Principals Message
The festivities at this point in the year have officially started with the passing of Thanksgiving and the coming of the holiday season. We appreciate the cultural and spiritual diversity of our school community and hope that whatever traditions your family celebrates brings forth a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2011!
November Recap: Once again, I am fortunate to boast about the wonderful learning experiences that The Academy Teachers have shared with your child throughout November and are diligently preparing for new adventures in December. November proved to be an exciting month because field trips were taken to Patagonia, Catalina State Park, the Desert Museum and Sabino Canyon in order to enrich our Science Curriculum. Students went to the De Grazia Studio as an extension of our Art Curriculum and the first grade classes sang patriotic songs at one of the Naturalization Ceremonies to promote citizenship as a part of our Social Studies Curriculum. We were also privileged to have a Korean War Veteran from the Joe Foss Foundation speak to our second and third grade classes in order to reinforce why we have certain holidays including Veterans Day. As with any of our field trips, we are appreciative of all the parents who volunteered to drive. The Star Gazing and Movie Night was a success due to the collaborative efforts of our fourth grade team and Mrs. Carlson along with Mr. Allardice from the middle school. I would also like to thank all of you who took the time out of your busy schedule to attend the parent teacher conferences. A special note of “thanks” goes out to all of you who were able to donate to our food drive and to Mrs. Thompson who organized this worthwhile event. Last but not least, the Thanksgiving Celebration hosted by the Kindergarten team and students was a terrific start to the Thanksgiving break due to the hard work by the teachers and the participation of the families who were able to attend.
December Information and Events: As you can see, November was an exciting month and December is shaping up to be just as exciting. First and foremost we will be having our Winter Field Day on December 9th which Mrs. Mitchell, our P.E. teacher, is hard at work organizing. We are happy that so many of you have agreed to volunteer for this event.The student council is sponsoring Spirit Days in conjunction with the Winter Field Day. We will also be having holiday celebrations within each of the grade levels for families to participate in. Please make sure to read the newsletters from your child’s teacher in order to have the latest information of when these celebrations will take place. Since Mrs. Flory, our music teacher, is now officially on maternity leave we are looking to have our music concert second semester instead of first semester. Stay tuned for more information. Also, it is important to note that the classroom teachers will be incorporating music into their instructional time to ensure that students receive music enrichments until Mrs. Flory returns to school in late February. During the holiday break we encourage students to practice their reading, writing, and math skills through various activities such as reading books, writing letters to family and friends, playing games that encourage counting and getting outside to play.
One of the reasons why we encourage the continuum of learning during vacations and/or half days is to make sure that students do not forget what has already been taught. We are also mindful of the fact that since we had a late start to the school year, we do not want students to be behind in what is expected of them for our testing schedule in April. Contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions on how you can help your child over break. I apologize for being so long winded in this newsletter but there have been many things to get you updated on. Please contact me if you have any questions about what was presented in this newsletter and have a HAPPY HOLIDAY !
Calendar
Dec. 1st: Early Release Day
Release Times:
Kinder
1st/2nd
3rd/4th
Dec. 7th: Spirit Day-Crazy Hair Day
Dec. 8th: Spirit Day-Twin Day-Can Wear Jeans If
Dressing Up
Dec. 9th: Winter Field Day/Spirit Day-Favorite Sports Team-Can Wear Jeans If Dressing Up
Dec. 22nd: Early Release Day-End of Second Quarter
Dec. 23rd-Jan. 3rd: Winter Break
Please note that only those students who are in the OTT Y aftercare program are allowed to stay after school on early release days.
The Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) met on December 2nd to review the bylaws and to continue the organizational process for the year. The PAC agreed to have their meetings the 2nd Friday of the month at . Pleases plan on attending. An additional meeting will be held on December 10th at in the office to work on the calendar for this year. You have already started to see the efforts of the PAC through the e-mail directory that is being organized thanks to Mrs Garlund. You will also be receiving a testimonial form in your Friday folders to complete in order to include in our future brochure thanks to Mrs. English. Your PAC representatives are the following: Co-Chairs-Margie Laube & Jan Gardlund, Secretary-Susan Forrer, Treasurer-Maya Hendrickson. We have coordinators for other committees which will be shared in our next newsletter. We are finalizing what those coordinators will be responsible for.
Tax Credits A quick reminder that your school fees can be paid through tax credit donations made out to The Academy of Tucson. If you would like your tax credit donations to go on this years tax return, they must be received by December 31, 2010. Also, any friends or relatives can donate to The Academy. $200 can be claimed on your federal tax return for a single parent family and $400 for a two parent family. Contact Mrs. Fite at 886-6076 for more information.
Community Outreach
The Brownie Troop will be holding a toy drive on campus from Dec. 6th-Dec. 21st. This project will help to support the “Marine Toys for Tots Program.” If you wish to donate to this worthy cause, you can bring a new unwrapped toy to your child’s classroom. The presentation of the donated toys will be on Dec. 21st.
If you are out shopping on Sunday Dec. 5th or Dec. 12th at Park Mall, stop by Macy’s from to hear The
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