Dear CSA families,
Colorado SKIES Academy is celebrating our first day of school on Monday, August 16. Doors open at 7:30 AM for breakfast. Breakfast is FREE for all CSA learners. Classes will begin at 8:00 AM.
This year both lunch and breakfast will be FREE through Cherry Creek School District. Please take a minute to create your account at Titan. Due to COVID reimbursements for the government-funded school programs, the free breakfast and lunch program has been extended throughout this school year for all learners. We would appreciate it if each family could help us by filling out this quick Parent Survey to make sure that we are meeting your needs.
Our day will end at 3:30 PM. Families will need a carpool number to join the carpool pick-up line. If you were unable to attend our Block Party on Thursday night, please stop by the Colorado SKIES Academy office to pick up a carpool number.
Picture DAY is Monday, August 16, 2021
Pictures will be taken in the morning on the first day of school. When the proofs are ready, they will be sent home in your learner’s backpack. CSA will be sending home ordering information as soon as we have it ready! In the spring, we will be doing class pictures and will also be rolling out our very first Colorado SKIES Academy yearbook! More information to come!
Family Guidebook
We are excited to share our new Family Guidebook. Please sign the CSA agreement and acknowledgement by completing this form.
COVID Mask Use Guidelines for Colorado SKIES Academy
The Board of Directors and administration at CSA have strived to find a balance among effective learning, individual choice, and learners’ safety where COVID protocols are concerned. We are also committed to keeping learners in the classroom by whatever means necessary. On August 13, the Cherry Creek School District (CCSD) Superintendent issued a district-wide mandate that all learners pre-K through 6th grade, as well as any staff who interact with them, must wear masks.
This mandate was issued after consultation with Dr. John Douglas, Executive Director of Tri-County Health Department (TCHD), which CSA also falls under. Dr. Douglas noted that conditions are not safe for unvaccinated children, particularly those under 12 years of age. In consultation with Superintendent Smith, Dr. Douglas shared these key points:
The letter between TCHD and CCSD is also available here.
In addition to the district mandate, we believe a public health order requiring masks issued by TCHD is probable in the imminent future. Based on these orders and recommendations and due to the school’s age makeup, open instructional nature, and low learner-wide vaccination rates that have been voluntarily shared by parents, the CSA Board of Directors will require masks for ALL learners, staff, and visitors until further notice. The Board and administration will routinely reevaluate this policy and return to a family-choice mask guideline once conditions permit.
CSA will also continue to follow our other disease control protocols as determined by the school director, and in consultation with our health representatives. Please continue to monitor email communications sent by CSA, such as the Monday Message, to understand how these will affect your learner as they may change throughout the school year.
We sincerely thank you for being a part of the CSA community and for your cooperation as we navigate another school year under COVID. None of us wish to enforce these protocols any longer than necessary, and we look forward to putting this behind us as soon as possible.
Back To School Night Information
You are invited to join us for Back to School Night on Thursday, August 19, from 5:30-7:00 PM. Learners are welcome to attend, but it is not mandatory. At Back to School Night, you will participate in a brief presentation in the Village followed by a shortened version following your learner’s schedule to each class. Please follow the grade-level schedules below for the evening.
| Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Grade 8 | |
| 5:30 PM | Meeting in the Village | Classroom Visits | Classroom Visits |
| 6:00 PM | Classroom Visits | Meeting in the Village | Classroom Visits |
| 6:30 PM | Classroom Visits | Classroom Visits | Meeting in the Village |
Remote Learning
Colorado SKIES Academy will now be offering remote learning upon request. Families interested in pursuing the option of remote learning should contact the CSA office at 720-400-7612.
PAC Volunteers
Calling all parents! We are looking for parents to be active members in the CSA-PAC (Parent Action Committee). We are looking to provide a strong organization to help provide extra activities and opportunities for our learners. If interested, please email Sarah at sarah.phillips@coloradoskiesacademy.org.
School Supplies
CSA will be asking families to pay a $20 school supply fee for each learner. This will cover any supplies needed for all learners over the course of the year. School supplies will be shared as a grade-level family. Facilitators have created lists of classroom supplies and will purchase items as needed. If you already purchased an Edukit, you will receive a reimbursement. Those supplies would be dispersed between your learner’s grade level. Please send cash or check in an envelope to school during the first week of school. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. We thank you for your patience and understanding.
Parent Portal
We encourage all CSA families to stay connected through PowerSchool. Logging in to this portal will allow you to receive emergency messages, view learner assignments and progress as well as complete all registration forms. It is also important that new and returning families complete the check-in through PowerSchool and update their information in the Parent Form Tile.
1. Go to my.cherrycreekschools.org.
2. Select the PARENT FORMS tile:
These forms must be completed PRIOR to your learner attending school.
Chromebooks
Each Colorado SKIES Academy learner will be issued a learner computer for use during the school day. If a learner needs to use this device outside of school (take home), they will be asked to complete this form before taking a computer home. There will not be a need for learners to bring any devices from home.
Registration
The registration process here at Colorado SKIES Academy is to fill out an Intent to Enroll. Once accepted, you will be asked to fill out our enrollment application. If you are living in the Cherry Creek School District, then you will not need to enroll into the district again. If you are coming from outside the district, please see the following document to complete the registration process: CSA District Enrollment.
If you have any questions regarding enrollment, please call the office at 720-400-7612.
Daily Schedule
Our daily schedule for learners is as follows:
Morning drop-off begins at 7:30 AM through the car line of the building.
Free breakfast is served to all learners from 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM.
Dismissal begins at 3:30 PM each Monday through Thursday and 1:00 PM each Friday. Please use the car lines with two lines for pick-up.
Please display your carpool sign in your front window on the driver side. Carpool signs were distributed at the CSA Block Party on Thursday.
From E. County Line Road, turn N. on S. Warren Court and then E. on Isbill Drive. Drive past the entrance to the Wings Over the Rockies parking lot and turn right into the CSA driveway. Drive around the circle to the front of the building to pick-up your learner(s). Afternoon pick-off will be after 3:30 PM. Exit the parking lot and turn right on Isbill to Warren Court.
Carpool
If you need to carpool with another family and need help locating someone near you, please use this link: CSA Carpool. Thank you so much, Chris West, for putting this together!
Learner Schedules & Courses
Learner schedules were distributed at the Block Party on Thursday.
Humanities: 90 minutes daily. Projects and instruction based on Language Arts and Social Studies Colorado State Academic Standards.
STEM: 90 minutes daily. Projects and instruction based on Math and Science Colorado State Academic Standards.
Lunch/Recess: 45 minutes daily.
Leadership: 45 minutes daily. Quarter 1: Leadership will be scheduled for each learner. Quarters 2-4: Learners will be able to select a grade-level-specific course that extends learning opportunities in math, science, social studies or language arts.
Advisory: 45 minutes daily. Each day learners will meet in their designated homeroom for social-emotional development and team building.
R3 – Reading Research & Reach Out: 45 minutes daily. Learners will use this time to learn strategies for self-selected reading, guided research, how to participate in aerospace research) and application through community outreach.
Electives: 90 minutes each day. Learners will have one special that will change weekly: Exploratorium, Art, Physical Education & Makery and Cyber Spaces. Learners will participate in each of these electives throughout the grading period.
Before/After School
We are excited to continue to offer our popular Before and After Care program with Hobby Quest. Before Care will be available Monday through Friday from 7:30-8:00 AM for free, supervised by a CSA staff member. After Care will be available Monday through Thursday from 3:00-6:00 PM and Fridays from 1:00-6:00 PM at an hourly rate. Please click here for more information and to enroll your learner(s) in the program or email VadimBE@hobbyquest.com.
Monday Message and School Website
The Monday Message is sent out each week to all our families with articles, upcoming events, pictures of learners, updates and other pertinent information regarding school activities. Please sign up at the bottom of our website. You can also find all our Monday Messages and other important information archived on our website here.
Social Media
Colorado SKIES Academy invites you to join our family Facebook group. Our Facebook and Instagram accounts are updated frequently with pictures of our learners and descriptions of the learning process. Please check them out!
Looking forward to seeing everyone on Monday for the first day of school!
Anne Wodetzki
Colorado SKIES Academy School Director
anne.wodetzki@coloradoskiesacademy.org
Note: Please click the links below to learn more about each event.
Weekly In-Person Tours and Information Sessions:
School Tours for Prospective Families, 10:30-11:30 am, 4:30-5:30 pm on Tuesdays
Monday, February 12:
Simulator Training, 8:30-10:00 am
Monday, February 12:
Talk, Chris Wright, CEO of Liberty Energy, “Bettering Human Lives: Perspectives on Energy, Climate, and Poverty,” 10:00-11:00 am
Friday, February 16:
Simulator Training, 9:30-11:00 am
Thursday, February 22:
Regular Board Meeting, 5:45 pm, CSA
Please join us to hear from the CSA learners about their trip to India!
Friday, February 23:
Simulator Training, 9:30-11:00 am
Saturday, February 24:
Public Safety Day, 10:00-2:00 pm
Monday, February 26:
Simulator Training, 8:30-11:00 am
More details to come, but please be aware that the next Presentation of Learning for 6th grade will be on Tuesday, March 5th and for 7th grade on Wednesday, March 6th.
*Admittance to Exploration of Flight is free for CSA Learners with their student membership. The EoF staff has a list of current CSA learners so all they need to do is give their name!
New CSA families receive a 20% discount on family memberships to Wings Over the Rockies Museum, valid at both museum locations (Centennial & Lowry). A daily entry fee may also be paid to gain entry to the events at the museum. Please contact christa.coryell@coloradoskiesacademy.org for more information about museum memberships for CSA families.
Colorado SKIES Academy will not discriminate in its enrollment on the basis of disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, ancestry, need for special education services or need for English language support services. Colorado SKIES Academy will comply with all applicable, approved policies and regulations and the requirements of federal and state law concerning the education of children with disabilities. No student will be denied admission because of academic performance. Please see “Successful Student Characteristics” on our website for further details.
