Hello everyone!

We're watching tomorrow night's weather closely and expecting some sort of disruption on Tuesday - we don't know anything for sure yet but will notify you with any changes that may come about!

Thank you for always keeping up with our newsletters. Our goal is to always ensure that AAE parents are informed and have an accessible resource that is easy to review and revisit when needed. We hope that this newsletter is meeting those needs!

Please also always feel comfortable reaching out to us directly. Alternatively, you can always email aaemainoffice@crec.org if you have a question for the main office team or aaeadminteam@crec.org if you have a question specifically for AAE school administrators.

Thanks very much!

Your AAE Administrative Team

March Conferences will take place on March 15th and 16th. March 15th, 16th, and 17th are ALL half-days and students will be dismissed at 11:00 am.

Teachers have been reaching out to families to sign up for times. You can sign up for a time with your child's teacher by visiting the sign-up link at:

https://www.myconferencetime.com/aae/

Please be aware that students in grade 6 will signed up via communication directly with the grade 6 teachers.

Thanks!

AAE Families - please check out this financial resource. If you qualify, apply!

https://portal.ct.gov/heatinghelp/Connecticut-Energy-Assistance-Program-CEAP?language=en_US

CREC Middle and High School students are invited to participate in The Afterschool Hub, an afterschool program in partnership with Boys & Girls Club of Hartford. Kicking off in March, The Afterschool Hub will run Tuesday - Thursday from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Dinner and snacks will be available each night at no cost.

Please note: The Afterschool Hub has limited space with exclusive access to tutors and the June Archer School of the Arts where students can interact with established recording artists, writers, filmmakers, and multimedia.

Register TODAY: https://forms.gle/3tBeJKjr5UFprQyr6

Four pillars of The Afterschool Hub are simple.

1. Parent/Guardian Centered,
2. Student-driven,
3. Collaboration at its core, coordination, and
4. Safe spaces for students to thrive.

For more information, or email bmcgee@crec.org

The following three students have made it to the finalists round of the Connecticut Science and Engineering Fair.

Ana-Lois Davis

Ronak Ramesh

Aarush Singh

Congratulations and good luck!

High schoolers and their families can visit the Connecticut Science Center FREE on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, from 5PM to 8PM during our first Pathways to STEM Night, supported by the Cigna Foundation.

Colleges, youth programs, and training programs will be available on every floor to discuss pathways to healthcare careers. Represented organizations include CT State Community College, Eastern Connecticut State University, UConn Pre-College Summer, and more! All galleries will be open, including Under the Canopy, featuring live animals of the rainforest. Space is limited! Please register at:

Register Now

Pathways Night is supported by the Cigna Foundation, a national foundation that supports projects to promote wellness, health, and access to high-quality health care for everyone. The views presented here are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Cigna Foundation or its directors, officers, or staff.

INQUIRIES MAY BE DIRECTED TO: Krogers@CTScienceCenter.org

SAT's will be administered on Tuesday, March 28th. The test will start promptly at 8:00 AM. Junior parents please read the letter below.

If your student will be absent please email the main office at aaemainoffice@crec.org.

In order for your student's absence to be considered an "excused absence" a call, email, or parent or doctor note needs to be handed into our main office.

Thank you.

Issue 3: Racial Justice

The NACAC National College Fair will visit the CT Convention Center in Hartford, CT on March 30th and March 31st. CREC High Schools will take tenth and eleventh grade students to this event during the morning hours on either March 30th or March 31st. This college fair also has an evening session on March 30, 2023 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Families are encouraged to attend this opportunity.

More details on the NACAC College Fair can be found here:
https://www.nacacattend.org/23hartford/2769420?i=mbdVqKyy3G0rSI8kEZ5OQT87XOIUzPj2

Students attending the college fair must pre-register. 10th grade will have the opportunity to do this in Advisory on 3/8 and 11th grade on 3/15. In addition to pre-registering permission slips are required and due by Wednesday, March 22nd (No permissions slips will be accepted past this date)

In conjunction with this event, CREC will host a College and Financial Aid Awareness Event PRIOR TO the college fair on March 30th at 5:00 pm at 111 Charter Oak Avenue, Hartford, CT. The presentation will be facilitated by both Dr. Ashley Mazzoli, Supervisor of Counseling/College & Career Readiness and Mr. Richard Serrano, Coordinator of College and Career Readiness.

CREC College and Financial Aid Process Info Session (google.com)

This is a very exciting time of year as students are starting to receive college acceptance letters and notification of scholarships. If your student has not received any decision letters yet, please remind them to check their email on a regular basis so that they do not miss any important notifications from their colleges. Some colleges will mail out paper letters, but others will only notify via email or the student’s applicant portal.

While many students are thrilled to be accepted to their top choice college, I highly recommend waiting to commit to a college until all decision letters and financial aid packages are received. Most colleges do not require students to commit and submit their deposits until May 1st (be sure to confirm this date with your schools), so there is no need to rush into a decision before you have all of the information.

Often times students will be accepted to colleges, only to be disappointed when their financial aid packages arrive. They may discover that they still have considerable out-of-pocket costs and/or very large student loans included as part of their packages. One way to supplement the college’s financial aid package is to apply for private scholarships. This is a proactive way for students to pay for their education and to avoid large amounts of student loan debt when they graduate. It is very important to be proactive, because many scholarship deadlines will have passed before they receive financial aid packages. The sooner they start working on this, the better!!

I maintain a list of all private scholarship and resources that we receive at AAE on the Class of 2023 Schoology Page. Students have been instructed on how to access this information and of its importance several times throughout the year. You can also assist in this process by encouraging your student to review the scholarships and to apply to the ones they qualify for. Here is how you can access the scholarship information:

Log into your students Schoology Page (will need to ask them for their login information) àClick on Class of 2023 à Click on Materials Tab (left side of screen)à Click on Scholarship Folder à Click on any scholarship to access description/requirements and access to the application

We get new scholarships in every week so it is a good idea to check this page frequently. Another suggestion is to contact the home high school of the district in which you live to see if they have any resident-specific scholarships your student may qualify for.

Important Dates and Events:

SAT's will be administered on Tuesday, March 28th. The test will start promptly at 8:00 AM.

Rich Serrano and Ashley Mazzoli will be hosting a college and financial aid info session at CREC Central on 3/30 at 5:00pm. Please see the attached flyer for more details.

CCSU College Tour, Friday March 10th - Permissions slips were due 3/1 but this has been extended until Monday 3/6 at the latest

Junior Planning Meetings:

Junior Planning Meetings are a time for students and their parent/guardian to connect with Mrs. Gustafson, School Counselor, in order to review post-secondary plans and specific details regarding the process. Please use the link below to sign up for a meeting.

https://calendly.com/agustafson-crec-aae/junior-planning-meeting

Post Secondary Planning Resources:

Junior Post-Secondary Planning Session 1: Exploring Your Options

Junior Year Post-Secondary Planning Road Map

Post-Secondary Planning Go-To Resources

Hello AAE families,

When we come back from February break we will begin our course request process. At this time, students currently in grades 8th - 11th will request their courses for the 2023 - 2024 school year. Our students who are currently in 6th and 7th grade will go through a similar process later this spring for Encore classes.

Please find instructions attached that will help you and your student navigate through this process. Additionally, the School Counselors will be going into Math classes during the week of February 27th to help with this process as well. The course request process will begin on February 27th and end on March 10th. Class schedules will be available mid to late August.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to a School Counselor.

Jen Skitromo - Current 8th and 9th grades - jskitromo@crec.org

Andrea Gustafson - Current 10th and 11th grades - agustafson@crec.org

Tiffany Weaver - Current 12th grade - tweaver@crec.org

Second trimester sculpture was a success in the art room! Thank you to all students who engaged in awesome carving, modeling, and construction projects. I admire all of your efforts -Ms. O

The Saturday Art Workshop (SAW) is a CCSU program that offers opportunities to participating children from the Greater Hartford region to take art classes at the university. In Spring 2023, SAW will run for 7 weeks on Saturday mornings from 9:30 a.m. - 11 a.m. Classes are scheduled for March 11th, March 25th, April 1st, April 15th, April 22nd, April 29th and May 6th. On May 6th, there will be Exhibition, where the artworks which were created during this session will be showcased. There are no refunds for missed classes. There will be no class on March 18th as the University is closed for Spring Recess and April 8th, as the University is closed for the Good Friday Holiday weekend.

Saturday Art Workshop for Children

The Middle School After School Program - Session 2 has begun, and there are still openings in all clubs (some are almost full – first come, first serve).

Return all forms to Mr. Copeland cocopeland@crec.org paper or e-mail. Students will select their clubs with Mr. Copeland when they turn in their forms.

1. Open AAE – CLC Brochure 2022-23 – click on the registration link and fill out the online form – required for everyone.

2. Print, fill out, sign and return – Aerospace CLC Permission Slip – required for everyone.

3. Print, fill out, sign and return a bus permission form. Required to ride the late bus, not required for parent pick-ups.

Club selections vary by day, most clubs meet Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday.

Session 2 choices are:

Monday & Wednesday

1. Board and Computer Games with Mr. Priester and Mr. Williams in Room 322

2. Lacrosse with Ms. Biggs and Ms. Hinostroza in Room 318

3. Tutoring with Mr. Coley in Room 224

4. Step / Cheer Club with Ms. Canty, Ms. Robinson & Ms. Nevers in the Auditorium

Tuesday & Thursday

1. Better Me Club with Ms. Robinson and Mr. Wright in Room 318

2. Board and Computer Games with Mr. Priester and Mr. Williams in Room 322

3.Science and Art with Ms. Cotton and Mr. Howe in Rooms 109 and 249

4. Life Lessons in Film with Ms. Hinostroza and Ms. Marriott in Room 128

5. Guitar Club with Mr. Tint in the Band Rooms - numbers 165 and 161

6. Concert Band with Mr. Pertesis - Band Room - number 165 (Tuesday only)

7.Tutoring with Mr. Coley in Room 224

High School and Middle School Tutoring is available Monday, Tuesday and Thursday each week.

Tutoring is in room 124 and starts at 2:15 pm and goes until 4:45 pm – students are expected to be on time and stay in Room 124 the entire time.

Parents can pick up students early and should schedule early pick-ups with Mr. Copeland.

Free dinner is served in the cafeteria between 2:30 and 3:00 pm – free late bus transportation is also available.

Return all forms to Mr. Copeland cocopeland@crec.org paper or e-mail.

To sign up:

1. Print, fill out, sign and return – Aerospace CLC Permission Slip.

2. Print, fill out, sign and return a bus permission form if student will ride the late bus. This is not required for parent pick-ups.

Stevens Institute of Technology program for rising Juniors or Seniors (current 10th or 11th grade). Cost is between $2800 (1 week program) and $4300 (2 week program).

https://www.stevens.edu/admission-aid/pre-college-programs

Students should reach out to their School Counselor with questions or if help is needed.

SUMMET Summer 2023 Programs - Golden, Colorado

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-uBqXzhWOkk-0Sf4UedAl79Plu_SE5iQ7gVC9Ldw374/edit?usp=sharing

Girls Who Code Virtual Summer Programs & More…

https://girlswhocode.com/programs/ summer-immersion-program

MIT Summer Programs

https://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/summer/

Below is a resource document pursuant to Public Act 21-46: An Act Concerning Social Equity and the Health, Safety, and Education of Children.

Educational, Safety, Mental Health and Food Insecurity Resources (https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/SDE/WSCC/Educational-Safety-Mental-Health-and-Food-Insecurity-Resources-for-Families-and-Students.pdf)

Wednesday, March 15 - Friday, March 17 - Early Dismissal: Parent Teacher Conferences

Wednesday, March 22 - Early Dismissal: Professional Learning

As a reminder, students dismiss at 10:50 AM on early dismissal days.