Community Update: January 29, 2017

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Dear Advanced Learning Academy Families,

At last Thursday’s extended year informational meeting, we began a discussion of the benefits and challenges of an extended year calendar, along with developing a list of questions from the community. In the coming weeks, we will be sharing Frequently Asked Questions based on our initial conversations last week. At this time, we are not considering an extended year calendar for the 2017-2018. However, we plan to gather more community input over the summer and fall for consideration for the 2018-2019 school year. As your family plans ahead for the 2017-2018 school year, please note that the first day of school district-wide, including ALA, will be Monday, August 14th, 2017.  

Congratulations to entire cast and crew of Alice in Wonderland for the wonderful performances this past weekend.  We celebrate our very first theatre production at ALA and look forward to many more in the years to come. Many thanks to Amy Stengel and Sandy Boydston, theatre teachers, for their leadership and dedication!

Coach Myers asked us to share that cross country has begun for our 7th and 8th grade students.  The team meets for practice Monday thru Friday in the secondary gym at 6:45 am.   Athletes will run around campus, the field house, and routes off campus. In order to practice students must have a completed a physical and be cleared through Rank One. Interested student athletes and their families may contact Coach Myers at cmyers1@saisd.net for more details. Best of luck to our runners!

Dr. Linda Vargas and our guidance office asked that we share some information about Naviance, a comprehensive website that secondary students and families can use to plan for college and a career. Ninth and tenth graders have been taught how to log in and our middle school students will be learning soon. Families are invited to learn about Naviance at any of the upcoming informational sessions on the dates below.  Please remember to sign in at the front office before reporting to the Go Center.

• Tuesday, January 31st @ 9 am and 3:30 pm
• Wednesday, February 1st  @ 9 am and 3:30 pm
• Thursday, February 2nd @ 9 am and 3:30 pm

Dr. Vargas recommends that students log in HERE ,on a weekly basis, for updates posted on various pre-college opportunities.  For instance, there is information posted in Naviance about two opportunities, both with January 31st deadlines:  UTHSCSA Voelcker Biomedical Academy (Freshmen) and  PREP USA (6th grade-Juniors). Parent Naviance sessions will also be available after each Community Coffee at Fox Tech scheduled for the remainder of the year.

The City of San Antonio has begun construction around ALA at Fox Tech that will significantly alter traffic patterns for the remainder of the year.  Beginning Monday, January 30th,  San Pedro south of W. Quincy Street will be closed to all traffic. Cars will no longer be able to make a right off of San Pedro onto Jackson Street (Buffalo Run).  Beginning on Tuesday, Jackson Street (Buffalo Run) will become a one-way street only allowing traffic to travel south towards Main Street.  Please expect longer delays at drop-off and pick-up this week as traffic adjusts to the new patterns.  

Have a wonderful week!

Sincerely,

Kathy Bieser

Community Update: January 22, 2017

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Dear Advanced Learning Academy Families,

The ALA community is invited to an informational meeting on Wednesday, January 25, 2017 to discuss the benefits and challenges of an extended year calendar and gather feedback from the community. We will gather in the 2nd floor cafeteria for a short presentation, table top discussion, and sharing. We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday.

Our monthly Community Coffee will be help at ALA on Euclid this Friday, January 27, 2017 at 9am.  The full listing of Community Coffee dates is linked HERE. There are also  two upcoming Volunteer Orientations at ALA on Euclid: Monday, January 30th at 9am  and Thursday, January 26th @ 5:30pm. Please bring photo identification to the meeting, which should last no longer than an hour.

Nine days remain before the the January 31st, 2017, ALA application deadline.

As a reminder, although siblings of current students may be granted automatic admission if seats are available, they must submit an application by the deadline in order to be eligible. The district has also finalized the Pre-K tuition guidelines. The cost will be $500 per month ($4500 annually) for Pre-K students that are not eligible based on TEA guidelines or proposed qualifications for tuition adjustment. The cost will be $250 per month ($2500 annually) for Pre-K students with siblings in attendance at an SAISD school in grades K-12. Current students do not need to apply to secure a seat for the 17-18 school year.  However, we will be sending home a 17-18 Commitment Form in early February for current students to complete in order to secure a seat at the school for the 17-18 school year. We are humbled by the number of families choosing to send another child to us in the 17-18 school year, and we continue to design, refine, and renew in service of students and our families.

As a reminder, Alice in Wonderland opens on Thursday, January 26th in the evening at 7pm.   Tickets will be sold at the January 25th extended year informational meeting. Tickets will also be sold at the door on the night of the play beginning at 6:00pm.  Please see our flyer, Alice in Wonderland , for more details.  

Folktales from Around the World, starring our own 4th and 5th grade students, as well as a 6th -10th folktale performance will be shown on Thursday beginning at at 2:30pm.  The second round of featured stories will be show on Friday beginning again at 2:30pm.  Please see the Folktales from Around the World  flyer for more details.   

Ms. Stengel, Ms. Boydston, and the ALA at Fox Tech theatre students deeply appreciate all of the parent volunteers during our crew calls.  We are still hosting several community production nights to paint the set pieces, props, and costumes necessary for each of the plays.  On the linked flyer, you will see a long list of needs and the dates and times for upcoming community production calls.   The community consists of students, parents, and ALA teachers.  

Looking ahead, we will be hosting the First Annual Elementary Family Dance for our K-5 families on Friday, February 10th from 6-8pm at our Euclid campus.  There is no cost for the dance.  We are accepting donations of food and drinks through a flyer that will be sent home this week. We are excited about beginning another ALA tradition and connecting our K-5 families through this celebration! We are also in the midst of finalizing plans for a spring middle school dance. Please look for more details in upcoming updates.

If you were unable to attend last week’s Report Card Pick-Up Night (Fox Tech campus families), please look for the report card in the mail. Attached to this email and linked, is the presentation reviewed Thursday evening.

Finally, the next early release day is Wednesday, February 15th. After school care will NOT be available and all K-10 students need to picked up at the early dismissal time. Our K-3 students will  be dismissed at 1:15pm while our 4th-10th grade students will be dismissed at 1:30pm.

Sincerely,

Kathy Bieser

Community Update: January 15, 2017

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Dear Advanced Learning Academy Families,

Before the winter break, on Tuesday, December 13, 2016 the SAISD school board approved the Advanced Learning Academy’s  in-district charter application.  Included in the charter is the option to consider an extended school year calendar. Under an extended school year calendar, students would return to school the second week of August and end the school year in late June shortening the summer break from the current eleven weeks to seven weeks.  However,  students would attend the same number of days per calendar year and additional student holidays would be embedded into the calendar, along with the traditional Thanksgiving, winter and spring break.  On Wednesday, January 25 we will hold an informational meeting at 6 p.m. at our Fox Tech campus to discuss the benefits and challenges of this calendar flexibility and gather feedback from the community. We hope to have many of you  present as we continue to explore possibilities for our school.

On Wednesday, January 18th, our 4th-10th grade teachers will host a Report Card Pick-Up Night at the Fox Tech campus beginning at 6 p.m. Please look for signs and faculty directing you to the correct meeting space as you arrive. Along with picking up your student’s report card, teachers will be present to share course and class updates. The following evening on Thursday, January 19th our PTSA will hold a meeting in the Fox Tech cafeteria at 6 p.m. for all K-10th grade families and friends of the Advanced Learning Academy.

For the last few weeks, our K-3 students at ALA on Euclid have been completing a

Passion Project. On Friday, January 20th, these students will be exhibiting their project and sharing their learning. Students are invited to wear “Sunday Best” dress for the day in honor of the special presentations. Each Friday, following January  20th presentations students may continue to elect to wear a college shirt and jeans.

Finally, Ms. Stengel, Ms. Boydston, and the ALA at Fox Tech theatre students are hosting several community production nights to build the set pieces, props, and costumes necessary for each of the plays.  On the linked flyer, you will see a long list of needs and the dates and times for upcoming community production calls.   The community consists of students, parents, and ALA teachers.  

On January 26th, our plays will open for our community.   Folktales from Around the World, starring our own 4th and 5th grade students, as well as a 6th -10th folktale performance will be shown on Thursday beginning at at 2:30pm.  The second round of featured stories will be show on Friday beginning again at 2:30pm.  Please see the Folktales from Around the World  flyer for more details.   

Alice in Wonderland opens on Thursday, January 26th in the evening.   Tickets will be sold at the Report Card Pick-up Night on Wednesday, January 18th, and the January 25th Meeting. Tickets will also be sold at the door on the night of the play beginning at 6pm.  Please see our flyer, Alice in Wonderland , for more details.  

We would love to see you there!  If you have any questions regarding the plays or crew meetings, please feel free to email, astengel1@saisd.net .

Sincerely,

Kathy Bieser

Community Update:January 9, 2017

Sunday, January 9, 2017

Dear Advanced Learning Academy Families,

On Monday, January 9th and Thursday, January 12th, ALA on Euclid  will host a Parent Informational Meeting for Prospective Families & Students beginning  5:30 p.m. in the gymnasium for pre-K through 3rd grade families. These are the last two informational sessions before the January 31st, 2017, application deadline. If you have friends or family who are interested in ALA, please encourage them to attend an informational meeting. They do not need to register for the informational session. As a reminder,  although siblings of current students may be granted automatic admission if seats are available, they must submit an application by the deadline in order to be eligible.

At the informational session, families may hear about one of our K-3 students’ most recent initiatives. Students have been exploring the Japanese tradition of Soji, meaning “to clean.”  Many classrooms have elected to participate in Soji time at the end of each day to demonstrate and celebrate the pride they have in the school. We appreciate all of the teachers and students efforts!

Secondary students (6th-10th graders) on our Fox Tech campus are completing the 1st semester this week. Teacher are giving exams or have designed projects or writing assignments to conclude the semester.  For instance, students in Public Art Walks & Talks, a 1st semester elective class, will be leading walking tours of nearby public art for the community as their “semester exam” and final performance assessment. If your schedule allows, the students would love to have community members from our Euclid and Fox Tech campuses join one of the two tours on Monday, January 9th or Wednesday, January 11th! Each tour begins at 9:30 a.m. in the Fox Tech mall area and will last approximating 1 ½ hours. Please arrive a few minutes early to check-in at the front office and get a visitor's badge. Since you will be walking around the downtown area, we also recommend comfortable walking shoes!

As a reminder, Friday, January 13th and the 16th are students holidays.  On Friday, teachers will be participating in professional development and curriculum writing.

Finally, ALA @ Fox Tech (4th-10th grade) will host a  Report Card Pick-Up Night on Wednesday, January 18 at 6:00 p.m. Teacher will pass out report cards and share updates. The following evening on Thursday, January 19 at 6:00 p.m., we will hold PTSA meeting for all ALL families (K-10) at our Fox Tech campus.

Have a wonderful week!

Sincerely,

Kathy Bieser

Community Update: January 2, 2017

Monday, January 2, 2017

Dear Advanced Learning Academy Families,

Happy New Year!

We hosted a wonderful holiday luncheon at our Fox Tech campus shortly before the winter break. Many families noticed that our students were serving as disc jockeys during the festivities and asked to learn more.  The lunchtime performance was the result of a project in our Music Exploration and Creativity Lab, an elective class offered to our secondary students.  Prior to the break, a local non-profit organization, the AM Project, co-taught  a DJ 101 course with ALA music teacher, Abigail Van Klompenberg. Receiving instruction from local DJs and musicians, the students used dj controllers and software to launch and remix music before sharing their new skills and talents during lunch. We would like to thank the AM Project and Mrs. Van Klompenberg for facilitating this unique experience for our students!

Ten students in our first semester Model United Nations elective class will be participating in their very first conference, Wednesday thru Friday, when they attend Model United Nations San Antonio. Another fifteen 6th and 7th grade students will be observing the conference on Thursday before attending a middle school conference later in the year. We are excited to have begun our very own Model United Nations programs, and we thank teacher and sponsor Meghan Herrington for her efforts!

On Thursday, January 5, ALA at Fox Tech will host a Parent Informational Meeting for Prospective Students beginning  6:00 p.m. in the theatre for 4th-11th grade families. On Monday, January 9th and Thursday, January 12th we will hold informational sessions at ALA on Euclid beginning at 5:30 pm for pre-K thru 3rd grade families. These events are for parents and families of students interested in joining ALA in the fall of 2017. If you have friends or family who are interested in ALA, please encourage them to attend an informational meeting. The deadline to submit the application of SAISD Magnet and Specialized Schools, including the ALA application, is Tuesday, January 31, 2017.  Families may learn more about the many options available HERE and access the application for enrollment for the 17-18 school year HERE. As a reminder, for enrollment in the 17-18 school year, siblings of current Advanced Learning Academy students will be given automatic admission if seats in the grade are available after controlling for in-district and out-of-district ratios. Although siblings of current students may be granted automatic admission if seats are available, they must submit an application by the deadline in order to be eligible.

Looking ahead, the next  ALA @ Fox Tech (4th-10th grade) event is Report Card Pick-Up Night on Wednesday, January 18 at 6 PM. Teacher will pass out report cards and share updates. We look forward to seeing you there! The following evening on Thursday, January 19 at 6 PM, we will hold PTSA meeting for all ALL families (K-10) at our Fox Tech campus.

Finally, Ms. Stengel, Ms. Boydston, and the ALA at Fox Tech theatre students are hosting several community production nights to build the set pieces, props, and costumes necessary for each of the plays.  On the linked flyer, you will see a long list of needs and the dates and times for the community production calls.   The community consists of students, parents, and ALA teachers.  We would love to see you there!  If you have any questions, please feel free to email, astengel1@saisd.net .

Have a great week!

Kathy Bieser