Changes As the School Year Begins

The 2014-2015 school calendar has been finalized.  Students will return to school on Thursday, August 21 for a half day.  

There are several changes to the school's calendar this year: 

First,  the school day will be 15 minutes longer. Monday through Thursday, full-days will dismiss at 3:15 pm, while early dismissal days and Fridays will end at 1:15 pm. 

Second: Three days have been added at the end of the school year, May 26 - 28, which are designated Emergency Closure Days.  These days will be used if there are closures due to unexpected emergency and/or inclement weather this school year.  So the school year could last until May 28.

Third:  Students will no longer have early dismissal on both final exam days. They will only have an early dismissal on the last day of each semester.

There also has been a major change to the daily report card program.  Instead of only reporting on the core classes - the first 5 classes of each day- the new report cards will provide a report on the afternoon elective classes as well.  The new daily report cards will account for a student's entire day at Accelerated.

This change will mean that students will no longer receive their payment at the end of the day.  Instead, students will still receive their report cards to take home at the end of the day, but will not receive their payouts until the next day.

We hope everyone has a wonderful year of learning at the Accelerated Schools of Overland Park.

Summer Programs Continuing

As the fifth week of summer school and camp starts, older students are keeping busy with their high school credit courses, while lower/middle schools students are focusing on individualized studies and art and computer activities.

Many art projects have already been completed.  Student learning continues. Several students have already earned 1/2 credit for high school classes completed in the first three weeks.

Summer programs continue through August 8.  Students can sign up at any time for a minimum of three weeks.  If you are interested, please check out the website at www.acceleratedschoolsop.org, or call the school at 913-341-6666.

Thursday, May 15, Graduation Day!

     Twelve students began the evening as high school seniors and ended the evening as graduates.  They worked incredibly and diligently to earn their degrees.  And each student deserves a large applause for completing high school.  Their proud families and friends and teachers were all able to see them make this major transition. One student was unable to be at graduation, but he was there in spirit. In all 13 students graduated from the Accelerated Schools of Overland Park this year.
    Graduating senior Tyler started the evening with a reading before dinner.  Seniors, families, friends, staff and faculty all enjoyed a wonderful dinner before the main celebrations began.  After dinner, students were awarded certificates for good/perfect attendance, wonderful results in standardized testing.  Siarah was awarded the Faculty Appreciation Award, a honor voted on by the staff.   Dimitri was awarded the Presidential Award in Education.  Nakysha presented the Senior Speech.
     Leonard Zeskind,  a 1998 John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellow, was the commencement speaker.  Mr. Zeskind  has devoted his life to the struggle for dignity and humanity for all people, and works to curb the influence of racism, anti-Semitism and white surpremacist groups.
    During his commencement speech, he told the students that although he has spoken to Parliament in England, Police and elected officials, speaking to them made him a bit nervous.  He told them that they had already accomplished so much with completing their degrees, but they had become life long learners, and lifelong teachers.  Their role in the future was to help the people of the world work together.  As the United States becomes a country made of minorities, everyone must learn to help each other.
   And then the students were presented their diplomas by Sara and Bob, while Jane read off their names.  Each student was greeted with applause as he or she received a diploma.  It was a wonderful evening of celebration.

Annual Award Banquet

Annual Award Banquet

The Annual Award Banquet was a wonderful event!

Twelve eighth grade students graduated into high school!

Nine students performed four musical numbers for the wonderful crowd of  students, parents, family members and staff who attended.

Every student received an award based on his or her special talents.

 Two students received special recognition: Zach was named Middle School Student of the Year; Heather was named High School Student of the Year.

Ten students were recognized for excellence on National Test Scores.

Four students had perfect attendance awards;  24 were awarded for their great attendance.

Every student at the school deserves praise and recognition for their excellence this school year!

     Due to the five snow days that the Accelerated School was closed this winter, two days that were originally designated as vacation days were added back to the calendar.  Students already came back a day early from Spring Break.  School started on Monday, March 24, instead on March 25.

     Students will also lose a vacation day in April.  Instead of enjoying a four-day weekend from Friday, April 18 , through Monday, April 21,  students will return to school on Monday April 21. However, they will still have a vacation day on Friday, April 18.

     With the addition of these two days,  students will not have to go to school beyond the original last day scheduled for Thursday, May 22.    Final exams will be held, as planned, on Wednesday, May 21, and Thursday, May 22.  Teachers will report to school on May 23 for a Professional Day.

Senior graduation is set for Thursday, May 15.

Seeing Dracula, the Ballet

Dracula, by Middle School Student Lily H.

Our school had the opportunity to go to the Kauffman Center to see Dracula.  This story about Dracula was performed as a ballet.  It was an amazing performance.  Everybody seemed to enjoy the ballet.

Several students and teachers commented on the ballet:  Dana said her favorite character was Dracula. She also enjoyed watching the dance moves that she cannot do.  Zach said his favorite character was Van Helsing.  London's favorite part of the ballet was the fire alarm!

Sara B. said,  "I really enjoyed Dracula's performance.  Even when he walked onto the stage to take his bow, he remained in character.  He was awesome.  I would say that it was well done: the music, the dancing. It was amazing."

I believe that seeing a ballet or any kind of performance enriches our lives.

Dracula, High School Student Heather M.

I really enjoyed the opportunity to see the Dracula ballet with school. I adore both the worlds of literature and theatre, so this was a fun activity for me. It was fascinating to compare the ballet to the original novel, and to find that the production did a mostly accurate job of portraying the story.

Because the ballet contained no dialogue, I found it interesting to discern which dancer was which character and what point in the plot was being represented. I enjoyed examining the costumes and scenery, and all the abilities of the talented performers. 

Overall, it was a very fun field trip, and one I would enjoy attending again. 

High School Resource Officer Speaks At ASOP

 

   

  Officer Jose Carrillo, from the Overland Park Police Department, recently spoke about bullying and the importance of attendance at the Accelerated Schools of Overland Park.

       The School Resource Officer at Shawnee Mission West High School, Officer Carrillo spoke to both the middle school and high school students in two separate groups.  He explained that being bullied is not a reason to miss school and gave ideas to help if this is an issue.  Both groups had many good questions for Officer Carrillo, but the middle school students were especially engaged by the program.

      Officer Carrillo’s visit to the school as a guest speaker was arranged by Principal Sara Tate Goldstein.  “Principal Julie Crain, of Shawnee Mission West, graciously loaned the school’s resource officer to the Accelerated Schools for this program,” said Sara.

      “The biggest benefit to the students was learning that it is a priority of the community and the police officers to help students stay in school,” said Sara.  “The police officers want students to understand the benefits of being in school.  But most important, students need to realize that staying home from school because they are being bullied is not the answer to bullying. It is best to find a safe adult, who the student trusts, to get help.  A school resource officer can be this person if needed.”

        The Accelerated Schools is considering having a DARE/Resource Officer at the school one half day a week next school year.  “We are trying to determine the cost and work it into our budget,” said Jane Curran, ASOP Director.

        If any parent, current or former, would like to help underwrite this program or a part of this program, please contact Jane or Ellen Portnoy at the school:  913-341-6666.