BFA web banner
Ben Franklin Academy NewsletterVol. 6, Iss. 14
April 2016
In This Issue
:: Dress of Choice Day TOMORROW | BFA Building Expansion Meetings | Board Elections Results | Special of the Week: P.E.
:: Two BFA DI Teams to Global Finals | Mother/Son Event Needs Volunteers | Dodgeball for Dollars | Box Tops
:: SAC Volunteer Opportunity | Volunteer of the Month | BFA Bricks for Sale | Ben's Brigade Events | BFA Summer Camp
:: Summer Lego Robotics Camp | Birthday Bags | 2016-17 Registration Dates | Ultramarathon | Sponsors | Calendar
Dear Parents,

As parents and educators, we desire the same thing for our children - the best possible education. We are committed to every child's success. Our goal is to create balanced classes that meet the academic and social needs of your child. 
 
Meetings for placement into K-8 grades will take place during next week's teacher in-service day. At each grade level, the classroom teachers and all of our professional staff will meet to provide input for placement in the 2016-17 school year. 
 
Each of our classes is a heterogeneous group of children. When we develop our classes, we consider reading and math abilities, gender, learning style/teaching style, behavioral patterns, peer relationships and overall class balance. 
 
The professional staff has the responsibility to determine the best placement for each child. If your child has needs that are not already known to the school, please communicate that with your child's current teacher as soon as possible. We are not able to consider requests for specific teachers or friends, but I assure you that we strive to make the best placement for each child.
 
Through a collaborative effort, I am confident that we will provide the best possible instructional program for every student. 
Reminder Don't Forget!
  • Extra Dress of Choice Day: TOMORROW, Friday, April 15
  • Dress of Choice Day: Thursday, April 21
  • No School for Students/ Teacher Work Day: Friday, April 22
voting_people.jpg
2016 Board Elections Results  

Please join your BFA Board of Directors in welcoming its newest parent-elected director Bryan Molen and Board-appointed director Ann Citrin to the BFA Board! Bryan and Ann will begin serving their three-year terms at the regularly scheduled May Board meeting. The Board looks forward to integrating Bryan and Ann to the team. Thank you to each of the candidates for sharing their ideas and passion for BFA. Thank you, BFA community, for taking the time to be involved and vote.
Destination ImagiNation Two BFA DI Teams Qualify for Global Finals     

Congratulations to all BFA Destination Imagination (DI) teams! We are proud of all your efforts and accomplishments at last week's State competition.

For the first time in BFA school history, two BFA DI teams have qualified for the DI Global Finals in Knoxville, Tenn., in May. More than 8,000 participants from 15 different countries will compete at DI Global Finals. 

The team Awesome is Our Middle Name placed FIRST in Musical Mashup, Elementary Level (left photo); the team Connect the Dots placed SECOND in In Plain Sight, Mid
dle Level (top right photo).  
StateDITeams Special kudos to the teams who competed at the State competition:
  • Awesome is Our Middle Name: Sophia Bettis, Kaitlyn Blum, Mary Kodenkandath, Sahithi Mathukumilli, Sreehitha Sajja and Emma Thiessen with Team Manager Sarah Bettis
  • Connect the Dots: Shrey Seth, Austin Singleton, Arya Shinde and Shreya Sundaresh with Team Manager Nandini Sundaresh
  • BFA Believers (Get A Clue): Jackie Fustich, Evan McDermott, Mina Poleschook, Tyler Sunahara, Siva Sundaresh, Anson Washeck and Brynna West (bottom right photo) with Team Managers Amy Sunahara and Missy Washeck 
Thank you to the parents and volunteers who have supported our students on this fun journey.  
Ninja Mother/Son Event Needs Volunteers 
 
Calling all BFA Dads/Moms with Daughters: We need YOUR help! The Mother/Son Event needs 22 additional volunteers for this weekend. Volunteers are needed to support the Mother/Son Event from 5-8 p.m., Saturday, April 16, at Extreme Challenge (located at 82 Inverness Drive East, Englewood, 80112). Dinner will be provided for the volunteers. Please sign up TODAY by clicking here.
Box Tops Logo Box Tops   

The next Box Tops collection date is Wednesday, April 20. Last month, the winning elementary class was Mrs. North's first grade; in middle school, Mrs. Molnar's seventh grade came out on top. Congratulations to those classes! 
Volunteer SAC Volunteer Opportunity    

The Student Accountability Committee (SAC) is looking for volunteers to join the SAC next school year. The SAC is a state-mandated committee composed of parents, community members and school personnel who are responsible for reviewing school progress and policies, making recommendations to the BFA Board of Directors, and conducting parent and student satisfaction surveys. The SAC meets monthly. If you are interested in learning more about the SAC, please attend our next meeting scheduled at 4:15 p.m., Thursday, April 21, in the conference room. This is a great way to stay involved with BFA and get volunteer hours!
BFA Brick BFA Bricks for Sale    
 
The Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) will begin offering the opportunity to purchase BFA bricks, which can be engraved with your family's name or a short message and will be placed with our current engraved pavers at the school's entrance. These only will be offered for a limited time and will not be sold again next year. Look for a flier in next week's Thursday folder for more information.
DadsNightOut Ben's Brigade Events
 
Home Depot Event
Dads, bring your kiddo(s) at noon, Saturday, April 16, to The Home Depot (located at 1200 Mayberry Dr., Highlands Ranch, 80129) for The Home Depot Build Class. This is a great opportunity to spend time with your son(s) and/or daughter(s) while working on a project together.
 
Ben's Brigade Meeting
The next Ben's Brigade meeting will be held at 8 p.m., Thursday, April 21, at the SuperTarget Starbucks (located at 1265 Sgt. Jon Stiles Dr., Highlands Ranch, 80129). All BFA dads are welcome to attend! 
 
Dads' Night Out
Ben's Brigade is hosting a Dads' Night Out from 6-8 p.m., Thursday, April 28, at Living the Dream Brewery (located at 12305 N. Dumont Way, Littleton, 80125) with special guest, Principal Barber! All BFA dads, grandpas, favorite uncles, etc. are welcome to attend.  We look forward to seeing you there!

Spring Clean Up Event
Each year, Ben's Brigade hosts a Spring Clean Up for BFA. All BFA dads are welcome and encouraged to participate in the event from 8 a.m. - noon, Saturday, April 30, at BFA
Summer Lego Robotics Camp      

BFA is offering a Lego Robotics Camp with Ms. Konesky, Technology teacher and First Lego League Robotics coach, from 8:30-11:30 a.m., June 6-10, at BFA. The camp is for those 8 years old and up; cost is $180. For more information, click here
Birthday Bags

Celebrating birthdays at BFA just got more fun! For $10, your child will receive the following:
  • A bag full of goodies, such as erasers, pencils, bouncy balls, etc. (no food or candy will be in the bags) delivered to their classroom by eighth graders

  • A birthday certificate for a free bake sale item at the next bake sale

  • A personalized note from you (if requested)

  • Eighth graders singing happy birthday to your child in his/her classroom while delivering the bag

Did your student already celebrate his/her birthday? Is his/her birthday in the summer? We also will deliver "unbirthday bags" for students who have already celebrated their birthday or "half-birthday bags" for summer birthdays. 

Thank you for supporting the eighth graders' trip to Washington, D.C.!

To order your birthday bags, click here. If you have any questions, please email Mrs. Simpson.          
Healthy Schools
BFA to Participate in Ultramarathon
 
BFA is one of 10 schools chosen to participate in the Douglas County School District's (DCSD) Healthy Schools Move Ultramarathon. BFA is challenging its students, parents and staff members to each accumulate 100 miles of movement between now and May. To sign up, click here. For more information and to register, please click here.  
construction_hard_hat.jpg
Building Expansion Meetings
 
Building Expansion Meetings
BFA's plans to expand the facility to enhance our current curriculum and support our commitment to our STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) programs are moving full "steam" ahead!
 
Show your support for BFA's  proposed expansion by attending the Douglas County Planning Commission meeting at 7 p.m., Monday, April 18, at 100 Third Street, Castle Rock, 80104

Learn more about the vision and preliminary plans for the completion of BFA's facility at 6 p.m., Wednesday, April 20, in the BFA gym.  BFA's National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) members will provide childcare for BFA students during the meeting. NJHS students will be supervised by Mrs. Savoy.
P.E.: Featured BFA Special of the Week 
     
Each week in this newsletter,we highlight one  of BFA's Specials and what each grade in the school is learning in that particular Special. This week, we are focusing on Physical Education (P.E.). (You can always find information about BFA's Specials by clicking here.)

Kindergarten and First Grade: Students are learning how to be superheroes! Superheroes are kind (they have been able to give me some wonderful examples of how they can be kind); helpful (we have talked about how they can be helpful at school, as well as at home - hopefully this will catch on for a few of them); stand up for their friends; strong and flexible (two things we have been working on in class). Superheroes also know how to roll and land safely. We have been learning how to do these things through tumbling/gymnastics.

Second Grade: Students are doing a tumbling unit right now as well. They have been working on flexibility and strength, as well as learning some skills on the tumbling mats, beam and bar. The students also have had the chance to use the spring board to practice landing safely.

Third Grade: Students have been
juggling! They have started off learning to juggle scarves in a cascade pattern and then transfer those skills to juggling bags, pins and rings. They also got the chance to try out Diablo and Flower Sticks.

Fourth and Fifth Grades: Students are playing badminton. They are learning the different hits and then playing a "King of the Court" badminton game.

Workout Wednesday: Students are doing an "NFL workout" this rotation. There are many different exercises and stretches that the students complete for 40 seconds at a time. They are following an NFL PowerPoint slide show to know which exercise to do. Fifth graders also are completing a heart rate worksheet. They will conduct an experiment to see what type of exercises gets their heart rates into their target heart rate zone. They are also learning about F.I.T.

Electives: In Field Day Planning, students in this class are starting to practice teaching their station to the other students in their class. They are working out kinks and making their station perfect for the elementary Field Day. In Indoor Recess Game Making, students have been working hard to create and produce games to give to the elementary teachers. At the end of this trimester, each elementary teacher should have at least one new movement game that students can play when the weather is bad and students have to be inside.
DodgeballWinners Dodgeball for Dollars    
 
While the elementary students were doing Jump Rope For Heart, some of BFA's middle school students were participating in Dodgeball For Dollars. They donated $20 each to participate in a round-robin dodgeball tournament before school. All of the proceeds went to the American Heart Association along with the money raised for Jump Rope For Heart. The combination of both totaled $16,800!

The winning team played the teachers one day after school. The winning dodgeball team was the eighth grade team consisting of John Chase, Will Metz, Shrey Seth, Arya Shinde, Trey Sieradski, Austin Singleton, Logan VanWyk and Luke Wright.
 
All students at BFA get an extra Dress of Choice Day TOMORROW, Friday, April 15, as a reward for making our fundraising goal. Great job!
VolunteeroftheMonth Volunteer of the Month   
  
The Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) highlights one volunteer each month who has gone above and beyond in his/her contributions to the school. This volunteer receives recognition in this newsletter and on the school website. S/he also has the privilege to park in one of our reserved parking spaces.  
 
For April, we have chosen Tom and Katie Devlin.
They are a founding family and enjoy working to help the BFA community. Tom organizes community events and "work" days to help the school through his leadership role on Ben's Brigade, and Katie has done an amazing job this year handling numerous photography issues with our former vendor, as well as deciding upon a new photographer as the PTO Yearbook/School Pictures Committee chair. For the past three years, she also has worked closely with our yearbook provider, and she played an important role in the success of the BENefit Bash this year.

When asked what they like most about BFA, they said, "The passion and loyalty that many of us have and display towards our child's education and environment at BFA." 

Tom moved to Highlands Ranch in 1999 from his hometown of Philadelphia, Penn. As a result of being born and raised in Philly, he has a strong passion for many things, such as good food, sports teams and family. He came to Colorado to open/operate the first satellite office of Marlin Business Bank. Katie is from Grand Junction, Colo; she moved to the Denver area 10 years ago from Charleston, S.C. She attended the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and graduated from Mesa State with a degree in finance. They have two children, second grader Addyson (8) and and Brady (4).  
 
Thank you, Tom and Katie! You both make BFA a better place!
BFA Summer Camp BFA Summer Camp 2016   

BFA is offering an exciting Summer Camp program again this year. The initial registration is NOW open! Click here to register.


Summer Camp calendars have been added to the BFA website. We are working on setting up the daily registrations, so stay tuned for those! For now, check-out the calendars by clicking on the links below, get excited for all the fun activities, and get your students registered!

  
Whatever your situation - if you need full-time day care for the summer; looking to get a break from your children a few days; or if you're kids want to connect with other BFA kids and enjoy fun, summer social time - our Summer Camp program is sure to keep your kids safe and entertained. Our camp is staffed by people you know and trust.

Program Details
  • Hours: 7 a.m. - 6 p.m.
  • Dates: June 1 - Aug. 12 (Closed July 4-8)
  • Days: Monday through Friday
  • Summer Camp is open to any currently enrolled BFA student 5 years old and above and in kindergarten. 
  • Registration Cost: $35 per child/one-time registration fee (all registered campers will receive a camp T-shirt and day pack)
  • Daily Tuition Cost: $35 per day per child for non-field trip days; $50 per day per child for field trip days
Any questions, please email Summer Camp. 
School 2016-17 School Year Registration Dates

Save the date for 2016-17 registration days in August for New AND Existing Families:
  • FAMILIES with LAST NAMES A through L: Wednesday, Aug. 10; office hours: 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. (closed for lunch from 1-2 p.m.)
  • FAMILIES with LAST NAMES M through Z: Thursday, Aug. 11; office hours: 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. (closed for lunch from 1-2 p.m.)
  • BRAND NEW FAMILIES ONLY: Friday, Aug. 12; office hours: 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
thankyou_basket_hdr.jpg BFA Sponsors
 
Thank you to our BFA Sponsors for the 2015-16 school year! 
Important Dates / Calendar of EventsCalendar Clip Art
  • EXTRA Dress of Choice Day: TOMORROW, Friday, April 15
  • Ben's Building Event: Noon, Saturday, April 16, The Home Depot (1200 Mayberry Dr., Highlands Ranch, 80129)
  • Mother/Son Event: 5:30 p.m., Saturday, April 16, at Xtreme Challenge Arena (82 Inverness Dr. East, Englewood, 80112)
  • Douglas County Planning Commission Meeting: at 7 p.m., Monday, April 18, at 100 Third Street, Castle Rock, 80104
  • Box Tops Collection: Wednesday, April 20
  • BFA Facility Expansion Presentation: 6 p.m.,Wednesday, April 20, BFA Gym
  • Dress of Choice Day: Thursday, April 21
  • No School for Students/ Teacher Work Day: Friday, April 22
  • Fifth Grade Performance - Summer Camp: 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 27, Gym
  • Dads' Night Out: 6-8 p.m., Thursday, April 28, at Living the Dream Brewery (12305 N. Dumont Way, Littleton, 80125) 
  • Spirit Day: Friday, April 29
  • Ben's Brigade Spring Clean Up: 8 a.m. - noon, Saturday, April 30, BFA
  • 2016-17 Registration Day for Families with Last Names A through L: 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. (closed for lunch from 1-2 p.m.), Wednesday, Aug. 10
  • 2016-17 Registration Day for Families with Last Names M through Z: 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. (closed for lunch from 1-2 p.m.), Thursday, Aug. 11
  • 2016-17 Registration Day for Brand New Families ONLY: 9 a.m. - 1 p.m., Friday, Aug. 12
  • Middle School Blog: Updated every Monday; click here for the latest edition
Upcoming Meetings
  • Parent Teacher Organization (PTO): 7 p.m. (note time change), Wednesday, April 20, Library
  • School Accountability Committee (SAC): 4:15 p.m., Thursday, April 21, Sanders Science Lab
  • Ben's Brigade: 8 p.m., Thursday, April 21, at the SuperTarget Starbucks (1265 Sgt. Jon Stiles Dr., Highlands Ranch, 80129).
  • Community Events Committee (CEC): 6 p.m., Tuesday, May 3, Library
  • Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Committee: 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 4, Sanders Science Lab
  • Finance Committee: 5 p.m., Monday, May 9, Conference Room
  • Board of Directors: 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 10, Library; click here for the latest minutes
Middle School Sports
(Click here for website.)
  • Girls' Soccer:
    • 4:30 p.m., Thursday, April 14, at SkyView Academy
    • 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 19, at Aspen View Academy
    • 4:30 p.m., Thursday, April 21, at Platte River Academy
Ben Franklin Academy Calendars 
Sincerely,
 
Bob Barber
Principal
Ben Franklin Academy
Contact Us!
Ben Franklin Academy

2270 Plaza Drive, Highlands Ranch, CO 80129

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

Attendance: (720) 432-9239 or [email protected]

Web: http://www.bfacademy.org/

Fax:  (303) 974-1738  

Mission: Our mission is to develop young adults with character like America's founding Renaissance man, Benjamin Franklin: well-read, scientifically curious, and civically engaged. 


Vision: Our students will excel academically through a challenging, sequenced curriculum that emphasizes math, science, and literacy. We will be a data driven institution, focusing on individual students. Our students, teachers, parents, staff, and leaders will be held accountable for the success of our school. Finally, we recognize that an education is incomplete without fostering the arts, sports, nature, and character.


13 Virtues:
Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Purity and Humility.