T H E
E A R L Y
C O L L E G E
O F
A R V A D A ' S
THE GRIFFIN W E
C A N .
A N D
W E
W I L L .
IMPORTANT DATES
APRIL 2 NO SCHOOL FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL ONLY
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April Events MARCH 29
MARCH 30
MARCH 31
APRIL 1
APRIL 2 No school for Middle school
APRIL 5
APRIL 12
APRIL 6
APRIL 13
APRIL 7
APRIL 14
APRIL 8
APRIL 9
APRIL 15
APRIL 16
APRIL 19
APRIL 20
APRIL 21
APRIL 22
APRIL 26
APRIL 27
APRIL 28
APRIL 29
Board Meeting @ 6
APRIL 23
APRIL 30
RESOURCES FOR GRIFFIN FAMILIES The Shelter in place order issued by Governor Polis in the spring helped keep people safe during this global pandemic. However, one downfall from this was the economic fallout from the uptick in business closures. We are all doing our best to learn from the past and ECA wants to make sure our families are well equipped in the event of a second wave. We have compiled a list of resources for those who may need them. Don't hesitate to reach out to bmazza@ecarvada.org for assistance. We are here to help.
Food Christian Action Center in Golden Food Pantries in Arvada This website is specific to Arvada and updated regularly Food Pantries in Lakewood
Free Adams County Drive Through Farmer's Market The next one is on Nov. 10th/4:30-6:30p. They only have 250 boxes and you have to sign up HERE
Shelter Arvada Shelter and Services
This website is specific to
Arvada Shelter List
Lakewood and is updated
Denver Shelters and Housing
regularly
services- Govt. affiliated
Food Pantries in Denver
Denver Shelter List
This website is specific to
Denver Shelters (womxn
Denver and is updated
specific)
regularly
Westminster shelters and
Food Pantries in Westminster
transitional housing
This website is specific to Westminster and is updated regularly Document including Pay as you can grocery stores
ECA WILL HAVE BAGGED LUNCHES FOR PICK UP M-F, 12-1 PM
PRINCIPAL
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UPCOMING EVENTS AND ASSESSMENTS JANICE ANDERSON JANDERSON@ECARVADA.ORG
It is hard to believe that we are now in April and many of our students are looking forward to Continuation, Prom, Graduation, and even Summer vacations. I know this has been a challenging year, but we could use your help in teaming up to end this school year as strongly as we can. Encourage students to really continue to put forth their best in all that they do for these last few months. We are heading into the testing season and the State has been authorized to decrease the number of tests that students take. Our students will be taking only the following tests in each grade: 6th Grade - Math 7th Grade - ELA 8th Grade - Math & Science 9th Grade - PSAT ELA & Math 10th Grade - PSAT ELA & Math 11th Grade - SAT ELA, Math & Science If you as a parent, choose to have your child take the additional tests, you may. Please fill out the opt-in form that was emailed out. Lastly, many have asked about the anticipated changes to the mask mandates. Should the Governor choose to reduce the mask mandate in any way, the State has already stated that masks will continue to be REQUIRED for the remainder of the 2021 school year. This is due to the Social Distance reduction in schools from 6 feet down to 3 feet. Thank you for understanding and helping us continue to keep our students and staff safe
Counselor Corner BRIDGETTE FOSTER BFOSTER@ECARVADA.ORG
You finally made it! You worked hard all year and decided on a College to attend in the Fall. Now what? 1. Confirm your Spot! Search your inbox for instructions. Typically, you are provided with a student portal login via email. Activate your account and follow instructions to claim your spot for the fall semester. 2. Decline Other Offers Let your other Colleges know that you will not be attending. This is typically done through email or your application student portal. It also frees up a sport for another hopeful student! 3. Review your Financial Aid Offer(s) Below is a financial aid offer extended to one of our ECA Seniors. Call the College’s financial aid office and ask them to walk you and your student through the offer. Remember, there is a difference between “cost of attendance” and “cost of tuition”. Books, room and board, and food are expenses to consider. The $17,195 (highlighted) is money awarded through grants and scholarships, meaning our student does not have to pay this back to the College. The remaining financial aid is offered through loans and work-study. An employee at the financial aid office can explain this in further detail 4. Get on Facebook Join a Facebook group for accepted students at your College and follow your College on Social Media. Make friends, share your excitement, maybe even find a roommate for your freshman year. There are parent groups too where you can ask for advice! 5. Ask Questions Call your College. Colleges have entire departments dedicated to academics, financial aid, housing, and even student activities. They are there to help you and if they cannot answer your questions, they will put you in touch with the person or department who can. Lastly, here is a link with more helpful next steps. Good luck! https://www.collegedata.com/resources/prepare-and-apply/youve-decided-on-a-college.whats-next Page 7
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PRINCIPAL
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HEALTH UPDATE JULIE RAMSAY JRAMDSAY@ECARVADA.ORG
Hearing & Vision screenings will be conducted the week of April 12th at ECA in conjunction with Children's Hospital of Colorado. Students who fail one or both screenings will be sent home with the appropriate referral to be checked by a practitioner and designated ECA staff will follow up. Please be sure your child brings his/her glasses, hearing aids, contacts, etc. If you need assistance obtaining these items for your child who is in need of them, please contact Julie Ramsey at jramsey@ecarvada.org or call me at 720-473-4409. Parents' Top Questions About Coronavirus (COVID-19): As the coronavirus pandemic endures, emergency approval of the first COVID-19 vaccines has provided much-needed hope. Though this is welcome news, we can expect many more months of pandemic life. As consequences of the coronavirus continue to impact families and children in myriad ways – physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally – it’s time to double down on efforts to prevent the spread of the virus and help kids cope while vaccines are deployed across the country and globe. We asked several of our experts to answer parents' common questions about the respiratory illness, what we can control and all the ways we can continue to prevent the spread while supporting each other. To view the article click HERE
Rick Heroff Middle School Dean of Students/C.E & Career Coordinator (720) 473-4400 EXT 320
Grade Updates: If you are taking classes off-campus please make sure you share your midterm grades sent to Mr. Heroff so they can be input into Infinite Campus. As soon as you have FINAL grades send them ASAP so we can get them recorded and onto transcripts. Registration for the Fall Many incoming juniors for the 21’-22’ school year will be expected to apply to Front Range Community college for initial college courses. We will be contacting students and families by the 2nd week of April with information about concurrent enrollment through the Front Range, and how to apply to the college. Students on track to take off-campus courses next school year will be meeting with Mr. Heroff and Ms. Foster in the month of April to discuss placements and rules of off-campus classes. For any questions about concurrent enrollment please contact Mr. Heroff at rheroff@ecarvada.org
Summer School (Middle School) Students that are failing multiple classes will be required to attend summer school from June 1st to June 30th. The cost of the Middle School summer session will be $100 per student. If a student is on Reduced lunch the cost will be $50, and Free lunch $20. Students have about a month and a half to bring their grades to passing to get themselves off the summer school list. If you have questions about how students can bring up their grades please contact their teachers or Mr. Heroff.
Early College of Arvada | 11
Graduation
Reminders Guadalupe Marquez
Highschool Dean of Students 720-473-4408
Welcome to Spring! This also means assessment season...please make sure students have a good breakfast and go to bed early. Encourage your student not to stress about it. They have all the knowledge they need to demonstrate what they have learned this year. We Can and We Will! Summer School (High School) Students that are not on track credit-wise will be strongly encouraged to attend summer school in order to get back on track. We will be running summer school from June 1st to June 30th. This is an excellent opportunity to recover some of those credits they missed due to COVID/remote learning. The cost for summer school will be $100, reduced lunch will be $50 and free lunch will be $25. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at gmarquez@ecarvada.org
Early College of Arvada | 12
UPCOMING PROGRAMS Alejandro Reynoso EARSS Advisor Office: 720-473-4406 Cell: 720-980-1129
Hello ECA families, This is the next project the EARSS program is doing for our High school students. The University of Denver chapter of Sigma Lambda Beta (SLB) is partnering with the Early College of Arvada (ECA) to work with the EARSS students. The first two meetings will be a meet and greet, so students from ECA and SLB can build a relationship with each other. From there SLB and Mr. Reynoso will facilitate workshops and a mentorship program with students. Goal: The goal of this partnership is to encourage and motivate students to have good grades and think about secondary education. We want students to be able to gain an understanding of college life and the academic needs to be successful in college or any other career pathway. We want students to understand that each person has a different journey, but everyone should persevere.
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Workshops: Spring 2021 Week One: Financial Literacy Week Two: Time management component/ balancing work and school schedule Week Three: Resources and extracurriculars Week Four Mental/Physical Health and coping mechanism Week Five: Grit/motivation Week Six: Relationships/Consent Week Seven: Toxic Masculinity Week Eight: What's Next/Celebration Tutoring: We have after-school tutoring every Monday and Wednesday for High school EARSS students From 3:30 PM until 4:30 PM. On Friday it is tutoring for Middle School EARSS students from 3:30 PM until 4:15 PM.
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INTERVENTION INSIGHTS How to Support Student Learning at Home
10 TIPS FOR PARENTS
By Missy & Elizabeth Parents are a child’s first teachers and the home is a child’s first classroom. As key resources for learning and growth, parents help to shape a child’s social, emotional, and physical development so that he/she can thrive in school and beyond. Supporting student success starts with a shared agreement among families, schools, and the community to work together and it involves committed actions to make it happen.
AS A PARENT, YOU CAN DO YOUR PART AT HOME TO REINFORCE THIS IMPORTANT FAMILY-SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP. TO HELP PREPARE YOUR CHILDREN FOR SCHOOL READINESS TO STAY ON TRACK AND EXPAND THEIR LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES: SET UP A DAILY FAMILY ROUTINE, INCLUDING HEALTHY EATING AND SLEEPING HABITS PROVIDE A PLACE AND TIME AT HOME FOR HOMEWORK CHECK ON ASSIGNMENTS, HOMEWORK, AND
Engaged parents are a key factor in helping students and schools succeed. With families, schools, and communities working together as partners, student
PROJECTS TALK EACH DAY WITH YOUR CHILD ABOUT HIS/HER ACTIVITIES PROMOTE LITERACY BY READING TO YOUR
achievement is enhanced and children are better
CHILD AND BY READING YOURSELF
prepared to do well in school.
LIMIT AND MONITOR TV WATCHING, GAMING,
If you have any questions regarding intervention support please feel free to reach out to Missy Langtry
SOCIAL MEDIA, AND COMPUTER TIME EXPRESS HIGH EXPECTATIONS AND STANDARDS FOR YOUR CHILD’S LEARNING
for high school support at mlangtry@ecarvada.org.
ATTEND PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES,
Questions for the middle school interventions and be
OPEN HOUSE AND BACK-TO-SCHOOL EVENTS
directed to Elizabeth Ramos Torres at eramostorres@ecarvada.org.
PARTICIPATE IN DECISIONS THAT AFFECT YOUR CHILD’S EDUCATION TAP INTO COMMUNITY RESOURCES WITH VISITS TO A LIBRARY, MUSEUM, ZOO, OR
Thank you for your support! Mrs. Langtry and Ms. Torres
THEATER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION IN AFTER-SCHOOL CLUBS, SPORTS, AND ART ACTIVITIES
Extra Curricular Highlights
T IMBE R GRIFFIN Kelly Graham Kgraham@ecarvada.org
Hello friends! Thank you to all those who watched our movie musical Prodigy. It was a labor of love and we could not be prouder of what we accomplished! You can still listen to the cast soundtrack over on our Timbergriffen Theater Company Youtube Channel. Our next production is a series of Radio Plays, this will be a pay what you can/donation-based live stream from April 22nd through the 24th, donations can be made through our ticketing platform at Ecarvada.booktix.com. Support the arts at ECA and donate to our theater and music program to help us rebuild for next year post-Covid! Our Erocne Chorale is hard at work preparing their annual performance for Graduation, we are doing a remote recording of the Hills of Tomorrow by Stephen Sondheim, with special guests Mary Coleman and Kelly Bidstrup Graham performing with them! Interested in Music and Theater for the 2021/2022 school year? We will be working to build back our program, including instrumental music classes, choir, honor choir (the Erocne Chorale), drama classes, and of course continuing ours after-school theater program, the Timbergriffen Theater Co. We hope to be able to work with Wonderbound again in the future to bring back access to their Internship Program and we also plan to restart our show production team (marketing and planning for our theater program) and thespian troupe (theater honors society that does workshops and community service). Thank you to all our Timbergriffens and art family near and far, we appreciate you!
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Extra Curricular Highlights
INT ER NATIONAL T RAVE L Dennis Olson dolson@ecarvada.org
The Panama Trip has been postponed due to COVID-19. The new trip dates are July 28- August 5. Please keep an eye out for any other communication regarding our international trips.
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ECA and Colorado COVID update Colorado Covid cases are steadily decreasing and are likely to continue as the weather gets warmer. Adam’s County has had a 7 day average of 124 new cases. Jefferson County has a 7 day average of 103. ECA has been in person since February and will continue to do so for the remainder of the school year. Students and staff must continue to wear masks, social distance and sit 6 feet apart from each other The good news is that vaccinations have opened to everyone 16 and up. Check out this handy guide HERE that provides a list of locations giving vaccinations and how to book an appointment. More good news regarding the vaccines! Pfizer has announced their vaccination is 91% effective against the South African variant. The South African variant has shown the greatest sign of being able to evade antibodies. According to the CDC, fully vaccinated persons can hang out, no masks required. However, the CDC still recommends wearing masks in public places to protect others. Remember that you’re not fully vaccinated until 2 weeks after your second dose (or first if you receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine). Governor Polis has revised the mask mandate put in place almost a year ago. Under the proposed changes, counties that have reached the level green on the map located HERE do not have to require masks. Adams, Denver, and Jefferson counties will likely continue to enforce masking to protect others until infection rates decrease. You can also view what each counties restrictions include HERE
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