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To provide a challenging, balanced curriculum in a safe, caring environment.
Andie Ruskin, Principal
January 16, 2015
Happy New Year! Welcome back to the second semester of
school year. As we begin the new semester, teachers will be
reviewing what it means to be a DVE Citizen. Having discussions around the dinner table about what it means to demonstrate RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY, and PERSEVERANCE
will go a long way to increase your student’s personal growth
and understanding. Your encouragement and reinforcement is
the most important component in your child’s education.
Thank you for your support!
Terry Dickinson, Assistant Principal
Happy New Year
Thursday, January 15
3rd Grade LEGO Club 7:45—8:40
Wednesday, January 21
Only 85 days of school left! Regular school attendance plays a
crucial role in your child's overall academic achievement. The
first step toward learning in school is being present and on
time for class. Children should be at school every day unless
an illness or emergency prevents them from doing so. Parents
are asked to provide the front office with a doctor’s note for
absences which extend beyond three days. Colorado’s Compulsory School Attendance Law, C.R.S. 22-33-104, states that
a student must attend public school for a certain number of
hours: “Every child who has attained the age of six years on or
before August 1 of each year and is under the age of seventeen
years…shall attend public school for at least . . . nine hundred
sixty-eight hours if an elementary pupil in a grade other than
kindergarten.” A student is considered habitually truant if they
have 4 unexcused absences from school in any one-month period, or 10 unexcused absences during any school year. If you
have any questions about your child’s attendance please call
the school. You can also review your child’s attendance history by logging into your parent portal account.
Kindergarten Registration begins at
the Education and Administration
Center 1110 Chapel Hills Drive. If
you have any questions please call
234-4200
Please make sure that your child comes to school prepared for
the weather. Winter coats, boots and layering works best for
the changing weather. Students should be prepared to go outdoors for recess. We will only have indoor recess on wet
weather days and if temperatures are lower than 20 degrees.
Friday, January 23
As always, please don’t hesitate to call, email, or drop in if
there is anything we can do for you. We are here for you and
your children and are always happy to listen and help. Hope
you have had a great start to 2015!
Andie Ruskin
Terry Dickinson
DVE Principal
DVE Assistant Principal
Wednesday, January 21
Academic Arts Academy Choice Night
at Eagleview Middle School—6:00 PM
719-234-3400
Thursday, January 22
3rd Grade LEGO Club 7:45—8:40
All 5th Grade parents who are interested in finding out more information regarding the Eagleview Academic Arts Academy program for the
2015/2016 school year please attend
our meeting at DVE—3:00
Thursday, January 29
3rd Grade LEGO Club—7:45
Page 2
Douglass Valley Elementary
2015-2016 Kindergarten Registration
Kindergarten students must be 5 years old by
October 1, 2015
DVE Registration date Wednesday, January 21st
Kindergarten registration consists of two steps:
Step One complete online (https://rpl.asd20.org/registration/
WelcomeToD20.html) after January 2, 2015. This must be complete before
Step Two.
Step Two begins at the Education and Administration Center (1110 Chapel
Hills Drive) You will need the following documents when you come to register
at the district.

Verification of child’s address (required for District 20 residence only): If
you live on base you will need to show proof of quarters assignment lease
from USAFA housing office.
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The child’s immunization record
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The child’s registered state birth certificate
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Any existing court documents related to custody if the child does not reside with legal/biological parents
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Picture ID of legal parent/guardian who is registering students
Douglass Valley Elementary
Page 3
Online Library Resources
Douglass Valley elementary school has several online resources available for parents and
students to use at home or school. Go to the Douglass Valley website at http://
www.asd20.org/schools/dve/Pages/default.aspx and click on the library link which has a
picture of books on it. Here are some of the links and passwords you will need to access
the information. These are great websites for student research, educational games, and
eBooks your student can use on a home computer or IPAD type device.
Worldbook Online http://www.worldbookonline.com/student/home
Encyclopedia covering people, places, and many subject areas. The Worldbook
online has many pictures and additional quality websites your student can access for additional information.
User ID: district20
Password: d20library
MackinVIA ebooks http://academy20.mackinvia.com/Default.aspx
Books to check out for all elementary age groups. Great for reading on the go
and you don’t have to worry about losing a library book on your travels!
User ID: dvek2
Password:1234
Culture Grams States Edition http://online.culturegrams.com/states/index.php
Website that has information on each state including listening to each state
bird sing, recipes, data tables, and climate information, etc.
No user ID or password needed.
Academy District 20 Knowledge Center and online catalog
http://www2.youseemore.com/academyschool/default.asp
District webpage with news, video resources, and book ideas.
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Douglass Valley Elementary
We once again welcome a new year that brings with it a message of
hope. A dawning of a brand new chapter in our lives that shows us that
it’s okay to let go of the past and start again. It’s a reset button. It’s an
opportunity to reinvent ourselves but only if we have the strength to
keep moving forward. It’s one thing to sit down and create a long list of
New Year’s resolutions, and it’s another to have the self-discipline to follow through with them.
What are you willing to do differently this year? What are you willing
to sacrifice so that you can finally live the creative life that you have always imagined? This year instead of sitting down and coming up with a
massive list of resolutions or covering your wall with a visualization map
— come up with one thing that you are willing to do and then just do it.
You don’t need to prepare. You don’t need to buy anything else to
make it happen. Just do one thing.
Instead of worrying about tomorrow or wondering how you are going
to stick with it all year. Just take one small step today in the right direction. As the ancient sage Lao-Tzu reminds us, “The journey of a thousand
miles begins with a single step.”
Don’t waste any more time preparing — Just start walking and create
the life you were meant to live!
“And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been”
~Rainer Maria Rilke
Happy New Year
Douglass Valley Elementary
Page 5
Holiday Shop success!
We hope you all had a pleasant holiday and you enjoyed
2015 is starting off with a box top collection chal- the gifts received or given that were purchased from the
lenge for each classroom. Whichever class has Holiday Shop. We raised over $1000 for the school in just
the most Box Tops collected by the end of Feba day and a half.
ruary will earn a classroom party!
The kids seemed to enjoy themselves very much and the
The money collected from Box Tops goes to the volunteers were amazing! Thank you so much for all your
PTO which in turn gives it back to the staff and
hard work.
school. Our last bundle of Box Tops we sent in
We will be having another shopping experience in the
provided us with over $1400!
2015 school year.
That helped pay for the fantastic math & science
Yearbook news
program Brain Pop the school uses.
Don’t forget to order your yearbook!
I cannot talk about these programs without giv$15
check
payable to DVE, cash, or online at
ing a big hug of thanks to Vivian & Brit. These
www.inter-state.com/yearbook
ladies make the money happen by counting,
Enter code 699565
sorting and sending in all the Box Tops and juice
pouches.
Our newest program
Recycle boxes for aluminum and plastic
drink pouches (no need to remove the straws)
and drink pouches with spouts are located in the
cafeteria for collections. It’s good for our planet,
good for our school and teaches our children
that helping is super easy.
We need all pictures for the yearbook turned in by February 15th. You can email them to [email protected]
or give them Lenore in the office on a thumb drive.
Please label the pictures somehow with class/event/date.
We’re specifically looking for
The school sign with the welcome back student’s
message on it
Ice Cream social pictures
All Academies - Science, Technology, Music, PE, Art,
Library, etc.
All Clubs
Holiday Shop
Barnes and Noble book fair
Christmas Parties
Cute kids
Field Trips
Red Ribbon Week - no helicopters, please, have lots
of those
The collected waste is then converted into new
products, ranging from recycled park benches to
upcycled backpacks. Without programs like Box
Tops & Terra Cycle we would not be able to help
provide the staff at DVE extra resources to make
our children’s education better. A HUGE thank
you to all of you who take the time to send these
labels in, they can and DO make a difference. Jenn Cobongs
Yearbook Coordinator
Douglass Valley Elementary
Page 6
the Principal regarding the spending of school
monies; to meet and determine whether decisions
affecting the educational process are adJanuary 23rd @ 3:00 in the cafeteria
vancing
or impeding student achievement by
The Academic Arts Academy fosters a safe culture that emreviewing annual objectives, tactics & action
powers each student to synthesize academic content with
plans
and their results; to ensure educational
authentic integration of the arts.
performance data is provided through the AnStudents engage in Innovative learning through guided
nual Report to Patrons; and to discuss safety
choice, personal expression, collaboration and interaction
issues
related to the school environment. SAC
with the arts community. A shared commitment to high
meets once a month. The SAC reps report
achievement and ownership of knowledge challenges learners
back to the PTO
to create connections and discover their voice in a
diverse society.
Eagleview AAA presentation
Everyday Preventive Actions That Can Help Fight
Germs, Like Flu
We need more volunteers to make a
difference!
Do you want to go on field trips with your kids or maybe help
in their classroom with parties and special events? All volunteers MUST complete a volunteer orientation program along
with a background check before you can enjoy all the fun.
Meetings are held the first Friday every month at 3:00 in the
cafeteria at DVE—next meeting is February 6th.
The PTO has open positions, we NEED you!
Hospitality Coordinator
Responsible for coordinating the food for the Ice Cream Social
(August), Walk Your Child to School Day (September),
Parent/Teacher Conferences (October & March—coordinate
with staff), Silent Auction (February), CSAP snacks (March)
and Teacher Appreciation (May).
Parent Sounding Board Representative
A person to represent Douglass Valley at the district-wide
parent Sounding Board meetings. The PSB is a forum for parents to communicate directly with the Superintendent and
Board of Education Liaison. Meetings are held once a month
from 9:00—11:30 am. This is an essential position for DVE, as
it is our forum for having our voices heard. The PSB rep reports back to the DVE PTO and DVE School Accountability
Committee.
School Accountability Committee Reps (several are needed) The School Accountability Committee (SAC) is made up
of parents, school representatives, community representatives, students (as appropriate), and business leaders/patrons.
The purpose of the committee is to make recommendations to
It’s all about teamwork
The PTO only works as well as the team that
works together works hard. It takes parents,
teachers, staff and the community to make an
organization strong and events successful.
Jessica Crawford – PTO President
[email protected]
Page 7
Douglass Valley Elementary
Important Dates to Remember
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D20 Choice Window Opens: January 2, 2015 Choice Window Closes: February 20, 2015
Eagleview Choice Night: January 15, 2015 @ 6:00pm (EMS Wing Space)
Academic Arts Academy Choice Night: January 21, 2015 @ 6:00 PM (EMS Wing Space)
EMS Tours will be offered January 13, 2015 – February 19, 2015 on Tuesday/Thursday
mornings (8:45-9:30am and 9:45-10:30am). Please call the school to reserve your date.
AAA Interview Dates: February 12 OR February 19, 2015 @ 3:45 – 5:30 PM - No appointment necessary. All new students must interview and complete online AAA application.
Choice Acceptance Notification from Academy District 20: New students (out of district),
current transfer students (in district), and current choice students (out of district) will be
notified by district by e-mail by April 1, 2015.
Academic Arts Academy Acceptance Letters mailed home after Spring Break
Preschool applications for the 2015-16 school year will be available in the
office at DVE, Wednesday, January 21. On that date, applications will also
be available on the Briargate Preschool website and at the preschool office at
the District. After you complete your application it will need to be
mailed. Please see Shari at DVE if you need an application. Douglass Valley
Elementary does not have a preschool at this location. The Preschool
applications will list all preschool locations.