Welcome! This is the Principal Newsletter that is sent to families every Thursday throughout the school year. It's important to you because it contains information about summer activities, uniforms, opportunities to get involved at BFA, and tasks to complete this summer in preparation for next school year.

In addition, we’ve created a webpage especially for you to help answer some of the questions you may have about BFA. You can go to the Getting Started at BFA: Helpful Information for New Families webpage now, or find the webpage later by going to the BFA website and looking under the Parents tab.

We'll be providing a lot of information during the next few months, but if you have any questions in the meantime, please contact us at info@bfacademy.org.

Tommy Hilfiger, one of our uniform vendors, will be holding a Back to School sale from July 10 – 16. During the BTS'23 promotion week, BFA families will receive 10 percent off all orders. To receive future sale notifications, please sign up using this link.

Educational Outfitters is offering a 15 percent off sale until May 31, then will offer 10 percent off in June. See their sale flier for more information, as well as a menu of options that you might find helpful.

Parents also can purchase uniforms from our other vendor--French Toast.

You can find out more about uniforms on our website (click Uniforms to find vendor information). We’ll share additional sale information via our public Facebook page and/or in our newsletters, as we receive it.

It's hard to believe, but TOMORROW, May 26, is the last day of school for our K-7 students. Students may wear Dress of Choice. It's also a half day, so we'll plan to start scanning cars in carpool at 11:30 a.m., and we'll release students at noon.

HAPPY SUMMER!

A heartfelt THANK YOU to our amazing 2022-23 BFA PTO Sponsors! This year was unprecedented in terms of generosity and involvement from our PTO sponsors. We are so grateful to have your support--for our students, our staff, each other, and our community. We all appreciate you!

To learn more about the 2022-23 sponsors, visit the PTO YouTube channel and Sponsor Webpage (click on sponsors at the top).

Interested in being a sponsor for the 2023-24 school year? Look for more information to come this summer or contact Cassie Roberts, sponsor committee manager. 

This year's 2023 STEAM Expo was a huge success and introduced BFA students to all sorts of opportunities in STEAM! We had a total of 27 incredible exhibitors at our school, including local businesses, non-profit organizations, museums and student-led groups.

It was a unique learning opportunity for our students; they experienced augmented reality, learned about space exploration, used physics to launch objects across the turf, learned about centrifugal motion, played with the different instruments used in an ensemble, and MORE! There were students involved at every exhibitor station, using their STEAM Expo Passport to keep track of all their hands-on learning experiences. And, at the end of the day, students were selected to win an award based on their participation.

Thank you to all of our exhibitors for preparing these interesting learning activities and manipulatives. Special thanks to our hard working volunteers for engaging with our students--you helped the whole day run smoothly. Lastly, thank you to all the students for being so excited and having so much fun while learning about the amazing STEAM opportunities at our school and within your local community. We hope that you were inspired to pursue a future in science, technology, engineering, arts and/or mathematics!

Look out for even more STEAM themed opportunities at BFA in the 2023-24 academic year! 

Thank you--the STEM Committee can't wait to see you next year.

Thank you everyone who has supported your Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) this year either through volunteer work, donations, or attending our meetings and events! It has been another great year, full of many memorable activities. 

Each year, with the generous donations from our BFA community and our annual sponsors, the PTO provides the school with tools, materials, and financial support for important programs, including:

• Lexia and HelpCounter software
• Accelerated Reader incentives
• BFA Directory
• Elementary and middle school planners
• Teacher, staff and volunteer appreciation
• Community events such as Franklin Fest, Trunk or Treat, the Sweetheart Ball and the Mother/Son event
• Ben's Birthday Celebration
• Field day and graduation events

Additional PTO purchases planned with funds from this year include:



• $40,175 from the Benefit Bash for school enhancements
• $4,825 in various teacher giveback purchases related to the Benefit Bash; and
• A staff year-end luncheon.

This school year we received sponsorship donations totaling approximately $26,000 and we raised $48,250 at the BENefit Bash. After the above expenses, the balance of the fundraising monies was spent on various PTO programs and school services throughout the year. Any remaining funds will roll over to next year's PTO budget.

Thank you again for your unwavering support!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the CEC 2022-23 feedback survey! We appreciate all the feedback received. We are always looking for new ideas or suggestions regarding our events and value your input. The CEC remains dedicated to ensuring our events provide meaningful opportunities for families to connect. Below are some highlights from the survey:

• We received 119 responses.
• Muffins with Moms, Burritos with Bros, and Veterans Day were our most popular events.
• Approximately 33 percent of responses were from our CEC volunteers - if you are interested in volunteering, please reach out to cec@bfacademy.org.

The CEC also is dedicated to continually improving our events. Below are some opportunities CEC will consider next school year based on your comments and feedback.

• The amount and type of food at our events.
• Exploring an after hours event (versus morning) to reach a wider audience as well as assist with parking and space restrictions.

Please ask your student to check the Lost and Found! The last day to claim items is TODAY, May 25.

All Lost and Found items will be packed up and donated after morning carpool tomorrow.

If your student has medication in the health room, please plan to pick it up between 9 - 11:30 a.m. tomorrow, May 26.

If applicable, you also will need to pick up any medication stored in BASE, as we will not transfer medications for summer camp. 

Any medication left at school after the school year ends will be disposed of per CDPHE rules and regulations governing schools.

Thinking about volunteering for the PTO? The Franklin Fest Committee Manager position is still open!

If you’re interested in volunteering for this position or want to learn more, contact Erin Crowe, PTO secretary.

Bandimere Speedway has a FUN Race to Read summer reading program available for students with the opportunity to win ANOTHER ticket to the races! See the flier for details.

The PTO is looking for Room Parents (K-5) for next school year! Being a Room Parent is a fun way to get your volunteer hours in, develop a great relationship with your child's teacher and get involved in the school. If you are interested, please send an email to Anne Chacon, the PTO room parent coordinator.

Thank you to all who have come out and supported our spirit nights this year! We earned $876 for the BFA PTO with our Skate City spirit night.

Looking for something fun to do this summer? Get a $5 Skate City summer membership card and enjoy discounted skating during any regular public skating session throughout the summer! For more details, check out the attached flier, and click here to purchase your cards! BFA will get $2 back for each card sold. 

It's time for the Douglas County Libraries (DCL) Summer Reading Program--DOG DAYS of Summer. Let’s help DCL achieve their community reading goal AND raise money for our school library to purchase new books!

Registration is OPEN NOW for students, siblings, teachers and parents!

Be sure to include our school name and your student(s) grade when you register so our school gets credit. We'd love to win the $500 prize and purchase new books for our library! See the flier for details.

Did you know that one of the BFA PTO's traditions is a private summer event at Pirate's Cove for families who complete their recommended volunteer hours? That's right! Your entire immediate family can attend a private BFA night at Pirate's Cove on the PTO!  

Not only that, if you earn 50, 75 or 100 volunteer hours, you will be awarded special BFA logo'd items (distributed at Pirate's Cove check-in) to show our appreciation for going above and beyond. So, mark your calendars for this year's Pirate's Cove BFA Night which will be held from 6-8 p.m. on Sunday, June 25. Be sure to log those volunteer hours. You don't want to miss it!

Please note: No additional tickets will be sold. This is an event for those for families who have completed and recorded their family’s recommended volunteer hours (30 hours per family or 15 hours per single household) in Help Counter by midnight Wednesday, May 31, ONLY. No exceptions will be made.

Thank you to all the families who have volunteered this year. We sincerely appreciate all that you do for BFA! 

It's time to get registered for BFA's Summer Camp in MySchoolBucks (use your desktop or laptop--not the app). Please note, summer camp attendees need to register each summer before using the program. Registration costs $35, and includes a t-shirt and a day pack.

The individual weeks are starting to fill up quickly, register now to reserve your spot!

If you have a new incoming BFA student or Kindergartner to register, please reach out to summercamp@bfacademy.org to learn how you can register your child. 

The summer camp activities and field trip calendar is available; please email us to see it.

This summer, we’re able to offer parents the low weekly fee of $200 per child, per week because BASE received a grant last year from the State of Colorado. We’re very happy that we can still use the remaining funds this summer to keep costs down, but next summer, we will have to increase our fees.

Summer Camp will be open from 7 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. The first day of camp is Wednesday, May 31, and camp will run through Friday, Aug. 11. We will be closed July 3-7 for the holiday week. We will go on two field trips per week and have lots of other fun activities during the week.  

In August 2023, there will be changes to the way BFA’s Before/After School Enrichment (BASE) program will operate. We are moving to a mandatory pre-registration system, similar to what the summer camp program uses.

Next year, parents will need to register one week in advance for the day(s) their student(s) need care. Registration should be completed by the Wednesday prior to the week care is needed. Drop-in care will no longer be an option. This is to ensure appropriate staffing. 

Next school year, BASE will be available on Professional Development Days when students are not in the building, but teachers are working. We have three Professional Development Days next school year – Sept. 22, Nov. 3, and April 26. Additional details will be available this summer, but parents will be required to register in advance through MySchoolBucks.

A BASE rate change is necessary for next year as well. We have not increased rates since BFA opened in 2011, and staffing costs during those same years have increased dramatically. There will be 45 spots available each day. Once the 45 spots have been filled, you will not see a drop-down option in MySchoolBucks for that day.

You can choose from the following options:

• Morning BASE (6:45 - 7:45 a.m.), at a cost of $7 per day, per child.
• Afternoon BASE, (4 - 6 p.m.), at a cost of $14 per day per child. This is the new flat rate.

Before using BASE, each family must pay the $25 yearly registration fee and update their ELV account. 

Have your kids asked about the music lessons that happen during school? Harper Arts is thrilled to be returning next school year to offer music lessons and coaching at BFA. Students will continue to have the option to have piano, guitar, ukulele and voice during the school day! Students are approved to participate in this during DEAR, recess, specials, electives (middle school) and advisory (middle school). There will also be a limited number of spaces available after school. The cost of this program is $155 per month for the school year (small supply and book fees apply as well). These prices are based on one student for 20-minute lessons. Sibling discounts are available. Unlock your passion and potential with Harper Arts at BFA! 

Click here to sign up today! 

BFA offers a variety of summer camp opportunities whether your student is interested in chemistry, science, crafts, sports or just getting out of the house and having fun!

Click below to see all the options.