Summer Academy Dates

Many of you have inquired about the dates for our upcoming Summer Academy.  I commend you for proactive approach, and will provide all of the key dates below.  Please know that theses dates are subject to change.

1^st day of Summer Academy- Monday, June 30

5 and 6 grade college trip- Tuesday, August 5

7 and 8 grade college trip- Tuesday, August 5-7

Last day of Summer Academy- Grades 5 & 6 will have their final day on Wednesday, August 6

Grades 7 & 8 will end their summer academy upon their return on Thursday, August 7

Report Cards

Please continue to submit your scholar’s report cards.  The data we collect will be integral to working alongside families to put supports in place to improve our scholar outcomes. Thank you to all of the families and staff that have assisted us in the collection of 80% of our report cards to date.

Family Nights

Higher Achievement is committed to being a resource for our families.  While we work closely with scholars on a daily basis, periodically, we also engage families in learning opportunities aimed at empowering families dealing with challenges that are most commonly encountered by scholars/families in each grade.  Parent participation is strongly encouraged.  Families may also attend meetings for topics they would like to know more about, regardless of their scholar’s grade.  I hope to see all of you at our upcoming parent nights.

8^th Grade: This meeting will focus on the 9^th grade transition for families and scholars.  During this meeting we will provide all families with options for support for their scholar as they transition out of Higher Achievement, and into High School. This meeting will take place on March 18^th from 6:30-7:30pm

7^th Grade: This meeting will introduce families to the High School placement process.  During the meeting, families will also be informed about the upcoming 8^th grade transition requirements for their scholars.  It is our goal that families are aware of all of the resources provided to families, and expectations for families and scholars as they matriculate to 8^th grade. This meeting will take place on March 17^th from 5:30-7:30 pm.

6^th Grade: The 6^th grade meeting will focus on how to talk with your scholars about Higher Achievement, and how to support a healthy balance of activities while in Higher Achievement.  6th grade scholars will only get more active as they get older, during this transition many scholars experience decline in their interest in Higher Achievement in tandem with a strong desire to do something else.  This meeting will focus on how to talk openly with your scholar’s about Higher Achievement, and how to begin laying the foundation for expectations in regards to scholar’s grades.  This meeting will take place on  April 8^th from 6:30-7:30 pm

5^th Grade: This meeting will focus on supporting your scholars during their transitioning to middle school, and educating families about the middle school landscape for families dealing with middle school choice. This meeting will take place from 6:30-7:30 on  April 1^st from 6:30-7:30 pm

8th Grade Graduation requirements Update

As the 8^th grade scholars entered their final semester as Higher Achievement scholars, the staff has devised meaningful ways to engage the 8^th graders in the final home stretch.  Since January, the scholars self-selected into project groups and have been working diligently on each of their assigned projects.  As a result of this individualized planning, this 8^th grade class has been more active in the coordination of their 8^th grade graduation requirements. At the outset of the year these requirements were laid out for scholars and families, and I am happy to report that the scholars have done a great job thus far meeting those expectations.  The requirements are as follows.

All 8^th graders must:

-Complete Higher Achievement’s High School Placement programming (Everyone is Done.. Congratulations)

-Participate in a group volunteer opportunity (Tentatively March 15^th or April 5^th)

-Participate in a job shadowing day (Date TBD)

-Coordinate a Center event (Tentatively March 24-28)

Scholars have been working diligently on each of the projects and are in the midst of assigning tentative dates to each of the requirements listed above.  Please stay tuned for regular updates on each of the scholar requirements.

Literary Love Poetry Competition

The Literary Love Poetry Competition is one of the highlights of the year for Higher Achievement Scholars.  Each year 10-12 scholar poets are selected to read their poems to the Ward 6 Community at the Center level competition.  Two winning poets are selected from the participants to represent Ward 6 at the regional competition.  This year’s Literary Love Poetry Competition will occur on Tuesday February 11^th in the Cafeteria.  Currently we are in the final week of submissions for the scholars.  If you want to challenge your scholar to take advantage of this awesome opportunity please work with them to ensure they submit their poem by this Thursday, January 30^th.  We hope to see a lot more families out to support this event; you don’t need to bring anything, except your spirit!  Hope to see you there.

Thje Food Competition

Thank you to all of our Ward 6 families for supporting this event by ensuring that scholars were prepared for the food challenge.  This was the 1^st time we have attempted to incorporate this event into our After School Academy, and it was a tremendous hit; you should be able to see pictures from the event on the sidebar.  You can see a list of the winners for each of the categories below.

AND THE WINNERS ARE….

Best Overall: Talapia BLT, fruit salad and pasta salad

Mentors: Mr. Brady and Ms. Carolyn

Scholars: Akayla, Amiya Tucker, Destiny, Shanmesha, Zoe m., Steven, Cayla, Malik, D’Mario, Amiya Turner

Tastiest dish: Trifle

Mentors: Mr. Logan and Ms. Renee

Scholars: Diara, Nour, Emeril, Kennedi, Aaliyah

Most creative: Macaroni and Cheese (made with potatoes)

Mentor/special guest: Amelia

Scholars: Zoe, Keith, Noah

Healthiest Alternative: Fruit pizza

Mentors: Ms. Lindsay and Mr. Brent

Scholars: Colin, Darius, Phillip

Report Cards

2^nd quarter report cards will start to roll out this week; please be diligent and work to make sure I get your scholars report card over the next two weeks.  If we make our 90% collection benchmark, the scholar will be rewarded with a pizza party or extra recess, which they will certainly appreciate. 

In celebration of the 1^st half of the year, all scholars who received all A’s and B’s, for the 2^nd quarter will be invited to a celebratory dinner at my home (Date TBD); parents are invited as well.  Additionally, because we love to recognize effort, we allow scholars who didn’t meet the exact requirement to get recommendations from their teacher so they can still attend the dinner, and be celebrated for their effort. It’s a great tradition we began to recognize the hard work and effort of our Ward 6 families.