Calendar
| Sept 26 |
Dress Up Day |
| Sept 28 |
Youth Rally at Denver First Church |
| Sept 28 |
Soccer home game vs. Brighton @ 1:00 p.m. |
| Sept 30 |
Happy Birthday, Ms. Tipton |
| Oct 1-3 |
ITBS |
| Oct 4 |
Picture Day |
| Oct 8-10 |
ITBS Continues |
| Oct 11-14 |
Gymnastics Festival @ Union College |
| Oct 13 |
Family Night |
Hot Lunch/Pizza
| Sept 26 |
Baked Potatoes (changed from Mac & Cheese) |
| Sept 27 |
Haystacks |
| Oct 1 |
Pizza by the slice |
| Oct 2 |
Spaghetti |
| Oct 3 |
Corn Dogs |
Classroom News
Kindergarten
Ms. Blankenship
Kindergartners have been learning a lot of self-help skills. They have to learn how to tie shoes, button clothes, use zippers, say their address and phone numbers and much more. It is quite a challenge. Some classmates have been especially helpful in teaching others. Teddy began the shoe tying lessons and soon Monica and Jacob learned and began to teach others. We really appreciate their help. They are very patient teachers.
When sending lunch and snacks please label or put the snack item(s) in a sandwich bag so your student knows which items are for snack and which are for lunch.
Grades 1-2
Mrs. Gaines
First and Second graders are at Berry Patch Farm today. The weather should be just right for berry picking.
On Friday we saw our individual volcanoes erupt. It was actually a pretty awesome sight!
Second graders are reading Cactus Hotel and learning about a desert habitat for the next 4 weeks. First grade is studying the farm and reading A Day at Greenhill Farm. Tomorrow we each have the opportunity to dress as a farmer. Sounds like fun.
The K-2 choir has a performance coming up early in October. You won’t want to miss this.
Grades 3-4
Mrs. Hansen
It is the end of the month and it’s time to evaluate the children on their learning for this month. I will continue to do these evaluations monthly.
Northeast States and Indian Facts test, Thursday. Fourth grade is graded on correct spelling of the States. State reports and Indian books are done and due Friday. Some children will have homework to finish these books. Please help them finish and return them to school for Friday’s due date. Sara Noble, our Literature open book test is on Thursday. Your child has notes on this also.
Parents don’t get terribly worried about all these tests. I try to teach this age group how to drill and study for tests and take notes, so we do drills every single week, we write notes every single week and we write words 2-20 times every single week.
Some of the children need a little extra help at home and notes will come home today for those that need help on memorizing facts, and those that have their Indian folders to finish. Please check with your child.
Grades 5-6
Mrs. Hodgson
We had a great time at Outdoor School! The weather was perfect and our team building activities went very well. Our goal is to encourage one another and build each other up in all our work this year. Thank you to our parents who helped with all the activities and to Mr. Britt for providing transportation.
We will cook our first Hot Lunch (a classroom fundraiser) on Thursday. Nicholas’s mom will be coming in to help us. Thank you, Mrs. Floyd!
Besides our normal Spelling and Memory Verse tests this week, we will also have a Social Studies test on Thursday and a Science Test on Friday. Next week our ITBS testing will begin. We will spend a portion of each morning on testing. Students need adequate sleep and a healthy breakfast to perform their best.
Grades 7-12
Service Day
The students in grades 7-12 are spending the day helping with community service projects. They will be fulfilling one of the new requirements for graduation.
Mr. Wuerfel
Drama: Friday, Sept. 28th
The drama class is working hard on two new plays and they’re going far beyond all my expectations! They will be performing at the Denver First Church for the Denver Youth Rally. The program starts at 7:00.
This drama year is going to be an exceptional one which will be concluding with the Easter Play entitled Passion. If you’re interested at all in helping with this play please call or e-mail me if you’re willing to help.
Mr. Howard
Thank you to all of those that have been so willing to help drive for soccer games. This week we have a home game on Friday at 1:00 against Brighton.
7 and 8
In order to help you to help your kids with their homework I have created a web page. You can log on to see what your kids have due the next day and help them to get it done on time. The address is: www.freewebs.com/brianhoward. You can also find my site by following the link from Mr. Wuerfel’s site.
In Science the second paper of the quarter will be due on Thursday. If your student needs help with writing the paper I have made a writing guide and passed it out to them. If they have lost it feel free to give me a call or send an email and I will be sure to get you a new one.
7 – 12
I will be working on getting my above mentioned Web site working for all grades. I think that it will take me a little time but you can look for it sometime next week.
Mr. Force
7 and 8
Wow! These students passed their mini mid-term test with flying colors. Not only that but they have earned 15 points for good behavior and will have a special field trip in October!
9 and 10 Geography
Many students passed their mini mid-term with an A+. They now have the tools to start on their projects. Their first project will be due Oct. 12th.
11 and 12
Government can be a good thing, maybe even necessary! Taxes are necessary if we want a government to provide, protect and serve us. How do we get the most service for the least amount of taxes? We are discussing some rather relevant issues in government class.
Gymnastics
Congratulations to the VRA Flying Eagles. We have 17 new team members for this year. Our first challenge is the clinic at Union College. We will be leaving on Thurs., Oct. 11th and returning on Sun. Oct. 14th.
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We’re Bragging
Our grade 3 and 4 students are doing speeches! Today we had the pleasure of hearing Katie Taylor talk about a Venetian mask that she got in Venice and Melanie Martinez talk about a bear she made at Build -A- Bear. We look forward to hearing from other students this Thursday.
Our grade 7- 12 students really stepped it up this weekend. They were all ready and anxious to help out with the Youth Rally this weekend when our sponsors were unable to make it. They planned, performed and led interactive groups in discussions. We had a great time. Thank-you students for your energy and enthusiasm!
Dress Up Day
Tomorrow, Wed. Sept.26th is Farm Day! Please come to school dressed as something you would find on a farm! You could be a silo, an animal, a bale of hay, etc. If you don‘t participate in dress up day then school dress is required.
BUILDING PROJECT FUNDS
Needed to break ground: $400,000.00
Amount rec’d in pledges: $391,916.00
Amount in bank: $144,432.17 |
Pathfinders & Adventurers
If anyone has patches to sew on their uniforms bring them on Wed. Sept. 26th and we can get them all sewn on. Don’t forget your snack!
Denver Youth Rally
This weekend the Denver First SDA Church is holding a Youth Rally. The program starts on Friday evening at 7:00 and our own Vista Ridge Drama Club will be performing. There are also programs throughout the day on Saturday beginning at 9:30 a.m., and ending with an energetic game of Dodgeballl and Kickball from 8-11 p.m.
Picture Day
Picture day is on Thurs. Oct 4th. Information is being sent home today and the order forms will be sent home next week.
8th Grade Fundraiser
Marilyn Lemke, a home based travel consultant, has offered to donate her commission from booking your travel and vacation needs, to the grade 8 class. Please contact her at 303 817 3752 or holidaytrip@aol.com and ask her how she can help you with your travel needs. Thank you, Marilyn for your generous support.
ITBS
Iowa Tests of Basic Skills is coming up fast. The dates for these tests are Oct. 1-2 and Oct. 8-10. Only grades 3-12 are tested. Please plan ahead. It is really to your student’s disadvantage to miss any of these days. The tests are very hard to make up. The results of these tests are shared with the parents at the October parent-teacher conferences.
Music Performance Schedule
Oct. 13 - K-2 Choir @ Chapel Haven Church (tentative date – this may change)
November 3 - Grades 5-12 Band to Boulder SDA Church
Christmas Programs:
Elementary December 13
Academy December 20
Jan. 26, 2008 - Grade 3-4 Recorders @ Chapel Haven Church
January 30 – February 3, 2008 - Grades 9-12 Choir to Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska (only high school age is eligible) This is a wonderful experience for your young musicians! (Note: Correction from original calendar)
March 27 – 29 - Rocky Mountain Conf. Music Festival for Grades 5-12 at Campion Academy.
April 17 – 19 - Spring Concert Tour to Wyoming for Grades 7-12.
May 14 - Picnic and Pops (Spring Music Concert)
Home and School
Cookie Dough Fundraiser – The annual cookie dough fundraiser kicked off yesterday! No doubt your student(s) have shown you all of the amazing prizes they can win! They are very excited about the possibility of going to lunch in a limousine! Please support your child for this very important fundraiser. REMEMBER: On-line sales count towards all prize levels. Our goal is for each student to sell a minimum of 10 items. If we achieve this goal, we will raise over $7,000! In addition to the prizes in the prize brochure, here are some more things your student can win:
- Sell 40 Items – Go to Lunch in a Limousine!
- Sell 50 Items – Enter Name in a Drawing for a Nintendo Wii! (a minimum of 10 names is required)
- Classroom w/the Most Sales Gets an Ice Cream Party! (most sales will be determined by average sales per student)
Scrip Program – The next Scrip order will be placed on Monday, October 1st – deadline is 8:30 a.m. Orders are accepted in the school office at any time. Now that many of you are more familiar with the program, we are looking forward to a very large order! Please visit the Web site at www.vistaridgeacademy.org and click on the Home & School/Scrip link to view the list of over 200 major retailers who are waiting to donate money to our school. You may also visit www.glscrip.com to view the most up to date list of retailers and see what bonus offers are currently in effect. Call or email Ivy Lee with any questions. PLEASE REMEMBER – THIS DOES NOT COST YOU ANYTHING! YOU PURCHASE GIFT CARDS AT FACE VALUE – WE DO THE REST! PLEASE SUPPORT VISTA RIDGE ACADEMY WITH THIS VERY SIMPLE PROGRAM!
Take-Home Dinner – The 1st Take-Home Dinner of the year is this Thursday, September 27th. We will be featuring one of your favorite dinners – SLUMGULLION! Slumgullion is a delicious goulash w/macaroni noodles. There is no vegetarian meat in this dish.
Family Night, Oct. 13th - We will have a short vespers at sundown, then head to the gym for the Team Scramble, eat pizza and snacks, and then open the gym for basketball and volleyball, play table games and ping pong in the lunch room, etc.
Thank you and God Bless.
Ivy Lee, Home and School Leader
303.518.7811
ivyrlee@comcast.net |
