February 24, 2006

Parent/Teacher Conferences
Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held on Thursday, March 2nd, from 4:00 to 8:00 pm in AHS’s Main and Auxiliary gymnasiums. For everyone’s convenience, we are asking for parents to make every effort to meet with teachers as follows:

Students with last names starting with:

A-M between 4:00 and 6:00 pm
N-Z between 6:00 and 8:00 pm

No School on March 3rd
There will be no school on Friday, March 3rd.

Project Education Sudan
Littleton Public Schools is in a partnership with Denver University’s Center for Teaching International Relations, Project Education Sudan and Amnesty International to build a school in southern Sudan. A silent auction gala dinner will be held on March 11th at the Driscoll Ballroom on the Denver University campus. The goal of the evening is to raise $40,000 to build an all girls boarding school. More information is available on the Project Education Sudan website.

AHS Blogging Guidelines
AHS has developed a set of blogging guidelines to help students practice safe and responsible blogging.

Department Spotlight – Technology Education
The Technology Department is in full swing for the spring. We will be breaking bridges, racing CO2 racecars and flying planes this spring. The new equipment and computers we received this fall are up and running with students having a great time and learning lots. All of the programs found in Tech Studies use industry-standard software and state-of-the-art equipment. What a great opportunity for a high school student! Come and see the new lab.

The student club, Technology Student Association, is gearing up for the state competition in April. Good luck to all of the students competing this spring.

Photo of the Week
Students perform dance auditions for the spring musical "The Sound of Music." Dance auditions were held in the theater on February 15th. Photo by Breann Leier/Calumet.

February 17, 2006

No School on Monday
There will be no school on Monday, February 20th, due to the Presidents’ Day holiday.

First Six Weeks Progress Reports
Today marks the end of the First Six Weeks grading period. Teachers will be submitting their grades between now and the end of the day on Tuesday, February 21st. As discussed previously, we will not be printing progress reports at six weeks or twelve weeks, as this information is available online through the parent portal.

You can view your student’s six week progress grade in two places on the portal. First, if you click on your student’s schedule, then on the gradebook for an individual teacher, you will see a grade in the spot for the First Six Weeks Grading Task in the Grading Task Summary box at the top of that page. Go to each teacher’s gradebook to view the grade in that class. Second, you can view your student’s grades in a “report card” format by clicking on reports, then on S2 First Six Weeks. This will open a “report card” in an Adobe Reader window that you can view or print.

Please note that grades are not “due” until the end of the day on Tuesday, February 21st, so if you are checking grades before that, some teachers may not have submitted them yet.

Optional Technology Fee
Technology has become an ever more important tool for students and teachers at Arapahoe. Our students will spend the rest of their lives in a multi-tasking, technology-driven world and will need information and communication technology literacy in order to be successful – in both their professional and personal lives. Technology is not the goal, but rather it is the enabler that allows us to achieve our goals. We have recently received two grants that are helping us with this. We are exploring ways to use technology to enable a more student-centered approach to instruction; to create a culture of learning where students take a greater role in producing and managing their own learning. We are attempting to provide teachers and students with 21st century learning skills, and an environment where students and teachers have access to the resources they need when they need them.

Unfortunately, even with the grant money, we do not have all the resources we need to fully fund the technology. Beginning next year, we will list an optional $30 technology fee as part of the fees students pay at registration. We want to be very clear – this fee is completely optional and $30 is just a suggested amount. You can choose to pay nothing, an amount less than $30, $30 itself, or even more than $30 if you’d like. This money will be used solely to support student technology needs; it will not go towards any employee benefits. This will include items like computers (in classrooms, computer labs and the media center), LCD Projectors (and replacement bulbs), and digital cameras/camcorders. It will also include less exciting – but still necessary – items such as toner cartridges, cabling and software licensing.

Should you choose to contribute, we would also suggest you consider contacting the Human Resources department at your employer, as many employers offer matching funds for school donations.

Practice SAT Offered for Freshmen, Sophomores and Juniors
The Post Grad Center is offering a practice SAT on Saturday, March 11th from 8:30 to 12:30. A feedback session for parents and students to discuss results and learn test taking strategies is scheduled for Wednesday evening, March 22nd. The cost is for the test and feedback session is $10. Registration for the Practice SAT begins Tuesday, March 21st in the Post Grad Center. Call the Post Grad Center with questions at 303.347.6089.

Muse Literary Magazine Celebration
The Muse, Arapahoe’s literary arts magazine, is in its fourth fabulous year of publication, and will be celebrating the artists and writers of Arapahoe on Thursday night, February 23rd in the Forum of Arapahoe High School. We will be having snacks from 6:30 to 7:00 pm; with the event starting at 7 pm. Mr. Booth will kick off the night with a few words, followed by readings of poems and stories by writers, and artists’ explanations of their work, which will be shown on the big screen. This is the main event to recognize the creative minds of Arapahoe, and we invite you all to attend and enjoy the amazing work of our students! This year’s edition features artwork, stories, and poems from fifty Arapahoe students who have made a stunning collection of creative work, including seven full color pages of artwork inside, a full-color cover, nine black-and-white artworks inside, ten stories and eighteen stunning poems. This work represents every class in the school, from freshmen to seniors. The Volume 4, 2006 edition of the Muse will be available for purchase at the Showcase for $10. We have reduced our number of magazines this year, so get one while you can! See you Thursday!

Blood Drive
A Bonfils Blood Drive sponsored by AHS Student Council will take place on Tuesday, February 21st from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm in the Auxiliary Gym. Students must be 17 years of age or older. Students that are 17 must have parental consent. Permission forms can be picked up early Tuesday morning for last minute appointments.

Photo of the Week
Motivational speaker Mark Sharenbroich talks with a freshman cross country runner at an all-school assembly on February 14th. Mr. Sharenbroich teased her about the cross country experience as he talked to students about getting involved and meeting new people. His presentation offered ideas and stories about living, loving and not "comparing crayons". Photo by Anya Lehrner/Calumet.

February 10, 2006

Spring Sports Registration
Boys & Girls Track                   Wednesday, February 15—2:30-3:30 pm
Baseball, Boys Swimming      Thursday, February 16—2:30-3:30 pm
Girls Tennis, Soccer, Golf       Friday, February 17—2:30-3:30 pm

Registration will take place in room S-3

Registration packets are available for pick up in the Athletic Office or the Main Office front desk. If this is your first sport for this school year, you will need to complete the "long" registration form and an emergency card. Your physician will need to sign your registration card clearing you for practice. Do NOT delay your registration process or your participation. Please be sure that you have had a physical within the last year.

If you played a Fall or Winter sport and your physical is current, please complete a "short form" as the Athletic Office has your physical on file.

There is a $100 fee for participation. There is a $200 individual maximum and a $300 family maximum. Do not bring payment to registration! You will be billed for the athletic fee.

If you have any questions, please call the Athletic Office at 303-347-6021.

testGEAR Online ACT Test Preparation
The Post Graduate Center is pleased to announce that we have free online test preparation for the ACT. For Juniors, this might be especially useful to help you prepare for the state ACT that is scheduled at Arapahoe on Wednesday, April 26th, but all AHS students may utilize this resource. testGEAR helps students effectively prepare for standardized test-taking by providing practice questions in a timed setting. To access testGEAR, you will need a Site ID, Password, and Universal Code. These are all available from the Post Graduate Center in the Guidance Office at AHS. Please stop by and pick them up, then visit http://www.access.bridges.com/ .

Red Tails to Shades of Blue
The 2nd Annual From Red Tails to Shades of Blue will take place on March 18th. This event honors the aerospace achievements of African Americans with a noteworthy day at the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum from 11 am to 2 pm. The famous “Red Tails” denote the decorated aircraft flown by the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II. African American fighter pilots who in World War II not only fought successfully and proudly in air to air combat, but also fought racism on the home front. Shades of Blue is a nonprofit organization committed to the future by using aviation to motivate young people to improved achievement in school and life in general. Superintendent Scheer attended this event last year and was incredibly impressed with the way the event was organized and the people who were available to talk with students at the various displays in the museum.

For more information, please contact Don Morris at 303.360.5360 x106, or education@wingsmuseum.org

Department Spotlight – Science
The Science Department will be producing a movie describing every course that is offered in our department. The movie will emphasize our elective classes. Every science student at Arapahoe will view the video at the beginning of April and we hope that it will allow our students to make the best possible choices when signing up for their classes. The video will also be available to view on the Arapahoe web page starting in April. As always, every science teacher is available to answer any of your student’s scheduling questions.

Photo of the Week
Six senior soccer players sign letters of intent for college scholarships to study and play soccer. Coaches and parents attended the signing in the Guidance Center on Wednesday, February 1st. Photo by Kyle Matson / Independent Study.

February 3, 2006

American Mathematics Competition
The B Version of the American Mathematics Competition is scheduled for Wednesday, February 15th during 2nd and 3rd hours in the Forum. Students who missed the A Version or would like to try to improve their score are invited. Please see Mrs. Lobser to pick up a copy of the in-school field trip permission form.

Second Semester Student Invoices
Student invoices will be mailed home the week of January 31st. Invoices are due payable in full by February 28th. Students will be invoiced for their 2nd semester course fees, athletic participation fees for winter sports and any other outstanding fees and fines. This invoice will show you fees that have already been paid as well as those that are due. It will give you a complete accounting of your student’s fees throughout the year. The invoice does not cover any club dues, booster dues or miscellaneous activity fees. Those are collected by the individual club or sport.

Your checks will be deposited in a timely manner and you will only need to write one check to cover all fees instead of several checks. All returned checks are collected by Global Recovery.

According to school policy, students will not be able to pick up his/her cap and gown or participate in arena scheduling until all fees and fines are cleared. If a student withdraws from Arapahoe High School, transcripts will not be sent until all outstanding fees and fines are cleared. Fee/Fine lists are updated and posted throughout the building on a regular basis. Students are encouraged to check them frequently to avoid “surprises.”

Please Note: Spring Athletic participation fees will be invoiced in March 2006.

Assembly on Tuesday, February 14th
We will be having an all school assembly on Tuesday, February 14th. Visit the Arapahoe Webpage and scroll down to view the schedule.

CSAP is Coming!
Mark your calendars - all freshmen and sophomore will be taking the CSAPs on March 14th – 16th. More details will be posted on the Arapahoe Webpage as we get closer.

Photo of the Week
At the girls' basketball game at Arapahoe on February 1st, #14 jumps up to make a shot at the basket. The girls won their game against #1 ranked Highlands Ranch. Photo by Mark Gutman/Arapahoe Herald.