One of the great gifts God has given ACA is our community of families, who have come together over the last 10+ years to help one another, develop friendships, drive carpools, eat meals, read books, volunteer in classrooms, lead extracurriculars, and much more. This year inherently feels different because of our required COVID protocols, which mean we have less face-to-face interaction with teachers, other parents, and students who aren’t our children. However, we are still a community, and we invite you to participate in this community in the following important ways:

1) Watch Parent Orientation videos! Whereas in a “normal” year, ACA would host a Parent Orientation Night near the start of the academic year to give parents overviews of curriculum, class expectations, homework, and other key information, this year, teachers have prepared video messages for each class. If you haven’t had a chance to watch, make it a priority this week: There are abundant answers to your questions, and we might be biased, but ACA teachers are especially charming and bright. Enjoy their insights, and learn more about your child’s day-to-day learning.

2) Grocery Shop! OK, specifically, we’re asking each ACA family to register your King Soopers loyalty card (if you have one) to the Community Rewards Program under your Account Settings. Once you do this, ACA earns a percentage from King Soopers on all of your grocery purchases. Part of the funds earned last year covered all of our school supplies this year! (Wasn’t it nice not to have to pay for those?)

We promise this process takes less than two minutes and pays off significantly for ACA. Please take time to do it today.

3) Shop for Gift Cards on Scrip. Scrip is a gift-card program schools use to raise money at no cost to participants: If you buy gift cards through Scrip, ACA earns a percentage (generally between 2% and 16%) of the value. You get $50 to spend at Chipotle (and a feel-good reason not to cook dinner tonight), and ACA gets a few bucks back. It’s easy as pie (or, um, burritos?).

Create an account online here and use enrollment code A57885C148363. You can buy e-gift cards that populate within a few seconds in your account, and then use the codes for online shopping, or order physical gift cards online and they’ll be shipped to school! (Orders need to be in by the first Tuesday of the month, and gift cards arrive a couple of days later.)

4) Join the Parents’ Facebook group. While we believe God created us to be in real community with one another, the ACA Parents’ Facebook group gives us a chance to connect virtually. To join this private group, search “Augustine Classical Academy Parents,” and our administrator will confirm your request promptly.

Note: If you have questions, ideas, or complaints, please contact your child’s teacher or ACA’s administrators directly. The Facebook group is best used for community-building.

5) Pray for ACA. We believe God hears His people’s prayers and responds, and He is glorified when we go to Him with praise, thanksgiving, confession, lament, pleas—all of it. Please continue to ask the Lord to pour out His goodness on our community of families, teachers, staff, and students. We’re grateful to be open, teaching our nearly 150 students full-time, and we ask for God’s protection, provision, wisdom, and grace. And remember: You’re invited to pray in person with other parents at the Lakewood campus on the second and fourth Mondays after morning drop-off.