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.