Report Cards and More....

Good Morning Parents,

I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend (I know I did!). We have lots of thing coming up within the next few weeks. I thought I would take a few minutes to fill you all in.

Report Cards:

At the end of each grading quarter, students at the Academy receive progress reports in place of the traditional Report Card. Our teachers are mostly grading on how much academic progress the students are making rather than a number grade. Today, I mailed home a copy of your child's 1st quarter progress report. The report is broken into several categories. At the top, you will find your child’s name, grade, and other school related information. Next, you will see the attendance record followed by the Educational Assessment. The assessment is broken into four categories; subject, instructor, progress, and target completion. The target completion column should read 50%. This means that your child should be 50% of the way through the course at this point in the school year. The progress column indicates how much work has actually been completed in relation to the target. For example, if your child’s progress is 35%, this means that your child has completed 35% of school work assigned by the Edgenuity program. In this case, this would mean that your child is 15% behind. This is followed by a brief comment from each of the teachers. Lastly, you will find a grid that includes all of the courses your child needs in order to graduate. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Parent Night:

This Thursday, November 17th from 6-8 pm is parent teacher night. I encourage all of you to come in and meet with myself and the teachers. This is a great way to really see what is going on during the school day. 

Community Service:

We will be going to the Greater Boston Food Bank on Wednesday, November 16th. The bus will leave at 6:45 am. I ask that all students be here by 6:30 am. I understand that this can cause an inconvenience. However, it is a great trip for the students and a great way for our kids to help those in need. Students will be handing out Thanksgiving Turkeys, and meals  to the homeless population. Last year our students served 1,000 families. I will serve the students breakfast and lunch. Also, in December, the Academy will team up with Blankets for Love and Hope. This is a program that makes and collects non-sewing fleece blankets and donates them to the patients at Boston Children's Hospital. These blankets are given to kids unable to be home for the holidays. Last year, Academy Students made and donated 70 blankets. For more info, please visit their Facebook page at 

https://www.facebook.com/BlanketedwithLoveandHope/?view_public_for=1253806118003941. 

The Academy has funds to purchase some blankets, but we also welcome donations as well. Please share and drop off any donations to Mr. Bedard.

I look forward to seeing you all Thursday Evening! 

End of Quarter 1

Good Morning Parents,

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween. Friday marks the end of the 1st quarter of the school year. We have accomplished quite a bit in the first few months of school and we have a lot of exciting things coming our way. I thought I would take a few minutes to fill you all in.

Report Cards/Progress Reports:

As I stated, Friday marks the end of the first quarter of the school year. This means several things. First, students should be ( or be close to being) 50% of the way through their current courses.. I would recommend looking at the weekly progress e-mails sent out by Edgenuity and make sure that your son/daughter is close to or at 50%. If not, I would strongly urge you to start having a conversation with them. As always, students are encouraged to log on and do wok at home each night. I also stay after school each day until 3 and our staff is here a minimum of 1 day each week until 3 for extra help (Ms. Murray's day is Thursdays and Mr. Tanglis' day is Wednesday). Also, the end of the quarter means report cards are issued to students. Because of the nature of our program, we issue students progress reports. These reports indicate student progress as well as personalized comments from each teacher. I will email as well as snail mail you a copy of your son/daughters progress report next week. I will also email and send out instructions on how to read these reports. Please feel free to contact me if you are confused or simply just have a question. 

Attendance:

Daily attendance has been fairly strong. However, we still have a small number of students coming in 5-10 minutes late on a consistent basis. Please talk to your son/daughter about leaving early enough to get here on time. Once a student is late 4 times, they will be assigned an after school detention. I would like to avoid this as much as possible. Your help on this matter is greatly appreciated.

Community Service:

 October's community service event involved our students participating in the Read for the Record initiative. Each year, Pearson Publish promotes this event that requites people to sign up and read a particular children's story to as many elementary students as possible with hopes of breaking the Guinness Book of World Record for most people reading a particular story. On Thursday October 27th, our students spent the day at their former elementary school's reading to kindergarten-3rd grade classes. This was a real treat for the elementary school students as well as our students former elementary school teachers. Next months activity will be held at the Greater Boston Food Bank. On November 16th, we will spend our morning giving Thanksgiving meals to the less fortunate. The bus will depart the Academy at  6;45 am. Because of the early departure,  I ask students to be at the Academy no later than 6;30. I understand that this may cause an inconvenience on your and I really appreciate your help with getting the students here early. This is a great trip and a great way for out students to help our community. 

Social Media:

Please "Like" the Peabody Learning Academy Facebook page, Instagram page, YouTube page, Blog, and Twitter accounts. You can find the like to each at Peabodylearningacademy.com. The icons are located at the top of the web page. I frequently update each of these sites with pictures and announcements. It is a great way to see all of the amazing things your son/daughter is doing! 

Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Halfway Through The 1st Quarter!!

Good Morning Parents!

It is hard to believe that next week marks the halfway point of the 1st quarter. I thought that this would be a good time to reach out and inform you of what is happening at the Academy.

Halfway point of 1st Quarter:

Next week marks the halfway point of the 1st quarter of the school year. At this point, students should have (or be in the process) of completing 25% of their current classes. I would recommend looking at the weekly progress e-mails sent out by Edgenuity and make sure that your son/daughter is close to or at 25%. If not, I would strongly urge you to start having a conversation with them. Students are encouraged to log on and do wok at home each night. I also stay after school each day until 3 and our staff is here a minimum of 1 day each week until 3 for extra help (Ms. Murray's day is Thursdays and Mr. Tanglis' day is Wednesday).

Attendance:

Overall, student attendance amongst most students has improved. HOWEVER, We are having a small problem with several students arriving to school late on a consistent basis. I ask that you please talk to your son/daughter about going to bed at a good time and getting up early enough to get here on time. Also, the cold and flu season is vastly approaching so please encourage your son/daughter to dress warm, drink plenty of fluids and get sufficient rest so we can all stay healthy!

School-to-work

Like Peabody High School, we offer a school to work program. This is an opportunity for students to leave school one hour early in order to go to work. Students must have part time job that is "on the books", work a minimum of 10 hours per week, and complete a quarterly project each school quarter. Students will receive 5 credits towards graduation for completing this course. This is a great program and I would like to include more students. Each week I have a representative from the North Shore Career Center come into the Academy and help students that are currently unemployed find a job so they too can participate in the program. Shaws Supermarket and JC Penny are all currently hiring. If your son/daughter is looking for work, please encourage them to fill out an application and I will gladly help place them in a job.

 Community Service:

September's Community service day was strictly for our Seniors. They had the opportunity to spend the day working Mayor Ted Bettencourt's 3rd annual Senior Citizens Day at Brooksby Farm. Students helped over 500 Seniors enjoy a large picnic at the apple farm. October's Community Service Day will include all students and will be on October 26th. Students will spend the day reading the children's book  "The Bear the Ate my Sandwich" to all K-3rd grade students at each of the elementary schools in Peabody.

Social Media:

Please "Like" the Peabody Learning Academy Facebook page, Instagram page, YouTube page, Blog, and Twitter accounts. You can find the like to each at Peabodylearningacademy.com. The icons are located at the top of the web page. I frequently update each of these sites with pictures and announcements. It is a great way to see all of the amazing things your son/daughter is doing! 

Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. Enjoy the long weekend! 

Welcome Back!!

I hope you all had a very smooth transition into the school year. Each month, I will be sending out an email with a newsletter keeping you all up to date with happenings here at the Academy. I would like to first review a few important things as we begin the new year.

Orientation:  Parent orientation is Thursday September 15th from 6-8 pm. This is a great opportunity for you to visit the school and meet with the staff. Teachers will review class expectations and I will gladly meet and go through schedules and talk about graduation requirements.

Academic Progress: Each Monday you all will receive an email from noreply@edgenuity.com. This email will contain a weekly progress report. The report will show you each class your son/daughter is in, how much work has been completed, how much work should be completed, and current grade. I created a timeline that requires all students to finish their current classes on January 28th   ( the 1/2 way point of the school year). For example, if your son/daughter has 5% of the coursework complete and the target completion is 3%, that indicates that your son/daughter is ahead of schedule. I have attached a picture below that clearly demonstrates this. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. 

Community Service: Students are required to participate in 10 hours of community service each year as part of graduation requirement. Here at the Academy, your son/daughter will do approximately 10 hours each month. Our first event will be on September 14th. All Academy Seniors will volunteer at the City of Peabody/Brooksby Farm Senior Citizen Day. Students will assist elderly Peabody Residents at this annual cookout. 

I look forward to working with you all this year. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns that you may have. 

The Home Stretch!

We are entering the home stretch of the school year and graduation is right around the corner. Attached is information for graduation along with the senior exam schedule. The Academy graduation will be held on Friday, June 3rd at 10 am in the mall. I encourage all families to attend. Each graduate will have an opportunity to speak and we will award scholarships. Seniors will then participate in PVMHS graduation at 5 pm a the high school. Students do NOT have to come into school during finals week if they have completed 100% of their courses.  Students MUST come if they need to finish up courses or turn in work to teachers.  Please contact Mr. Bedard if you have any questions.

Hope and Harmony Global Wins Funding at the YEA Shark Tank!

Our very own Ruth Pumerajo (class of 17) has been involves with the Peabody Area Chamber of Commerce Young Entrepreneurs  Academy (YEA). YEA, is a year -long program that teaches middle and high school students how to start and run their own real business. The program culminates with students pitching their businesses to local investors with the intention of receiving a cash investment that would be used to help start the business, much like what is done on the hit televisions show Shark Tank. On Wednesday evening,March 30, Ruth pitched her non-profit business, Hope and Harmony Global, to the investors. She was able to secure over $600 dollars in funds which will help kick start her charity. You can check out Ruth's organization, Hope and Harmony Global on Facebook, twitter, or on the web at Hopeandharmonyglobal.org.  We are all incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication Ruth provided to her project!

Thanks for a Great Fundraiser

We would like to give a huge thank you to Burtons Grill of Peabody, LLC , GraVoc Associates,Peabody Police Department, Peabody Firefighters Local 925,New England Regional Council of Carpenters,Pipefitter Local Union 537 Training Center,AlliedBarton,Pearson North America,Spinner Music Productions,East Boston Savings Bank,Marie Bishop at LAER Realty Partners,Northshore Mall and the many other guests for making tonight's fund raiser a huge success! We were able to raise $8,000.00 for our students !!

Parents Night

Wednesday Evening March 16th from 6-8 pm is Parents night. This is great opportunity to meet with teachers to discuss your son/daughters progress. It is also a good time to discuss what your son/daughter needs to complete in order to graduate in June and their future plans. Please feel free to contact Mr. Bedard with any questions,

Come support the Academy at Burtons Grill!!

Burtons Grill at the Northshore Mall will be hosting our annual fundraising event on Sunday evening March 20th from 6-9 pm. The event features hors-d'oeuvres, great music, silent auctions, raffles, and much more. Burtons is generous enough to donate the space as well as all of the food for this event. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased on our web page:  http://www.peabodylearningacademy.com/syf-fundraiser.html or at the door. All proceeds go to the Academy for scholarships and activities. Our goal is to raise $10,000.00, so we would really appreciate your support! I hope to see you all at this fantastic event!!

Half Time!!!

We have officially hit the halfway point of the 2015-16 school year! Report cards were mailed out on Monday. Remember,when reading the report cards, the percentage indicated under progress refers to how much of the course your son or daughter has completed. At this point, each student should have completed all 5 courses they began the year working on. If they did not complete the course, they should be at least 80% complete. If the report card indicates a percentage less than 80%, I would suggest speaking to your son or daughter and coming up with a plan. In other news, I have started a before school club with students. Students have the option of coming in to school 1 hour early (6:30 am) to work on a 6th class. This is not mandatory. However, this may be the difference in graduating on time in June.  If a student does participate in this class, I ask that they come in every day at 6:30. This is also a great way to make up time for absences that students hay have had during the year. Please feel free to contact Mr. Bedard if you have any questions.

Happy New Year!!

Academy students wrapped up the Calder year in a great way. Our students spent one school day making blankets for patients of Boston Children's Hospital. The students created 35 fleece blankets, all in which were donated to sick children. It was a great way to end 2015.