Blevins Bulletin

Hello Blevins Families,

This week, I want to focus on something that has a tremendous impact on student success: attendance. At Blevins, we know that students learn best when they are consistently present, engaged, and connected to their school community. Every lesson, discussion, activity, and relationship-building opportunity matters. While we understand that illnesses and emergencies happen, making school attendance a priority is one of the most important ways families can support their child's academic growth and overall success.

This year, we will be recognizing students each month who maintain 95% attendance or higher. We want to celebrate students who demonstrate the commitment and responsibility that come with showing up each day ready to learn. Our school motto, "Be Here, Be Ready, Be a Bruin," reflects this belief. Being present at school is the first step toward achieving academic goals, building friendships, and participating fully in all that Blevins has to offer.

The importance of attendance is also reflected in our student achievement data. Looking at our CMAS results from this past spring, students who attended school 90% or more of the time achieved in Reading at a rate nearly twice as high as students who missed more school. While many factors contribute to student success, the connection between attendance and achievement is clear. When students are in class, they have more opportunities to learn, grow, collaborate, and receive support from their teachers and peers.

We also recognize that sometimes attending school regularly can be challenging. If your family is experiencing barriers that make it difficult for your child to come to school consistently, please do not hesitate to reach out to our counseling team. Whether the challenges are academic, social, emotional, or logistical, we want to partner with you to identify solutions and provide support. Working together, we can help every student feel successful, connected, and ready to be at school each day.

Thank you for your partnership in helping our students build strong attendance habits. Together, we can ensure that every student has the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive at Blevins.

Proudly,
Joe Zappa, Principal

Monday, September 14th

• Fall/Winter Bruin Club Starts (See Information Below)

• 7th and 8th grade families come learn about Boston/NYC Travel Opportunity (See Informaiton Below) 5:00-6:00 pm in the Blevins Media Center
• **PTO Meeting will be rescheduled (See Information Below)

• 8th Grade College & Career Exploration @ CSU 10:30-1:30 (Watch for More Information)

🐾 Blevins PTO Fundraiser is HERE!

August 31 – September 18

It’s time for our Blevins Grade-Level Fundraising Challenge! Each grade will compete to see who can raise the most money for Blevins students and staff.

🏆 The grade that raises the most money gets to CHOOSE their celebration!

🍕 Pizza Party
🍦 Ice Cream Party
🍩 Donut Party

💰 Choose Your Grade & Donate!

6th Grade:
Donate to the 6th Grade Competition

7th Grade:
Donate to the 7th Grade Competition

8th Grade:
Donate to the 8th Grade Competition

🎯 Schoolwide Goals

Let’s see what Blevins can do together!

$15,000 → EXTRA REC TIME!
$20,000 → DUCT TAPE PRINCIPAL ZAPPA TO THE WALL!

We can’t miss out on this Blevins tradition!

Every donation helps the PTO provide opportunities, activities, and support for Blevins students and staff. Help your grade win—and help us reach our schoolwide goals!

Fundraiser runs August 31–September 18.

🐾 Go Bruins!

Bruin Club is excited to share our Fall 2026 club schedule! Clubs will begin on Monday, September 14th and will run until November 19th. To participate, all students must have a completed 2026–2027 Permission to Participate form on file. Forms are available in the front office or can be downloaded and emailed to icrume@psdschools.org, or returned in paper form to the front office. Forms are due at least 48 hours prior to attendance. A separate form is required for each student.

Fall Session Club Schedule

*Odyssey of the Minds requires students to commit and attend weekly.

**Students must already be enrolled in Lego Robotics.

Important Reminders:

• At this time, bus transportation will not be available. Students are still welcome to participate in the program as long as they have an alternative form of transportation home. We will continue to reevaluate transportation options throughout the session and provide updates if bus transportation becomes available.

• All students must be picked up by 5:00 p.m. If you anticipate being late, please notify us at (970)488-4034 no later than 4:50 p.m.

• Please note the number has changed. This is a school phone that does not accept texts.

• Bruin Club is an extension of the school day, and students are expected to follow the same rules and expectations set in place by PSD's Student Code of Conduct. Cell phones may be used, but only in a safe and appropriate manner. If a student is unable to use their phone responsibly, they may lose the privilege of having it during the program.

• Bruin Club will not operate on 10/13, 10/15, 11/17, and 11/23-11/27. A reminder text will be sent out prior to Bruin Club closures.

Join us for: Raising a Self-Advocate! Thursday, September 24, 2026 from 5:30–6:30 PM, Boardroom inside the Johannsen Support Services Center (JSSC)

We invite you to join us for a special presentation designed to help give you the skills to support your child to become strong self-advocates.

During this session, you'll explore what self-advocacy looks like for elementary and middle school students. You'll learn practical strategies to help your child communicate their needs, speak up when something feels wrong, make their voice heard in the classroom, understand the difference between typical mean or unkind behavior and bullying, and more.

We hope you will join us for this valuable opportunity to learn, share, and connect with other families. To hold this event, we require a minimum number of attendees. If this minimum is not met, the event may be cancelled. It's important to RSVP to help us plan accordingly. Raising a Self-Advocate RSVP

Questions: If you have any questions regarding Bruin Club, please contact Izzy Crume at (970)657-6612 or icrume@psdschools.org

Extra, extra! Bruin Bash & the School Dance have moved to Friday, October 9

Bruin Bash T-Shirt Sponsors Needed

We are currently looking for sponsors for this year’s Bruin Bash T-shirts. Please see the attached sponsor request and feel free to share it with any businesses, friends, or connections who may be interested in supporting Blevins

Reminder: Our PTO Fundraiser is Underway

🏆 The grade that raises the most money gets to CHOOSE their celebration!

🍕 Pizza Party
🍦 Ice Cream Party
🍩 Donut Party

💰 Choose Your Grade & Donate!

6th Grade:
Donate to the 6th Grade Competition

7th Grade:
Donate to the 7th Grade Competition

8th Grade:
Donate to the 8th Grade Competition

🎯 Schoolwide Goals

Let’s see what Blevins can do together!

$15,000 → EXTRA REC TIME!
$20,000 → DUCT TAPE PRINCIPAL ZAPPA TO THE WALL!

We can’t miss out on this Blevins tradition!

Every donation helps the PTO provide opportunities, activities, and support for Blevins students and staff. Help your grade win—and help us reach our schoolwide goals!

Fundraiser runs August 31–September 18.

Fee Reminder:

Zeffy is a nonprofit payment platform and does not charge fees for transactions. However, each transaction includes a default optional donation to Zeffy. If you do not want to make an additional donation to Zeffy, simply select the dropdown, choose “Other,” and enter $0. This ensures that 100% of your intended donation goes to the Blevins PTO fundraiser.

Next PTO Meeting – Date/Time TBD

Our next meeting is normally scheduled for Tuesday, September 15 at 5:30 PM, but that evening conflicts with the Comprehensive Planning Committee’s Community Listening Session at Rocky Mountain High School at 6:00 PM.

If you would like to attend our next PTO meeting, please select your availability in the Doodle poll so we can find a date/time that works best for the group. https://doodle.com/sign-up-sheet/participate/989bb7ee-192a-47d1-bc5e-7f7eb4aa5e30/select

We will send updated meeting information and all other PTO information via email. If you would like to be a part of this email group, please sign up using this link.

Topics for our next PTO meeting will include:

- **Teacher Mini-Grants** – We’ve had several requests come through and would love to share the love with our teachers! We’ll review and vote on these requests.

- **Upcoming Bruin Bash** – Planning and updates

- **Dining for Dollars** – Upcoming fundraising opportunities

- **Taft Hill Road Safety Improvements** – Possible 15-minute presentation from the City of Fort Collins on the upcoming road safety improvement plan

7th and 8th grade families! On September 15th 5:00-6:00 pm in the Blevins Media Center come learn about an ncredible opportunity to travel to Boston/NYC (and get to know the teachers leading your student's tour!). We're excited to tell you more about the trip we're planning with EF Explore America, our educational partner. Please REGISTER HERE for our info session to be considered for our upcoming travel opportunity.

In our session, we'll cover everything from how this will benefit your child, what's included in the experience, how we'll keep the trip safe and affordable, and much more. Plus, if we haven't met yet, it's a good chance to learn more about me as both an educator and a Group Leader.

Registration for this session is mandatory to help organize our meeting, and a parent or guardian must attend. Can't make it? Choose "No, but send info" so you don't miss out.

Thank you,

Brook Rozman (She/her/hers)

6th Grade Social Studies Teacher

Social Studies Department Chair

6th Grade Team Lead

Yearbook Advisor

brozman@psdschools.org

October Count is coming on OCTOBER 1st!

(PSD's count window is Sept. 24- Oct 8.)

What is October Count? It is simply making your student count in our education system. Per the Colorado Department of Education:

“The Student October Pupil Enrollment collection contains student enrollment information as of the pupil enrollment count date. This information is used to determine the school demographics, number of students in instructional programs, free and reduced lunch counts, and distribution of school finances across the state.”

Its very important to have your student in school during this time so your student and Blevins are accurately represented. If you have any questions or concerns, please call Brian Crego 970-488-4008.

Welcome back Bruins! While May seems so far away, the Yearbook purchase deadline will creep up faster than you think! Now is the best time to pre-order your yearbook for three reasons:

1. You are guaranteed a yearbook! We don’t order enough for every student, so ordering in advance guarantees your student will receive one.
2. You can get FREE icons to customize your student’s book. Add music notes, a football, or other symbols to reflect their unique interests with the code YBKICONS at checkout when personalization is purchased
3. The yearbook is CHEAPER! After winter break, the cost of the Yearbook will go up! Order your yearbook now and avoid the price increase later in the year.

We appreciate your support of yearbook as students create the entire book start to finish. We can’t wait to share this year’s work with you!

Order your yearbook at http://jostensyearbooks.com/?REF=A00939000

Order an 8th Grade Recognition Ad for your graduating 8th grader at www.theyearbookcompany.com

Brook Rozman

Yearbook Advisor

brozman@psdschools.org

Caps4Cash is a Morning Fresh Dairy program where schools can earn cash by collecting caps from Morning Fresh Dairy glass bottles. Each cap will be redeemed for 5¢. Bring your caps to the front office, and our 6th graders will take it from there. Contact Annika Gurley if you have any questions.

Represent Blevins

Pick up a yard sign from our front office

Donations accepted but not required

Take advantage of our biggest discount of the year! All Blevins Youth Tees marked down to $17.99 and Adult Tees to $19.99! This Flash Sale ends Sunday at 11:59 pm. Shop today and Save Big: ➡️

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday Student Schedule

Wednesday Student Schedule

Silver & Burgundy Calendar

PSD Calendar

Blevins Student/Family Handbook

Community Flyers

Joe Zappa, Principal

970-488-4001

jzappa@psdschools.org

Dusti Sanger, Assistant Principal

970-488-4002

dsanger@psdschools.org

Scott Schreiner, Assistant Principal/Athletic Director

970-488-4036

scotts@psdschools.org

Michele Trujillo, Office Manager

970-488-4004

mtrujill@psdschools.org

Anna Burris, 7th Grade Counselor

970-488-4091

annab@psdschools.org

Kirsten Bovbjerg, 8th Grade Counselor

970-488-4010

kbovbjerg@psdschools.org

Erin McCain, 6th Grade Counselor

970-488-4009

emccain@psdschools.org