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October 2012, Vol. 2, Iss. 29
Uniform Reminder
Dress Code
Morning Tardies
Stranger Awareness Assemblies
Snow Delays/Closures
BASE and Snow Delays/Closures
Preschool Newsletter
Highlands Ranch Bus
Lunch Update
DI Team Managers Meeting
Spirit Day
BFF Social
Halloween Parties
JDRF Kids Walk to Cure Diabetes
No School Nov. 2
Upcoming Middle School Sporting Events
Middle School Atletics: Basketball
Middle School Fundraising Coordinator Needed
Thank You Volunteers!

Important Dates

LATE November Lunch Orders Due:

     Oct. 25

Spirit Day:

     Oct. 26

BFF Social:

     Oct. 26

Halloween Parties:

     Oct. 31

Kids Walk to Cure Diabetes:

     Nov. 1 (4th grade, Oct. 31)

No School for Students:

     Nov. 2 

 

Upcoming Meetings

School Accountability Committee:

    Nov. 1

Parent Teacher Organization:

     Nov. 1

STEM Committee:

     Nov. 7 

Finance Committee:

     Nov. 8

Parent Advisory Committee:

     Nov. 8

Board of Directors:

      Nov. 13 

 

Ben Franklin Academy

Address: 2270 Plaza Drive

Highlands Ranch, CO 80129

Main Office: (720) 383-4519
Main Office Email: [email protected]

Attendance: (720) 432-9239 

Attendance Email:
[email protected]

Fax:  (303) 974-1738

Dear Parents,  

Welcome back!  Hope you had a great break!

Uniform Reminder: Sweaters and Sweatshirts 

Per the uniform policy: All sweater and sweatshirts worn in school (and on field trips) must be purchased through Educational Outfitters and logoed or purchased through the BFA Store.  No outside sweaters or sweatshirts can be worn during school hours (including field trips).  Ben Franklin Academy's Uniform Policy is available here

Dress Code: Feathers/Makeup 

We are seeing more girls with feathers in their hair.  While this is stylish and cool, it is against dress code.  Students will be issued a dress code violation if they come to school with feathers in their hair.  Girls in grades 6-8 may wear lightly applied mascara, blush and lip gloss.  Ben Franklin Academy's Uniform Policy/Dress Code is available here.     

Morning Tardies

More cars are arriving at school after 8:10 a.m., and I want to remind everyone that students will be marked tardy if they are not in the building by 8:10 a.m.  Morning car pool is running very smooth, and we have not had any back ups because we are using both drop-off zones.  Please adjust your home departure time so you arrive on school property and have your child dropped off before 8:10 a.m.

Stranger Awareness Assemblies

Deputy Jay Martin, from the Douglas County Sheriff's Department, talked to all of our students on stranger awareness and the importance of always being careful.  I recommend you follow-up with your children and ask them what they learned during the assemblies.  Please do not underestimate the importance of this potentially life-saving information. The PowerPoint presentation is available on the Ben Franklin Academy website as a guide for parents and a tool to communicate with your kids.

Snow Delays/Closures

Transportation service during inclement weather for your area can differ from the rest of the Douglas County School District (DCSD).  Information regarding transportation service during inclement weather for all students living in the Highlands Ranch Region/Roxborough Elementary Attendance Area is as follows:  

  • Bus service will run on a 90-minute delayed schedule for all students (high school, middle school and elementary) living in the the Highlands Ranch Region/Roxborough Elementary Attendance Area when the announcement on TV, radio, the district's weather hotline or the district's Web site is: The Highlands Ranch Region/Roxborough Elementary Attendance Area is on a  90-minute delayed schedule. Example: If your bus stop is usually at 7 a.m., on a delayed schedule, your bus stop would be at 8:30 a.m.   
  • School start times on a delayed schedule is as follows:
    School: Ben Franklin Academy
    Regular start time: 8:15 a.m.
    Delayed start time: 9:45 a.m. 

OR  

  • There will be no bus service all day (morning and afternoon) for all students (high school, middle school and elementary) when the TV, radio, DCSD weather hotline and DCSD Web site announcement is: The Highlands Ranch Region/Roxborough Elementary Attendance Area is closed

It is the parent's/guardian's choice for their student(s) to go to school in inclement weather.  If you feel it is not safe for your student to go to school because of weather, call your student's school attendance line for an excused absence.  In addition, if your student's bus runs late to school, the tardy will be excused. 

 

For the most accurate and up-to-date school closure or delayed schedule information, please call the DCSD's weather hotline at (303) 387-SNOW (7669) or website.

BASE and Snow Delays/Closures

As stated above, if Ben Franklin Academy is on a 90-minute delay in the event of a school delay, this means the school will open at 8:15 a.m. for BASE.  If school is closed, the BASE program also will be closed.

Preschool Newsletter

If you are a parent of a Ben Franklin Academy student in preschool, you can get more in-depth information by clicking on the link or icon below.       

 

Preschool Newsletter Image
Click here for the Preschool Newsletter

Highlands Ranch Bus  

Because of the overwhelming success of the Roxborough bus route, we are excited to announce that we have added a Highlands Ranch bus route that will serve the area near the Southridge Recreation Center starting Monday, Nov. 5.

 

The schedule is as follows: The bus stop for Ben Franklin Academy will be in the parking lot of Paintbrush Park located at 4901 Valleybrook Drive, Highlands Ranch, Colo., 80130.  The stop times will be 7:45 a.m. and approximately 3:45 p.m.  Please have students at the bus stop five minutes before stop time.

 

The goal of offering the additional bus route is to provide convenience and an alternate car pooling option to the Ben Franklin Academy community. Another goal is to continue to reduce potential congestion at the school during car pool time.

 

If you are planning on participating in either the Highlands Ranch or Roxborough bus route, please email us ASAP with the following information:

  1. Student first and last name
  2. Family number
  3. Occasional rider or regular rider
  4. Roxborough or Highlands Ranch

As of today, our program (Ben Franklin Academy) still remains as the only and first charter school to partner with Douglas County School District (DCSD) in this capacity.  We will have a dedicated route just for Ben Franklin Academy students, so we will not have other non-Ben Franklin Academy students on the bus. 

 

To participate in this program, you must request a Z-PASS.  The cost is $1 each way per student plus a $25 set-up fee paid to DCSD.  Applications and fees must be sent directly to DCSD.  Applications are available on the Parent Portal - simply print, fill out and mail in the application and fees directly to DCSD. For your convenience, we have attached forms and instructions below: 

All related questions and correspondence should be directed to DCSD at the following: Transportation Department, 2808 N. US Hwy 85, Bldg. B, Castle Rock, Colo., 80109, (303) 387-0447 (phone), (303) 688-3543 (fax) or via email.  

Lunch Update: Late Orders and 6th Grade 

LATE November lunch orders are due TODAY, Thursday, Oct. 25, with a $3 late fee per order.

Outdoor Ed/Sixth Grade Families 
For those sixth graders who ordered lunch from Lunch on the Go for Nov. 6-8 (Tuesday through Thursday), you will see a credit you can apply to your December order.  For those who ordered drinks, we will have two waters for you to take on your trip.  On Friday, we will give you your drink of choice.  If you ordered pizza, we will have the pizza ready for you when you return.

DI Team Managers Meeting  

The Destination ImagiNation (DI) Team Managers meeting is at 4:15 p.m., today, Thursday, Oct. 25, in the Ben Franklin Academy conference room.

 

DI is a non-profit organization that helps kids around the world discover their creativity and encourage critical thinking.  Kids work together on a team to solve a problem.  Each year, new challenges are revealed in seven different categories.  The teams must develop a solution, as well as a presentation about their solution.

 

Ben Franklin Academy is part of the South Metro Region for DI.  This year, the South Metro Regional tournament will be held on Saturday, March 9, 2013, at Littleton High School.

Spirit Day

Spirit Day is tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 26.  All students are allowed to wear Ben Franklin Academy spirit wear with their uniform bottoms of choice. 

Spirit wear includes the white BFA spirit T-shirts, new red Lightning Bolt logo T-shirts, last year's Field Day T-shirts and BFA sweatshirts.  Students who choose not to wear spirit wear must still dress in their uniforms. 


Spirit wear can be purchased online through the BFA Store

BFF Social 

Want to get to know other Ben Franklin Academy parents? The Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) will be hosting a Ben Franklin Friends (BFF) Social from 8:30-10 a.m., tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 26, at the Lucent Super Target Starbucks Caf�.  The PAC's BFF Social is intended for parents to meet one another, ask policy questions and voice feedback about their experiences at Ben Franklin Academy.  Hope you can join us!  Children are welcome.  Email the PAC with any questions.

Halloween Parties

Halloween parties are scheduled on Wednesday, Oct. 31, as follows:

  • Elementary school: 1:45-2:45 p.m.
  • Middle school: 2-3 p.m.

Parents attending the parties should park in overflow parking.  No scary costumes please.  For more information, contact your Room Parent.

JDRF Kids Walk to Cure Diabetes

Ben Franklin Academy elementary students are participating in the Kids Walk to Cure Diabetes, to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) which raises money to help cure diabetes.  All students should have come home with an envelope on Tuesday before Fall Break.  Students are learning about diabetes in PE and the different ways they can prevent type 1 diabetes.  As students collect money for this cause, they should have the donor(s) put his/her name on a shoe (provided in the envelope).  Students should bring in the shoes as they collect the money so they can be displayed.  We already have quite a few posted.  The envelopes with the money collected should be brought in on the day of the walk, which is Thursday, Nov. 1 (Wednesday, Oct. 31, for fourth grade).  Students will walk during their specials time.  If you would like to walk with your child that day, we would love to have you.

No School Nov. 2

This is a reminder that there is no school for students on Friday, Nov. 2, as it is a teacher work day.

Upcoming Middle School Sporting Events  

Girls' Volleyball (all games start at 4 p.m.)

  • Thursday, Oct. 25, vs. Aspen Academy at Ben Franklin Academy   
  • Tuesday, Oct. 30, at Platte River Academy 

Middle School Athletics: Basketball  

Boys' and girls' basketball will begin the week of Nov. 5.  At this time, the teams will be open to all sixth and seventh graders.  All of the mandatory forms - and other important information - can be found on the Middle School Athletics portion of the Ben Franklin Academy website.  The forms are due the first day of practice.  Practices will be two to three days a week right after school.  The game schedule and practice schedules also can be found on the website. 

Middle School Fundraising Coordinator Needed

The Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) is looking for a parent volunteer to be the Fundraising Coordinator for the middle school.  The volunteer would coordinate programs for funding of middle school trips and events.  Please contact Shelly Dana if you are interested.

Thank You Volunteers!  

The Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) would like to thank all of the parent volunteers who have helped at Ben Franklin Academy this year.  Without your dedication and commitment to our students, our school would not be the same.  Be sure to check your child's Thursday folder today, as there is a Volunteer Appreciation treat enclosed.  In addition, volunteers have logged 5,344 hours to date! 
Sincerely,  

 

Bob Barber 

Principal

Ben Franklin Academy