Sunday, November 26 Update
Hello all,
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! As many of you have probably heard, my son was home from college for the first time in three months (he has a really good job now working with students who have special needs that makes time off work tricky) so we were over the moon just getting to look at him! This having kids away at college thing is hard! Also, we celebrated my daughter turning 18. She was born a micro preemie at 25 weeks, weighing 1 lb and 12 oz. She is a living and breathing miracle and reaching this milestone was sweet and emotional for our family. She is a senior in high school who also works with kiddos. I am writing this the day before Thanksgiving and reflecting on all that we have to be grateful. That brings me to you all. We are so thankful for our staff, students, and families. Every single member of our staff loves kids, believes in them, and wants them to do well. I am so privileged to spend my days with them. Our kiddos are kind and sweet. They interact on campus with kids of different ages and backgrounds and easily make friends and include each other. Some of you we don’t see on campus as often, but when you come through the doors with a smile on your faces, we are so happy to see you and you are like a breath of fresh air. We are so thankful for our families. You are kind when you come on to campus and in your emails. You trust us to be part of your children’s educational journey and that is a job that we take very seriously. Thank you!
Last week on campus we started doing some practice CAASP testing. One might think the kiddos would not enjoy this, but they were thankful that they got to participate in this because they could ask questions and gain practice in logging in and taking the tests without feeling any pressure. In January, we will be offering opportunities on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays for kiddos who are typically off campus to come in and have access to this same practice. We encourage you to take us up on this and give your kiddos the chance to see what kids of questions are on the test, to practice logging in and typing and using the tools within the test portal. Below is a link that parents can use at home to do some more limited test practice. CAASP Testing Practice
If you have not completed the California Healthy Kids Parent Survey, please do so now. We have had 15 of about 150 families complete it, which is not considered a wide enough pool to give us a truly representative survey. We use this information to guide our school and plan our LCAP. The last day to complete the survey is December 9. https://wested.ugam-apps.com/wested/ts/tr8l
This week we finish Winter Assessments. Please come to the date you signed up for. 2nd-8th Grade Winter NWEA Math and AR Reading Assessments 2023-24
Free Event for Parents Brain Balance (Click here to sign up)Healthy Screen Habits for Kids and TeensDate: Thursday, December 7th, 2023 Time: 11:30 AM PTJoin us for an important conversation on creating healthy screen habits for kids and teens! Attend this live conversation with Dr. Rebecca Jackson, Chief Programs Officer of Brain Balance, and Nicole Lawson, internationally recognized digital wellness expert and founder of Screen Time Clinic®. Nicole brings over 20 years of teaching experience and a personal journey of helping her own son overcome gaming addiction, providing a unique perspective to the discussion. Don't miss this chance to gain insights, actionable steps, and personalized guidance from experts who understand the challenges faced by parents in today's digital age.What You'll Learn
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*Here is the link for Arete Christmas Events
*Here is the link for Winter Enrichments:
Arete Winter Enrichments November 2023 - February 2024
*California Healthy Kids Survey- It is that time of year again! The survey is administered to all parents and staff and students at grades five-eight. It enables schools and communities to collect and analyze data regarding local youth health risks and behaviors, school connectedness, school climate, protective factors, and school violence. The anonymous survey helps us make decisions for our school plan. Please complete by Friday, December 8th. We will be administering to students at school during the Blended Middle School program or when they are on campus for Winter Testing. We must have a permission form for 5th and 6th grades to complete. If parents of 7th and 8th graders do not want their student to participate, please email me at [email protected] to opt out.
5th and 6th grade students – https://wested.ugam-apps.com/wested/ts/f3qa
7th and 8th grade students- https://wested.ugam-apps.com/wested/ts/f3qa
Parent – https://wested.ugam-apps.com/wested/ts/tr8l
*Typing Practice
Most of you know that we are struggling at Arete to show progress from year to year on CAASP testing (which is one of the assessments used to renew our charter petition every five years) as well as NWEA math and Star AR. As we analyze why this is occurring, it is becoming apparent that some of it may have to do with many of our students having a lack of access to typing practice. We love that families closely monitor their children’s screen time, and are hoping that you might consider having your child do some daily or a few times a week typing practice. Students in public school generally start practicing typing a few times a week starting in second grade.
These programs will teach your kiddos where to place their fingers for typing.
Here's the link to Typing Pal's school edition https://www.typingpal.com/en/school-edition
Email [email protected] to have her set up a free account for your kiddo!
Here's Dance Mat Typing https://www.dancemattypingguide.com/
There is also ed club https://www.edclub.com/ Which is a lot like Typing Pal- you'll have to pay to keep track of your progress
Then there are free typing games https://www.typing.com/student/games But these don't really focus on where to place your fingers
These links are also at arete.prsd.us under Student Links.
*April 9 and 10 Arete Student Showcase- Similar to our STEAM Showcase last year- we are inviting ALL students to display projects they work on during the year. Please drop off projects on April 4, 5, or 7 for us to create the display. Then come back on April 9/10 at 9am to stand by your project. Classes and other interested adults are invited to view the displays starting at 9:15. We are telling you now so you can save projects you can complete during the year. Projects can be submitted by any Arete student!
*Chess Club is back at Arete! It runs every other week at 12pm in Room 1. Check arete.prsd.us for specific dates.
*PRSD is focusing on reducing Tech Addiction in Children and building pathways for Digital Health. Each week I will share a NEW tidbit about this or how to to reduce screen time for kids who struggle with this.
*Extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and ISIS are targeting lonely, alienated teens for recruitment into their organizations via gaming, Facebook or You Tube platforms. The FBI and the Pentagon have both begun monitoring various sites that are being used for such recruitment
purposes.
*We’re the most digitally and social media connected society ever-1.23 billion are onFacebook—yet depression and mental health diagnosis are skyrocketing.
*Resources for Digital Health for Adults:
https://www.screenagersmovie.com/blog
*Our Leadership class in the Blended Middle School is requesting your input on what you would like them to work on this year. They are an awesome team of 6th-8th graders so please keep that in mind! Arete Leadership Survey
*Want to Sign Up For the Resource Center- do so here
*Fall Enrichments- Sign up here
*2023-2024 Field Trips- Sign up here
*Have Photos For the Yearbook? Upload here
Want to join Arete’s Private Family Group on Facebook- do so here. Arete Charter Academy Family Group
*Want to see dates for the entire year? Click here
Dates for the 2023-2024 School Year
*November 27 NWEA Testing 9:15-12
*November 29 Culinary Gourmet Mac & Cheese
*November 29 Sculpty Gifts/Toys/Creatures
*November 29 Culinary Holiday Fudge w/Peppermint Top
*November 30 Field Trip The Nutcracker @ Don Baggett Theatre 8:45
*November 30 NWEA Testing 9:15-12
*November 30 Culinary holiday fudge w/Peppermint Top
*November 30 Sculpty gifts/Toys/Creatures
*December 1 NWEA Testing 9:15-12
*December 1 - Field Trip @ Crocker Art Museum 11-12
*December 1 Art Class Christmas Countdown
*December 1 Friday Fun Day