21 Aug 2023

Superintendent's Office

 Dear ACS Community,

At this point, I hope you have had the opportunity to meet our Elementary Principal, Eric Crabtree; our secondary principal, Dr. Tim Warren; and our Director of Learning and Teaching, Dr. Ann Peterson. 

If you did not meet them at the back-to-school night, I hope you will see them greeting students at the door.  As we have added a new senior academic leader, I recognize that it is important to clarify communication procedures.  As always, it is essential to direct questions to whomever is closest to the topic at hand.  This often starts with the classroom teacher.  Questions about the whole Elementary School should still be directed to the Elementary Principal, and questions about the whole Secondary School should still go to the Secondary Principal.  Doctor Peterson's role is a whole-school role focused on teacher professional development, as well as improving and aligning our K-12 curriculum.  You will soon have opportunities to engage with her around these topics in parent meetings.  

Today, I would also like to add another installment to my descriptions of our summer work on the school physical plant.  In particular, I would like to talk about an improvement that you will never see.  After many years of ad-hoc repairs and extensions, the plumbing in our elementary school was in desperate need of 

renovation.  I think the only way to appreciate the extent of the renovation and repair that we did in this area is to examine a few of the attached photographs.  You will notice that floors, walkways and grassy areas all had to be opened in order to accommodate the extensive work to replace large pipes.  While this work is now covered with dirt, it is not unimportant.  It was critical to maintain the health and safety of our campus.  In addition, water leakage was beginning to cause subsidence in our buildings.  Thankfully, these problems are now corrected, and our systems have been brought up to a high standard.  Again, we appreciate the timely tuition and fee payments that have allowed us to do these necessary improvements.


Have a great week ahead.

Yours,

Andrew



Estimada Comunidad de ACS,

En este momento, espero que hayan tenido la oportunidad de conocer a nuestro director de primaria, Eric Crabtree; nuestro director de secundaria, el Dr. Tim Warren; y nuestra Directora de Aprendizaje y Enseñanza, la Dra. Ann Peterson.

Si no los conoció en la noche de regreso a clases, espero que los vea saludando a los estudiantes en la puerta. Como hemos agregado un nuevo líder académico senior, reconozco que es importante aclarar los procedimientos de comunicación. Como siempre, es fundamental dirigir las preguntas a quien esté más cerca del tema en cuestión. Esto a menudo comienza con el profesor del salón de clases. Todas las preguntas sobre primaria, aún deben dirigirse al director de primaria, y las preguntas sobre secundaria aún deben dirigirse al director de secundaria. El papel de la Doctora Peterson es un papel de todo el colegio centrado en el desarrollo profesional de los profesores, así como en mejorar y alinear nuestro plan de estudios desde Kinder hasta el grado 12.  Pronto tendrán la oportunidad de hablar con ella sobre estos temas en las reuniones de padres.

Hoy, también me gustaría agregar una entrega más a mis descripciones de nuestro trabajo de verano en la planta física de la escuela. En particular, me gustaría hablar sobre una mejora que nunca verán. Después de muchos años de reparaciones y ampliaciones ad hoc, la plomería de primaria necesitaba desesperadamente ser renovada.  Creo que la única manera de apreciar el alcance de la renovación y reparación que hicimos en esta área es examinando algunas de las fotografías adjuntas. Notarán que los pisos, los pasillos y las áreas verdes tuvieron que abrirse para acomodar el extenso trabajo para reemplazar las tuberías grandes. Si bien este trabajo ahora está cubierto de tierra, no deja de ser importante.  Era fundamental mantener la salud y la seguridad de nuestro campus. Además, las fugas de agua comenzaban a provocar hundimientos en nuestros edificios. Afortunadamente, estos problemas ahora se corrigieron y nuestros sistemas se han actualizado a un alto nivel. Una vez más, apreciamos los pagos oportunos de la matrícula y las cuotas que nos han permitido hacer estas mejoras necesarias.

Que tengan una gran semana.

Atentamente,

Andrew

Urgent Action Items

  • Tuesdays@8:00-8:45 – Elementary library open for parents
  • 23 Aug – Secondary School Awards

ACS Calendar

  • Tue – ILT
  • Wed – Secondary Awards; PD
  • Sat – New Family Welcome (11AM-1PM)

Elementary School

Dear ACS Elementary Parents,

I want to thank you again for coming to our Back to School Night last Monday. It was a thrill to see so many engaged parents here on campus. We are thankful for your time and participation. 

Our first whole week of school was a great success! We are off and running on what is sure to be a fantastic school year for the ACS Community! Today we had our first Monday Morning Meeting (MMM) and it was a great success. It was so fun to see our students coming together in our Auditorium as a community. Below you will find some exciting news for the week:

Library Open on Tuesday AM for Parents: Starting tomorrow, the Elementary Library will be open every Tuesday morning from 8.00 to 8.45 am for parents to come and check-out books. You may enter the library with your child but will have to send them off at 8:15 sharp to be in class on time, and then you can stay to finish browsing and check out the books you have chosen. For child protection purposes, we ask that when you come on campus you go directly to the library, and use adult-only bathrooms while here. Thanks!

ECA Sign Ups Out Today: Watch for news & sign-up links this afternoon on Class Dojo! We are so excited about this Semester's offerings! Thank you to Ms. De for her leadership of our great ECA program!

That's all from the elementary school today - we wish you and your families a wonderful week!



Sincerely,

Eric Crabtree
Elementary Principal

Secondary School

Dear Parents,

It was great to see so many of you last week at Back-to-School Night. Effective learning is the result of a strong partnership between teachers, students, and parents. Your commitment and support for your child's learning is critical, and getting to know their teachers is an important first step. As the year progresses, please contact teachers directly with any specific questions about your child's learning needs, assignments, or classroom activities. Thank you for your efforts to develop that partnership and thank you in advance for your commitment throughout the coming year.

Regular attendance at school also is important for learning. Please plan appointments and trips around the school calendar. While it is possible for some work to be made up, important learning happens in the classroom every day, and that in-class learning cannot be made up. If an absence is unavoidable, be sure that your child is in contact with his or her teachers and monitors class progress through Google Classroom. Please notify Mariel Ballesteros by phone or email for any absences.

Classroom Without Walls is coming October 2-6. CWW is an essential part of the ACS learning experience, and all grade 6-12 students are expected to participate. Grade level 3-5 day trips are being planned to provide experiential learning opportunities that will expand on regular in-class academic, social, and emotional learning content. For those unable to travel, a local daytime option will be available. Details are coming soon.