Community Update: December 17, 2017

Sunday, December 17, 2017

Dear Advanced Learning Academy Families,

It has been wonderful to see so many families over the last week at the many holiday concerts and performances including band, mariachi, dance and choir, and at our last PBL exhibition of the year.  We will host the last event of the semester, the first annual TamALAada, Opportunity Fair, and Visual Arts Night on Wednesday, December 20th starting at 5:30 at the Fox Tech cafeteria. Families may return the flyer we sent home or RSVP through this link anytime before the Monday, December 18th deadline. All families, grades pre-k through 11th, are invited to attend.

Last week, a group of 6th grade students, who have been working with resident writer, Laura Van Prooyen, through a partnership between ALA and Gemini Ink, shared their work with family and friends at a reading and reception at the San Antonio Public Library. This Tuesday, December 19th,  our 4th & 5th grade writers will be celebrated as they read their original poetry at the San Antonio Public Library from 5-6pm.  Several of our young poets also submitted their poetry into the Young Pegasus Poetry Competition. Best of luck to our gifted and creative writers!

Coach McDonald asked me to share that our girls basketball team moved to 2-1 in the season with the most recent win last week over Mission Academy. Also, Coach Myers is calling all 7th & 8th grade runners for cross country. Practice begins daily tomorrow, Monday, January 18th at 4:15 pm in the secondary gym. All athletes must have an updated participation/physical packet before they can practice or compete. Families may contact Coach Myers at cmyers1@saisd.net with any questions.

This will be the last weekly community update until Monday, January 8th, 2018, the day before we return from winter break.  I wish you and your family a peaceful holiday season.

Sincerely,

Kathy Bieser

Community Update: December 10, 2017

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Dear Advanced Learning Academy Families,

Last Tuesday, the SAISD Foundation made surprise visits to ALA at Euclid and Fox Tech to award nine Mini-Grants  to several ALA teachers.  Congratulations to Emily Delgado, Dina Toland, Callan Myers, Galen McQuillen, Amy Stengel, Christopher Gonzalez, Ankita Swali, Craigg Woodman and Leah Hoffpauir. We celebrate their entrepreneurial spirit and creativity, and we send our thanks to the SAISD Foundation for the wonderful work they do to support our students and schools

Our high school students returned to San Antonio last Friday after three days and two nights in the hill country working with our partner HEBFF Outdoor.  We are thankful for the partnership allowing us to participate in outdoor adventure learning and use the camp facilities at no cost to our school and families.  We will be returning with our 7th graders January 24-26, and look forward to another great experience.

Over the last few weeks, a group of 6th grade students have been working with resident writer, Laura Van Prooyen,  through a partnership between ALA and Gemini Ink called Writers In Communities, a program that sends published, professional writers into schools. On Tuesday, our 6th graders will celebrate their work with family and friends at a reading and reception at the San Antonio Public Library from 5-6pm on the 3rd floor.  Congratulations to our young writers!

Thursday will be a busy and exciting night at ALA! Our Euclid campus will host a Community Heroes PBL Celebration from 5-7:30pm.  The event will include a student exhibition of project products, a community dinner, and a toy drive.  The same evening, December 14th, ALA at Fox Tech will host a Mariachi Winter Concert from 6:30-8:30pm in the 1st floor mall area and our ALA choir students will perform a Choir & Chimes Concert from 6-7pm in the learning staircase of the CASTTech building.

We will end the week with a 10th/11th grade Saturday School on December 16th from 9am to 12pm in room 318.   

Looking ahead, we are looking forward to our inaugural TamALAda and Opportunity Fair. We hope you will join us December 20th from 5:30-7:30pm in the Fox Tech cafeteria. The evening will also feature a visual arts showcase  and mariachi performance. More information can be found HERE. Be sure to RSVP by December 15th by turning in your form (linked and sent home) to your main office at either Euclid or Fox Tech.

Have a wonderful week!

Sincerely,

Kathy Bieser

Community Update: December 3, 2017

Sunday, December 3, 2017

Dear Advanced Learning Academy Families,

ALA families and community partners gathered yesterday at our Euclid campus to launch our new playground and several other outdoor projects.  Along with the new play structure, volunteers designed and painted new murals, now posted along the fenceline, planted trees and plants throughout our green space, built an outdoor classroom complete with a play house, picnic tables, benches and a sensory art, music, and water play area for our PK students. We send our thanks to Kingdom for Kids, the Rotary Club of San Antonio, and City Year for their generous donation of time, resources, and money to make this major project a reality.  We are also pleased to announce that on Monday the Gordon Hartman Family Foundation will begin work on a new irrigated soccer field for the Euclid campus adjacent to the new playscape.  Students will be preparing thank you cards for our community partners, and we also invite families to send words of gratitude to the school so that they may be included with the student notes.

On Tuesday, December 5th, our ALA at Fox Tech campus will host a 6th-11th MAP Informational Meeting from 6-7 pm in the cafeteria. We will discuss the MAP assessment and provide you with your student’s data.  Students have already reviewed their results with teachers, and are invited to attend to with parents on Tuesday so that you may review the data together.

Wednesday morning, our ALA high school students, teachers and I will travel to H.E. Butt Foundation Camp on the Frio River, 13 miles north of Leakey, Texas, for three days of outdoor adventure activities.  We are planning for the trip to be an annual event for all of our high school students, and we are exploring options to award physical education credit through students’ participation. Our students will have the opportunity to disconnect from their digital lives as there is no cell phone service in the canyon. I, along with the teachers and students, will not have internet or cell phone reception. Should you need assistance from me Wednesday-Friday, please contact Associate Principals David Nungaray (4-11) or Beth Koennecke (PK-3).

As a reminder, SeeSaw is the main tool for students in pre-k through 7th grade to communicate about students’ academic progress and work. Teachers and students use this to share information about what students are studying and to interact with families digitally. If you do not have a SeeSaw account for your student(s), please be sure to email your students’ teachers to get your code.

This week, our theatre teacher, Amy Stengel astengel1@saisd.net, is hosting auditions for the middle school and high school spring UIL one act plays.  If your child is interested, please email her for more information.  The UIL auditions are open to all 6th-11th grade students.

Looking ahead, please Save the Date: Wednesday, December 20th, from 6-7:30pm will be our school’s inaugural TamALAda to celebrate the holidays as well as a time for us to come together as a school. All PK-11 families are invited to attend as part of our Platica de Padres series. The event will be a family-style potluck with fun activities for all. More details to come via our next community blast and a flyer asking you to RSVP. Thank you for your ongoing support!

Sincerely,

Kathy Bieser