Greetings PTAA Families,

I am using this Snow day to write our Rocket Review for the week, so it is a little early! For those of you that might be questioning how we decide our Snow/Bad Weather days, PTAA follows the District 49 school closures. District 49 chose to have 6 "traditional Snow Days" in their calendar in case of inclement weather. They have a large territory to monitor and much goes into their decision. Days can be called for Snow, Ice/Sleet, Extreme Temperatures, Hazardous Road Conditions, etc. This one seemed to come out of the blue! But, we hope that you all have stayed safe and warm and enjoyed the day at home. Due to the closure, we decided to postpone our Open House. The new Open House date is Wednesday, February 22nd from 5:30-7:00 pm. The PTO Pizza Fundraiser at Parry's Pizza is still in place for tonight, so grab some pizza, support the PTO and enjoy a comfy night at home!

Please remember that we will not allow anyone onto the campus or to leave the campus tomorrow morning from 9:45 am to 11:00 am. Details are on the REMIND school site post as well as an email blast to families. If you need to take your child to an appointment and it falls during these times, please keep your child at home until after 11:00 am.

Mr. Jeffries and I took a few upper grade students and parent chaperones to the NASA Hunch Critical Review this Wednesday where we saw High School and Middle School students participate in what we call a Science Fair on Sterroids! These students have worked since September on innovations for problems presented from NASA like creating edible packaging for long duration missions on the ISS, designing lunar furniture, creating 3D Printed Medical Tools for Space, Engineering a Pipe and Auger Extruder for "Moon Sand and Shreaded Plastic" to make bricks. These are just a few examples of projects we saw. Students brainstorm, research and create multiple prototypes and compete to attend the National level at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas in April. The overall winners will be honored by their innovations actually being manufactured and used at the International Space Station. Big news is PTAA will be the second Middle School in the State of Colorado to participate in NASA HUNCH starting this coming Fall. Look out for more information!

Students will have class parties, celebrating "Friendship" Day on February 14th and the 6th and 7th grade students will have a "Friendship Dance" on February 17th from 5:30-6:30!

We look forwad to the Family Chat on February 15th from 6-7:00 pm for a friendly and open conversation to share information and to correct any misinformation. Please use the link below to sign up if you intend to attend and if you have questions.

Have a wonderful weekend and we look forward to a Great Week,

Mrs. Houston

shouston@ptaaschool.org

Join us for the K-7th Grades Open House on Wednesday, February 22nd from 5:30-7:00 p.m.

Many of prospective parents have shown interest in visiting our school. Please be our guest to join our Open House now scheduled for Wednesday, February 22nd 5:30-7:00 p.m. Walk the campus and meet our wonderful teachers and staff!

• February 14th "Friendship/Valentines" Class Parties
• February 15th, Wednesday, 6-7:00 p.m. - Family Chat (Gym)
• February 17th - PD Day - NO SCHOOL for Students
• February 17th - 6-7th Grade "Friendship Dance" (Information Sent out to 6-7th Grade Families)
• February 22nd PTAA K-7 Open House, 5:30-7:00 pm

Are you volunteering at the school? Whether you are volunteering regularly, periodically, or are interested in volunteering please complete the 2023 Volunteer Survey & Agreement. In partnership with PTO, PTAA is asking all volunteers to complete this survey. This will allow us to have a record of who is volunteering in the school and ensure all volunteers understand what it means to be a volunteer at PTAA. If you have questions about volunteering, please contact the PTO volunteer chair Sloan Gonzales at pto.ptaacos@gmail.com.

LINK for SURVEY:

https://forms.gle/i5CGKQm9AARXgjMGA

REACH is an important Acronym at PTAA standing for the important character qualities of:

• RESPECT
• EFFORT
• ATTITUDE
• COOPERATION
• HONESTY

Teachers chose a student each week that consistently shows one or more of these qualities. This has been a great success with our Primary grades that we chose to offer them to our wonderful Secondary grades too! We are also rewarding outstanding student effort in Math, Science and STEAM. #lovewhatyoulearn

The International Day of Women and Girls in Science is an annual observance adopted by the United Nations General Assembly to promote the full and equal access and participation of females in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields.

What is Phonemic Awareness?

Phonemic awareness is the ability to understand that spoken words are made up of individual sounds called phonemes, and it’s one of the best early predictors for reading success.

Data tells:

65% of fourth graders and 66% of eighth graders are reading below a proficient level, according to 2019 NAEP scores.

95% of elementary students are capable of learning to read when they receive sufficient instruction on foundational reading skills.

So, what can we do as parents to start our children off to the road to phonemic awareness and Literacy success...

Preschool and Kindergarten activities:

Hearing and recognizing words that rhyme is key to developing an understanding of sounds. Rhyme games are a fun way to practice phonemic awareness.

Hearing Words that Rhyme:

Encourage your child to listen for words that rhyme when you say them aloud, such as fun, sun; hat, cat; and fish, wish. See if your child can produce new words that rhyme with the words you say—fan, pan, ran, can, tan.

Nursery Rhymes:

Mother Goose rhymes can be fun to recite and sing. You can sing the rhymes, read nursery rhyme books, and use finger plays to act out a rhyme (i.e. The Itsy Bitsy Spider). Ask your child to tell you the rhyming words they hear in the nursery rhyme.

Read Books with Rhyming Words:

Many children’s books are filled with rhyming words and reading them aloud can help your child hear and recognize words that rhyme. Books by Dr. Seuss, Is Your Mama a Llama?, Sheep in a Shop, Falling for Rapunzel, Rhyming Dust Bunnies, and Rumble in the Jungle are just a few books that are fun and engaging to read aloud to your child.

Sing Songs with Rhyme:

Songs like Down by the Bay, Hey Diddle Diddle, and The Name Game are fun to sing with your child. We know from brain research that rhythm and song can help a child retain a skill or concept, and it is a fun way to engage in wordplay.

https://heggerty.org/parents/

District 49 was not able to get our Application on the BOE Agenda for February, which will push out the process one month, They are now looking at a "Public Hearing" on March 22nd with the BOE action (vote) on April 13th. We will address more about the process and plans at the Family Chat. We definitely will want to have as many supporting families attend the Public Hearing where they can simply show support in numbers. #WeArePTECH