Aims Community College offers several college level courses at the Berthoud High School. This fall students can take College Algebra, Introduction to Chemistry and Basic Anatomy and Physiology. These classes are part of the state guaranteed transfer program and meet in the evenings. Classes start Aug. 24. For more information, visit www.Aims.edu, or contact Susan Burrows via e-mail at susan.burrows@aims.edu or by calling (970) 339-6327.

BHS School Accountability and Advisory Committee meets in September
The first SAAC Meeting of the 2009-10 school year will be held
Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 3 p.m. in the school IMC.

Hebrew School Starting Classes
The Longmont Hebrew School is an unaffiliated community school offering classes in Hebrew and Judaic studies for children ages 5 through Bar/Bat-Mitzvah. Classes begin Sept. 14 and will meet weekly during the school year. Contact Mark Schane at (303) 684-0380 or by e-mail at mdsinco@hotmail.com for more information.

Homeschool with Excellence SAT Prep & Writing Seminars
Julie Braswell of Homeschoolers Under God (HUG) announced Wednesday the Homeschool with Excellence SAT Prep and Writing Seminar by Dr. James and Karen Stobaugh. This event will be held at Mountain Range Church 3601 S Shields St., Fort Collins, Thursday through Saturday, Sept. 17, 18, and 19. 
 
Stobaugh, home school father since 1985, is the president of ‘For Such a Time as This’. He is a SAT grader for College Board. His education includes: B.A., cum laude, Vanderbilt University., Masters of Divinity, Princeton _ecological Seminary, M. A., Rutgers University, Merrill Fellow, Harvard University, D. Min., Gordon Conwell Seminary.
 
Thursday, Sept. 17, 1 to 4 p.m. Writing Seminar
To whatever our children are called, they need to know how to write!  Writing is the quintessential skill for young people preparing to be 21st century apologists. This workshop is an overview of the goals and objectives of writing from pre-K to college.

Friday, Sept. 18, 1 to 4 p.m. Worldview in Classics by Dr. Stobaugh
In such a time as this, in the Post-Christian era, Dr. Stobaugh urges students and parents to exhibit great discernment in evaluating the worldview of our culture. He employs a cultural paradigm (as opposed to a political/philosophical paradigm): Christian Theism, Romanticism, Deism, Naturalism, Realism, Existentialism, Absurdism in critically analyzing Classical writings, especially for college-bound students.
Saturday, Sept. 19
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. SAT Prep I
In light of the changes to the new 2005 SAT I, this workshop is especially relevant. Dr. Stobaugh will cover the essay portion of the SAT in detail
 
9 a.m. to noon General Ed Track
Session I: Intercessory Prayer
Session II: How to Teach Spelling
Session III: Struggling Learner Discussion Group

Board of Education Director District Vacancy
School boards are local policy makers, and the policies they set have the force of law at the local level. The guidance and control that the Board provides through its policies is critical to the smooth operation of the school system, and to setting the direction for staff.

Today’s Board members can average up to 40 hours a month in Board work. This figure fluctuates monthly due to the number of meetings and school events scheduled.

Perhaps the single most important job of a school board is to employ a superintendent and to ensure that person responsibly manages the schools in accordance with federal and state laws, and school board policy. The Board also should set educational goals for the district — based upon state laws and community values. Effective school board members share the following characteristics:

• Desire to serve children in the community
• Strong belief in the value of public schools
• Ability to work as a member of a team with an open mind
• Ability to engage in give and take and arrive at group consensus
• Willingness to spend time required to become informed and do homework needed to take part in effective school board meetings
• Respect for the needs and feelings of other people, well-developed sense of fair play
• Ability to listen and communicate well
• Recognition that the school district is probably the largest business in town and that the board is responsible for seeing that the business is well managed

As elected public officials, school board members are in a unique position to serve as a link between the school system and the public – interpreting the schools to the public and public views to the schools. It is up to school board members to help build support and understanding of public education and to lead their communities in demanding quality education.

Additional school board candidate information can be found in the Colorado Association of School Boards’ School Board Candidate Guide publication (www.casb.org).

Qualification and Timeline for Vacant Director Districts

At the Nov. 3, 2009 election, four directors will be elected representing Director Districts B, E, and F, for four-year terms, and Director District D for a two-year term. To be qualified, a candidate must have been a registered elector and a resident of the school district for at least 12 consecutive months before the election, and a resident of the director district that will be represented.

A person is ineligible to run for school director if he or she has been convicted of committing a sexual offense against a child. Any person who desires to be a candidate for school director shall file a written notice of intention to be a candidate and a nomination petition in accordance with law.

Both the nomination petition and the intent to become candidate forms are available from the Secretary to the Board in the Office of the Board of Education at the District Administration Building, 800 S. Taft Avenue, Loveland from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, until August 28.

Completed nomination petitions and intent to become candidate forms must be returned to the Secretary to the Board of Education no later than 4 p.m. on Aug. 28.