Friday, February 23, 2024

From Head of School Tom Smith

CEC Owls,

I want to start by extending my gratitude to two of our students, Levi Wurtsbaugh and Maiah Howie. This month, at the Capitol building, Levi and Maiah courageously represented CEC and spoke about their experiences as online students. Maiah and Levi were attending the Colorado Coalition of Cyberberschool Families’ Annual Day at the Capitol. The focus of the work this year was in support of SB24-070, which creates the ability for online students to take state assessments remotely, in our familiar learning environment. While we are optimistic about SB70 passing, we still need to wait a year before any remote options for crucial state tests are available to students. In the meantime, we will continue to work with you to understand how we can make in-person testing as convenient as possible. Thank you for your continued engagement!

Warm regards,

Mr. Smith

Important Dates

March 9th SAT Testing near you

March 11th-15th Spirit Week

March 18th-22nd Spring Break

March 18th-27th Europe Trip

April 1st-26th In-person Testing Window

May 15th Last Day of School

Have you checked your Student's Spark and ALEKS account?

If not, please click here for access your Parent Spark account.

For ALEKS, ask your student to log in and see their progress.

Spring In-Person Testing

CECOLC will be holding in-person state testing during the month of April. Please see the relevant grade information below:

Grades 6,7,8: CMAS testing over 2 days at various locations/dates please complete the form at https://forms.office.com/r/SSEXMsyxAg if you have not already

Grades 9 and 10: PSAT testing, ½ day at various/locations dates please complete the form at https://forms.office.com/r/ChVqxbCGWw if you have not already

Grade 11: SAT registration is closed, please see your preferred e-mail for information about test day

Notes from Admissions

Transcripts for High School Students (Grades 9-12)

Transcripts are now available for high school students in Parchment. Students can access unofficial transcripts free of charge by creating an account. Parents can order official transcripts for $4.50. Please be advised that orders for official transcripts will only be processed if the destination is an official institution (college, university) and will not be released to the parent/personal e-mail accounts.

Students received Parchment account activation emails to their CEC student e-mail accounts. Students can follow the directions in their email to obtain an unofficial self-view transcript that reflects fall 2023 coursework. For tutorial videos, follow this link and view the "Unofficial Self View for K12 Learners" video: https://vimeo.com/showcase/k12-learner

2024-2025 Residency Affidavits Coming Soon

Students who are enrolled in public online schools in the state of Colorado must have an annual residency affidavit signed and on file for each year that they are enrolled in public online schools. 2024-2025 residency affidavits will be emailed to every student's primary guardian on file in Infinite Campus starting in March and will require your signature to be eligible for enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year. Please keep an eye out for this form beginning in March.

Student Withdrawal Process

If you plan to leave CEC Online Campus at any point this semester or at the end of the school year to attend another school, please notify a staff member as soon as possible or reach out to sarah.whetstone@coloradoearlycolleges.org to start the withdrawal process. A signed withdrawal form is required for all students who leave the school and helps us track where students enroll. Thank you for your cooperation!

Enrollment for the 2024-2025 School Year is Open!

Enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year is open. Families currently enrolled and attending CEC Online Campus will be automatically enrolled for the new school year and should not submit another enrollment application.

If you plan to attend another school within or outside of the Colorado Early Colleges network next year and will not continue enrollment with CEC Online Campus, please reach out to Director of Admissions, Sarah Whetstone (sarah.whetstone@coloradoearlycolleges.org), as soon as you know your plans.

Congrats to the Class of 2024!

In order to highlight our amazing seniors and all of their accomplishments, we would like to feature them on our social media pages. If you would like your student to be featured, please email mary.bain@coloradoearlycolleges.org with a recent photo of them, what they will be graduating with (associate or certificate), and their plans for after graduation. Feel free to include a fun fact too, as little or as much information as you'd like! Thanks!

A Note from Advising

There are several things that are happening as we get ready to close out February. Students and parents are beginning to find their stride and work is starting to flow in. The CECOLC Advising team is continuing to grow, as we welcome Christina Atkinson to the team. Christina is super excited to be joining the CEC Online Campus team this spring! Her career has always been rooted in education. After her years as an English professor, Christina discovered her love of advising and found herself at CEC Fort Collins High School as an academic and career advisor. She loves helping all students and families but became particularly impassioned about working with students interested in the arts and humanities as well as those pursuing the military. Outside of the office, Christina loves spending time with her beloved two dachshunds, traveling anywhere and everywhere, or doing as much yoga as her schedule allows. She looks forward to meeting everyone at the CEC Online Campus soon!

This additional advisor allows CECOLC advising team to expand our services to include our middle school families. Be on the lookout in future newsletters for more information on this new endeavor!

Graduating students should have received an email already, but CECOLC is accepting applications for the President's Award Scholarship. Please read and follow the attached instructions, or reference the previously sent email from Mr. Smith, to learn about the qualifications and how to apply for this scholarship. Furthermore, we have important information and steps for graduating students and students enrolled in college classes. Students want to ensure they applied under the right degree or certification classification as stated in your ICAP. This is important since degree requirements change from year to year. Students can find their degree progress and their declared degree under ‘Degree Works’ in their college portal. Please contact your CECOLC advisor if you need assistance with the correct pathway or help with any of these changes. We are here for all of you!

For FRCC graduating students that have verified their degree and completion status, the FRCC graduation application is open. If you have not already done so, please complete the FRCC graduation application. The deadline for the graduation application is March 1st to have your name listed in the FRCC graduation program. The graduation celebration will be at the Blue Arena in Loveland on May 9th at 5pm. Please plan to join if you can!

Keep soaring high,

CECOLC Advising Department

College Student Families – Reimbursement Policy

CEC students can be reimbursed for various expenses required for college classes. See the full policy here and scroll down to CEC Online Campus’ link.

Subject to your voucher amount, you can be reimbursed for required textbooks and materials that you have to purchase for college classes.

Textbooks/materials must be returned to CECOLC at the end of the semester (in person or mail is acceptable)
Receipts and syllabus proof of being required must be submitted to our business manager
You must complete this form

CECOLC offers a one time laptop reimbursement for up to $400.

You need to complete this form
Receipts must be submitted to our business manager

If you have questions, please reach out to your student’s academic advisor or the CECOLC business manager, Jule.christian@coloradoearlycolleges.org

Welcome to Semester 2! Are you looking to get a jump start on your homework? Our tutors are ready to help. Sign up now with your CEC student email to get the support you need.

Academic Support

Staff Spotlight!

Director of Admissions Sarah Whetstone is entering her third year with CEC Online Campus but has previously spent one year with CEC Fort Collins Middle School and four years with CEC Fort Collins High School. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English from Kansas State University. She oversees enrollment, records, and state reporting for CEC Online Campus.

"As a one-person department, keeping track of students, records, and reporting for the Online Campus is a huge accomplishment of mine. If I had one superpower, it would be to mind read. Some of my favorite things to do include knitting, biking, exercising, and going to concerts."

Kindness Shoutout

Has someone in the CEC community shown you or your student an act of kindness? Click here or use the QR code provided to give them a shoutout! It can be big or small.

Attention Parents/Guardians:

Making time for yourself is a necessity. Check out this article for inspiration. https://www.activeminds.org/blog/is-self-care-selfish-self-centeredness-vs-selflessness-in-mental-health/

CECOLC will be headed to Europe in spring 2024! This trip will allow students to learn about the rich history of both Italy and Greece while broadening their minds and experiencing new cultures. This trip will also allow for students to gain some high school credit along with college credit as well. We’re headed on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Europe, but we can’t get there without YOU! To make a gift, scan the QR code or click here.

Refer-A-Friend

We truly appreciate people spreading the word about CEC. Refer-A-Friend to Colorado Early Colleges and you may be eligible to receive up to a $100 gift card!

Visit our website to access the Refer-A-Friend form for the 2024-2025 enrollment cycle: Refer-A-Friend - Colorado Early Colleges

Stay Connected With Us!

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CECOLC Website