NYCU Newsletter
Week of September 19, 2026
Dates, Goals and Prizes
Check out our website for more details.
Help your student(s) win great prizes and rewards by hitting the deadlines and goals below!
Email Campaign due by 5pm: Tuesday, September 22, 2026
Class Prize: Each classroom that collectively sends out at least 30 emails by 5pm on 9/22 earns Pencil Charms for the class!
Early Bird Donations due online by 5pm: Tuesday, September 22, 2026
School Prize: Raise $5,000 by the Early Bird Donation Deadline, and the whole school earns Popsicles on Run Day!
School Prize: Raise $10,000 by the Early Bird Donation Deadline, and the whole school earns a Foam Party on Run Day!
Run Day: Thursday, September 24, 2026
Students will run laps on a 1/16-mile track with their grade for 30 minutes. Make sure your class is ready to go before their run time.
Parents are welcome to volunteer and/or attend Run Day to cheer on their students!
All Donations due: Thursday, October 01, 2026
All donations are due today. Most donations will be made online. If you receive any cash or checks (made out to Aurora Quest K-8 PTO), please drop them at the front desk.
Online donations will reflect online in real time.
Prize Day: Thursday, October 08, 2026
We will celebrate our successful fundraiser!
Classroom Prizes:
Send 30 emails per class by 9/22 = Pencil Charms for the class
$75 / Student = Inflatables
$85 / Student = Silent Disco
$95 /Student = Dippin Dots
School Prizes:
$5,000 by 9/22 = Popsicles on Run Day
$10,000 by 9/22 = Foam Party on Run Day
Individual Prizes:
$50 = Prize Trolley Fun Buck
Every $50 earns an additional Prize Trolley Fun Buck
$100 = Hamster Ball @ School
$300 = Velcro Wall
$500 = Inflatable Gift Card ($175 value)
Star Jar: As your student reaches the milestones on the Star Jar Coupon sheet, they will drop them in the Star Jar in the office. We will pull turned in coupons for prizes several times during our fundraiser
Most Laps (average/student) Class: Extra Recess
Run 4 Funds Volunteers still needed!
Thank you to all of the amazing folks who have already signed up to help us with this event! We are still in need of a few more volunteers to ensure that our Quest students have a fantastic day running at warp speed and earning those donations. If you can spare an hour or two on September 24th (especially for our 7th graders from 9:00 - 10:30 am) we'd be so very grateful for the help! Take a look at the available times and sign up here: Run 4 Funds Volunteer Sign Up
You are welcome to watch your student during their run. Since you will be outside you do not have to check in at the front office. However, if it rains and we move in doors, please come and check in at the front office. If you are volunteering please come and check in at the front office.
8:15 - 9:15 a.m. - 4th & 5th Grades
9:20 - 10:20 a.m. - 7th Grade only (part of) Need volunteers!
10:30 - 11:30 a.m. - 6th & 7th Grades
12:10 - 1:10 pm - 1st & 2nd Grades
1:35 - 2:35 - Kindergarten, 3rd and 8th Grades
* Please note that 8th grade has been added to the final time slot due to a field trip scheduled for the same day, so we will have three grades participating during that hour.
Join Wrestling!
Basketball news!
Click here to learn more about Vista Peak Prep's girls basketball feeder program. It's a great opportunity to get more reps in and start preparing for high school!
Wrestling update!
Registration is still open for wrestling! Boys and girls are welcome. Practice is at Hinkley high school M-F, 4pm-5:30. Reach out to Coach Cortez if you have any questions. rlcortez@aurorak12.org
A variety of topics were covered this week during kindergarten and elementary social-emotional learning (SEL).
In kindergarten classrooms, students discussed healthy norms when using the school restroom. The conversation began with identifying differences and similarities between using a bathroom at home compared to school. The biggest takeaway is students lack of overall privacy when using the restroom. A number of students described feeling uncomfortable with accessing the restroom. Identified appropriate behaviors included no horseplay in the restroom, flushing the toilet, washing hands using soap and water, drying one’s hands after washing, and how to be respectful of others accessing the restroom. The purpose of this lesson was to alleviate anxiety associated with using the school restroom and to establish agreed upon prosocial bathroom norms.
In Mrs. Smith’s second grade classroom, students further discussed managing friendships. Topics that were reviewed included how using the term best friend or bestie is an exclusive term not an inclusive term. We discussed using a more inclusive term such as close friend, or simply, friend. Students were introduced to other valuable types of friendships such as casual friends and acquaintances. We discussed the importance of choosing friends who role model prosocial behaviors, that next to one’s parents, friends can influence one’s behaviors. We discussed making friends. Students were introduced to concepts about proximity and frequency when trying to meet and engage with a potential new friend/s.
In Mrs. Beaman’s second grade classroom, students watched a slideshow and discussed cooperative play. We discussed the importance of being able to cooperate not only with one’s friends, but really with any classmate. Students know that at Quest we do a tremendous amount of group work in classrooms, and that having the skill of cooperating is crucial to academic and social success. Following the slideshow and discussion, students worked in small groups building a single agreed upon LEGO structure. We had the fun of building with LEGO while simultaneously working on cooperation.
Rob Lipson, Elementary School Counselor
Robert Townsend, Middle School Counselor
Aurora Public Schools and Advanced Learning Plan Goals
If your child is identified as Gifted and has an Advanced Learning Plan (ALP), ALPs were sent out through our data system called Link It. The Link It system uses email addresses that are recorded in Infinite Campus.
You should receive an email from interventionmanager@linkit.com. The subject should include Aurora Public Schools and Advanced Learning Plan Goals.
Spelling Bee coming this Fall
Students in grades 3-8 are invited to participate in their Classroom Spelling Bee the week of November 9-12.
Top spellers in each grade will be invited to compete in the Schoolwide Spelling Bee on December 10.
The top 3 spellers from Quest will go on to compete in the District Spelling Bee on January 30.
Here are the Classroom Spelling Bee Study Lists.
For questions please contact Kim Opferman (kjopferman@aurorak12.org) or Ellen Kruschwitz (emkruschwitz@aurorak12.org)
Building Our Culture. Our new Guiding Principles have taken root across the building, and we're seeing them show up in classrooms and hallways every day. This month, our focus is Integrity doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.
Yondr Bags in Middle School. Our phone-free initiative is off to a strong start with our 6th–8th graders, and we're grateful for the way families continue to reinforce it at home. A quick reminder: pouches that are lost or damaged carry a $30 replacement fee, so please encourage your student to keep theirs in good shape.
Aurora Quest Swag. Show your Quest pride our spirit gear store is open now. Shop here. You'll find a wide range of designs and brands, including Lululemon and Nike, and every purchase is a great way to support our athletes and students.
Denver Summit Youth Soccer Clinic
Join Denver Summit FC for our next free youth soccer clinic! Open to ages 7 to 13.
September 23rd 4:30 pm - 6:30pm check-in: 4:30pm Fort Logan Northgate Elementary School soccer field 4000 S. Lowell Blvd. Denver CO, 80236.
Please contact community@denversummitfc.com with any questions you may have.
Hello Quest Families,
My name is Matthew Koscove, and I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself as the new Athletic Director at Vista Peak Prep High School. I am incredibly excited to be part of the Vista Peak community—and I’m also enjoying being much closer to home! I live in the GVR area, so the shorter commute has definitely been a welcome change.
One of my goals as Athletic Director is to begin building connections with our future Bison and their families well before they arrive at Vista Peak.
I wanted to reach out today and provide you with a link to our Vista Peak Bison Athletics website, where families can follow everything happening with Bison Athletics as we continue working to update our main athletic webpage:
Vista Peak Bison Athletics:
https://vpbisonathletics.org/
We have a lot of exciting things on the horizon, and I hope you and your families will join us throughout the school year. We are looking forward to creating more opportunities to connect our future Bison with Vista Peak through athletic events, giveaways, student recognition events, Youth Nights, and much more!
Our goal is to get future Bison excited about Vista Peak and give them opportunities to experience what it means to be part of our school and athletic community.
Please feel free to share our athletics website with your students and families. We would love to see them at an upcoming Bison event!
Thank you, and I look forward to building a strong connection with you and our future Bison!
Go Bison!
Matthew Koscove
Athletic Director/Assistant Principal
Vista Peak High School