Author: Marsh Family (Dell)

The Shooting STAR

Sarasota Academy of the Arts

October 5, 2015

2015 - 2016, Volume 3, Issue 7

Principal’s Corner

This week begins our fall presentations by the chorus groups with the first show being Monday evening at the Glenridge Performing Arts Center. The kindergartners and first/second graders will be presenting their new shows for parents and friends beginning at 6:00 PM. We hope to see many of you there. The week continues with an emphasis on the arts. Wednesday the Kindergarten through 5th grade classes will visit the Florida Studio Theatre for a presentation of Rumpelstiltskin. This is the first of three plays they will see relating to the "Under Six" Write a Play program. On Thursday the 4th and 5th graders will attend the Sarasota Orchestra through a grant from the Arts Council. Then Friday evening (4:00 PM - 6:00 PM) many of the students will take part in the Hispanic Heritage Fair featuring their dance, music, and art. The video team will be recording the Monday and Friday evening productions. Last Friday we had the first SAA Newscast shared with all of the classrooms from our new video production lab. Students will hear updates on the weather, sports, and school events as well as interview on a special topic on Friday and Monday of every week. We hope to start sending it out to parents as well in the near future. This will be one more way of getting the word out to parents about what is happening at SAA. I want to acknowledge and thank the parents who came out last Wednesday for the Back to School Night for middle school. The teachers shared the expectations relating to their classes and explained how technology fits into the lesson presentations and assessments. Classes are definitely different from when parents were in middle school and they continue to change on many fronts. We would have liked to have more parents in attendance because you need to know what is going on. If you are not checking grades on the parent portal, you should set up your access as soon as possible. Remember second semester, report cards will not be issued as hard copies - they will be visible through the portal. Mr. Thomason, our IT coordinator, is teaching the students how to use the tablets and computers to collaborate with their peers and how to send assignments to the teachers digitally. Hopefully, this will help to eliminate the " I forgot my paper at home" response to assignments and make it easier for students to keep up when they are absent. Most assignments the teachers make are available through the website or class subject app. Almost every student has access to an i-Ready account for math and reading as well as the textbooks. Students are taking math and reading tests online from fourth grade through eighth grade as this will help them become more familiar with the online tools and give us current data so we can step in and remediate whenever necessary. As noted on the SAA website, the October Governing Board meeting is Monday, October 5 at 8:10 in the front art room. The October PTO meeting is Tuesday, October 13 after the Book Fair and the October SAC meeting is Wednesday, October 14 at 4:15 PM in the administration building. These are all open meetings. Have a great week! Please call the office if we can help you in any way. Check the calendar for other upcoming events.
Cecilia Blankenship, Principal
Congratulations to the girls' volleyball team. They had their first win last Thursday! Have a wonderful week! Cecilia Blankenship Principal

Upcoming Dates:
Be sure to check the SAA Calendar on the school website frequently as that has the most current information!
Monday - 10/5/15 -SAA Board Meeting at 8:00am (Open to the public) - Student Council Meeting @ 4:00pm - K - 2nd Grade Fall Follies (Glenridge @ 6:00pm) Tuesday - 10/6/15 - Run Club @ 4:20pm - Girls Volleyball SAA vs. Palmetto Charger @ 5:00pm Wednesday - 10/7/15 - FST Field Trip (K - 5th grade) - Advanced Chorus Tap Class at 4:15pm Thursday - 10/8/15 - 4th & 5th Grade Field Trip @ 9:30am - Run Club @ 4:20pm Friday - 10/9/15 - Hispanic Heritage Day @ 4:30pm Saturday - 10/10/15 - Broken Egg Fundraiser

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2015 - 2016
Volume 3, Issue 7
October 5, 2015

Arts in Education
We are very excited to have received a grant from EdExploreSRQ, a partnership between the Community Foundation of Sarasota County and the Sarasota County Schools. This grant will provide an arts integration experience for our kindergarten, 1st and 2nd graders. On October 14, Deborah Lombard from Shape Shifters Lab will come to teach a dance and math integrated lesson. Using arts integration, our students will learn about shapes, forms and problem solving. Our students will experience the many connections between dance, movement and math!
Hispanic Fair
Friday, October 9, 2015 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Please join us in celebrating the cultural diversity of the Spanish-speaking world. Students in all grades have prepared dances, art projects, reports or other wonderful examples depicting the rich Hispanic culture.

Sarasota Academy of the Arts

THE Shooting Star

October 13th:
We need lots of help during our upcoming book fair with set up (October 12th) and all day of the book fair (October 13th). Can you lend a few hours to volunteer and help the students select their books and at the check out table? The book fair is open on October 13th from 8 AM to 6 PM. Please remember that you will need to be an approved volunteer for the 2015 -2016 school year. If you haven't already done so, please stop in the office and apply to become a volunteer or reactivate your volunteer account. Signing up to help is easy . . .just go to the Volunteer Spot link http://vols.pt/Wz2tcj and select a time slot that works for you. Thank you in advance to whomever can help out!

Kudos to Rachael Gagne (5th Grade) for collecting $162.00 in cash for donations and all these towels, treats and toys for the humane society for her 10th birthday!