Sunday, February 25, 2018
Dear Advanced Learning Academy Families,
Our Elementary UIL Team (2nd-6th) competed in the district meet this past Saturday at Highlands High School. Not only did the students work hard and represent ALA well, we earned fourteen medals including first place winners in art, chess puzzle, creative writing, listening, and number sense events, and we had many finishers in the top six as well. Congratulations all of our students and to our teacher sponsors!
February 26-March 2nd is Celebrate Reading 2018: Dr. Seuss Week! All of our students are invited to dress up in celebration. We will end the week with celebration of Dr. Seuss’ birthday on our Fox Tech campus as we also launch an additional weekly dedicated reading time during homegroup for our 6th-11th grade students.
On Wednesday, February 28th, all ALA families are invited to our sixth Platica de Padres: Love & Libros (sponsored by Google Fiber and the DoSeum). It will be a night where we celebrate family time, reading, and STEM. You and your family are invited to read together in a celebration of reading at the event. Bring your favorite books and check out all the other amazing activities we will have. You can see the flyer for the event here and you can RSVP here . We hope to see you there!
Our Euclid campus is hosting an ALA Bike Rodeo on Friday, March 2 from 9:00am to 11:30am. Bike rodeo, sponsored by the San Antonio Police Department, is a combination event that scores participants for both bicycle safety and bicycle skills. All Kinder through 3rd grade students are invited to participate or cheer on their village peers. Families may find more information on the ALA Community Calendar event and contact Jeremiah Birmingham at jbirmingham@saisd.net with any questions.
Also on Friday, March 2, our 4th/5th students will be presenting Reader Theater Performances as a culminating activity of the Stones, Ice and Stars PBL. All families are invited to attend. More information and times are listed on the linked flyer above.
On Friday, March 2, our high school theatre students will be presenting their UIL One Act Play at the Zone I competition at Highland High School in a contest with other area high schools. Break-a-leg to the actors and technicians working on this project! All families are invited to attend, and the ALA performance time is @2:30pm at Highlands HS theatre.
In an ongoing effort to provide families with the most relevant, accurate, and timely information possible, ALA will be one of a few schools piloting a new text messaging feature that is part of SchoolMessenger, the notification service we use to send emails and phone messages. All families with valid text messaging numbers on file with the school will receive an initial opt-in message on Monday, March 5th at 5:30pm. The message you will receive will come from the short code 67587 and will read “SAISD would like to send messages. Reply Y to subscribe or STOP to cancel. Msg & data rates may apply.” In the future, I will text a link to my weekly update and other important information via text message to families.
Finally, we will end the week with a 7th-11th grade Saturday School and a practice SAT for our 11th graders on March 3. Please see the ALA Community Calendar for times.
Have a wonderful week!
Kathy Bieser
Sunday, February 11, 2018
Dear Advanced Learning Academy Families,
It was wonderful to see the many families at our Second Annual K-5 Family Dance last Friday at our Euclid campus. Many thanks to the faculty and the many PTSA volunteers who gave of their time and resources to continue this ALA tradition.
Dustin Nieto, College Bound Advisor, asked me to share information about the Prefreshman Engineering Program (PREP), an academically rigorous mathematics-based summer enrichment program for middle and high school students with an interest in science, technology, engineering and math. Online applications are due by 5:00 PM (CST), February 14, 2018.
The Fox Tech campus Go Center is available throughout the week before and after school to assist students write essays for summer enrichment programs like the one above and much more. For instance, students may visit the Go Center for SAT Practice on Khan Academy, a FREE resource for students to use to improve their PSAT and SAT scores. College Board has partnered with Khan Academy in order to provide personalized practice for students. If students have connected their College Board account to their Khan Academy account, the questions will be catered to where the student needs more practice. According to a study conducted by College Board, “using Official SAT Practice for 20 hours is associated with a 115-point score gain in student scores from the PSAT to the SAT.” This Go Center Flyer outlines assistance that is available from Dustin Nieto, College Bound Advisor, Mariana Sigala, College Advisor, and Susan Spain, Financial Aid Advisor. We highly encourage our 8th-11th grade students to take advanced of the PSAT/SAT practice, especially our juniors who will be taking the SAT during the school day on March 21, 2018.
We also want to invite 8th-11th grade students and their families to join us for a Fall In Love With College event on Tuesday, February 20th from 6-7:45pm. There will be an informational session on PSAT scores and college readiness, and families will receive results from the October test.
Have a wonderful week!
Sunday, February 4, 2018
Dear Advanced Learning Academy Families,
Our 7th/8th grade boys soccer team won ALA’s first ever district championship after two wins in tournament play on Saturday as family, friends, and staff cheered them on. Congratulations to the team and Coach Sarah Merschat! In two weeks, we will be cheering again as our girls and boys cross country teams compete at the district meet.
If you are visiting our Euclid campus this week, we encourage you to view new informational posters about important African Americans that our PreK-3 classes have been learning about.
Advanced Learning Academy PTSA will hold its quarterly meeting on Wednesday, February 7 at 6:30PM in the Fox Tech cafeteria. All families are invited to attend.
On Thursday February 8th, thirty-seven 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th graders will travel to the state Capitol in Austin, Texas, to participate in the state round of the Speak Up! Speak Out! Civics Fair competition. Students worked in teams to craft long-term solutions to community problems, and they will be presenting their work to a panel of judges in Austin. 1st. 2nd, and 3rd place teams will earn money to put towards the implementation of their solution. More details can be found HERE.
We are looking forward to ALA’s Second Annual K-5 Family Dance on Friday, February 9th from 6-8pm, at our Euclid campus. There is no cost for the dance. We hope to see many of you on Friday the 9th!
Ms. Sisson, ALA at Fox Tech campus librarian, asked me to share this 4th & 5th grade UIL information with families. Students and families may reach out to Ms. Sisson for more information.
Finally, we will end the week with a 4tt-11th grade Saturday School on February 10th from 9am to noon. We welcome the donation of snacks or other breakfast foods for these important academic events!
Sincerely,
Kathy Bieser
