AmeriSchools Academy
Making a Difference Every Day
September 2015 Newsletter
AmeriSchools Scholars are off to the races!
Our new and returning scholars are working hard in the classrooms, learning new skills and practicing with new thinking tools. You may notice your scholar talking about details and patterns. Details and Patterns were two thinking tools all the teachers introduced recently.
We are impressed with everyone's commitment to reading at home! Keep logging your daily reading times. Our district and school goal is to read for 20 minutes a day for 20 days, the 20/20 Challenge at HOME! We are reading with your scholar at school every day too! If every student reaches their word count this year, the research states that every child should see extensive growth in reading scores. If your child is a strong reader, they will also perform well on math tests.
Check out what each class is doing below!
Upcoming Events:
September 2nd - September 17th: Coupon Book Sales. We will pass out books to all students. If you do not sell the coupon book for $20.00, make sure you return it to school by the 17th, or we will have to charge for it. Coupon Book fundraising will go towards our Bulldogs and Books Reading Program. Students can earn a trip to a book store if they meet their reading word count goal for the month. We purchase a book for them during the trip. The class is given the stuffed Bulldog to keep in class.
September 7th, Labor Day No SCHOOL.
September 10th, Reading Night at 5:30 pm. Teachers will have learning stations to help parents use books, on line resources and community resources to provide a literature and literacy rich experience that can be duplicated at home. Ms. Braren will be joining from Tucson to work with families in bridging literacy and mathematics.
September 16 - 18, Parent/Teacher Conferences (1/2 days Wednesday - Friday). We will send out the online sign-up link shortly. You can call the front office and we will schedule it for you, if your access to internet is limited. We will be giving families of multiple students priority first, so they can schedule their conferences back-to-back.
September 22nd: Science Center Field-trip for K - 3
September 24th: Picture Day for the whole school!
September 26th - 27th, Back-to-School Camping Trip. We are planning a fun exploration for families. Space is limited. There will be a small fee for the camp site. Sign-up in the office if interested. We are planning on going to Beaver Creek near Sedona.
Scholarly Traits for the Month of September
How you can support the targeted behavior at home
How you can support the targeted behavior at home
Readiness, Mrs. Stebor
In Readiness, we have been getting to know each other and our awesome school! We have been practicing the rules that we follow in school, and learning how to treat each other with kindness. Our class also adopted a baby bulldog that we named Bumble Bee. Each day, we choose a new student to take care of him and keep him happy!
Recently, each student has started a Writer's Workshop portfolio where they have space to make their own stories and show how they write. As a class, we have been reading one of our favorite stories, "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom"! After becoming familiar with the story, we have practiced predicting what will happen next, retelling the story, making connections between the story and our own lives. We have also begun diving into the alphabet! This week we learned the sounds that Tt, Ff, Bb and Hh make. As AmeriSchool's Scholars, we have also learned what it means to come to school prepared to learn and how we can begin to set short and long term goals for ourselves and our entire class. We are sure we have a very exciting year ahead of us!
Foundations 1, Ms. Lockwood
Foundations 2, Ms. Saffron
In 2nd level, the students have been working hard in all academic areas and have been eager to learn since the first day of school. Recently, each student completed their auto-biography writing assignment for the upcoming writing contest. In class, students are busy discussing how to solve math problems related to the place value concept. Students are reading either "Jenny Archer" or Dragon Gets By" in relation to our current reading theme: silly stories. We have worked on friendship activities to encourage and build teamwork within the classroom. The students are truly enjoying the classroom mail center where they can write friendly letters to each other.
In addition, we are working on daily typing skills in the computer lab and the students are happily reading books for 20 minutes everyday during SEM-R time as a class.
We have participated in two book buddy times with the Readiness and Level 1 class on Fridays where 2nd level has one to two buddies to read books to.
The students are using scholar terms and details to express their thoughts during class discussions. 2nd level is a very active class filled with learning that comes to life on a daily basis.
Buddy Reading with K and 2nd level!
Foundations 3, Ms. Todosijevic
Essentials 4, Ms. Rascon
4th Level would also like to thank all the wonderful parents that helped contribute to the bake sales we have had. We also would like to thank Ms.Saffron and her class for joining us this Friday for our bake sale. The money that we are raising is going twarda getting both classes getting turtles, along with the 4th Level field trips.
Essentials 5, Ms. Starkins
Essentials 5 scholars are proving to be outstanding writers. They have been busy writing on a variety of topics.
They predicted an ending to a true life situation where their teacher was trapped in a trash enclosure on a day when the temperature hit 114. One of the more heroic conclusions had Coach D coming to the rescue with a jack hammer. They are also researching and writing about various states as part of their independent study project. Preparing for the district wide writing initiative they are sharing character traits they are proud of. A few of these traits include pride in American/Mexican heritage, ability to make friends and seeing ghosts.
Middle School ELA, Mr. Carlson
Middle School Science, Mrs. Amidan
Perfect Attendance begins September 1st!
Research tells us that students learn best and the most when they come to school every day. The school gets funding based on how many children we have in attendance each day. Please do your part in bringing your child to school every day, prepared to learn with their minds on! Everyone is still eligible, as we are beginning September 1st! Thank you for your support!
Our Scholars Maked cards for Jacob!
Pick-up and Drop-Off
At pick-up, please park if you are waiting on 5th - 8th level students.
Reminder:
Mon. - Thurs. K - 4th releases at 2:30
Mon. - Thurs. 5th - 8th releases at 2:45
Wed. K - 4th releases at 1:30
Wed. 5th - 8th releases at 1:45
About AmeriSchools Academy
Go Bulldogs!
Email: jgordievsky@amerischools.org
Website: www.amerischools.org
Location: 1333 West Camelback Road, Phoenix, AZ, United States
Phone: 602-532-0100