May 21, 2012
Dear Vision Charter School Parents and Students,
I want to personally thank the calendar committee for volunteering hours to review the data gathered from the calendar survey in addition to learning about school funding and statutes regarding required instructional hours for all grade levels and semester classes. The committee was made up of staff members, a board representative, PFA members, middle and high school student government representatives, and two student representatives from each 7th -11th grade. The committee also reviewed local school district calendars, the needs of our seniors and dual credit students, and considered the input of the families gathered through the survey. The end result is the attached calendar which was adopted by the board on May 10, 2012.
In addition, after careful consideration, the board of Vision Charter School has approved the request of the staff to have early release on Wednesdays throughout three quarters of the school year. Please view the attached calendar for specific early release days.
The goal of early release Wednesdays is to increase the collaboration of staff members with a focus on increased alignment in instruction and assessment as we move towards implementing the new College and Career Common Core Standards. We will be rewriting the curriculum in Language Arts, Reading, and Math to align with these standards in addition to alignment with the charter. We will also focus on effectively integrating the use of technology in instruction to increase engagement and the academic success of all students. This collaboration time will allow us to continue to strengthen our programs and procedures to ensure the success of every student! Early release Wednesdays will begin on September 19th and end on April 3rd.
In the event that the early release Wednesdays will cause a financial hardship for your family due to work schedules, please contact me via e-mail at wendyroldenkamp@msn.com. We will offer a limited number of spots for after school homework club and adventure club based on need and timeliness of the request. Please note on the request your specific situation. In the event that we have a large number of requests, we will have to create an inexpensive “pay to stay” option for parents.
I am pleased to announce the preliminary ISAT indexed scores with 94% of all students scoring at or above grade level in the area of Language Arts. In area of Math, 95% are scoring at or above grade level! In the area of Reading, 96% are scoring at or above grade level. In the area of Science, 91% are scoring at or above grade level. I am especially excited about the fact that in the area of Reading 60.5% of all students are ADVANCED!
In K-3rd grade, 90% of all students are reading at grade level or above based on the Idaho Reading Indicator.
The board and staff of Vision Charter School are excited for the ground breaking for Phase One of the permanent building set to occur at the beginning of September 2012! I hope you will be joining us for this long awaited special day. We will send out additional information in early August so that you can save the day! This new facility will house a FULL GYM, TECHNOLOGY LAB, LIBRARY AND MEDIA CENTER, SCIENCE LABS, STAGE FOR MUSIC AND DRAMA, warming kitchen, space for a cafeteria, secondary classrooms, and additional parking, bus and car drop off circle, and the new playground site!
I look forward to seeing you all at the Meet the Teacher Events scheduled for August 20, 2012. Please watch the newsletter, facebook, and the website for details.
If you have any additional questions, please contact me at wendyroldenkamp@msn.comor call the school at 455-9220. You may also call me on my cell phone at 919-9636.
Sincerely,
Wendy OldenKamp, Administrator
