Families,
We are so excited that Arete Charter Academy will be part of your family’s educational journey for the 2023-2024 school year. We are thrilled to be planning for next year and all of the new adventures we will be having including new field trips, enrichment instructors, and classes. We also will be working on re-situating our chicken coop to prepare for possible flooding. (This winter was wild!). We also will be updating a few of our policies to ensure that we are showing growth in teaching our students how to read and do math. These are all outlined in the Master Agreement and Parent Handbook that you will be signing in August.
- _____Understand that starting in first grade, students who are performing below grade level in reading in kindergarten-fifth grade will need to reserve $300 of Enrichment Funds per trimester towards tutoring, intervention, or direct instruction with Arete Educational Advisors or contracted Independent Contractors until their students have made three months of growth over three months of time or met the next benchmark as stated below.
*_____Agree that students who are below grade level in reading in first-third grade will need to use Curriculum Funds to purchase and utilize one of the following Arete approved Phonics programs for the school year.
*_____Whether or not students are below grade will be determined by a combination of Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills Assessments (Dibels) and Phonemic Screener for Intervention (PSI) for Kindergarten-Fifth Grade students and STAR Accelerated Reader for Second-Fifth Grade students.
First Grade students should know…
Second Grade students should know…
Third Grade students should know…
Fourth Grade students should know…
Fifth Grade students should know…
This may sound like a lot of changes at first, but please remember that everyone at Arete is on your kiddos’ team, and your Educational Advisor will be there to support your family and that EA’s will work with families as a team to assist with these requirements.
Here are some reminders of what our current practices are and will be for next year.
*All district and state testing will be in person only and is still required if your child attends Arete.
*Enrollment meetings and 20 Day Meetings will be in person for the first three meetings of the year. There may be an opportunity for families who hold their meetings on time with their Educational Advisor and turn in all logs and work samples on the day of their meeting, to move to Zoom meetings after the first trimester if it is effective for both the family and the Educational Advisor. If the Educational Advisor, student, parent team is approved to move to Zoom meetings, the parent and student will need to be present in the meeting and all documents and logs will need to be scanned to the Educational Advisor at least 24 hours before the meeting.
*There are requirements from our audit by the state that we need to show we are meeting. This is what we have been requesting this year and will be requiring for the 2023-2024 school year.
-Please bring all student work from the 20 days of instruction to showcase, and the Educational Advisor will choose two samples for each subject from what is provided.This way the team has a real picture of the progress your child is making.
-All samples must have one sentence per grade level. K students can label with letters and words or dictate to parents. 8th grade must have EIGHT sentences, etc.
-Math samples should have at least eight problems or more (we understand this will look different from kinder than 8th grade).
-Samples should be two separate samples and not a second page of the same sample.
-First grade on up should be in the kiddos own writing, unless they have an IEP in which case, start expecting that by 3rd-4th grade.
*Assignment Completion Log- Must be filled out in detail with specific lessons/topics of study or percentages (online curriculum only).
We believe that we need to have these practices in place to ensure the appropriate amount of growth for all students. We also acknowledge that these options might not feel like the right fit for your family. We would be very sad to lose any of our families, but know that we are so lucky in our county to have so many wonderful school choices. If you do not feel that you can agree to these changes, please email me at [email protected] to let me know that your child will be attending a different school. If you feel that these are changes that your family can comply with, please log in to your PowerSchool account here and complete or update enrollment forms A-L. (A few of you may have already completed these.) New families should have received an email from Power School with instructions for creating your accounts. You will then need to log back in and complete all enrollment forms. We need all families to complete forms by June 9 as we have a lottery scheduled for June 14 and need to know how many spots we have open. These forms are required in order for your child’ enrollment to be processed for next year. If you need PowerSchool assistance, please contact Andrea Magda at [email protected].
New families to Arete must provide proof of residency in two areas before their child is considered a student at Arete and anything may be purchased.
All new enrollees’ need to provide one document from each of the categories below:
Category l - One Proof Required: At least one of the following documents showing the name and residence address of the parent/guardian or caregiver within the district: (Education Code 48204.1)
- A copy of the deed
- A copy of the most recent mortgage statement
- Property tax bill/payment receipt dated within the past year
- A copy of the fully executed lease/rental agreement. The lease/rental agreement must show the rental address and include the lessor/lessee names and signatures
- Pay Stub
- Voter Registration
- Correspondence from a government agency
- Declaration of Residency executed by the student's parent/legal guardian
Returning Students
Category ll - One Proof Required: At least one utility service statement or payment receipt dated within the last forty-five (45) days showing the name and service address of the parent/guardian or caregiver within the district. On-line documentation is accepted as long as it fulfills the requirement of a complete statement (all pages). Utility set-up and 15 day notice letters are acceptable proofs of residency if statement or payment receipt is submitted within 30 days of residency verification.
Acceptable utility services include: (Education Code 48204.1)
- PG&E
- Nevada Irrigation District (NID)
- Waste Management
- Residential cable/internet/satellite
- Landline telephone (cell and long-distance service not accepted).
If the student is an unaccompanied youth as defined in 42 USC 11434A, a declaration of residency executed by the student will be required.
If the student is residing in the home of a caregiving adult within district boundaries, an affidavit executed by the caregiving adult in accordance with Family Code 6552 will be required.
If you are no longer planning on having your child attend Arete, please email Sarah at [email protected] so she can release their spots. Thank you!
Stay tuned for more news about garden work/harvest veggie days, summer library hours, and chicken work days. Here are some important dates for next year!
Dates for the 2023-2024 School Year
*Enrollment Meetings August 4-9
*New Parent Zoom Orientation- August 4- 9am
*New Parent Zoom Orientation- August 9- 1pm
*PD- August 10 and 11
*Ice Cream Social- Monday, August 14- 5:30pm
*Family Training- August 15- 9am
*Start Blended Middle School- August 15- 9am
*Office Hours- August 18-26
*NWEA/AR Testing-
-August 17
-August 21
-August 24
-August 28
*Start Resource Center- Aug 28- 4th-8th
and August 29- TK-3rd
*September 27- 5:30 Family Reading Night
*October 3 and 4- School Pictures
*December 6- Arete Christmas Party- 5:30
*February 7- 5:30 Family Math Night
*May 28- TK-3 Field Day
*May 29- 4-8th Field Day
*June 5- 5:30pm 8th Grade Promotion
We are so EXCITED for the adventure of a new school and hope you have an amazing summer!
If you received this via email, your child is accepted at Arete Charter Academy for the 2023-2024 school year. Their enrollment will be confirmed AFTER you complete the PowerSchool forms. We will assign Educational Advisors at the beginning of July and you will receive an email from them in mid-July to schedule your August Enrollment Meeting.