August News Letter
August 28, 2024
The first few weeks have flown by! All of our young scholars and educators have settled into their routines and core instruction is going strong. Our educators are working hard to get beginning of year assessments completed, so they can see where all students are, and address students at their level. Our teachers are doing a great job creating incredible learning opportunities and experiences for all of our students, while building a sense of community in their classrooms and beyond.
We look forward to welcoming all our families on campus for Open House on September 19th, so we can showcase what we have been doing with our students so far and get you those reunification cards that the news and emails have been talking about. Thank you so much for abiding by our pick up and drop off procedures. We have been able to greatly reduce the amount of time it takes for these processes with your help. Please make sure that you have a sign with your child’s name, grade, and teacher visible on your dash until your child is in your car. We look at these signs throughout the line and call for your child several times, this helps us ensure your child is ready for you by the time you pull up to the curb. Please remember to be courteous to other drivers and our staff members. We are all working together. We understand that it may not be the most convenient process for everyone, but it is the only way we can assure safety to the best of our ability.
We are looking forward to a wonderful September of learning and hope to cultivate the best educational partnerships with all of you, as we continue to develop the next generation of leaders as learners! Please never hesitate to reach out to us with anything.
Your partners in education,
Shelby Sanchez- Principal (Sanchez_shel@aps.edu)
Sara Smith- Assistant Principal (smith_sar@aps.edu)
PTA: We have a new PTA executive board. They are starting the year strong and we are so excited to partner with them on all of these amazing things for our students. All information on PTA is at this link. https://linktr.ee/
20th Day: The district/staff gives us staffing based on the past year’s 80 Day counts. This works well some years, other times it is off. Around the 20th day, HR calls us and lets us know what we need to do (closing classrooms, shifting students, making combo classes, or opening new classrooms) to ensure all our classrooms are in compliance with state class size statutes. Right now, I can see that the student counts in grades 2-3 are low and students in grades 4-5 are high. Most likely there will be a shift in those areas. As soon as it is official, you will get notice. We always ensure that moves are done in the most caring with as much support for the transition as possible. Thank you for being understanding. All of our staff is absolutely amazing.
Open House: We welcome to you all to our Open House on Thursday, September 19, 2024 from 5:00- 7:00pm. You will be able to visit classrooms from 5-7. During this time, you can stop by your child’s classroom/classrooms, see your child’s classroom evolution since Meet the Teacher, and see the learning that has been occurring during the first month of school. You will be receiving your reunification cards on this night. This is not a night to engage the teacher in personal discussions or concerns. Please communicate with your child’s teacher privately via email or other communicative means and plan to meet at another time to do this. We have PT conferences coming up on October 9-10, this would be a perfect time. It is impossible for teachers to discuss each individual child, but rather a time to take a behind the scene glimpse in your child’s daily classroom experience. Thank you for your understanding and we hope you enjoy visiting the classrooms. We hope to start wrapping up classroom visits around 6:45, so teachers can clean up and be prepared for your scholars first thing the next day.
Spirit Wear: We have our Firebird Friday Spirit Day, every Friday. Make sure your child joins us by wearing their Tierra Antigua Spirit Wear or by wearing our spirit colors. I love seeing the red, black, and yellow going strong. You can go to Spirit Wear Website to order your spirit gear. They have some really cute pieces. We also have Think College Thursdays. Have your child wear their college gear to school. We focus on being college and career ready and how the work done at the elementary level sets that stage for our students.
Looking Ahead Balloons Aloft: Come join us on October 4th at around 6:30am for our Annual kick off to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. We will have a couple of balloons taking flight from our grass field (weather permitting) and invite all of our families to come and join us. Our location gives us such a great view of all the balloons lifting off across the city. Please plan on staying with your children until 7:15ish a.m, as students are not allowed unattended on the playground until then. Specific information will be coming out in the next few weeks.
SEL Focus: As educators, we are working hard to teach our students how to not only be the best scholars that they can be, but also how to have the proper social skills to be the best people that they can be inthe real world. As a school, we always say Firebirds S.O.A.R., we are Safe, On Task, Accountable, and Respectful. We highlight portions of this on the morning announcements and classrooms are working on this during their morning meetings and throughout the day. We are starting with the skill of Self-Awareness.
Technology: Students in grades K-1 were assigned I-Pads and students in grades 2-5 were assigned chrome books. They were given device and charger and are responsible for both these items. Depending on classroom or working on specifics units, students may or may not be able to bring their devices at home. Once these devices are checked out to them, they are fully responsible for them. Please remind them of this important duty that they have been given. If your child loses or breaks a charger due neglect not just wear and tear, you will need to either pay for the charger at the district or purchase one on amazon and send to the school (much cheaper option) or pay for broken screens. If your child loses their device at home, you are required to make a police report at APS Police. Last year, I did not require any money to come from families with our transition, but we are having devices that are not being given that proper care, so we may have to go there this year. Please remind your child of their responsibilities with their devices, we will do the same on our end, as well. We are partners in all of this.