Good Afternoon, Minutemen Families:
Happy Labor Day! We hope everyone in our community has an excellent long weekend. It was a great week at school and a pleasure to see students’ excitement for the half-day today. As we prepare for next week, we have a few announcements and reminders, following a brief reflection on this week.
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Yesterday afternoon an order of brooms and dustpans arrived for classrooms. With ten minutes left in the school day, and hoping that we might get them assembled and distributed to teachers, I did the best thing I knew: I brought the package to our upper-school students and called for volunteers. Sure enough, students eagerly and spontaneously sorted themselves into groups and set about putting the equipment together with gusto, even ferocity, and the eight broom sets were indeed complete ten minutes later.
This made a fine finishing touch to yesterday’s busy day. It was the latest of many examples of spirit and readiness to help that I have seen among our older students. Cultivating this spirit through opportunities to show leadership, set examples of excellence for our younger students, and exercise the virtue of responsibility is an important part of our work this year.
In its early stages, responsibility entails taking charge of oneself and one’s modest scope of belongings. In its more mature stages this virtue encompasses much more, as described on our Core Virtues website page:
Responsibility involves having a broad and generous view of one’s actions, not only as they relate to one’s own good, but also to the good of others.
Responsibility is a quintessentially American excellence of character, first articulated as a virtue in the Federalist Papers. It is responsible to do one’s assigned job well, but even more so to do the job that needs doing but belongs to no one in particular. Responsible students take on those tasks despite the extra effort. Responsibility is, furthermore, the key virtue in starting, maintaining, and improving a charter school, from its founders and donors to its leaders, teachers, parents, and students.
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No School on Monday, 9/02
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Please remember that there will be no school on Monday, 9/02/24, in observance of Labor Day. School will resume on Tuesday, 9/03. Have a great long weekend!
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During the month of September, Ascent students in all grade levels will complete formative assessments to measure their current reading, writing and/or math knowledge. Data from these assessments will be used by teachers to support students through the school year as well as to measure student growth later in the year. Results of these assessments will be shared with parents once they are available.
KRA
By SC state law, all kindergarteners must take the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment, or KRA, within the first 45-days of school. Students in Ms. Baer's class will complete the KRA over the next several weeks. The KRA measures a child’s school readiness across four domains: Social Foundations, Language/ Literacy, Mathematics and Physical Well-Being. For more information on the KRA, please visit https://ed.sc.gov/tests/elementary/kindergarten-readiness-assessment-kra/.
DIBELS 8
Students in grades K-2 will take the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills 8th Edition, or DIBELS 8, during the week of September 9-13, 2024. This assessment helps teachers determine how students are performing on important reading skills, such as phonics and fluency. These are short assessments (approximately one minute each) administered to students individually by the teacher and taking a total time of less than five minutes per child. For more information on DIBELS 8, please visit https://dibels.uoregon.edu/about-dibels. Ascent will administer MAP again in the Winter and early Spring.
MAP
Students in grades 3-8 will take the Measures of Academic Progress, or MAP, assessments in reading, writing and math during the week of September 9-13, 2024. MAP tests measure what students already know and how they are growing academically. Ascent will administer MAP again in the Winter and early Spring. For more information on DIBELS 8, please visit https://www.nwea.org/family-toolkit/.
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Transportation Reminders and Updates
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As many of you know, our bus program successfully launched this week on Tuesday, 8/27. Families may still sign up for this program here.
We are pleased to have settled into a reliable pattern of getting through our carline in about 16 minutes! We were confident this would come and we are grateful you’ve worked with us along the way.
Going forward, we ask parents to plan to be in the car line by 3:20 p.m. We will conclude the car line at that time and bring remaining students inside to wait. Parents will need to park and enter the building thereafter.
Thank you!
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School lunch orders must be placed by 3 p.m. the preceding day so our providers can make sure to bring enough meals to our students. You may also order for an entire week or month if you’d prefer.
Ascent Classical Academy offers free or reduced lunch for families who qualify. If you’d like to apply for this financial aid, you may do so using this web page.
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Earlier this week, we received news from Lands’ End that short-sleeved polos sizes YM and YL are out of stock. The earliest they can arrive is mid-October. This problem comes from a global distribution issue and is, unfortunately, unavoidable. If you would like to purchase additional uniform shirts, the only available options are long-sleeved polos and dress shirts. We apologize for the inconvenience.
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Lands’ End Labor Day Sale: 8/30 - 9/02
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Lands’ End is having a Labor Day Weekend sale! All shirts are 50% off and pants are 20%. Use CODE: PANTS4SCHOOL and PIN: 8180 to save on your next purchase.
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New Afterschool Program Available
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We have exciting news! The YMCA of Upper Palmetto has agreed to partner with Ascent Classical Academy by providing transportation to their afterschool program. Their program offers 30-45 minutes of homework time with staff that can support the children as they work. They also offer time for games and activities to keep students engaged and socialized.
Please note: The school will accept registrations starting on Monday, September 2; the first week of drop-off will begin on Monday, September 9.
The price for the afterschool program is $95/student. They do not offer reduced prices for families enrolling multiple children. Please make any arrangements directly with their program.
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Have a great weekend,
Dr. Condra
Headmaster
Ascent Classical Academy
We will love the True; We will do the Good; We will love the Beautiful!
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Copyright ©2024, Ascent Classical Academies, All rights reserved.
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