Sunday, November 12, 2017
Dear Advanced Learning Academy Families,
Last week, our 8th grade humanities students traveled to the Euclid campus to share original children’s books with 1st-3rd grade students about the foundations of our government. The creation of the children's book was a culminating project of the eighth graders’ study of the elements of plot, tone, voice, and the United States Constitution. Through this project-based learning (PBL) experience, our Euclid students were introduced to the United States Constitution and our 8th graders had to think critically about how to teach constitutional idea through story. Many thanks to all of the teachers who designed the project and worked collaboratively to connect our students from both campuses.
As our 8th graders finish one PBL (project-based learning) lesson, the Euclid campus is in the middle of another. The focus of the current PBL at the Euclid campus centers around the idea of character traits. On Thursday, students are invited to wear jeans and superhero shirts (no costumes). We will talk about how superheros display positive character traits that can be used to help and build a community. During the day, students will create their own symbol that represents a personal character trait and explain why that character trait fits them. They will also have an opportunity to make their own cape and wear it. Teachers will also post this information on Seesaw for families to view.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, November 12th-13th, we will welcome educators from the Texas Education Agency who are visiting to identify promising practices from schools across the state who received grant funding. Along with visiting classrooms, the educators will conduct several interviews and focus groups with faculty to better understand the impact of innovative programs on student outcomes and the recruitment and retention of highly-qualified instructors.
On Wednesday morning, 40 of our ALA theatre students will attend the Texas International Theatre Conference in Grapevine, Texas, outside of Dallas. They will join over 7,000 theatre students from across the state. Students are leaving campus at 4:30am on Wednesday morning. Middle school students will return Wednesday evening, and high school students will return Saturday evening. During the conference they will attend plays, writing workshops, design showcases, professional design presentations and practicals, led by designers and artists from Broadway to LA and successful theatre artists from our own state in both the university and the high school setting. For more information, please peruse the opportunity at this link: http://www.texasthespians.org/festival.html.
We are hosting two family Thanksgivings luncheons this week. The ALA at Fox Tech lunch will take place on Thursday, November 16th, and on our Euclid campus on Friday, November 17th. Please sign up no later than Monday, November 13th, using these links: ALA @ FT Thanksgiving Lunch & ALA @ Euclid Thanksgiving Lunch. To keep the lines moving, it would be helpful for families to have exact change ($3.75) when paying for meals. The links above have lunch times listed for your reference.
Our Thanksgiving celebrations continue on Friday, November 17th, as all students are invited to dress up for Turkey Day. HERE is additional Turkey Day information and what students may wear to school.
As the end of November approaches, our recruiting efforts for the 2018-2019 school year are beginning. On Tuesday, November 14th, ALA at Euclid and ALA at Fox Tech will both be hosting simultaneous informational sessions at 6pm for prospective families. The ALA at Fox Tech session, for rising 4th-8th grade students, will take place in the theater and the ALA at Euclid session will be in the gymnasium. The online application for grades Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and 6th grade will open on Monday, November 27th, 2017, and close on Wednesday, January 31st, 2018. The online application will only accept applications for Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and 6th grade students.
ALA will also backfill and accept a limited number of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, or 8th grade students in 2018-2019. However, the admission process is different for these grades as very few seats are available. For these limited seats, siblings of currently enrolled students will be given priority. In order to access this priority, families of currently enrolled students are invited to add names of siblings to the waitlists for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th or 8th grade. During the designated window, Monday, November 27th-Friday, December 8th, ALA families may contact the Office of Access and Enrollment Services to add the sibling names to the list. Contact can be done via phone, email, or text on a first-come, first served basis. The waitlists will be opened to the general public after the designated window for ALA families. Looking ahead, there is also a district-wide event Experience SAISD on Saturday, December 16th for families and community members to learn more about the many schooling options available for students.
Coach Rachel McDonald asked to publicize that our 7th & 8th grade girls basketball season is just around the corner, beginning Monday, November 27th. More information and a required sign-up can be found HERE.
Looking ahead, on December 2nd, 2017, families are invited to volunteer as we build an additional playground at ALA at Euclid. The day will include the installation of new learning playgrounds, the painting of murals, landscaping work, and a kids activity fair centered on college and career readiness. Our high school and middle school ALA tech theatre students are designing and building an outdoor kitchen unit for play. For this ALA community day, all volunteers must register for the event through City Year using this LINK. While all volunteers must be 14 years or older, younger children in attendance can enjoy the kids fair from 12-3pm. We are thankful for this wonderful gift provided by Kingdom for Kids, a partnership with the Rotary Club of San Antonio and City Year.
The SAISD Counseling Department at SAISD is seeking feedback from families through the short needs assessment surveys linked below. Your comments and unique perspectives are appreciated as we continually strive to better meet the needs of our families.
We will end the week with a 10th/11th grade Saturday School on November 17th from 9am to 12pm in room 318.
Finally, the Euclid campus has a lost and found rack located outside of the cafeteria, that we encourage families to visit before the Thanksgiving Break. We are also asking that families write their child’s name inside their sweaters and jackets. It will help us to know who to return it to should it be left somewhere.
We return from Thanksgiving Break on Monday, November 28th. We wish all our ALA families a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Have a wonderful week!
Sincerely,
Kathy Bieser
