Rocklin Academy Wednesday Weekly

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ROCKLIN ACADEMY MEYERS STREET CHARTER RENEWAL TONIGHT 7:00 pm at the Rocklin Unified District Office REMINDER – The public hearing for the renewal of the Rocklin Academy at Meyers Street charter is tonight at the Rocklin Unified District Office. The District Office is located at 2615 Sierra Meadows Drive, Rocklin. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm. Please attend the hearing tonight as a silent show of support for your children and your school. Our work with the district regarding the renewal has been progressing well. We intend to make a short presentation about the wonderful accomplishments of Rocklin Academy at Meyers Street and answer any questions they may have. We will ask our supporters to stand or wave at the beginning of the presentation, but are not requesting any parents to speak. This is a public hearing only; there will not be any vote on the renewal petition tonight. As you know, Rocklin Academy at Meyers Street is one of the highest performing schools in the entire Placer/Sacramento region, with an API score of 956. The school has been recognized for its educational excellence, most recently as the recipient of the national Shirley Hord Learning Team Award in 2010. In May of 2010, Rocklin Academy was also recognized as a California Distinguished School by the California Department of Education. We are all very proud of the accomplishments of Rocklin Academy at Meyers Street, and have no doubt our school easily meets all the requirements for renewal. A copy of the renewal charter is on our website at: http://www.rocklinacademy.com/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=132593&type=d Thank you for your ongoing support of Rocklin Academy. David Patterson, Ed.D Robin Stout Superintendent Principal DATE Thursday 20 Picture Re-Take Day Cross Country Meet, William Jessup University Friday 21 Harvest Carnival, 5:30 pm, Multi-Purpose Room, Blacktop Saturday/Sunday 22/23 Have a Wonderful Weekend! Monday 24 MINIMUM DAY – 11:40 am Dismissal, Kindergarteners on Early Schedule Tuesday 25 Wednesday 26 Rocklin Academy Wednesday Weekly Robin Stout, Principal http://turnstone.rocklinacademy.com David Patterson, Ed. D, Superintendent Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Transcript of Rocklin Academy Wednesday Weekly

Page 1: Rocklin Academy Wednesday Weekly

ROCKLIN ACADEMY MEYERS STREET CHARTER RENEWAL TONIGHT 7:00 pm at the Rocklin Unified District Office

REMINDER – The public hearing for the renewal of the Rocklin Academy at Meyers Street

charter is tonight at the Rocklin Unified District Office. The District Office is located at 2615

Sierra Meadows Drive, Rocklin. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm.

Please attend the hearing tonight as a silent show of support for your children and your school.

Our work with the district regarding the renewal has been progressing well. We intend to make a

short presentation about the wonderful accomplishments of Rocklin Academy at Meyers Street

and answer any questions they may have. We will ask our supporters to stand or wave at the

beginning of the presentation, but are not requesting any parents to speak. This is a public

hearing only; there will not be any vote on the renewal petition tonight.

As you know, Rocklin Academy at Meyers Street is one of the highest performing schools in the

entire Placer/Sacramento region, with an API score of 956. The school has been recognized for

its educational excellence, most recently as the recipient of the national Shirley Hord Learning

Team Award in 2010. In May of 2010, Rocklin Academy was also recognized as a California

Distinguished School by the California Department of Education. We are all very proud of the

accomplishments of Rocklin Academy at Meyers Street, and have no doubt our school easily

meets all the requirements for renewal. A copy of the renewal charter is on our website at:

http://www.rocklinacademy.com/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=132593&type=d

Thank you for your ongoing support of Rocklin Academy.

David Patterson, Ed.D Robin Stout

Superintendent Principal

DATE

Thursday 20 Picture Re-Take Day Cross Country Meet, William Jessup University

Friday 21 Harvest Carnival, 5:30 pm, Multi-Purpose Room, Blacktop Saturday/Sunday 22/23 Have a Wonderful Weekend!

Monday 24 MINIMUM DAY – 11:40 am Dismissal, Kindergarteners on Early Schedule Tuesday 25

Wednesday 26

Rocklin Academy Wednesday Weekly

Robin Stout, Principal http://turnstone.rocklinacademy.com

David Patterson, Ed. D, Superintendent Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Page 2: Rocklin Academy Wednesday Weekly

2011-2012 SCHOOL-WIDE SMART GOALS

On Monday, Rocklin Academy Board of Directors approved the following School-Wide SMART Goals

for the 2011-2012 school year:

Academic Goals

By spring of 2012, 100% of Rocklin Academy students will score proficient or advanced on the

Literary Response and Analysis portion of the CST.

By spring of 2012, 100% of Rocklin Academy students will score proficient or advanced on the

Algebra and Functions portion of the CST.

The faculty identified these areas by looking at the CST scores as well as the CST Blueprint, which

provides the information on how much weight is given to each standard.

Perception Goals

By spring 2012, 80% of Rocklin Academy staff, parents, and students will respond positively to

survey questions regarding use and support of technology integration.

By spring 2012, 80% of Rocklin Academy staff, parents, and students will respond positively to

survey questions regarding Character Education.

Administration and PSP Presidents worked together to look at data from the 2010-2011 Parent

Survey. Through discussion around the data, several interesting observations were made:

95% Turnstone and 90% Meyers indicated Rocklin Academy is doing good or great in Core

Knowledge. This exceeded last year’s perception goal of 80%.

67% Turnstone and 49% of Meyers indicated Rocklin Academy is doing good or great in

integrating technology. This did not meet last year’s previous goal of 80%, however we did

improve by 10% from the previous year. There was consensus to continue this goal.

Number of respondents per campus: 85 – Turnstone, 44 – Meyers . There was some discussion

regarding the low number of respondents. A possible reason was the late administration of the

survey. It was discussed (and several comments support this) to administer a survey mid-year.

77% Turnstone and 74% of Meyers responded good or great in Character Education. PSP and

administration discussed some possible ideas to address this area. There was consensus to

identify this as a perception goal.

Survey results were included in Monday’s Board packet. The entire Board packet is available at our

website, www.rocklinacademy.com under the Board tab.

Administration will monitor and share progress toward these goals with the Board, staff, parents, and

students throughout the year.

HARVEST CARNIVAL THIS FRIDAY, 5:30 PM!! There will be a few new exciting changes to the carnival this year, like a

BBQ! Please review the information sheet and pre-order form at the bottom

of this document for all of the details.

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UPDATE FROM THE OCTOBER 17TH ROCKLIN ACADEMY

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

The Board of Directors had their regular monthly meeting on Monday, October 17th. The Board dealt

with a number of important issues. Some highlights are covered here.

SMART Goals: The Board ratified academic SMART goals and perception goals for Rocklin

Academy Turnstone and Meyers.

660 Menlo Construction Update: The Board received an update that Phase 2 of the

construction for the 660 Menlo site is ahead of schedule.

Volunteer Policy: The Board authorized administration to start the information and outreach

process for potential changes to our parent volunteer requirements. This issue came before

the Board in recognition that parents with students at multiple Rocklin Academy schools were

required to perform upwards of 60 hours service, which struck many as too high. Initial

proposals are to set a 45 volunteer hour requirement for a family with children at two Rocklin

Academy schools, instead of 30 hours at each. The draft proposal will also suggest guidelines

for the distribution of total hours between schools, and a single online system of reporting and

tracking hours. More information will be coming to you via the Wednesday Weekly as well as a

possible survey.

Authorization to Modify Western Sierra Charter to Include the Ability to Serve 6th

Grade: The Board authorized the administration to seek State Board approval to allow

Western Sierra the ability to change our current configuration serving grades 7-12, to a grade

6-12 configuration in the future. This issue was raised in part because Lincoln, Dry Creek and

Roseville middle schools are configured as grades 6-8, thus making transfer to Western Sierra

difficult for these parents. Adding 6th grade to Western Sierra would help provide a high-

quality middle school choice for regional parents and potentially increase our enrollment.

However, in discussing this item, board members were very clear that they were not

considering, and would not support removing 6th grade from Rocklin Academy Turnstone and

Meyers or moving 6th grade from Rocklin Academy sites. They were also very clear that any

consideration of adding 6th grade students to Western Sierra will include an extensive

information and outreach process. The action the Board took authorizing the administration to

seek charter modification was a necessary step with our state authorizer, which takes time

and simply gives us the ability to add an additional 6th grade class at Western Sierra. Even if

the state modifies our charter, the ultimate decision on whether to add 6th grade continues to

rest with our Board.

Transitional Kindergarten Program: The state has created a new Transitional Kindergarten

program. Offering a Transitional Kindergarten program is required of school districts and may

be required of charter schools. More information about the Transitional Kindergarten program

can be found at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/gs/em/kinderfaq.asp#E8. The Board has requested

that administration carefully monitor the voluntary/versus required status for charter schools

and continue to review program requirements.

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High School Graduation Requirements Modified: Our current high school graduation

requirements are among the highest in the state and as modified will continue to be so.

However, as students transferred to WSCA in the upper grades, we found that while they

passed the required courses to attend UC or CSU, our even higher graduation requirements

were adversely affecting their ability to graduate on time. So to address this concern, the

Board took action to modify the Science, Foreign Language and Fine Arts requirements,

allowing students the opportunity to take more electives. These changes may also require

approval by the State Board of Education.

Board meetings are open, public meetings and everyone is invited to attend. All Rocklin Academy

Board members are volunteers who donate thousands of hours annually on behalf of our schools. A

copy of the board agendas, the current board packet and the dates of all board meetings are available

on the website at

http://www.rocklinacademy.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=84750&type=d&termREC_ID=&pREC

_ID=159322&hideMenu=0

David Patterson, Ed.D

Superintendent

CONGRATULATIONS TAMMY O’BRIEN

– 10 YEARS AT ROCKLIN ACADEMY! Tammy O’Brien was recognized at a recent board meeting for her

10 years of service at Rocklin Academy. Tammy has been with

Rocklin Academy since our second year and her dedication to RA is

greatly appreciated.

RED RIBBON WEEK - VOLUNTEERS NEEDED This year’s topic is: “Too Smart to Start” Respect yourself, your body, your friends and family and YOUR

FUTURE! To help with Red Ribbon Week, please go to:

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/redribbon4.

Thank you in advance for your help!

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THANK YOU TO ALL THE JOGATHON PARTICIPANTS! Thank you to all our Jog-a-Thon participants for working so hard to get all those pledges!

Your pledge letters will be coming home soon with tax ID information so you may start collecting

and submitting your pledge donations.

PHOTOGRAPHER NEEDED AT WSCA Your talent is needed! Western Sierra needs a videographer for the upcoming Chinese

Inauguration Ceremony. The event is taking place on October 28th and the

photographer would need to be on-site at Western Sierra from 3:30 pm until 5:30 pm. If you are

interested, please contact Nicole Alldredge at [email protected].

NEW BOOSTER SEAT LAW Governor Jerry Brown recently signed legislation that experts say will save lives and

prevent injuries to our most precious passengers – our children. It requires that children

under 8 years old remain in booster seats, unless they are 4 foot 9 inches tall. This new law

will take effect January 1, 2012, and will be a requirement for all Rocklin Academy field trips. If your

child is under 8 years old, or under 4 foot 9 inches tall, please be sure to drop off a booster seat

for him/her for all field trips and be sure to label it with their name. While this is not a

requirement until January, we would like to start using booster seats for these students as soon as

possible. Thank you!

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY! Dr. Patterson is looking for a volunteer to assist in the monitoring of the Rocklin Unified

board meetings and the Advisory Committee on Charter Schools online agendas. The upside

is that this work can be done from home and on your own schedule. Consistency is critical

and will need to be done over the course of year. It is possible this volunteer will log more than 30

hours. This work is best suited for someone who is familiar with the agendas of governmental

organizations, and a background in education is also helpful. If you are interested, please contact

Nicole Alldredge at [email protected] indicating your interest and your relevant

background.

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SIBLINGS OF ENROLLED ROCKLIN ACADEMY AND

WESTERN SIERRA STUDENTS For planning purposes, it is extremely important that we determine the number of

Kindergarten siblings who will be applying to Rocklin Academy. If you have a child who will be entering

Kindergarten for the 2012-13 school year (and is a sibling of a Rocklin Academy or Western Sierra

currently enrolled student), please reply no later than Friday, October 24, 2011. If we do not

receive your email by this deadline, we will not be able to include your student in our planning. Please

see the memorandum at the end of this newsletter for how to reply and for more information.

ROCKLIN ACADEMY YEARBOOKS! DON’T LET YOUR CHILD MISS OUT ON THEIR GRADE SCHOOL MEMORIES....

ORDER A RA YEARBOOK!

Yearbook order forms came home last week in your Wednesday Family Folder. The prices for a

yearbook are:

First book purchased: $19.00

Each additional sibling book: $14.00 each

Yearbook prices will go up after winter break!

The yearbook will be a full color book with 80 pages of memories including portraits, class

montages, and fun event photos. Extra order forms are in the office. Any questions? Please

contact Marcelino Navarro at [email protected] or 916-952-3976.

The Book Fair is here…

And it’s out of this world!

Monday, October 17 ~ Friday, October 21 Tuesday thru Friday 10 – 3:30

Family Nights Monday, October 17 ~ 5:00 – 7:00 pm

Friday, October 21 ~ 5:30 – 7:00 pm during the RA Harvest Carnival

We are still looking for volunteers. If you are interested, please contact the library

at 632-6560 or Mrs. Wilson at [email protected]

Page 7: Rocklin Academy Wednesday Weekly

BOX TOPS, CAMPBELL’S LABELS FOR EDUCATION

& ESCRIP Earn a treat for your class and money for your school. The first trimester contest is on!

Submit your Box Tops in a Ziploc bag with the number of Box Tops included, student name, and

teacher clearly marked on the bag. The class that submits the most Box Tops, now through October

27th, will earn a treat. Please turn in all Box Tops to the office or to the collection box in your

classroom.

Other ways to help the school earn money or points: Campbell’s Soup labels - start peeling those labels and group them

by point value in separate bags and submit them to the office. The

points can be redeemed for items such as PE equipment, musical

instruments, school supplies, and much, much more. Please make sure

to include the UPC code when you are peeling the labels. To find all

the participating products please visit this website:

http://www.labelsforeducation.com.

Escrip Program - Also, register your existing grocery club cards, debit and/or credit cards with the

escrip program and earn merchant donations for the school. Every month, Rocklin Academy will

receive the contributions made on behalf of all the participants. It is easy to register – go to

www.escrip.com. Questions? Contact Cory at [email protected].

RECYCLING LASER CARTRIDGES / CELL PHONES Don’t forget to turn in your old laser cartridges and cell phones. Rocklin Academy

can turn them in for money! They can be dropped off anytime in the school

office. Thank you!

SAVE THE DATE! On Friday, October 28th at 4 p.m., the official Confucius Classroom Inauguration

Ceremony will be held at Western Sierra. All families are welcome to join us for

food and entertainment as we officially launch our Chinese program. Western Sierra

is excited to be the first school in the Sacramento area to be named as a Confucius

Institute Classroom. If you are interested in helping with the organization of this event, please

contact Nicole Alldredge at [email protected]. See the attached flyer for more

details.

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VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES! We need help with:

Playground/Lunch Volunteers: 11:35 – 1:15 / Monday – Friday (Any of these days)

Email Tammy O’Brien at [email protected] if you need more information or can help with

any of these.

CURRENT EMAIL ADDRESSES Please keep your email address(es) current with the RA office so we may keep you

informed of school events and information. Email is our primary way of

communicating with our families, so it is critical to keep your email address

updated. Please email Andrea Thompson at [email protected] if you have any changes.

Thank you!

WORKSHOP ON PARENTING GIFTED CHILDREN If you are a parent of a student that has been identified as G.A.T.E. (Gifted And

Talented Education), you may want to attend this in-depth workshop on parenting

gifted children on November 12th. Please see the flyer at the end of the newsletter for details.

Page 9: Rocklin Academy Wednesday Weekly

Harvest Carnival

OCTOBER 21st 5:30-8:30 P.M.

It’s time for Rocklin Academy’s Annual Harvest Carnival! Goody bags will be distributed at the door.

Come have a fabulous time at the carnival with other Rocklin Academy families. RAPSP will be covering

the expense of the carnival games, but it is necessary to charge a small fee for some items.

Come out and join us! We’ll be featuring these events… free of charge!

Entertainment offered for a small fee

Two Large Inflatables Haunted Maze Silly Picture Booth

Wristbands for all-access are $5 if orders are received

by Monday October 17th, or at the event for $7.

Dinosaur Dig Pick My Pocket Bottle Ring Toss

Cupcake Walk Duck Pond Soccer Kick

Donut on a String Dum Dum Pull Putt Putt Golf

Harvest Carnival Advanced Meal Purchase

Pre-order your onsite BBQ’d meal sponsored by Lazercraze and the 5th

Grade!

* Proceeds benefit the 5th

grade Age of Sail fieldtrip. *

Oldest Child’s Name:_________________________ Teacher:______________________

Hamburger Meal with chips, fruit and drink…..…….…………Qty ________ x $5.00 = $ ____________

Cheeseburger Meal with chips, fruit and drink..…….…………Qty ________ x $5.00 = $ ____________

Hot Dog Meal with chips, fruit and drink ……………….…….Qty ________ x $4.00 = $ ____________

Grilled Cheese Meal with chips, fruit and drink ..……….…….Qty ________ x $4.00 = $ ____________

Picture Booth Tickets...Qty ________ x $2.00 = $ ____________

RAPSP Wristbands…..Qty ________ x $5.00 = $ ____________

Make checks payable to: RAPSP and return this form to the office by Monday October 17th. All meals will go up

in price by $1.00 if purchased the night of the event. TOTAL: $____________

A gourmet goodie bar will be available with items including full size candy bars, pumpkin crispy treats,

chocolate dipped s’mores, monster minicakes and more.

And $ 2.50 Between $0.50 Available the night of the carnival

Page 10: Rocklin Academy Wednesday Weekly

DATE: October 10, 2011

TO: Rocklin Academy and Western Sierra Parents with Incoming Kindergarten Siblings for

2012-13.

FROM: David Patterson, Superintendent

Robin Stout, Principal

Rocklin Academy’s K-6 open enrollment period for the 2012-13 school year will begin in early December. Siblings

of currently-enrolled Rocklin Academy and Western Sierra students receive a sibling preference at Rocklin

Academy.

A new California law has been implemented regarding eligible age to enter Kindergarten. For 2012-13, your child must turn 5 years old on or before November 1, 2012 to be eligible for traditional Kindergarten in 2012-13. For those children who turn 5 years old between November 2 and December 2, 2012, we are beginning discussions to determine if it is feasible to offer a “transitional” Kindergarten program at Rocklin Academy. For those children who turn 5 between December 3 and December 31, 2012, parents are required to wait to enroll their child until 2013-14. (The decision to offer a transitional Kindergarten program resides with the Rocklin Academy Board of Directors. It is also dependent on the availability of facilities and related issues. The information we are requesting from you will assist the Board in their consideration of this program.)

For planning purposes, it is extremely important that we determine the number of Kindergarten siblings who will

be applying to Rocklin Academy. If you have a child who will be entering Kindergarten for the 2012-13 school

year (and is a sibling of a Rocklin Academy or Western Sierra currently enrolled student), please reply no later than Friday, October 24, 2011. If we do not receive your email by this deadline, we will not be able to

include your student in our planning.

You will need to complete the 2012-13 Kindergarten initial application (available online in early December) with a photocopy of your child’s birth certificate and enrollment packet (mailed to you in the Spring of 2012).

If you have a sibling(s) already on the Turnstone or Meyers 2011-12 waiting list for grades K-5, you will receive

notification in late November to reapply to remain on the 2012-13 Turnstone or Meyers waiting list for Grades

1-6. When two or more siblings are on a waiting list for the same grade, the date/time of the sibling’s “original”

application will be used to determine sibling ranking on the 2012-2013 waiting list.

If you have any questions, please contact Donna Walsh, Registrar at (916) 778-4544, extension 703, or by email

[email protected].

Thank you!

Please email [email protected]

- Kindergartener’s Legal Name as recorded on their certified birth certificate

- Campus Your Kindergarten Sibling Will Attend--Turnstone or Meyers. Note:

Kindergarten sibling preference applies only to the campus where the enrolled student is attending. - Kindergartener’s Date of Birth

- Name/Grade/Campus of Currently Enrolled Student

*Your currently-enrolled Rocklin Academy/Western Sierra student must attend the 2012-13

school year or Kindergarten sibling preference will be forfeited.

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