March 27, 2026
Dear American Academy Families,
We hope everyone had a wonderful Spring Break and enjoyed some well-deserved time to relax and recharge! We are so happy to be back at school and reunited with our amazing kiddos—it's been great jumping back into learning together!
Skate City Lunch Option- Money Needed by Wednesday, April 1st
Lunch: There are a few lunch options available. Students may bring their own nut-free sack lunch or purchase a meal for $5 (2 slices of pizza and a drink or hot dog, chips and a drink). If you are choosing to purchase a meal, please bring $5 cash to your homeroom teacher by Wednesday, April 1st so we can place our order ahead of time. Last-minute meal purchase the day of the field trip will not be an option.
Skate City- April 3rd- Make Sure You Register Your Kiddo
Exciting news! We have a field trip to Skate City Aurora coming up on Friday, April 3rd. Students will learn about basic human biology and how the body works from the inside out. Students will focus on heart-related anatomy, nutrition, and exercise. Students will have fun exploring through heart-healthy activities, such as finding and calculating an average heart rate. Students will also learn about the importance of making heart healthy food choices by identifying and understanding nutritional labels and facts.
Logistics:
2526 MB - Ms. McMorrine's Class
Makeup Policy
Just a friendly reminder that third grade students are not permitted to wear or bring makeup to school. Per our AA Uniform Policy, makeup is not allowed for K–5 students. We have recently had a few instances of this occurring, so we wanted to clarify expectations. Aside from colorless chapstick or lipbalm, which should be kept in backpacks or pockets, cosmetics should not be worn or brought to school.
Thank you for your support in helping us maintain a focused and appropriate learning environment for all students.
2nd-4th Grade Lego Building Club
LEGO Building Club is starting on Tuesday, April 21st. This is a FUN hands on LEGO club that will run for four Tuesdays (4/21, 4/28, 5/5 and 5/12). Students will come to our 1st floor STEM room at 4 pm and will finish at 5 pm. Get your child signed up on the AA School Store!
3rd Grade Tote Bag Replacements
Our 3rd graders use their tote bags every day, and many are starting to show a bit of wear and tear. When you have a moment, please check in with your child to see how their tote bag is holding up.
If your child’s tote bag is falling apart or needs to be replaced, please send them to school with a school-appropriate reusable shopping bag (about the size of a King Soopers reusable tote).
Students who would like to switch to a school-appropriate tote bag of their choice are also welcome to bring in a new one, even if their current bag is still in good shape.
Thank you for helping make sure everyone has a sturdy bag to carry their materials each day—we appreciate your support!
CMAS Snacks and Candy- Donations Still Needed
CMAS (Colorado Measures of Academic Success) is right around the corner, and we love to take care of our third graders during their first journey into the exhilarating World of CMAS. As they head into this new and exciting realm, we like to spoil them with snacks and candy. This is where you come in. We would love to get donations of variety snacks and candy packs to give to them as they progress through their daily adventures and quests in the math and literacy kingdoms of CMAS.
Please see our sign up below if you are able to help us spoil our kiddos. We greatly appreciate all donations and ask that you do not send any snacks containing nuts or dairy and no chocolate candies.
Sam's Club, Costco, and Amazon are all great options for bulk variety packs.
Please drop donations off to the front office by March 30th and label third grade. Thank you so much for your support!
Test Corrections
We wanted to make sure parents are aware that test corrections are available for math tests only. Students who score below 80% will have the opportunity to make corrections for partial credit, allowing them to improve their score up to 80%. This process helps students reflect on mistakes, strengthen their understanding, and continue building their math skills.
CMAS and End-of-Year Testing Windows for the 25-26 School Year
We know many families like to plan ahead for vacations and appointments. As you’re making those plans, please keep our CMAS and benchmark testing windows in mind so students don’t miss these important days. Benchmark assessments give us valuable information to guide instruction and ensure each child is placed in the ability group that best fits their needs.
Spring Sign-Ups
For volunteer opportunities please sign up using the links below:
March Classroom Cleaners(You will help clean all third grade classrooms).
Spring Bulletin Board Sign Up (You may sign up with any teacher)
Classroom Wishlists
Consider donating items to your teacher's classroom wishlist! Remember items purchased can be turned in towards your volunteer hours!!
Ms. McMorrine’s Classroom Wishlist
Ms. Medina’s Classroom Wishlist
Ms. Newman’s Classroom Wishlist
Ms. Pearson’s Classroom Wishlist
Literacy Class Scholastic Book Club Links
Ms. McMorrine’s class code- MJKYD
Ms. McMorrine's Classroom Book Club
Ms. Newman’s class code- XR6KM
Ms. Newman's Classroom Book Club
Ms. Pearson’s class code- R7ZKX
Ms. Pearson's Classroom Book Club
Curriculum Updates
Responsive Classroom: In our Responsive Classroom lessons, we’ve been focusing on building social awareness and practicing what it means to show respect at school. Students have been learning to recognize others’ feelings, appreciate different perspectives, and use kind, respectful words and actions throughout the day. We’re proud of the thoughtful ways they are supporting one another and helping create a positive classroom community!
McMorrine Math: In math, we have begun Chapter 10: Time Measurement and Intervals. Students are learning about both analog and digital clocks, how to tell time to the hour and minute, and the difference between A.M. and P.M. We are also working on measuring time intervals and understanding how to determine how much time has passed. Keep an eye out for opportunities to practice telling time at home! We are also continuing to work through our weekly multiplication quizzes and CMAS practice.
Medina Math: We started Chapter 9 this week - Understand Perimeter. Our lessons were modeling the perimeter of a rectangle and other figures and finding the perimeter of a rectangle by measuring the lengths of the sides and then adding the lengths of the sides. We are also continuing to work through our multiplication facts and practicing for CMAS.
Newman/Shaw Math: This week, we have been working on lessons in Chapter 9: Understand Perimeter, where students are learning how to measure and calculate the distance around shapes. Over the next few weeks, we will begin previewing a variety of important math concepts, including time, fractions, measurement, graphing, and geometry. As we continue through these topics, we will keep focusing on building accuracy, explaining our thinking, and choosing efficient strategies when solving problems. Please continue to support your child at home by reviewing multiplication facts regularly, as fluency remains an important skill across many areas of math. Students will also continue taking a weekly fact quiz. We’re proud of the growth we’re seeing as students build confidence and deepen their understanding!
Pearson Accelerated Math: We are working our way through chapter 13. In this chapter we will deepen our understanding of geometry and the concepts of two-dimensional figures. Please be sure to practice vocabulary at home, as understanding math vocabulary is key to mastering these concepts. Thank you for supporting your child’s learning!
McMorrine Literacy: In Literacy, we have begun Unit 4, focusing on Ancient Roman civilization. Students are excited to revisit this time period through new stories and engaging texts. In grammar, students are developing their understanding of verb tenses, including past, present, and future. Students recently completed their autobiographies and were excited to respond to their 5th-grade pen pals this week. Our next spelling test will take place on Thursday, April 2. Students are also invited to bring in a favorite picture book next week to read to our kindergarten book buddies. Books should be brought in by April 1st and will be returned home that same day. Please make sure your child’s name is in their book. We did have an adjustment to our library days moving forward. L1 will now have library on Thursdays instead of Wednesdays.
Newman Literacy: In literacy, we are currently focusing on Unit 4, where students are learning about Ancient Rome. They’ve been curious and engaged as they build their understanding of this historical time period. During grammar, we are focusing on identifying and using different verb tenses, along with practicing suffixes to grow vocabulary skills. Students especially enjoyed taking time this week to write back to their 5th-grade pen pals. Please note that our next spelling test will be held on Monday, March 30th.
Pearson Literacy: We have started Unit 4: Ancient Rome. Students will be familiar with many concepts in this unit because they have covered it in History. This gives us the chance to go deeper and use our background knowledge as we read nonfiction and myths to better understand Roman history, culture, and important figures such as Julius Caesar and Augustus. Along with reading, we will continue building spelling skills, practice grammar concepts like verb tenses and subject-verb agreement, and study word parts such as prefixes and suffixes to strengthen vocabulary. This unit helps students grow our reading comprehension while connecting literacy learning to history and storytelling. We have started a compare and contrast writing assignment where we got to read a classic story told from different perspectives and compare and contrast the differences in them. Continue to study spelling words at home, paying attention to the skill that is being taught to help build a life long understanding of spelling rules that can apply to any word!
Medina History: We continued learning about the Early Americans. The students in their small groups continued planning and practicing their play presentation to show a tribe’s way of life. They will also start working on their tribe posters and making props for their plays.
Shaw Science: In the next week we will be wrapping up our Weather unit with a fun Extreme Weather poster project.
Jones STEM Weeks 4-5: The students in STEM are working hard on their final projects which involve creating a robot version of an animal. They are working on coding the robot to react like an animal would when hunting, or being hunted, eating, or other behaviors that are typical of their animal.
For more event dates, please visit the Event Calendar on www.aak8.org. For questions or concerns about an event date, please contact our Communications Department.
Thank you for your continued partnership and support,
Ms. McMorrine, Ms. Medina, Ms. Newman, Ms. Pearson, Ms. Shaw, and Ms. Winder