Half Way Home!!!!

Well, we made it. We are now more than halfway through the 2019-20 school year! The students have accomplished so much and have lots to be proud of. For our seniors, the clock is now ticking as we head into the final countdown until the big day, GRADUATION!!  Here are some things we have to look forward to.

Report Cards:
Report Cards were uploaded to ASPEN last week and are available for you to look at. Being at the halfway point, students should have completed the 5 courses they were enrolled into on the first day of school. This means that they should have completed 25 credits of coursework. Unfortunately, there are still a few students that have not completed these courses. It should be of great importance that they spend time after school or at home working towards finishing these classes. Please reach out to me if you have any questions.

Cap & Gown/ Graduation:
Seniors will be visiting Peabody High School on Thursday 2/6 to get measured for their cap & gown. PVMHS graduation is on Friday, June 5th while ours is on Friday, June 12th.

Scholarships:
The Simon Youth Foundation Scholarship application is due on Friday, February 14th. We have provided students the opportunity to apply for the scholarship during school time. However, there are not to many students that have completed the application. If your child is planning on attending any college or trade school next year, I would encourage them to complete the application. It could be easy money!

February Break:
A reminder that February begins on Saturday, February 15 and ends Sunday February 23!

Feel free to contact me if you have any other questions. 

Mr. B

Happy New Year!!!!

Happy New Year! I hope everyone was able to stay warm over the last few weeks. We have lots to anticipate this new year. I hope this will bring you all up to speed. 

Community Service:

Our blanket drive for Childrens Hospital was a huge success. We didn’t quite meet our goal. However, we finished with just under 100 blanket kits! The students really enjoyed putting them together and did a really nice job with the project. I have posted pictures on all of our social media outlets, check them out! Thanks to the many people that donated a blanket for the cause. We also had a chance to visit the Torigian Life Center and spent time serving lunch to the senior citizens in the community at their annual Holiday Party. It was a great event and the Senior’s really enjoyed the company of our students.

Graduation:

Believe it or not, that time of year is vastly approaching! Peabody Veterans Memorial High School’s graduation ceremony will be held on Friday, June 5th at 5 pm. Our Ceremony will be the following Friday, June 12 at 10 am here at the Northshore Mall. We have many guest speakers and as always, the students all have a chance to be valedictorian! We are looking forward to seeing everyone at the ceremony! 

Armed Forces Testing:

On Thursday, February 13th, we will be administering the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) exam to interested students. The ASVAB exam is part of a Career Exploration Program that can help you take the steps towards finding a career that is right for you. You can benefit from the ASVAB exam whether you plan to go to college, join the military or enter the workforce. There is NO COST to take the exam. If any student is  interested in taking the ASVAB exam, please see or contact Mr. Bedard. Students must sign up for the exam by Wednesday, Feb 6th

Mid Terms/Finals:

On January 21-24, students at Peabody High School are scheduled to take their mid term examinations. Here at the Academy, Students are expected to be finishing their classes or Taking their Final Exam. If you have not been doing so, Please look at the weekly emails from Edgenuity and see where your child's progress is. If they are behind, please encourage them to either stay after school with the teachers and/or do some work at home.

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 9 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/  .  The Deadline is vastly approaching ( February 15th).  I encourage all seniors planning on attending any 2-4 years school to apply for the scholarship.  

Fall News

Parents,

I hope everyone has been staying warm! The second quarter is underway and the students have accomplished quite a bit. I thought I would take some time and fill you in as to what has been happening and what we can look forward to.

Communication:
Parent night was held on Thursday, November 7th. We were sad to see that many of you were unable to attend. If you were unable to attend but would like to speak to the teachers, we can make arrangements. You can contact Mrs. Murray via email at Murrays@peabody.k12.ma.us and Mr. Tanglis at Tanglisk@peabody.k12.ma.us. They will be happy to answer any questions or call you and have a conversation on the phone. You can always reach out to me as well.  I am more than happy to talk about all of the amazing things your son/daughter has been up too. Please, do not hesitate to reach out.

Report Cards:
Report cards were issued last week, November 11th. You can see grades posted on the ASPEN portal. Please reach out if you have any questions.

Attendance:
Daily attendance has been fairly strong. A reminder, students are allowed 4 unexcused absences a quarter.  Students will not receive credit for a course if they exceed this number. With the cold months ahead, please remind your child that they should at least try to make it to school of they are dealing with a runny nose or something not serious in nature. We are experiencing some students coming into school extremely late. Once a student exceeds 3 late days in a quarter, I assign a detention. This is not designed as " punishment" but a way for students to make up work they are missing when they are not here. Please work with your child and help them build a good morning routine to avoid being late.

Community Service:
On Wednesday November 20th we will spend our morning giving Thanksgiving meals to the less fortunate at the Greater Boston Food Bank in Boston. The bus will depart the Academy at  6:30 am. Because of the early departure, I ask students to be at the Academy no later than 6:20. I will have breakfast here starting at 6:00 am if students want to eat.  I understand that this may cause an inconvenience on you 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. last months 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. 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. The students had a great time reading and interacting with the young kids. 

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.

-Mr. B

Hey Hey Hey...

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.

Academic Progress: 
If your child has an English or Math class, you can continue to check their progress and grades using the ASPEN portal. Ms. Murray and Mr. Tanglis teach these courses in a more traditional manner using blended learning techniques (combination of online learning and class discussions).  All other courses ( Science, History and electives) are done online using a web based program called Edgenuity. 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 27th   ( 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. 

Open House:  

Parent open house will be on Thursday October 3rd 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.

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 6.5 hours each month. Our first event was on September 11th. All of our students volunteered at the Annual Mayor Bettencourt/Brooksby Farm Senior Citizen Day Picnic. Students did an amazing job setting up and working with the elderly. It was really heartwarming to see how genuinely caring and nice our students were to the seniors.  Our next activity will be on November 7th in which our student will visit our local elementary school and read to the kindergarten students.

Coffee & Cops:

We are lucky enough to have the Peabody Police as our new neighbors. The PPD relocated their satellite station next door to the Academy. As a friendly gesture, the served our students breakfast during the first week of school. Officer John Nelson, Many Costa, and Lt. Cook introduced themselves to the students and  made it clear, they want to be a good resource for the kids. I know each of these officers personally and we are very lucky to have such nice, caring officers next door. 

Social Media: 
I encourage all of you to follow the Academy on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I am ALWAYS posting about the really awesome things our students are doing. As always, please contact me if you have any questions. I look forward to working with you all this year!

Ger Ready!!!!!!!!!!

It's almost that time again!! I hope everyone is enjoying their last few weeks of vacation. I just wanted to give everyone a friendly reminder to fill out transportation and free lunch forms before we start school on September 3rd. If you plan on taking the bus to the Academy, please fill out the information here. Be sure to indicate that you are going to be attending the Learning Academy so the bus will know where to bring you. Also, If you are interested in receiving free or reduced lunch, please fill out the forms here. I would like to make the start of the school year as smooth as possible and completing these forms will help that process greatly. Please be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for updates. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions or concerns. I am excited to see everyone on the 3rd. Enjoy the last few weeks!!

-Mr B

Then Final Days..

I hope everyone has been able to enjoy the nice weather over the last few days. Well, we are almost to the finish line! Hopefully, this email will clear up any questions you may have regarding graduation.

Academy Graduation:

Our graduation will be held on Friday, June 7th @ 10am here at the Northshore Mall. We will have several guest speakers including Mayor Bettencourt. Students are asked to each say a few words as part of the ceremony. The venue will be located in front of Macy's and we will have plenty of stadium seating. Please bring as many family and friends as you would like. It is a GREAT event.

Peabody High School Graduation:

Peabody High School graduation will be held on Friday, May 31st @ 5pm on the Football field. I have attached a schedule that includes graduation rehearsal times. Students that wish to participate are required to attend rehearsals! 

Cap & Gown:

Students participating in Peabody High School's graduation will pick up their cap & gown at rehearsals. I will have cap & gowns here for those that do not wish to participate in the high school graduation. 

Senior Festivities:

Attached is Peabody High Schools Senior Brochure. This brochure highlights all days/times of Senior activities. Please reach out if you have any questions.

Senior Finals:

Students that have completed all required coursework and have attained the 115 credits for graduation will have the last day of school on Wednesday May 17th. All other students must complete all required work by Friday, May 24th. Students that do not complete all required school work will not be allowed to participate in graduation.  Please make sure that your child is on track to complete all required work. 

I look forward to seeing you all on June 8th! Please contact me if you have any further questions.

March Madness!!!

I hope everyone has has been able to shovel out from this past week's snowstorm. We have a lot happening around here and I want to make sure everyone is caught up. 

Parents Night:

Parents night is tomorrow, Thursday March 7th from 6-8 pm at the Academy. This is a great opportunity to speak to your child's teacher. We hope to see you there! 

ASPEN:

Peabody High School has transitioned its student database system to a new program call ASPEN. ASPEN is a web based program that also includes a parent portal feature which allows parents to access students grades, attendance, and any other assignments assigned. Students were given a demonstration last week in class. They were allowed to log in and try the site out. All Academy Math and English Courses will be online with ASPEN while all other course information ( History, Science, Electives) will continued to be emailed out through our Edgenuity software each Monday. I can also make a parent portal for Edgenuity available to you as well., Please contact me if you would like to access that feature. You can Access Aspen Here. The username is your child's school email. Each student had the opportunity to change their password so please speak to them about accessing that information. 

North Shore Community College:

On Friday,March 8, a representative from North Shore Community College will be here to conduct on site admissions to the college. we will follow up with a field trip to the campus on Friday, March 22nd for placement testing. 

Community Service:

Reminder that all seniors are required to complete 40 hours of community service in order to graduate. We have completed well over 50 this year alone. However, there are few new students that have not been here to begin the year that need to make sure this is complete. This is a GRADUATION REQUIREMENT AND MUST BE COMPETE IN ORDER TO GRADUATE.

We are in the process of scheduling several other trips before the year is over .

Academy Graduation: 

The Academy graduation will be held of Friday, June 7th at 10 am. This is a great event and I hope to see you all there. 

I hope you all stay warm over the next few weeks. Spring is right around the corner!!

Mr. Bedard