Academy Family Newsletter
Academy for Academics and Arts 12.10.2021
Great Week of Learning and Music!
Hello AAAwesome Academy Parents and Guardians,
What an exciting week engaged in music and dance while our students academically excelled!
Tomorrow is the HCS Magnet Fair. This will be at Lee High School. Several of our students will be performing on stage at 10:10a.m.-10:25a.m. We will have a room with arts activities as well. If you know families that are interested in magnet programs, please share this information. The fair will be from 10:00a.m.-2:00p.m. (New time due to weather concerns.) This is a great time for our 8th grade students to see the magnet options they have for high school next year.
Arts Performances Next Week
Please come support the AAA ACT Night, Thursday, December 16, 2021 at 7:00p.m. Our STARS and Clowns have been working hard to get ready for the show.
Thank you to the Academy Music Department! They did an amazing job during the Elementary Music Winter Performance and the Orchestra, Band, and Choral Concert. Thank you to Mrs. Staples, Ms. Peck, and Mr. Snodgrass for working diligently with our students.
Just A Reminder
Students that arrive at or later than 8:00 am will need to be signed in at the front office using the Sparkman Drive entrance. It is important to follow these time procedures so that we do not interrupt arrival for our Pre-K students, which begins at 8:00 am.
Please be in carline by 3:20. At 3:25, we stop calling names on the radio and students transition to the front office. If it is after 3:25, students can be picked up in the front office. If you are signing your child out in the front office, PLEASE do not park on the curb. The lane next to the curb is for buses only. Due to some changes in routes, we have buses that need access to that lane from 3:00 - 4:00.
If you need assistance with access to PowerSchools, please contact the front office or email Ms. Olinger at kristina.olinger@hsv-k12.org.
Attendance and Check-In/Out
Please email your check-in/out notes and excuses to Ms. Calhoun, Ramona.Calhoun@hsv-k12.org. If you need to check out your child, you can email Ms. Calhoun for a quicker process.
Make-Up pictures for Grades PK - 8 are being scheduled for a date in January.
Please remind your child of the A.A.A. Way expectations daily. We have AAA Way expectations in every area through out the school.
1. Act Respectfully!
2. Accept Responsibility!
3. Always Be Prompt and Prepared!
Character Word of the Month: Patience
Please feel free to email or call with any comments or concerns. Our doors are always open.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!
Our Best Always!
Kitrise Torain
AAA Middle, Principal
Evelyn Coffey, PhD.
AAA Elementary, Principal
Another great source of information - Join our Facebook Group page Academy for Academics and Arts! Join Twitter @AAAElementary and @AAAMiddle
AAA Reflections Winners!!!
Elementary visual arts category:
1st place: Beatrice Westmeyer
2nd place: Lena Bonds
3rd place: Sophia Draine
Honorable Mention: Georgia Miller
Middle school visual arts category:
1st place: Tatianna Mills
2nd place: Christopher Bailey
We will have a breakfast to celebrate the winners on Friday, January 7, 2022 at 7:30a.m.-8:00a.m. in the Library/ Media Center. The parents of these students are welcome to come.
NSBE Professionals Scholarship Contest
Engineers (NAL NSBE Professionals) invites 5th thru high school students
within the Northern Alabama school districts to participate in our annual
scholarship contest. The NAL NSBE Professionals was established out of a
need to stimulate and sustain minority participation in Engineering and
the Applied Sciences. This chapter of NSBE Professionals encourages and
advises youth in their pursuits of careers in engineering and the applied
sciences by offering programs and services that include scholarship
endowment, tutorial programs, advanced study skills and much more.
We offer the following scholarship opportunities:
• Creative Minds Poster contest for 5th grade students encourages academic
excellence at an early age
• U. S. Space Academy Scholarship sends students in grades 6th-8th to
Space Camp for a week
• High School STEM Essay Contest provides a $150 cash award to High School
students who write an essay that focuses on their STEM-related community
services and activities
• The 2-year College Scholarship provides a $500 scholarship to high
school seniors pursuing technology related degrees
• The Timothy Briggs Leadership Scholarship awards $1000 to high school
seniors who exemplify community leadership and are pursuing a STEM degree
Please note that scholarship deadline is Tuesday, January 18, 2022. We
encourage you to give this information to students that would be
interested in participating in this scholarship opportunity. Additional
details and the scholarship application can be found at our website
(http://www.nsbe-northalabamaae.com/programs.html ) and applications are
attached.
Magnet Window Open: Magnet Fair 10:00a.m. (New Time Due to Weather!!!)
Magnet Window Opening Soon
Please share this information with any friends/family that may be interested in learning more about Magnet programs. Students currently enrolled in A.A.A. do NOT need to re-apply to continue enrollment at A.A.A.
- We will have a Magnet Fair at Lee High School on Saturday, December 11, 2021. Below is the schedule.
AlphaBest After-School Program
HCS Cell Phone Policy (Personal Devices)
Do You Know of a Child Who Needs Health Insurance? Apply for ALL Kids Today!
Children and teens who receive quality healthcare are better prepared to learn in school. ALL Kids covers immunizations, check-ups, eye exams, dental visits and other healthcare needs that will help keep children healthy and ready to participate in school related activities.
ALL Kids is funded by the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). CHIP is a State-Federally funded program that offers free or low-cost health coverage to eligible children in families that earn too much income to qualify for Medicaid. Benefits are provided through Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama and are available to eligible children up to age 19.
For detailed information regarding ALL Kids and to apply online, please visit the website at: http://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/allkids/
Families may also Customer Service at: 1-888-373-KIDS (5437).
From the Desk of the 6th Grade Team
Please send students with ear buds, earphones, or some sort of listening device. We use these for individualized learning.
Reading:
Lanza Reading- Bud , Not Buddy- We are finishing up our book Bud, Not Buddy. The students have a Rules to live By project due on Friday , Dec 17th. . 10 rules that they feel will make their life better as well as anyone elses’ life better if they are followed. This can be be in bookform, comic strip form, powerpoint, storyboard or poetry form. Materials that can be used are posterboard, construction paper, index cards, copy paper.
Project will be graded on neatness, Timely manner turned in, Mechanics of writing ( Punctuation, capitalization) spelling, all 10 rules.
Estelle Reading- Bud, Not Buddy - We continue to read the novel and connect Bud’s rules with rules from real -life figures. We are connecting the speeches of Steve Jobs, Barack Obama, and Malala Yousafsai. The next two weeks we will be drafting our own rule books.
ELA:
12/3/2021
In ELA, we are continuing to work on our radio plays. The Hitchhiker, written by Lucille Fletcher, is a 1940s era radio play. The students are working on recording these plays in their groups. This project is completely student driven. Through this project students are learning to identify and create the story elements: suspense, flashback, and foreshadowing by using sound effects, music, and voice acting. Our essential question that we are working on answering is “Why is fear such a popular form of entertainment?” We will continue to work on using the RACE strategy to write paragraphs and essays to fully comprehend and answer this question. With this in mind, students will also discover new vocabulary and the meanings of Greek and Latin roots and affixes. Our goal is to record these radio plays before winter break. Due to all of the performances in December, that may be delayed until after break. I will update you all as we progress along.
Math: Subtracting and adding positive and negative integers. Absolute Value and Comparing , ordering and graphing integers on a number line.
Homework is 2 hours weekly on Freckle.
Science: Students are continuing to study Earth’s systems. We continue to study the water cycle and Earth’s water supply. We are connecting and analyzing how the nitrogen, carbon and phosphorus cycles work together with the water cycle to support life on Earth. Please know that these topics are central to our ACAP science testing in the Spring.
Each week students view a video, take notes, and complete readings and activities on the subject. Although it is not required homework, it is STRONGLY recommended that students review the video &/Or notes nightly. This should take no more than 15 to 20 minutes nightly and is a highly effective study skill.
Social Studies: We will be learning about WWI for the next two weeks before Winter Break. Students will have a test over WWI on Thursday/Friday - December 16/17. A test review will be posted on socrative.com (room name: Hester) the week of the test.
From the Desk of the 7th Grade Team
ELA: Students will be ending the quarter by writing body paragraphs about symbolism in the novel; on 12/2-12/3, students began working on their graphic organizers! The body paragraphs will be due on 12/13-12/14. Additionally, students have been practicing grammar this week, working on comma splices, introductory phrases, and commas in a series. They will take a practice quiz and have a final test next week.
Science:
7th grade students will finish working on semester review assignments posted in Schoology, their cell models, and the genetic disorder research projects with project presentations ending by Friday.
Social Studies:
We are about to finish up Civics with a short introduction to economics including a fun “Cost of Growing Up” project where students will research future career pay and how far, or not far, that money will go each month.
From the Desk of the 8th Grade Team
ELA: Students will be taking their Star Test Monday & Tuesday. Afterwards (and then for the rest of the week), students will be working on their Edgar Allan Poe presentation. They are to take one of his works and bring it to life using the ART of their choice (visual, dance, music, drama). They’ve already selected their work. I will purchase any supplies that they may need, but they need to let me know asap.
Math:
Honors Geometry: Exploration, inquiry, and application -Midsegments of Triangles (review), Perpendicular and Angle bisectors, Bisectors in Triangles, Medians and altitudes, Indirect Proof, ACAP/STAR Standards and skills review/practice-algebra (elimination, properties of exponents, scientific notation), etc...
8th Grade Accelerated Math: Continued - Exploration, inquiry and application of Writing equation from a pair of points (review), slope and y-intercept; parallel and perpendicular lines and graphing with Real World Connection, solve linear inequalities of various forms, solving systems of equations using substitution, graphing etc....
8th Grade Regular: Continuation of learning - Proportional relationships, slope and rate of change, graphing using slope - intercept form y = mx + b, application to real world situations, hands-on practice slope activities as well as online activities to manipulate graphs and slope, identify functions, scatter plots, etc...
Science:
8th grade students will finish working on their Chemistry projects, balancing chemical equations, and 1st semester reviews for midterm exams. Please make sure that all students come to class prepared..
Social Studies:
We will finish the semester by wrapping up our study of Ancient India with a project and then we will take a quick look at Ancient Japan.
From the Desk of the Middle School Arts Departments
Creative Writing- Students are finishing this week with a creative assignment that connected with the time period of Sherlock Holmes. Starting next week, students will begin planning and writing versions of a mystery story using a picture prompt from “The Mysteries of Harris Burdick” book by Chris Van Allsburg.
Some students in Creative Writing have collaborated with Media Arts students to create a virtual open-mic video. The videos will be posted on the Magnet Arts Website: www.whyaaa.org/ms-creative-writing in the coming weeks.
Media Arts - 7th & 8th grade - Media Arts teamed up with Creative Writing to collaborate on the Open Mic Night performance.
Theater/ Technical Theatre/Stars & Clowns
Stars and Clowns - We are frantically working to put together the best show we can for ACT Night. Mark your calendars ACT Night is Thursday, December 16 at 7:00 p.m. This event is open to all families and alumni! We look forward to seeing you there. Unfortunately, the students and I have decided to cancel the tour on December 10. Both groups discussed at length this decision. The students decided that they would rather work towards ACT Night. Stars will have an all day rehearsal on December 10. Clowns will go to class as usual. Thank you for your ongoing support! There is no place like home with the AAA family.
Theatre and Technical Theatre are looking for volunteers to help with The Addams Family. If you or anyone you know is interested, please contact Mr. Feemster. You can buy tickets to The Addams Family Young @ Part through the showtix4u website at wwwWhyAAA.org/Ms-Theatre or just CLICK HERE!
Technical Theatre students are working on their set designs for their theoretical staged versions of The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Theatre Performance is working on many things including building scripted scenes and learning about objectives, tactics, conflict, etc. The Thespians productions class are working on their piece for the Veteren’s Day Performance and their competition One-Act Play, I Never Saw Another Butterfly.
Music
Strings-Winter Concert Dec. 9 6:30pm with call arrival time for musicians 6pm-AAA Theater. Our daytime assembly performances for student body are 9am & 1pm on Wednesday, Dec. 8. Optional volunteer after school practices 3pm to 4pm on Dec. 6&7 room 167 orchestra. Student volunteers were given the letters to represent the Academy Magnet at the Magnet Fair on Saturday, December 11th at Lee High School from 8:30am to 11:30am Thank you!
Band
We are preparing for our Winter Concert December 9, 2021. Students in Band 1 and Band 2 are practicing music highlighting the winter holiday season and more.
Choir-
All choir students are also preparing for our Winter Concert December 9, 2021.
Visual Art-
Middle School Visual Arts this week has been working on creating pieces for a woven collage where we integrate the use of math measurements and patterns. We have been working on improving our watercolor techniques and skills as well in this project.
We have 5 students from visual arts classes that are participating in the upcoming juried District Art Show. The art show will be Wednesday, December 8th, 2021, from 6-8 p.m. We would like to wish these students the best of luck!
Dance-
“Cold Hands, Warm Hearts,” school show times will be December 2nd and 3rd at 2:30 p.m., and public show times will be December 3rd and 4th at 7:00 p.m.
All middle school dance magnet students are required to attend after school tech rehearsals November 29th - December 2nd, times TBA.
Ms. Randolph will be reaching out to parents regarding prop and costume needs for upcoming shows.
The Ladder to Your Child's Success
It is always best to handle concerns at the lowest level possible. This will ensure concerns are addressed in a timely and efficient manner. Our faculty and staff are dedicated to supporting their students. Please give the teachers an opportunity to resolve issues at the classroom level first.
- Step 1: If your concern involves your student’s teacher, please email that teacher first. You may request a conference or try to resolve the issue via email.
- Step 2: If after attempting to resolve your concern with the teacher you feel your concern is not resolved, please contact the counselor. The counselor can handle non-disciplinary issues. Debbie Smith is the middle school counselor. Her email is Debbie.Smith@hsv-k12.org. Dimetia Smith is the elementary school counselor. Her email is mailto:dimetia.smith@hsv-k12.org.
- Step 3: If after attempting to resolve your concern first with the teacher and second with the counselor, you feel your concern is not adequately addressed, please involve the principal, Jennifer Dardin, elementary, and Kitrise Torain, middle. Appointments may be made through the office managers. Elementary- Mrs. Tucker (Dana.Tucker@hsv-k12.org)/ Middle- Mrs. Dillard (Erica.Dillard@hsv-k12.org)
What is the AAA Way?
What's Happening at A.A.A.
A.A.A. Middle School Odd and Even Day Calendar
To purchase a Yearbook, visit: jostensyearbooks.com
Gift Card Donations
Laptop Charger Replacements
Chromebook chargers are available for purchase for $30 each. The chargers may be picked up at the front office. Prior to pick-up, you can pay the charger fee with a Credit Card/Debit payments via MySchoolFees: www.myschoolfees.com. Sign in as GUEST, Select AAA Elem (or Middle), Select Public, Select Chromebook Charger $30, be sure to list child’s name in the COMMENTS. Or you can pay the $30 fee at the time of pick-up with cash or check. All checks should be made payable to Academy for Academics and Arts Elementary (or Middle) School. If you have any questions, please contact the school at 256-428-7600 and speak to Dana Tucker, Bookkeeper.
Stay Connected: Important School Contacts
Data Generalist: (Registration) Kristina Olinger Kristina.Olinger@hsv-k12.org
Attendance - Ramona Calhoun at Ramona.Calhoun@hsv-k12.org
Cafeteria and Nutrition - Norma Martin at norma.martin@hsv-k12.org
School Counselor - Debbie Smith at debbie.smith@hsv-k12.org
Nurse - Jenileigh Pierce at jenileigh.pierce@hsv-k12.org
Librarian & Technology - Brenda Levert at brenda.levert@hsv-k12.org
Elementary Principal - Evelyn Coffey at evelyn.coffey@hsv-k12.org
Middle School Principal - Kitrise Torain at kitrise.torain@hsv-k12.org
Stay Connected: Important Dates
December
December 13-16, 2021 - STAR testing (all students)
December 16, 2021- ACT Night @7:00p.m.
December 17, 2021 - Last Day for 1st semester
December 20, 2021 - January 4, 2021 - Schools Closed
January
January 12-13, 2021- The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe Auditions
January 26, 2021- National Honor Society Auditions
Students return to school on January 5th, 2022.
Academy for Academics and Arts
Email: kitrise.torain@hsv-k12.org
Website: https://www.huntsvillecityschools.org/schools/academies-academics-and-arts
Location: 4800 Sparkman Drive Northwest, Huntsville, AL, USA
Phone: 256.428.7600
Facebook: facebook.com/AcademyforAcademicsandArtsElementary
Twitter: @AAAMiddle