Arts Middle School Family Update
Thursday, October 11th, 2018
Hello Arts Middle Families!
Important Dates
October 17-Half Day- Teacher Professional Development
November 6- No School- Election Day
November 8- Picture Retake Day
November 12- Veteran's Day
November 21- Early Dismissal- Thanksgiving Break
November 22 & 23- No School- Thanksgiving Break
Attendance Matters! Please Read! Very Important!
At the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts Middle School we take regular student attendance very seriously. Regular attendance to school is one of the easiest ways for students to ensure they will have a successful year. When students miss a day of school, they are missing valuable instruction happening in the classroom. While we completely understand there are extenuating circumstances where students will have to miss school, we would encourage you to make every effort for your child to be at school when they can.
The State of Connecticut has mandated that schools track both truancy and chronic absences. These two indicators have different definitions and follow up from the school. Let’s break it down….
1. Truant: When a student has unexcused absences of 4 in a month or 10 in a year.
What happens if your child is truant?
1. Once your child has 2 unexcused absences in a month or 5 in a year, then you will receive a warning letter from the school to let you know.
2. Once you have 3 unexcused absences in a month or 7 in a year, you will receive a request to meet with the support staff from the school to work on possible solutions.
3. Once you have 4 unexcused absences in a month or 10 in a year, then your case will need to be referred to the Youth Service Bureau in the town of your residence.
2. Chronic absence: All absences exceeding 10% of the school year. It does not matter if they are excused or unexcused.
What happens if your child has missed 10% of the school days?
1. You will receive a warning letter indicating that your child is on the path of missing more than 10% of school year.
2. You may be asked to meet with school personnel to discuss how we can help you reduce the number of absences your child is accumulating.
Here’s an example of how to avoid being truant
1. Your child is absent 14 days. You call in the first 9 and they are excused. Current total unexcused absences without a doctor excuse is 5.
2. Child is absent 14 days, but you do not call in the first 9. Current total unexcused absences is 14. Now the school is required to make a referral to the Youth Service Bureau in your town.
In both of these examples, the student missed the same number of days, but the second one results in a referral to the Youth Service Bureau.
So that you are not surprised with an attendance warning letter or a request to meet with our support staff about your child’s attendance, we would like to provide you with some recommendations that will help us to better serve you in the future:
1. Please, please, please make every effort to call the main office whenever your child is going to be absent. This is very important! The first 9 absences in a school year can be excused as long as the parent calls in and lets us know they should be. If you do not call in then the absence will be marked as unexcused.
2. Please try to plan family vacations around days that school is not in session.
3. Please try and plan doctor appointments after school or early in the morning. This way your child can be in school for all or at least most of the day.
We are looking forward to seeing your child in school every day. If for any reason they can not be here, then just call the main office and let us know.
Extended Day Arts Program
Extended Day Letter to Parents: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wySr043kgw2km6nkWGXv6Qwitf5_PonX/view?usp=sharing
RSVP: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScSZzxgYXqDckRepswHNsqj0mzux4RoXeb4e-P2xcTd_5sGMw/viewform
21st Century Leadership After School Program
Permission slip here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D6YTiaxrr_AKtRSPks8gvY8cW3pMTOKD_qJzQXZdTa0/edit?usp=sharing
News from the office
Bus Pass Requests: Parents, please note that we are unable to provide bus passes for any student to ride on a Hartford bus that is not their own. Specialty Transportation does not allow passes for any reason. If you need to request a bus pass for a suburban town bus, please be sure to provide a written note to the office no later than the morning of change.
Student Absences: As the season of colds approaches, it's important to be sure to know what to do in the event that your child will be out sick. If your student needs to be absent to school, there are three ways to let us know!
- Email us at aamsoffice@crec.org (preferred method of notification)
- Call our office at 860-724-0685
- Send in a note on the day your child returns
Residency Verification Forms (Non-Hartford Families): Please be sure to submit your 2018-2019 Residency Verification Form if you have not already done so. For questions or concerns, please contact Danah Serrano-Baez at 860-724-0685 x3559 or via email at dserranobaez@crec.org.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AXD_ysrr1rC2MZxdJ9kqrU93SZveQFs9/view?usp=sharing
Student Spotlight
Kelan Jordan 6th Grade
- If you could eat one food everyday what would it be? "Cookies".
- Would you rather live 100 years ago or 100 years into the future? "100 years into the future because of the technology."
- What goal do you have for this year? "Reaching Mastery."
Jocelyn Case 7th Grade
- If you could eat one food everyday what would it be? "Celery".
- Would you rather live 100 years ago or 100 years into the future? "100 years into the past. We know what life was like then. Living in the future is unknown" and could be filled with war and famine.
- What goal do you have for this year? "Reaching Exceeding in all subjects.."
Tilee Burgos 8th Grade
- If you could eat one food everyday what would it be? "Pizza".
- Would you rather live 100 years ago or 100 years into the future? "100 years into the future because it would be cool."
- What goal do you have for this year? "Reaching Mastery."
STAY CONNECTED TO ARTS MIDDLE!
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Arts Middle parents, we want to hear about the amazing, awesome, exciting things our students are doing outside of the school! We encourage you to use the link below to share about your amazing student! Submissions will be displayed on the Parent Bulletin Board in the Main Lobby.
CREC ARTS MIDDLE SCHOOL CALENDAR 2018 - 2019
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Click Here: https://goo.gl/forms/yz5Zfz9tz7sDqjWp2
DID YOU MISS the last UPDATE?
The Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts Middle School
ALL students will achieve at high levels both artistically and academically. ALL means ALL!
Email: aamsoffice@crec.org
Website: http://haams.crecschools.org/
Location: 75 Van Dyke Avenue, Hartford, CT, United States
Phone: (860) 724-0685
Facebook: facebook.com/crecartsmiddle
Twitter: @crecartsmiddle1