AHS 2012-13 END OF YEAR UPDATE

Greetings from Animas High School! This is our final weekly communication for the 2012-2013 academic year. Please take a moment to review the following important updates:

The Animas Quill

AHS in the News

AHS 2013 BEST Grant Summary

Semester Two Report Cards

Summer School

AHS Summer Hours and Operations

Registration for 2013-14

Congratulations Animas High Students and Staff

The Animas Quill

They just keep getting better! Be sure to check out all the recent happenings and end of year news reports published by our amazing student journalists. You can find the final Quill of the 2012-13 school year HERE

AHS in the News

Following an amazing piece in the Durango Herald, the Durango Telegraph published an equally inspirational story on AHS and the Class of 2013 in last week’s issue. Check out the Telegraph Story HERE

AHS 2013 BEST Grant Summary

Although AHS just missed the cut for this year’s BEST Grant award, we consider our participation and efforts a complete success. Be sure to review the 2013 BEST Grant Summary from the AHS Executive Director

Semester Two Report Cards

Semester Two Report Cards will me mailed home to families at the end of this week. Questions or concerns related to your student’s report card should be directed to the AHS Registrar at Maureen.truax@animashighschool.com or by calling the main office during normal business hours.

Summer School

All AHS students who have remediation needs will be contacted via email by the school next week. Questions or concerns can be emailed to the AHS Head of School at jake.lauer@animashighschool.com

AHS Summer Hours and Operations

Our goal is to provide our students, our families and our community with quality and responsive customer service throughout the summer. To this end, please take note of the following summer hours and opportunities to connect with Animas High School.

Main Office/Registrar’s Office

The Main Office and Office of the Registrar will remain open to the public from 9am to 3pm, Monday through Friday thru June 7^th. The school’s summer switchboard will handle all inquires and messages beginning Monday, June 10^th. Contact us at 970-AHS-AHS4

AHS Administration

The Animas High School administration and executive team are happy to serve you year round. Head of School Jake Lauer is available for meetings through Friday, June 14^th. We’re currently working to establish executive office space for the summer while we’re moving out of the strip mall and transitioning to our new home at Twin Buttes.  We’ll be officially closing 3206 Main as of Friday, June 28^th. Please contact the Main Office/summer switchboard for more information on these developments.

Registration for 2013-14

We’re (almost) full! Enrollment, registration and waiting list questions or concerns can be forwarded to the AHS Registrar at enroll@animashighschool.com or contact us via the school’s Main Office at 970-AHS-AHS4

Congratulations Animas High Students and Staff

As we distribute the final weekly update of the school year, we’d like to take a moment to celebrate and appreciate the tremendous efforts and achievements realized by our school community this year. From graduating our first class of pioneers to securing a long term home for our school, from the many victories and successes in the classroom to countless athletic triumphs on the fields and trails, this truly has been an amazing year of unprecedented successes for Animas High. Rather than try to herald these accolades in this truncated update, I encourage everyone to look back and review and amazing year, captured through the following resources:

The AHS HOS Blog- Serving as Michael Ackerman’s Digital Portfolio since the inception of Animas High School, the blog archives news, updates, press releases, politics and outstanding Osprey achievements as documented by the Animas High Head of School. Take a trip down memory lane and ponder just how much effort and impact Animas High School has had on our students, our families, our community and our state.  With over 450 posts since 2009 and 115 posts in 2012/2013 alone, this robust online repository of our school’s history and progress is sure to inspire. See the AHS HOS BLOG HERE

The Animas Quill- Our award winning student journalists continue to raise the bar for excellence in high school news coverage. From last year’s inaugural issue to this May’s masterpiece, we couldn’t be more proud of Jessica McCallum and her amazing “Quillspreys”! If you only have one chance to review our year online, we’d suggest reviewing this inspirational project. See the AHS QUILL HERE

The Animas High School Facebook Page- There may not exist a more candid and accessible snapshot into our school’s culture and climate than the Animas High School Facebook Page. Pictures, comments and creative contributions abound on our social media site. But be careful, once you go down the Facebook rabbit hole, you may wonder where those last couple of hours went! See the ANIMAS HIGH SCHOOL FACEBOOK PAGE HERE

AHS Student and Staff Digital Portfolios- Not much needs to be said about the work that goes into maintaining a digital portfolio. Our students and staff continue to document their inspirational journeys for all to see through AHS DPs. See AHS DIGITAL PORTFOLIOS HERE

In 2013-14, look for these exciting refinements to our online presence: A new school website will be rolled out this summer, we’ll be launching a new AHS Executive Director’s Blog and we’ve entered the universe of 160 character, real-time updates via an AHS Twitter Page. Weekly updates will be revamped, streamlined and supplemented by a quarterly, AHS newsletter. All of these resources are intended to give our community multiple opportunities for keeping abreast of all the Animas High School action. Check them out, but for every hour spent online, double your time outside in the beautiful Colorado sunshine!

Have a safe and fantastic summer everyone! We’ll see you in August.

CLICK HERE for Animas High’s 2013-14 School Calendar.

Animas High School Values:  

                                                          

            •   Rigorous academics, where all students are prepared for college success

            •   Culture of excellence, where students are held to high expectations

            •   Strong faculty-student relationships, where students are well known  

            •   Engaging learning, where students see the relevance of their education

2013 BEST Grant Summary from the AHS Executive Director

                                                                                                5/29/13

Friends and Supporters of Animas High School,

I want to thank you all for the support and encouragement extended our way as the school made the case for the Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) Grant this week in Denver. Unfortunately, Animas High School was not recommended to the state board for this year’s award.

The Process

The BEST board began hearing from applicants on Tuesday and there were 68 projects up for consideration in both the Cash Grant and Lease/Purchase Grant categories. Animas High sought approximately 12 million dollars and a copy of our official application, BEST staff assessments and the rules governing the BEST grant program can be found HERE. (Animas High School can be found on pgs. 224-238)

Animas High School presented to the BEST board Tuesday morning and we were ecstatic to make the “short list” of thirteen, Lease/Purchase finalists. Being chosen as a finalist is a huge achievement, which speaks to the quality of our application and the merits of our proposed project. It was astonishing when AHS received unanimous “yes” votes from all BEST board members, a feat achieved by only a handful of schools over the two days.

On Wednesday afternoon, the board deliberated on how much money would be available to the pool of Lease/Purchase finalists. The Best board motioned to set the 2013 Lease/Purchase award cap at 40 million dollars; down from the available 60 million at the request of the State Treasurer and to ensure a base level of funds would be available for the next round of BEST Grant awards in 2014. After determining this threshold, board members were instructed to prioritize their list of finalists. After members submitted their prioritization lists, CDE staff correlated the results and released a master list of prioritized finalists. Board members also passed a motion to limit the number of recommended Lease/Purchase alternates to two, down from five in previous years. The board selects alternates because the majority of school districts intend to meet their required funding match through bond initiatives in fall elections. If schools/districts are unsuccessful at the ballot box, BEST money is then released to the alternates.

The Results

The BEST Board selected 8 schools for consideration. AHS was positioned tenth on the final list. No Colorado charter school received final recommendation for a Lease/Purchase award and Ross Montessori, the only other CSI school finalist, was selected as the second alternate (position 8) after participating in an unprecedented 4^th attempt at securing a BEST Grant. A list of the recommended finalists/alternates and their respective projects can be found below:

Position	County	District/School	Project
1	Mineral	Creede 1	PK-12 School Replacement
2	Las Animas	Kim 88	Renovation and Addition to PK-12 School
3	Lincoln	Limon RE-4J	New PK-12 School and Gym Renovation
4	Saguache	Moffat 2	PK-12 School Replacement
5	Phillips	Haxtun RE-2J	Renovation and Addition to K-12 School
6	Conejos	South Conejos RE-10	PK-12 School Replacement
7	Morgan	Ft. Morgan RE-3	MS Replacement
8	CSI	Ross Montessori	K-8 School Replacement

The Take-Away

Although Animas High was not chosen for recommendation to the state board, I see our team’s efforts and the wisdom we gleaned through participating in this process as a major victory for our school. In our first attempt at securing the BEST Grant, we received unanimous approval to the list of finalists and only narrowly missed the cut. We’ve been engaged in the application process for the last 18 months and meeting the criteria for submission caused us to take a critical look at our programs, refine our facilities, scholastic and business plans and pushed all of us to strive for excellence. I feel that we have been successful in all of these efforts and have no regrets with the ultimate result. Although we did not secure a final recommendation to the state board, BEST board members remain incredibly impressed by Animas High’s academic record and our quick trajectory to the top. Both BEST staff and board members emphatically encouraged Animas High School to re-submit an application in 2014.

Moving forward, I want to thank everyone for their assistance and encouragement throughout this process. I’d especially like to appreciate Theresa Malone, Jesse Hutt, Kerry Masterson, Phil Bryson, Dustin Jones, the team at SlaterPaull Architects and all of our invaluable partners at the Colorado Dept. of Education, the Colorado Charter School Institute, the Colorado League of Charter Schools, the Colorado Department of Transportation, Durango Fire and Rescue Authority and Durango School District 9-R who lent their support and were instrumental in this year’s initiative. The future remains incredibly bright for Animas High School and we can now focus solely on this summer’s move, the continued refinement of our programs of excellence and preparing for the 2014 BEST Grant program.

Thank you all for your dedication and commitment to our school. This was an incredible team effort and an incredible opportunity to grow and reflect as an organization. I remain humbled and blessed to be a part of such an impactful and successful school. Go Ospreys!

Respectfully,

Michael Ackerman

Executive Director

Animas High School

AHS Weekly Update- Week of May 20th, 2013

Thanks to everyone who helped kick off our graduation festivities Saturday night at Sorrel Sky. It was an amazing event celebrating some inspirational young adults! If you missed it, you can view the EVENT PROGRAM HERE.

It’s a HUGE week at AHS. Please take a moment to review the following updates:

This Week’s Schedule & Expectations

2013 Graduation Information

HTH Founder to Visit AHS

AHS Publishes Third Annual Poetry Book

College Counseling Update

Testing& Assessment Update

Registration for 2013-14

Animas High School on Facebook

This Week’s Schedule & Expectations

For Seniors

Monday through Thursday, 12^th graders will be participating in their final tPOL presentations of their high school career. These presentations will be executed in the style of a TED TALK. Good luck Seniors with your final opportunity to stand and deliver your beautiful work! We’ll have several dignitaries joining us throughout the week…..no pressure.

On Thursday, Seniors should report to the FLC student union building at 4pm for Graduation Dress Rehearsal. Graduation dress rehearsal is a mandatory experience designed to prepare our graduates for the following evening’s ceremony. Students are expected to participate in our dress rehearsal in professional dress. We will be distributing caps and gowns to graduates and taking an official graduation picture of the Seniors at the dress rehearsal.  After graduation practice, the Class of 2013 will head down the hill to campus for our final celebration dinner. Students and faculty will use Thursday evening’s time together for final goodbyes, a final all-class debrief and some very special closure activities led by staff. We expect to wrap up Thurs. evening’s activities by 9 pm.

On Friday, Seniors are not required to be at campus. We’ll expect them to meet us up at FLC no later than 2:30 pm on Friday afternoon. The graduation ceremony and post-ceremony pictures/farewells should wrap up by 6:30 pm.

For Underclassmen and Juniors

We have a normal, albeit a robust week here at campus from Monday through Thurs. We’re in full tPOL ramp up mode and students are busy pulling together a year’s worth of beautiful work and practicing their end of year presentations. FYI- Your student should provide you with their tPOL schedule for the following week-questions, please contact your student’s advisor!

On Friday, 9^th 10^th and 11^th graders will participate in our annual advisory Olympics. The action is always amazing and we’ll be watching closely to see which advisory group takes this year’s title! Students are expected to be at AHS for our normal 8:15 am start time. However, we’ll release students at noon on Friday, allowing our community time to get ready for graduation at 3:30.

FYI- AHS Student Ambassadors from grades 9-11 who have signed up to help work at graduation will join the Class of 2013 at graduation rehearsal at 4pm on Thursday afternoon. Ambassadors should plan on being with us at FLC until 5:30 pm

2013 Graduation Information

We’ve got a full house for Friday’s graduation. At this point, AHS has distributed all tickets for the ceremony and the ballroom is at capacity. Those without tickets and current AHS underclassman are still welcome to join us at the FLC Student Union Building where we’ll be live streaming the events in the ballroom for all to see. Then, following the ceremony, you’re welcome to join us for the reception. We’re on target to have an amazing inaugural graduation event. Thanks to all who have worked so hard in getting the event ready. Final questions or concerns should be forward to lori.fisher@animashighschool.com

Just the Details:

Ceremony Information

Location:  Fort Lewis College Ballroom, 1000 Rim Road, Durango, CO.

Date:  Friday, May 24.

Times:  Doors will open at 3:00 pm, and the ceremony will begin promptly at 3:30 pm.  There will be an informal reception from 5:00-6:30 pm on the terrace outside the ballroom (weather permitting).  If the weather is bad, we will have the reception in the ballroom.

Photographs:  We will have a photographer taking pictures of graduates as they receive their diplomas.  In addition, there will be a space set up right outside the ballroom for families and graduates to take photographs together.

Graduation Tickets and Seating

Assigned Seating:  Each graduating senior has received 6 tickets to distribute to their family members.  These tickets will guarantee assigned seats in the front section of the ballroom.  We will have ushers on hand to assist family members in locating their seats.

Open Seating:  In addition to the assigned seating, we also have open seating in the back of the ballroom for approximately 60 people on couches and chairs.  Beyond that, there is standing room around the edges of the ballroom and in the back.  If you anticipate needing extra seats and space, please plan on arriving promptly at 3:00!

HTH Founder to Visit AHS

Please join us in welcoming High Tech High founder Rob Riordan to our school this week. You can learn more about Rob and his visit in our May 6^th Weekly Update.

2013 Osprey Week

After a year off for some essential refinements, Osprey Week returned in 2013 and the experience was a complete success! A big appreciation and thank you to all the students, staff, parents and community members who helped with transportation, project facilitation and contributed to making this year’s Osprey Week such a memorable experience. A special shout out to AHS faculty member Jennifer Snead who served as project week coordinator and has constructed a 2013 OSPREY WEEK WEBSITE. We’ll continue to add pictures as they role in from group leaders. Check it out!

AHS Publishes Third Annual Poetry Book

If you missed out on the amazing poetry cafe Lori Fisher's 10th grade Humanities students put on for Exhibition, never fear!  You can find their poetry in two places.

First, their book has been published on Lulu.com, and is available to buy for the low price of $6.76.  Go here to purchase: http://www.lulu.com/shop/lori-fishers-10th-grade-humanities-class/fabric-of-words/paperback/product-21010032.html.

In addition, all of the digital projects and spoken word performances are up on YouTube!  Send them to family and friends, share them on Facebook!  Here's the link:  http://www.youtube.com/user/TheLoriTeacher.

Thanks for all your support!

College Counseling Update

You are invited to attend a FREE informative orientation to the college admission process, "Getting From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be."

Monday, June 3rd, 2013 at 6:30 pm

FLC College Ballroom

Featuring Peter Van Buskirk, Author, Motivational Speaker, Former Dean of Admission, Creator of the Best College Fit

For more Information and to RSVP please visit:

www.sjboces.org/schoolcounselor

Testing& Assessment Update

Interested in Summer test prep?  AHS is willing to sponsor an ACT or SAT prep course in June.  This means it would be offered at a discount to AHS students.  To take advantage of this opportunity or for more information, email kristi.good@animashighschool.com

Registration for 2013-14

We’re (almost) full! Enrollment, registration and waiting list questions or concerns can be forwarded to the AHS Registrar at enroll@animashighschool.com or contact us via the school’s Main Office at 970-AHS-AHS4

Animas High School on Facebook

Are you connected with Animas High School on Facebook? When you “LIKE” Animas High School, you can follow all the action via the AHS news feed, catch the weekly Friday Show, read daily campus updates and view photos of our ospreys in action! You’ll also be connected to AHS promotions and giveaways throughout the school year.

For the 2012-13 AHS School Calendar and additional upcoming events,  CLICK HERE

CLICK HERE for Animas High’s 2013-14 School Calendar.

Animas High School Values:        

                                                    

            •   Rigorous academics, where all students are prepared for college success

            •   Culture of excellence, where students are held to high expectations

            •   Strong faculty-student relationships, where students are well known  

            •   Engaging learning, where students see the relevance of their education