Dear Academy Community,

It’s amazing how much the landscape has changed since the last time I wrote you.  Most of our snow and ice has melted at the school, the trails are clear, buds are on the trees and songbirds have returned.  Our classes continue to explore meaningful learning both inside and outside of our walls, and we continue to be incredibly proud of our community of teachers and learners.

We appreciate your flexibility around remote learning days over the past few weeks as our staff participated in vaccination clinics.  We hope that as we head into the Spring, we can have some consistency in what has been a remarkably inconsistent school year.  As parents of young children in our district, both Kelly and I recognize that remote learning places much onus on caregivers, and we appreciate the dedication that you have brought as partners in the education and development of our students.

As we move into April, here are a few dates to keep in mind:

• April 19-21 is April Break

• May 31 no school in observance of Memorial Day

• June 15 is the final student day of school

As always we will do our best to keep you updated regarding any changes to our teaching and learning schedule on the district or state level.  Again, we appreciate our partnership as we navigate this year.

We hope that many of you will be engaging in parent-teacher conferences today or Monday.  As always, if you have questions, concerns or thoughts to share, please reach out to us any time.

Sincerely,

Jon

Here’s the thing…
You don’t really have to sing
You don’t really have to dance
No special talent is required, just your energy, enthusiasm and the desire to have fun!

A flip grid platform will be available for you to upload your video beginning March 29. The deadline for upload is April 14. The lip synch event will go live to our Academy community April 16!

Costumes and props are encouraged! Check out the official guidelines and reserve your lip synch song of choice by clicking the link below. 

Click on the link below to view the Academy menu for the month of April.

Andrew Speno's 4th grade remote class cooked Mac and cheese over the fire, went for a hike and made S’mores. Lots of smiles!

Family Engagement Corner

Life, like cooking, can be a challenge 

it can be hard and messy but…

Both are excellent learning environments! Yesterday at dismissal you may have noticed or participated with Cooking with Roots. Kathy and I thank you for participating. Many of you may have heard from your children or seen the pictures of the fun in the forest cooking with Kathy. Cooking with your children is an excellent family activity that has academic lessons built right in! In so many ways!

• Math: counting, measuring, fractions, temperatures and degrees, reading a thermometer.

• Science: how food changes with temperature, solids, liquids, gas, powders, and their interactions. Why and how some foods are healthy for our bodies.

• Senses: how do foods look, feel, smell, and taste. Practicing fine motor skills and eye hand coordination.

• Executive functioning skills: make a plan, decide what tools, and follow steps from start to finish. Be aware of safety, practice self-regulation skills, proper use of equipment.

• Literacy: Read, comprehend, and follow directions, learning new words, cooking may lead your children into helping write out shopping lists. 

Your children might become more adventuresome eaters due to being part of the cooking process. Ms. Casarella says, “Don’t yuck my yum! Try it, you may not like it, yet, but try a taste.” 

Their confidence and sense of family cooperation may increase. Discussions about your family and its food culture or about your day may surface. 

I hope you give it a try and let us know how it goes. 

CHECK OUT THE LATEST EPISODE OF NEBULA NEWS. YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS IT! Click on the picture below to check it out.