Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Monday! It was great seeing many of you at Parent/teacher night a few weeks ago. I also wanted to take a minute and thank all of you for getting your son/daughter to school at 6:00 am last Wednesday for our trip to the Food Bank. It was an amazing experience for our students. Here are  few things hat you may want to be aware of.

Community Service:

Thanks again for all of your help and support for our trip to the Food Bank. Our students helped to hand out meals to 570 less fortunate families. The students did an  amazing job of helping. I was extremely proud of all of them. Our next project will be to collect "No Sew Blankets" for patients at Childrens Hospital this holiday season.No Sew blanket kits are found at any craft store such as Joann Fabrics. Our goal is to collect 100 blanket kits and have our students make the blankets her at the Academy. Last year we collected and made 80 blankets. The staff at Childrens Hospital gave our blankets to sick children that were unable to be home for the holiday season.  We will be collecting donations starting today through December 15th. Any donation would be greatly appreciated.  Also, there are Volunteer/Community Service help needed for Saturday. The city is hosting a Holiday Stroll and Tree Lighting event and we are looking for volunteers to help out.  The event will be held on Saturday, November 25^th.  Volunteers are needed to help with various holiday activities being held at the Knights of Columbus Hall from 12:30 – 4:00 pm. Please contact  Ms. Ann Gray at:

Ann Gray, City of Peabody, Recreation Program Supervisor, Office: (978)536-7131 ann.gray@peabody-ma.gov

Scholarships:

Just another reminder that students at the Academy have the opportunity to apply and receive many different scholarships. One of these is exclusively for Academy students. the Simon Youth Foundation, the organization that has partnered with Peabody High School to offer this program, offers a scholarship program just for us. Students can receive up to $36,000.00 for college. Each of the last 7 years, we have at least one recipient of this type of scholarship at graduation. Students can apply now for one of these scholarships at: http://syf.org/scholarships/  . Also, there is a scholarship opportunity from the Massachusetts JCI Senate for graduating high school seniors  who plan to continue their education at accredited post-secondary colleges, universities or vocational schools. I have attached a copy of their application, or you can get the application on their website at http:\\majcisenate.weebly.com\ . Also, Scholarship opportunity Environmental Science: Henry David Thoreau Scholar. Win up to a $20,000.00 Tuition Scholarship for Environmental Studies. Must submit on-line by February 1, 2018 of your senior year

www.thoreauscholar.org

Each year they award the Henry David Thoreau Scholarship to outstanding Massachusetts high school seniors who are ready to meet the challenges of the ever-evolving , interdisciplinary field of environmental studies

From everyone here at the Academy, we  wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. 

October at the Academy

The last few weeks have been eventful and we have a lot of exciting things coming our way. I thought I would take a few minutes to fill you in.

Community Service:

On October 19, 2017, Academy students took take part in the world’s largest shared reading experience! The Read for the Record event brings together over 2 million people each year in classrooms, libraries, community centers, and homes across the country. Our students visited their former elementary schools and spent the afternoon reading the book “Quakers” to grades k-4. The students were a big hit with the kids! It’s important for our students to understand that they have quite a bit of influence and impact on our youth. It was a great event for us all. Our next community service field trip will be to the Greater Boston Food Bank on November 15^th. I am asking students and parents a really big favor. The bus will leave at 6:15 am. I know this is very very early and is extremely inconveniencing a majority of you. We need to be in Boston for 7:30 am so it’s imperative we leave no later than 6:15. I will have a breakfast for the students (Bagel World, Dunkin Donuts). At the food bank, students will be handing out Thanksgiving meals to less fortunate. We have participated in this event for the last 7 years and it’s the staff’s favorite trip. We typically hand out close to 1000 meals to families. It’s eye opening and extremely rewarding for our students to have the ability to help. Please let me know if you have a problem getting your child to school this early. I will gladly try to work something out. If students are interested in doing more community service, the Center School is looking for student volunteers to work their annual Boo Bash. They are looking for students to work the Kindergarten- 2nd grade party on October 28th from 2-4 pm or Grade 3-5 dance from 5-7 pm. Please contact Mr. Bedard if any student is interested. 

Attendance:

We are still having a problem with students arriving on time. Students can be tardy up to 3 times without facing consequences. Tardies 4-7 will result in a detention. Tardies 8+ will result in a more severe consequence such as a inschool suspension! Please work with your son/daughter on creating a plan to get up and out the door at a reasonable time.

Financial Aid Night:

On Monday October 23, 2017,  the Peabody Veterans Memorial High School guidance department will be hosting a Financial Aid Night for students and their families in the cafeteria (in English and in Spanish). This is a critical meeting to make sure you are up to date on all the Federal financial Aid information that is out there. The workshops will begin PROMPTLY at 6:30pm. All Seniors and their parents/guardians  are strongly encouraged to be there because it directly impacts you and your family! We also strongly recommend that juniors and their parents/guardians also attend so that you can begin planning for your senior year.

Salem State University:

PVMHS will be hosting Salem State University for an On The Spot Admission Event on November 30, 2017.  Please sign up for a time slot with Mr. Bedard. Please fill out the application on line.  Applications can be found here: https://www.salemstate.edu/admissions-and-aid/undergraduate-admissions/applicants Applications are free if submitted by 10/31/17.  On the date of the event, each student will meet with an admissions counselor to review their application and transcript.  Most admissions decisions will be made on the spot with the exception of majors that require a portfolio or an audition.

Scholarships:

Students at the Academy have the opportunity to apply and receive many different scholarships. One of these is exclusively for Academy students. the Simon Youth Foundation, the organization that has partnered with Peabody High School to offer this program, offers a scholarship program just for us. Students can receive up to $36,000.00 for college. Each of the last 7 years, we have at least one recipient of this type of scholarship at graduation. Students can apply now for one of these scholarships at: http://syf.org/scholarships/  . Also, there is a scholarship opportunity from the Massachusetts JCI Senate for graduating high school seniors  who plan to continue their education at accredited post-secondary colleges, universities or vocational schools. I have attached a copy of their application, or you can get the application on their website at http:\\majcisenate.weebly.com\ 

October News

Good Morning Parents,

Can you believe that the 1st quarter of the school year is halfway over! Believe it or not, Friday October 5th marks the halfway point of quarter number one. By now, each Monday you should be receiving an email with your son/daughters academic progress. They should have completed 25% of the class by this Friday. If this is not the case, please talk to your son/daughter about either doing work at home or staying after school for extra help. Here are some other important tidbits you should know.

Community Service:

 October's community service event involves our students participating in the Read for the Record initiative. Each year, Pearson Publish promotes this event which 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 19th, our students will spend their day at their former elementary school's reading to kindergarten-3rd grade classes. This is a real treat for the elementary school students as well as our students former elementary school teachers. Last month, our Seniors volunteered their day helping Mayor Bettencourt host Senior Citizens at his annual Senior Citizens BBQ at Brooksby farm. You can see pictures of the event on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts. 

North Shore Community College Visit: A representative from North Shore Community College visited the Academy of September 21st. During the visit, students were able to ask questions and learn about the college. Students were also able to apply and will receive acceptance letters within the next few weeks. Some Seniors will be visiting the campus on Tuesday October 3rd for placement testing.

Financial Aid Night At PVMHS:

On Monday October 23, 2017, the Peabody Veterans Memorial High School guidance department will be hosting a Financial Aid Night for students and their families in the cafeteria (in English and in Spanish). This is a critical meeting to make sure you are up to date on all the Federal financial Aid information that is out there. The workshops will begin PROMPTLY at 6:30pm. All Seniors and their parents/guardians  are strongly encouraged to be there because it directly impacts you and your family! We also strongly recommend that juniors and their parents/guardians also attend so that you can begin planning for your senior year.

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.

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! 

Year Book:

The deadline for making all of your yearbook purchases and submitting your parent message and baby photo to Mr. Bedard is this Friday, October 6th.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. 

3rd Quarter Progress Reports

Parents,

Friday marked the end of the 3rd quarter.  As a reminder to parents, 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 3rd 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 Educational Assessment is broken into four categories; subject, instructor, progress, and target completion. The target completion column indicates where your child should be in relation to finishing the course. 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% and the target is 50%, this means that your child has completed 35% out of the 50% of the school work assigned by the Edgenuity program. The goal is for the student to be at or exceeding the target. In this case, this would mean that your child is 15% behind.  This does not include grades for Physical Education and Work Study. The percentage you see in the progress column is the actual grade. Physical Education and Work Study are traditional courses taught in a traditional manner and we do not monitor progress. 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 Mr. Bedard if you have any questions.

Graduation Season is Here!!

Good Morning Parents,

Spring is here (minus the 5 inches of snow expected Friday!) and that means graduation season. Here are some important events that you may want to circle on your Calendar.

Graduation:

Peabody High School will hold it's graduation on Friday June 2nd at 5 pm. The Academy will have an additional ceremony on Friday June 9th at 10 am here at the Mall. Our event it the highlight of the year. We have guest speakers, dignitaries, scholarship presentations, and each graduate has the opportunity to give a short speech. You do not want to miss this event!  

Senior Events:

Attached below is the Senior brochure which includes all of the Senior upcoming Senior events. Please do not hesitate to reach our to me if you have any additional questions. 

​

College Trips:

We will be taking all of our expected graduates to North Shore Community College on Wednesday April 12th. Students will tour the Danvers campus and take the college placement test. The results of this test will help determine which classes students are eligible to take next year. The results will also be honored at any other college/ trade school. 

Community Service:

We are wrapping up some date foe our annual Habitat for Humanity trip. I will inform you all of the dates when they become available.

As always, contact me at any time if you have any further questions.

-Mr. B

3rd Quarter Interim Reports

Good Morning Parents! 

I hope you all had a chance to enjoy the nice weather we had last week. Hopefully, the warm weather served as a wake up call that the school year is starting to wind down and graduation is right around the corner. In fact, next week marks the halfway point of the 3rd quarter. I wanted to take a minute and catch you all up on some important dates and events.

Parent Teacher Night: We will host our second parent teacher conference of the year on Thursday March 16th from 6-8 pm. I would strongly recommend taking some time and visiting with teachers. We have some students that need to complete a lot of work in order to graduate. I would like all parents to be aware of what needs to be completed and by what date. 

College Visits: Students interested in attending Endicott College will be taking a field trip to the school tomorrow, March 2nd. Students will meet with staff, complete the application and  financial aid. This is a great school and a great opportunity for students to receive a quality education next year. 

Graduation: The High School graduation will be held on Friday June 2nd at 5 pm. The Academy will also hold a graduation ceremony Friday June 9th at 10 am. here at the mall. It is an amazing event that has many special guest speakers. I hope you all can attend

Community Service: I a in the process of wrapping up a trip in which our students will work with Habitat for Humanity. Students will spend two days at a work site helping to paint and clean a house that will be donated to a less fortunate family. This is our teachers most favorite trip of the year!

Attendance: We have several students that are having issues with getting to school on time. Students receive a 40 minute detention each day they are late. Please speak to your child and discuss a routine in which they have plenty of time to get to school. 

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.