Hello all,

*Reminder, this Wednesday is our Annual Family Christmas Party! This is one of my favorite nights of the year! This community event is open to ALL Arete Families! On Wednesday, December 6 from 4:30 to 5:20 AND 5:30-6:20pm we are inviting families to come join in a Christmas craft together (making wooden snowpeople) while we listen to Christmas music and enjoy potluck snacks/treats. Local artist, Susie Bell, will be leading our painting activity! Arete will provide juice and paper products and we are asking families to please bring a food item to share. (If your item needs bowls or silverware, please bring those). Enrollment is capped at 15 families. When you sign up, please select ONE slot for your family. If slots fill up and you still want to attend, please email me to be added to the waiting list. Please give at least 24 hours for any cancellations. All families are invited as this is an evening event open to the community. We still have a few spots! Arete Christmas Celebrations

*If you have taken pictures of field trips or other fun school events and want to submit them for the yearbook, upload here. (FYI, this link is always at the bottom of the page)

*We also have some fun dress up days coming planned by our awesome Leadership Class. (We are telling you now even though they don’t start until next week so you can start planning ahead!)

*Tuesday, December 12- Dress like a Grinch or wear something green.

*Thursday, December 14- Ugly Christmas sweaters

*Monday, December 18- Christmas colors: red, green, and gold.

*Tuesday, December 19-  Tree Topper Day: wear a Christmas hat or any festive hat 

*Wednesday, December 20- PJ Day (because this is the day the 4-8th grade hybrid kids have their party)

*Thursday, December 21-  PJ Day

*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.

*Click here

*Click the GREEN Sign In at the bottom. (No need to change anything on the page)

*Select GRADE 3-8th.

*Select any of the Smarter Balanced Practice Tests.

*After you have tried all of those, Click​ Smarter Balanced Training Tests

*Click the Green SELECT at the bottom.

*Click the Green Begin Test Now

 *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*Here is the link for 

*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.

*According to WHO (World Health Organization), by 2020 depression will be second to heart disease as leading cause of disability.

*Numerous studies link “hypertexting”(over 120 daily texts) and “hypernetworking”(over 3 daily hrs. social media) with behavioral and psychological problems.

*Resources for Digital Health for Adults: https://justinpatchin.com/

*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

*2023-2024 Field Trips- Sign up here

Arete Christmas Events

*Here is the link for Winter Enrichments:

Arete Winter Enrichments November 2023 - February 2024

*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

*December 4- Last day to complete Dibels, NWEA Math and STAR AR Testing

*December 5 Art Docent

*December 6 Art Docent

*December Culinary Gingerbread w/Whipped Cream

*December 6 Art Christmas Crafts

*December 6- Arete Christmas Party- 5:30

*December 7 Culinary Holiday Brioche Art

*December 8 Art Tea Towels Gift

*December 8 Friday Fun