GVP Family News
November 13, 2020
A Note From The Principal
Greetings Parents & Scholars,
This Week in Review! We continued to raise the bar in our classrooms as we braced for the news we were closing our physical campus and reopening our virtual platform campus wide. To be transparent, our campus had “zero” positivity reports the entire time we were open. I am grateful to you … the parents and guardians for working with us every step of the way. You took this matter seriously and together we made it happen. I am super proud of our combined efforts. We look forward to seeing you in person when our campus is reopened. Resilience wins every time!
Our Commitment! We are still 100% committed to the success of our scholars. Student engagement, small group lessons, data analysis and tracking will still continue. We will continue to allow our Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) drive the conversation on data collection, analysis and instructional practices. This week we were able to successfully train all of our teachers on the Fountas & Pinnell benchmark assessment tool. With this tool teachers will begin assessing your scholar to determine his/her independent reading level. All of this data as well as other points of data are being used to best assist your scholar.
Big Shout Outs! Thank you teachers for your commitment to our scholars. You Rock! You not only showed up to our PLCs, you also participated wholeheartedly in the process to ensure every scholar would be successful. Big Shout Out to Natasha Clark you answered the call when I needed a right hand in the implementation of our PLCs. The work we are doing as a campus is invaluable to the overall success of our scholars. Another shout out to Sarah Rahrig for assisting with the professional development and for always providing meaningful discussions regarding the social emotional well-being of our scholars.
Parents! I employ you to read the remainder of the sections. They will provide you insight into your scholar’s new schedule. We will continue to strive for excellence in all of our programs, goals, and initiatives. Our STEM program will continue. COVID changed our location, not our programs. Check out our STEM pictures and our handsome young scholars on “Tie Tuesday”. We are also available daily to support you with technology and Wi-Fi devices. Please communicate with us if you have any concerns. We are in this together!
Scholars First,
Dr. Sue Starr
A Message From The Regional Director
Dear Phalen Leadership Academy Families,
Thank you for being a part of Phalen. We know this school year has brought many surprises and challenges for our families and scholars. Through it all, we have had a great transition back to school but unfortunately, the global pandemic is causing us to shift and transition back to virtual learning.
With the increase in COVID-19 cases in the State of Indiana, all Phalen Academies will cancel in-person instructional lessons and close our school building until January 15, 2021. Though our building will close, we are excited that we have provided our scholars with the tools and resources so that learning can continue. We will still deliver live virtual instruction Monday through Friday using our online learning platform, Blackboard. In addition, we are going to continue to support our scholars with our supplemental food program. Food distribution will continue to take place each Monday from 8am-1pm. During that time, scholars will receive breakfast and lunch for the entire week.
Many of you know that one of our top priorities for the 2020-2021 school year has been to ensure the safety of Phalen staff, scholars, and families. We implemented strong plans to support that effort including smaller classroom sizes, temperature checks, revised dismissal and drop-off procedures, utilizing building sanitation systems, and providing protective equipment. Unfortunately, the surge of cases in Indianapolis during this global pandemic is forcing our school and schools in our community to elevate safety precautions with closure until at least January 15th, 2021.
Phalen Leadership Academies will continue to keep families in our thoughts. We will continue to provide support in various ways as we try to overcome the challenges of this pandemic together. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at nfama@phalenacademies.org. Our PLA Help Desk and Call Center can also be reached by dialing 888.655.0777.
Monday, November 16th: Last Day for Scholars
Sincerely,
Nicole Fama
Regional Director
Return to E-Learning
Blackboard Information
Additional information on how to navigate the Blackboard platform can be found in the document below.
PLCs In Action
Tie Tuesday
STEM Update
This week in STEM scholars began to physically code programs. We are still learning our terminology for the coding world but we have incorporated programing into our learning. In the next weeks we will continue to program and learn other things in the STEM world.
Having STEM gives our scholars the ability to learn about different professions that they might not be exposed to. As the school year continues, we will indulge in topics and terminology that will increase their mindset to change the world.
Mark Your Calendars
Last Day of In Person Learning - November 16
Start of E-Learning for All Scholars - November 17
Virtual Learning Day - November 24
Thanksgiving Break - November 25 to November 27
School-wide Academic Goals
- By the end of the 2020-2021 school year, scholars will achieve an IREAD 3 pass rate of 85%.
- By the end of the 2020-2021 school year, ILEARN ELA scores will increase 3-5%.
- By the end of the 2020-2021 school year, scholars will hit or be above the 55th percentile of growth in Math from BOY to EOY on NWEA.
Infinite Campus Parent Portal Access
As we partner together for our scholars success, we want to ensure you have real-time access to your scholar's academic journey at GVP. With your scholar's report card, you should have received a personalized link for your scholar(s).
Here is a short Getting Started video to check out:
https://kb.infinitecampus.com/help/getting-started-with-campus-parent-and-campus-student-video
Infinite Campus is a network-wide student information system designed to manage attendance, grades, schedules, assessments, and other information about our scholars.
Parents and Learning Coaches have access to Campus Portal. It is a confidential and secure website that allows you to log in and view your scholars' progress. There is also an app available for both iOS and Android devices on our website.
Logging into the Campus Portal will allow you to view the following
real-time information about your child: demographics, attendance, grades, and report cards.
If you have additional questions regarding Infinite Campus - Campus Portal, please email operations@phalenacademies.org.
Find Us On Social Media
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Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/GVPhalen
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Have Questions? Contact Us Today!
George and Veronica Phalen Leadership Academy is an A-rated, tuition free charter school serving grades K-8. Our scholars experience hands-on learning with high-quality teachers in small class sizes. We work to help our scholars master key academic skills, and demonstrate strong character, as exhibited by: honesty, service to others, a superior work ethic, and a strong vision for and belief in their futures.
Email: sstarr@phalenacademies.org
Website: gvp.phalenacademies.org
Location: 2323 North Illinois Street, Indianapolis, IN 46208, USA
Phone: 317.333.6980
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVPhalen
Twitter: @GVPhalen