance Office.

A Yummy Feature of Homecoming Week!
On Wednesday, October 5th the business clubs are sponsoring an All-School BBQ! Students are encouraged to come show their warrior spirit at the South Entrance and indulge in the great tastes from the grill! Ice Cream will be a tasty conclusion to the event! Tickets are available for $3.00 in the DECA Store; ticket prices include burger, chips, and drink. Need a sweet treat? Ice Cream will be sold the day of for only $1.00. DECA (An Association of Marketing Students) and FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) thank you for your continued support!

Homecoming Details
If you want all the details of Homecoming Week Activities, visit the AHS Web Page, scroll down to Homecoming Week Activities, and click on more info.

The AHS Book Shelf
As promised last week, the AHS Book Shelf is now available. This is a new feature that the library is hosting this year. The purpose of the AHS Bookshelf is to recommend titles to our students, staff and community. The recommendations are from our staff and will feature a short summary of the book with a recommended audience. The titles will be from all areas of interest including children’s books. Check the Bookshelf frequently for new and additional titles. All recommendations are reviewed by the AHS library staff and include information on whether the book is available through our school library. We hope that you will enjoy this new service and find it useful when looking for that perfect book.

October Drumbeat
The October issue of the Drumbeat is in the mail, but you can also view it online.

Department Spotlight – Mathematics
The Math Department welcomes three new teachers this year. Jared Rottschafer joins the department form Dakota Ridge High School where he taught for five years. Mr. Rottschafer taught five years prior to teaching at Dakota Ridge. He is the statistician at the AHS varsity football games and hopes to coach freshmen boys' basketball this winter.

Missy Mindell comes to AHS from Skyview High School where she taught for five years and coached varsity and junior varsity girls' soccer. Ms. Mindell obtained her bachelor's degree in mathematics from UNC and has a master's degree in school counseling from the University of Phoenix.

Andrea Korn completed her student teaching at Jenkins Middle School in Colorado Springs. She holds a bachelor's degree in applied math from Metro State College and a master's degree in instruction and curriculum from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Ms. Korn is the girls' sophomore basketball coach and will be helping with varsity girls' basketball as well.

September 23, 2005

Six Week Progress Reports
The end of the first six weeks’ grading period is next Wednesday, September 28th. Teachers will submit progress report grades by the end of the week and progress report grades will be printed and distributed to students on Wednesday, October 5th. You will be able to view progress report grades on the Parent Portal, however, as soon as teachers submit them.

Attention Junior Parents
The PSAT test will be given at Arapahoe High School on Saturday, October 15th at 7:45 AM. The cost for the test is $20.00. Sign ups for the test will begin October 3rd in the Guidance Center and last until October 12th. This is the only time that this test will be given at Arapahoe High School and this is the only Saturday that this test will be given throughout the United States. The PSAT test is not a college entrance exam; however, this test is the qualifying test for National Merit Scholarships and only counts when taken in the junior year. Sophomores who are in honors classes are encouraged to take this test so that they can see how they might do when they take the test as juniors when it counts. Students can find out more information and practice for this test by going to http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/psat/about.html. Juniors will be given an instruction sheet in their World History classes on October 5th. If they do not get one, have them come to the Guidance Center.

College Visits
The week of October 3rd will be the annual visitation time to the Denver Metropolitan area by over 200 college representatives from across the United States. They will be here for two night college fairs and a Saturday college fair and workshop at Cherry Creek High School, as well as making visits to area high schools.

During the month of October, we will have around 70 colleges on campus. The week of October 3-7 is very heavily scheduled because the representatives are here for the fairs. The visits are mainly for Juniors and Seniors. The visits are small informal meetings with the representative in the Guidance Office Conference areas. We do our best to limit each visit to approximately 30 minutes.

Many selective schools do not always visit Arapahoe but have large group presentations at various hotels in the Denver area. Please have your student check the South College Bulletin Board in the Cafeteria for dates of these presentations.

Remember you can get an updated college visit list –on campus and off campus –by going to Arapahoe’s homepage and clicking on General—then College Visits or directly at http://arapahoe.littletonpublicschools.net/goto/College_Visits

Student Picture Orders
Student picture orders are here. Students should pick them up no later than Monday, September 26th, so they will know if they need a retake. Pictures are in room E8 and can be claimed at lunches as well as before and after school. Retake date is October 5th.

Yearbook Memory Blocks
Reminder for senior parents - color memory blocks for the yearbook are due no later than October 7th. Those wishing black and white ads have until November 4th.

Arapahoe Herald Newspaper
The first issue of the Arapahoe Herald will be out on September 27th. Students have put in many hours to prepare our biggest ever first-of-the-year paper at 16 pages.

Department Spotlight – Media Center
Something new is coming to Arapahoe High School. The library is hosting a book recommendation blog (weblog) called The AHS Book Shelf. Staff members will be recommending books that they have enjoyed and share a short summary with a recommended audience. All recommendations will be reviewed by the library staff. We are expecting a wide variety of reading materials from best sellers to children’s books. The link for the AHS Book Shelf will be published on our homepage in the next few weeks. We invite you to use these recommendations for yourself and your students.

The week of September 24 through October 1 is the American Library Association’s Banned Book Week. Many books that are regarded as classics have been banned at one time. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Canterbury Tales, Of Mice and Men and the Bible have all been banned. It is important to guard against censorship in order to provide information and enlightenment. This is a freedom we need to safeguard for our children and ourselves.

September 15, 2005

No School on Friday
There will be no school for students on Friday, September 16th, due to an inservice day.

All School Tailgate Party
Link Crew is sponsoring an ALL SCHOOL Tailgate party this Friday in the West Parking Lot.  Food is $3 and we will have games, face paint and entertainment to get you psyched for the Arapahoe/Heritage Football game. Show up at 4:00 p.m. to eat, play and cheer on the players as they leave for the game. Buses will be available for FRESHMAN ONLY, and everyone will be responsible for their own rides home from LPS stadium. Hope to see you there!

Gifted and Talented Symposium
Parents who are interested in attending the District GT Symposium Events must RSVP to Barb Bolen at 303-347-3473; there is limited space in the ESC Board Room. Topics and dates are:

• Overview of High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders:  Implications for Intervention; Monday, October 24, 2005 from 8:30-10:30 am in the ESC Board Room


• Anxiety Disorders in School Age Children: Implications for Intervention; Tuesday, November 8, 2005 from 6:30-8:30 pm in the ESC Board Room

Homecoming 2005
Homecoming is October 3rd - 8th. The theme is Candyland! Events to mark on your calendar:

• Friday, September 30th – Homecoming Talent Show at 7 pm


• Monday, October 3rd – Royalty Assembly at 7:30 am


• Wednesday, October 5th – Bonfire at 7:30 pm


• Friday, October 7th – Football Game at LPS Stadium at 7 pm


• Saturday, October 8th – Homecoming Parade at 10 am (begins at AHS West parking lot and goes North on Franklin)


• Saturday, October 8th – Dance 8-11 pm

Parent volunteers are requested to help at the dance in the following areas:

• Coat check


• Refreshments


• Clean up 11 pm – 11:45 pm.

Please email Katie Abner at Kabner@lps.k12.co.us if you are interested. Thanks!

We invite all clubs and sports teams to participate (build a float, ride in convertibles, trucks, fire engines, limos, etc.) in the 2005 Homecoming Parade. Please email James Holman if you are interested in participating in the Parade on October 8th. Jholman@lps.k12.co.us

Katrina Fundraiser
The Arapahoe vs. Heritage football game is this Friday. We all know we have more spirit than Heritage, so let’s show it! You have the opportunity to purchase Gold and Black Mardi Gras Beads at the DECA Store! It’s a $1.00 donation per strand with ALL PROCEEDS going towards Katrina Relief. Stayed tuned for future announcements regarding the student led Katrina Relief effort next week.

Department Spotlight – Language Arts Department
We welcome six new teachers to our department, arriving from Utah, Nevada, Texas, and Louisiana, as well as Golden and Littleton, Colorado. Sue Rediske is with us first semester for Katie Kirgan who is on leave. Michael Schneider, Lauren Gaffney, Jared Robinson, Denise Paswaters, and Sally Graham join us with a wealth of experience and enthusiasm. Melissa Fine returns full-time after teaching part-time second semester last year. Sally Graham and Jared Robinson are heading up the Speech team after the retirement of Diane Ritzdorf. The Muse literary magazine has undertaken plans for another impressive spring publication, with the help of new faculty members Lauren Gaffney and Michael Schneider.

September 9, 2005

Homecoming Talent Show
This year’s Homecoming Talent Show is Friday, September 30th. There is only one show this year, at 7:00 pm in the theater. Arapahoe’s best talent will be showcased, from singing and dancing to hilarious comedy! Tickets will be on sale starting Thursday, September 22nd through the 30th during both lunches. Tickets are $5 and will most likely not be sold at the door, so get them at lunch.

Homecoming Talent Show auditions are coming up! They are September 13th and 14th after school. You can sign up for an audition spot in the main office. If you have any questions see a junior class officer or sponsor.

Sharing Student Information with Military Recruiting Officers
Each fall, military recruiting officers request information from Littleton Public Schools of all 11th and 12th grade students for recruiting purposes. Students and/or parents have the right to request that their information be withheld from release to the military. If you do not wish to have this information released to the military, please drop by the guidance office and complete the military opt-out form and return it to the guidance office.

LPS Campus Portal – Web Browsers That Work
Here are the web browsers that we’ve been able to make work (you may find others) with the LPS Campus Portal. All of these browsers are free and easily downloaded.

Windows: Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher; Firefox; Netscape 7.2 or higher

Mac OS X: Firefox; Safari (comes with OS X only); Netscape; Internet Explorer does not work.

Mac OS 9: Netscape 7.02

Linux: We haven’t tested, but would guess Firefox.

Please note that the portal – particularly the grades portion – is still rather buggy. We are waiting on bug fixes from Infinite Campus that will hopefully resolve the problems soon. Until then, as always, contact your student’s teacher if you have questions about their grade.

Department Spotlight – Foreign Language
The Foreign Language Department has officially become the Department of World Languages! We are happy with this new nomenclature as we feel it encompasses the importance of every language and culture, not just the languages we happen to offer at AHS.

We have added three new teachers to our department. Mrs. Sharon Lovitt is teaching AP Spanish and one section of third year, Mrs. Pearson is teaching two sections of third year, and Mrs. Kitch is teaching first and second year Spanish. Each of these wonderful teachers comes to us with years of experience and an extensive knowledge of Spanish. We are so happy and grateful to have them here at AHS.

French Club is up and running. We will be holding a fund raiser for the evacuees who have ended up in Colorado from hurricane Katrina. Please encourage your French student to join us!

September 2, 2005

No School on Monday
There will be no school on Monday, September 5th, in observance of Labor Day.

U.S. Air Force Academy Visit
Arapahoe’s liaison officer for the U.S. Air Force Academy will be here to meet with interested students on Tuesday, September 6th at 8:30 am (2nd period) in the Guidance Center Conference Room. Students who are interested in attending should sign up in the Guidance Center.

AHS Guide to the LPS Campus Portal
Many of you have already signed up for access to the LPS Campus Portal. We’ve created a basic guide to the features of the portal and it’s available for download (pdf, about 200k). If you haven’t signed up yet, download the forms and then bring them in with a photo id to our attendance office between the hours of 7:00 am and 2:30 pm.

International Literacy Day
September 8th is International Literacy Day. The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the ten year period beginning January 1st, 2003 the United Nations Literacy Decade. Literacy is a cause for celebration since there are now close to four billion literate people in the world. However, literacy for all – children, youth and adults - is still an unaccomplished goal and an ever moving target. The Arapahoe High School Library encourages you and your family to spend time reading this Thursday to celebrate the importance of literacy.
     
Department Spotlight – Family and Consumer Science
The Consumer and Family Studies Department has changed its name! We are now officially called the Family and Consumer Science Department. A number of years ago the national name changed to Family and Consumer Science but Colorado had already changed our name to Consumer and Family Studies and didn’t want to make another change. We are thrilled to now be nationally aligned in name and content across the state of Colorado. Degreed programs on the college level will also be using this name. We are excited about the change but are hopeful that this is the last one!

Many of our courses this fall will have an opportunity to explore the new food pyramid.  If you haven’t already had the chance you may want to visit MyPyramid.gov to take a look at the new guidelines. It is much more detailed than the previous pyramid and the new website is very interactive.

Our youth organization FCCLA is gearing up for another year of activities, fundraising, community service, and conferences and competitions. Any student interested in joining FCCLA should see Mrs. Rains for information. This is an excellent leadership opportunity for AHS students as the organization is open to all students who have been enrolled previously or are currently enrolled in a FACS class.