Academy Adventures Midtown
-Building on Strengths-
UPDATE ON THE SCHOOL YEAR
We have reached the end of the 1st Quarter of Distance Learning! We are so proud of each and everyone of our students! We have seen so much growth in each of them. Distance Learning is not easy but our students, parents and staff have stepped up and made it the best possible program to ensure that students are learning and engaged. Thank you to our parents for your continued support.
As 2nd Quarter begins after Fall Break, look for some exciting things we have planned! Who said that Distance Learning has to put a stop to our traditions such as Spirit Week, Pumpkin Patch, Taco Tuesday, School Performances, Tamales, Lasagna and Cookie Decorating! Mrs. Angela, Mrs. Gilbert, Mrs. Campbell and Mr. Jack have come up with some fun, inventive ways to keep these traditions to stay alive!
At this time, we do not have an exact date for hybrid and/or in-person learning. We are closely following the benchmarks set forth by the Arizona Department of Health. The most current stats are two weeks behind and we still have not met all the requirements. This changes weekly, and we will continue to keep you updated.
As a reminder we do offer Distance Learning Support Services for those students who are unable to be home during Distance Learning and need a safe place. You are required to let us know by 2:15 the Friday prior if your child(ren) will be on campus the following week, to ensure we can make the necessary preparations to the school.
Have a safe, fun and relaxing Fall Break!
Campbell's Corner
Happy Fall and Happy October! Can you believe that we are at the end of the first quarter already! For me, time continues to fly by at times, and other times it seems to be creeping by. The end of the first quarter also means it is time for fall break. We will miss seeing the students on ZOOM every day but taking a break from the computer will be nice.
Thank you to our wonderful families! We appreciate the patience that you continue to show us here at the school. We are thrilled that so many of you have signed out the new Chromebooks for your child(ren). We understand that some of you continue to have problems logging into ZOOM. We are exploring options to see if there might be a solution that will better serve the needs of the school and our students. We will keep you updated!
There are several things that we have to consider for students to be counted as “present” for the school day. They are required to be on ZOOM for their scheduled time. If you are unsure of their schedule or you are having technical problems, please let us know. Students are required to read daily for their reading logs, which are posted on ClassDojo. Students also have assignments are SplashLearn, Reading A-Z, GoMath and ClassDojo. Teachers may also have assignments on additional sites. If your child is unable to log in, please let their teacher know.
We have some exciting events coming up in October and as we move through the 2nd quarter. We are thinking outside the box to come up with ways to continue celebrating with our annual traditions and “meet” for family events. Watch for information posted on ClassDojo.
FREE BREAKFAST AND LUNCH! We continue to offer free breakfast, snack, and lunch for your child(ren). If your child(ren) are on campus, we will feed them as always, no need for you to do anything. If your child(ren) are learning from home, just call the school by every Friday at 2:15 PM and let us know how many days worth of meals you want (up to 5!) and what day you want to pick the food up. If you have any questions, please call the school.
If your child(ren) need to be on campus for Distance Learning Support Services, you must notify the school every Friday by 2:15 PM so we are able to make any necessary changes in the school.
Thank you for being a part of the Academy Adventures Midtown family! We appreciate you and we are so excited to be on this learning journey with you! As always, if you have any questions, please reach out to us! We are available by phone at 520-777-3757, on ClassDojo, and by text via Remind.
Mrs. Gilbert's Class
I am so glad I live in a world that has Octobers...even more now that I get to spend them with my Kindest Kinders, Fabulous First Graders and Super Second Graders. Please know that your students are a great daily motivation to be a better teacher and person, so a thank you would never be enough! October will be filled with fun and excitement! We will have our Fall Break 10.9.2020-10.18.2020. We will have a Spirit Week, Family Movie Night, and some Virtual Field Trips! Please stay tuned into Class Dojo for information!
Quick housekeeping; Please have your students complete their daily assignment on SplashLearn, Reading A-Z, SuperKids, GoMath and/or ClassDojo. SuperKids and GoMath will have their assessments and Chapter Tests assigned to them. Please let me know if you need assistance logging on to these platforms. A HUGE THANK YOU is needed as all my student’s parents are on Class Dojo. This is important as this is one the most effective forms of communication between school-teacher-parent.
Now, GALILEO! We could not be more appreciative of our student’s parents and could not complete this task without you! Please refer to the provided slides on instructions and completion of the tests!
My Kindest Kinders are becoming masters at their numbers and letters! Everyday we are exercising our brain on our See It, Say It, Sign it Alphabet and Counting 0-10. We have met our SuperKids friends Oswald and Golly, who have helped us learn begging and ending sounds, as well as writing lowercase and Capital Oo and Gg. We will continue to practice our rhyming words and handwriting! I am so proud of them! Our little math wizards are counting 0-10 fluently with adding in 11-20. We will continue to practice our writing of the numbers, including identifying greater or lesser than.
My fabulously fabulous first graders are crushing their math skills! Everyday I am humbled by their hard work! Between SplashLearn and GoMath we are almost all meeting Benchmark goals! We are now adding three digit numbers with 2, and boy am I impressed! These First Grade Students have put in an enormous amount of effort on their handwriting and learning daily words with -sh, -ch,-tch and it is showing in their reading. Please continue to read with your students to increase oral fluency!
I could not have a more super Super Second Grade Class! Our reading skills are incredible and we will continue to practice daily to ensure we are meeting grade-level goals. They are becoming fluent in contractions and onamonapias! Second Grade Math skills are something to be not only proud of, but jealous of as their skip counting, adding three digit numbers within 100 and subtracting with word problems!
Thank you to you as parents! Thank you to Academy Adventures Midtown! THANK YOU to my students! You are all acknowledged and appreciated in every way!
Mrs. Campbell's Class
Hello to all of you wonderful 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade families! I want to thank you for being so supportive of your child, the school and me! The first quarter has presented us all with many challenges but by working together, we are overcoming them!
As I mentioned in the last newsletter, I am so excited by the growth I see in your child. They are making so much progress – it makes my heart happy to see and be a part of it.
The terrific third graders have been on a great “journey” learning all about how animals are classified. They are learning more about the habitats and how the characteristics of an animal teach us more about that animal and the animal kingdom it is sorted into. Their vocabulary words include vertebrate and invertebrate, herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, mammal, reptile, and aquatic. They are learning the prefixes un-, non-, re- and pre-, and the suffixes -ed, and -ing. We are also working with verbs, adverbs, adjectives, and proper, common, and abstract nouns. When we finish our unit on classifying animals, we will begin learning about the human body and how it functions. We will work with spelling patterns for regular and irregular plural nouns as well as new prefixes. In GoMath, we moved from reading bar graphs, line graphs and pictures graphs and creating our own graphs to multiplication. Did you know that multiplication is repeated addition?! Our introduction into multiplication has been great and we look forward to using what we have learned to help us with multiplication facts and strategies.
The fantastic fourth graders have been reading about The Middle Ages, serfs, freemen, knights, lords and kings. They have been learning about some of the battles and major events that changed life for the people of that time. They will move from the European Middle Ages to the Islamic Empires of the Middle Ages where they will learn more about the Crusades. They will practice understanding how prefixes and suffixes alter the meaning of words, and sometimes how a word is used. Students will be working with graphic organizers to organize information prior to writing a paragraph. They will also begin paraphrasing. In GoMath, students will use what they have learned about multiplying 1-digit numbers and use it to begin multiplying 2-digit numbers. Knowing the multiplication facts will really come in handy!
The fabulous fifth graders have been reading about the civilizations of early America – the Maya, Aztec and Inca. They are learning about how these people lived as well as their beliefs and myths. From early American civilizations, they will move to reading vignettes of contemporary fiction. Titles will include “The House on Mango Street”, “Our Good Day”, and “The Three Sisters”. They will learn about understanding who is speaking and creating dialogue for characters, based on the experiences that the characters have had. In GoMath, they will continue learning about division before moving on to adding and subtracting decimals.
Parent involvement is crucial, especially during Distance Learning. We want our families to know they are an important part of their child's education. Parents/Guardians are welcome to sit in on the All School Morning Zoom (we focus on Growth Mindset), Zoom Classes with your child's teacher and/or to attend ART and STEM classes in the evenings. We encourage you to see what is going on and be a part of the process. Your feedback is important to us!
Events and links are posted in ClassDojo weekly. We hope you can join us!
ATTENDANCE MATTERS!
Distance Learning does not mean that attendance is not crucial. Students are required to attend all scheduled Zoom sessions from 8:00 AM-2:15 PM on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and from 9:00 AM-2:15 PM on Wednesday. Students who are not present, will be counted absent.
Please make sure that your child is logged on when scheduled. We recommend that you try to log on at least 3-5 minutes early. If you are having technical difficulties, please reach out to your child's teacher or Mrs. Angela on ClassDojo for assistance.
When your child is not scheduled to be on Zoom during school hours, they have assignments in their ClassDojo Portfolio that they should be working on. This may include assignments in SplashLearn, ReadingA-Z, GoMath, SuperKids and/or worksheets. This work is counted towards your child's attendance and is based on whether they complete their assignments. If you have any questions, please reach out to your child's teacher for assistance.
DAILY SCHEDULE!
After Fall Break, we will be making some small changes to the daily schedules. These changes will be shared with families before we return from Fall Break. New schedules will be sent out via ClassDojo. We want to make it easier for students and families who are participating from home.
Children who are on campus, their arrival times will not change. They will still be required to be on campus by 7:55 AM on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and 8:55 AM on Wednesday. All students will be required to do school work from 8:00 AM - 2:15 PM (M, T, Th, F) and 9:00 AM-2:15 PM (Wed). Just the Zoom times will be changing.
Watch for notices in ClassDojo over the week or two for details.
National School Lunch & Breakfast Programs
Just as a reminder that Academy Adventures Midtown is part of the National School Breakfast and Lunch Programs. Students on campus will receive breakfast and lunch. However, even if your child is learning from home, they can participate!
If you would like to pick up meals for your child(ren) free of charge, please call the school by 2:15 PM on Friday for the following week and let Mrs. Campbell know how many meals and what day you will pick them up. Snacks will also be included!
Healthy Snacks!
We are very lucky and thankful that Cakes for Causes continues to supply yummy, healthy snacks for our students! If you pick up breakfast and lunch, snacks will be included!
Check out Cakes for Causes and their mission! www.cakesforcauses.org
GALILEO TESTING!
Testing begins on Tuesday, October 6th for ELA. We will finish up on Wednesday, October 7th with Math! Please make sure your child in online at 8:00 Am.
Information on the test is posted in ClassDojo. Please make sure your read the information for details.
TITLE I FAMILY ART CLASSES
Join us on Tuesday Nights at 6:00 PM for a fun family ART Class! Students get to vote on what they want to learn to draw weekly! Class usually lasts about 45-60 minutes. It is a lot of fun and you don't want to miss out! We encourage all family members to participate!
Please RSVP to let us know who will be attending. Try to sign on a few minutes early. If no one is signed on by 6:05 PM the class may be cancelled.
Paper and pencil are the only supplies required! We do have packets at school that include paper and crayons if you want to stop by and pick one up.
TITLE I FAMILY STEAM/STEM CLASSES
Join us on Thursday nights at 6:00 PM for a fun family STEAM/STEM activity! We will continue to send out STEM packets in the mail that will be used in class. Mrs. Gilbert has a lot of fun activities planned! You don't want to miss out. We encourage all family members to participate!
Please RSVP so we know how many people to plan for. Links to the Zoom Class are in ClassDojo. Please try to be on by 6:00 PM. If no has shown by 6:05 PM, the class may be cancelled.
EARLY RELEASE (11:30 am) - October 8, 2020
FALL BREAK! October 9-16, 2020
SPIRIT WEEK - October 19-23, 2020
We are excited to announce that we will be doing Spirit week when we return from Fall Break. Students can participate via Zoom or at school.
Monday - Sports Day! (dress up as your favorite athlete or wear your favorite teams gear)
Tuesday - Crazy Hat Day! (show us your craziest hat!)
Wednesday - Backwards Day! (wear your clothes backwards!)
Thursday - Crazy Hair Day! (how crazy can you make your hair?!)
Friday - Career Day! (dress up as your favorite profession!)
ALL SCHOOL ZOOM PERFORMANCE - October 29th @ 6:00 PM
EARLY RELEASE (11:30 AM) - October 30th
VIRTUAL FIELD TRIP - October 30th @ 8:00 AM
COSTUME "PARADE" & FAMILY MOVIE - October 30th @ 1:30 PM
We know that kids love to dress up for Halloween. Generally we do not allow this at school. However, times are a bit different and many Halloween events are cancelled and health officials are strongly discouraging Trick or Treating. The 30th is an Early Release Day and children are dismissed at 11:30 AM.
We will be doing a Virtual Halloween Costume Parade starting at 1:30 PM on Zoom and that will be followed by The Addams Family (2019) Movie! Watch for details and links in ClassDojo.
**Please note that Costumes are NOT allowed during the school day (8:00-11:30)**
Academy Adventures Midtown
Email: info@academyadventuresmidtown.com
Website: https://academyadventuresmidtown.com
Location: 3025 North Winstel Boulevard, Tucson, AZ, USA
Phone: (52) 777-3757
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Academy-Adventures-Midtown-sponsored-by-Ed-Ahead-601505409905965/