The PCA Scoop
Weekly Family Update
Week of September 8th, 2020
In This Week's Edition
PCA HAPPENINGS
✦ In-Person Services Update (9/2/2020)
✦ PCA Workshops
✦ High School Hangouts
✦ Coffee Chat - Hosted by the South Schools' Family Liaisons
✦ Discovery Day Info (Formerly Community Connections)
CURRICULUM SHOWCASE WEEKS
✦ Showcases and Publisher Webinars
PARENT RESOURCES
✦ Parent Student Handbook
✦ Enrichment Updates
✦ Lending Library Information
✦ Student Services
✦ Social-Emotional Support
✦ English Learners
HIGH SCHOOL
✦ High School Updates and Reminders
In-Person Services Update (9/2/2020)
High School Hangouts
We are pleased to introduce our new High School Hangouts community led by PCA teachers!
What is High School Hangouts?
FREE High School Workshops (45-60 min) that help high schoolers to connect with their peers. We also focus on college and career readiness.
All workshops are virtual, but we hope to have in-person events as soon as we can!
Opportunity for students to take an active role in planning for their future.
The High School Hangouts community will meet twice per month on Fridays at 10:30 am.
What will students accomplish?
High School students will learn about goal setting, college and career opportunities, leadership, service, internships, STEM, the arts, and more! They will also be invited to help with planning high school social functions such as prom and other meetups. All HS students and their parents are invited to give their input on what they would like PCA's High school Hangouts to offer by completing the High School Interest Survey!
Fall Semester High School Hangouts Series
September - Envision your Future - Join the HS Hangouts' Welcome session and Create Visions though Dream Boards
October - College Planning - Talk with experts about college planning and take a virtual tour of a local campus (Palomar)
November - I am in High School, Now what? Learn about awesome electives that can jump start your career while in high school!
December - San Diego STEM - Tap into some amazing opportunities and attend a hands-on STEM event
How does it work?
High School Students and/or parents may register for a series of workshops each month. See our first High School Hangouts' workshop flyer here!
Register for our first monthly workshop series - Establishing Goals RSVP HERE. Please complete one form per student.
Please complete this registration form at least 48 hrs prior to the start of the first workshop you wish to attend. If you do not register in a timely manner, you may not receive the Zoom link & information in time. Please mark the dates on your calendar! You can expect a HS Hangout teacher to email you a Zoom link & list of materials approximately 1 week prior to the event.
We look forward to seeing your high schooler!
Coffee Chat - Hosted by the South Schools' Family Liaisons
It's a new year and a new adventure! PCA is pleased to introduce our new Discovery Day program led by PCA teachers.
What is Discovery Day?
- FREE TK-8 interactive & hands-on workshops & events led by PCA teachers.
- All workshops are virtual, but we hope to have in-person events as soon as we can!
- Opportunity for students to make connections with a Discovery Day community of PCA teachers & peers in their general area.
- Discovery Day communities meet 2x/month.
What will students learn?
Discovery Day teachers will lead students to a new learning "destination" each month. Many of our workshops will provide opportunities for students to obtain a work sample for your HSTs.
Fall Semester Discovery Day Destinations
September - Journey through Space
October - No Bones about It! (Human Body study)
November - Zoopendous Day! (Animal studies)
December - Winter Wonder STEM
How does it work?
- Families are encouraged to register their students for a Discovery Day community based on their student's grade and nearest location. This will allow students to connect with the same teachers & peers in their area when it is safe to meet in-person! However, families may register with another community if that works better for their schedules.
- Students who attend the same Discovery Day community's workshops at least 3 times during Sept & Oct will be invited to a special virtual class party!
- Please review the Discovery Day Schedule (Sept - Oct) for a list of DD communities & their dates/times.
- Register your student for a Discovery Day community - RSVP HERE. Please complete one form per student.
Please complete this registration form at least 48 hrs prior to the start of the first workshop you wish to attend. If you do not register in a timely manner, you may not receive the Zoom link & information in time. As a result, you will need to wait for the next
CURRICULUM SHOWCASE WEEKS
Parent Student Handbook
You can find the updated 2020/2021 Parent Student Handbook
HERE. It's full of all the information you'll need for our school year!
Enrichment Updates
We have put together this video, which outlines the process of marking enrichment items as received in the EOS. This video can also be found in the EOS!
If
virtual services are being requested, please be sure to
write “virtual” or “online” within each order. This will help ensure that orders are processed as quickly as possible!
At this time (beginning of the school year), up to 12-month subscriptions may be approved. Beginning on December 1st, only up to 3-month subscriptions may be approved.
Need to check on Curriculum orders (i.e. McGraw Hill, Acellus, ALEKS Math, ChoicePlus Academy, Redbird, etc.)? Email curriculum@inspireschools.org
Student Services
Click here for videos, tutorials, ideas, and more for all parents and their students.
Does your student need math intervention?
Step 1: Make sure they are using an evidence based curriculum (Math U See, Right Start Math, Touch Math, Teaching Textbooks, or CLICK HERE for many more adopted curriculums). Work in this curriculum daily for one hour minimum.
Step 2: Use your instructional planning amounts for a twice weekly tutor.
Step 3: What else can I suggest? Try the free programs included in the OSP. Or add OSP a la carte programs like My Math Academy, Shmoop, or Prodigy.
Step 4: If you’ve tried this for 6-10 weeks and your student is still struggling, let’s schedule a Student Study Team appointment with our school success coordinator and see what other options are available.
Social-Emotional Support
September’s SEL Topic: Emotional Agility
Understanding your emotions makes it possible for you to manage them so that they work for rather than against you. Spend the first week of September focusing on emotions using the resources below. Then join us for our first live webinar for students on September 14th. For Zoom link, times and a detailed schedule of upcoming weeks, please go to our Mindset Monday page.
TK-5th Grade Resources:
6th-12th Grade:
Examine That Emotion - learn about the emotions we feel, the reasons we feel our emotions, and healthy ways we can respond to our emotions without hurting ourselves or others.
English Learners
From our EL Coordinator for 2020/21
My name is Maria Kirkbride and I will be the School Support Director overseeing the EL program for Pacific Coast Academy for the 20/21 school year. I have had the pleasure to work in charter schools for 20 years in a range of positions I look forward to getting to know you and supporting your child with English acquisition. It is such a gift to be multi-lingual! As we progress through the school year I will be reaching out to all of you about joining our English Learner Advisory Committee. I hope you will consider joining me in building a community of English Learner parents that will be a voice in how our school can best serve and support our students.
19/20 ELPAC Scores are available under testing on your Parent Portal! If your student was unable to complete the test due to COVID school closure, there may be an opportunity to complete the ELPAC this fall.
Initial ELPAC- If your child is slated to take the Initial ELPAC based on your Home Language Survey responses, your HST will be in contact about test administration. At this time, the Initial ELPAC will be administered virtually.
Reclassification- from English Learner (EL) to Reclassified Fluent English Proficient (RFEP) -If your child has an overall score of 4 on the ELPAC and no more than one 2 in the four domains of reading, writing, listening, and speaking he/she could be considered for Reclassification and exited out of the EL program. If your child qualifies, your HST will contact you with more details within the next 2 weeks.
ELD Instruction If your child is classified as EL, they are required to participate in a minimum of 30 minutes of ELD (English Language Development) instruction everyday. Brainpop EL is available for free to all of our EL students. Contact your HST for more information on how to enroll your child.
Curriculum Recommendations for our EL Students -
Reading Eggs & Eggspress PreK - 8th Grade
Wonders 2nd - 6th grade
Study Sync 6th - 12th grade
BrainPOP ELL - K-12th grade
ELD Instruction for High School Elective Credit- Your child can now receive high school elective credit for the following ELD support classes. See
here for courses and class descriptions.
Graduation Plan:
Do you have a copy of your student’s Individualized Graduation Plan (IGP)? If not, ask your HST for it! It’s a great resource for understanding your student’s path to graduation.
Reminder:
Our high school student should be enrolled in a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 40 credits each semester. Your student will need special approval to take more than 40 credits. Keep in mind that a student should take an average of 25 credits to graduate with the 200 credits needed.
Academic Integrity:
Academic Integrity is the moral code or ethical policy of academia. This includes values such as avoidance of cheating or plagiarism; maintenance of academic standards; honesty and rigor in academic work. This is a great resource for reviewing what plagiarism is with your student.
