DESTINATIONS CAREER ACADEMY OF WI

Dear DCA Families,

We know the start of this school year has come with some challenges as we’ve transitioned to a new platform, and we truly appreciate your patience and partnership during this adjustment period. We hope that these monthly newsletters can serve as a source of positive and clear communication, keeping you connected to all the great things happening at DCA.

Now that we’re a few weeks into the year, your students have had the chance to meet their teachers, counselors, and school staff, and we are excited for the opportunities ahead in the 2025–2026 school year. In this newsletter, you’ll find helpful information about daily life at DCA, how to report an absence, and ways your student can get involved in our school community.

Very soon, students will begin exploring different career pathways through Xello, based on their personal interests. From this work, we’ll be offering engaging guest speakers and information sessions throughout the year to support their future readiness.

A key part of this preparation happens during homeroom, held every Tuesday and Thursday from 12:35–1:05 PM. Attendance is required, and we don’t want students to miss out on these valuable opportunities.

If you haven’t yet signed the student/learning coach handbook for this year, please take a moment to do so. The handbook must be acknowledged each school year, and links are included in this newsletter.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Warmly,
Jen Wegner
Principal

Parents are required to review and acknowledge the DCA Student/Parent Handbook. The handbook can be accessed at this link.

Additionally, your acknowledgement of having reviewed the document for yourself and with your student is required. Find the acknowledgement form here.

If you have more than one student, be sure to fill out the form for each student. If you have students in schools other than DCA, be sure to complete the form for each child in their corresponding school.

Join us for a special Learning Coach webinar with Chief Learning Officer Niyoka McCoy and K12 Superintendent Adam Hawf, where we’ll share recent updates to Canvas and the K12 experience—and what’s coming next. You’ll also have the chance to submit your questions in advance and hear answers live during the session. This is your opportunity to connect directly, get clarity, and know your voice is being heard. Submit your questions and register for the webinar in the Learning Coach Community today! You can find the Learning Coach Community in your K12 School (Canvas) under Resources.

Thursday, September 25 at 9:30am PST / 10:30am MST / 11:30 am CST / 12:30pm EST

As a public school we are responsible for creating and maintaining attendance records for students. At our school, we define attendance as the following:

• A student attending live Class Connect Sessions.
• A student receiving and responding to communication from a teacher.
• A student completing an assignment.
• A student participating in daily lessons.

Students need to complete one of the above requirements within 5 school days for each of the courses they are enrolled in in order to be marked as present.

Students who do not meet these minimum attendance requirements for any course (or combination of courses if enrolled in more than one course), for part or all of 5 or more days in which school is held, without an acceptable excuse, are considered habitually truant and, therefore, in violation of Wisconsin’s Compulsory Attendance Law. Wis. Stat. § 118.15 (1) (a). The law requires that a child attend school regularly until graduation from high school, or until the end of the semester in which he/she turns 18 years of age, or until he/she is excused from attendance by the school board.

Make sure your student reviews the DCA announcements page. Information on clubs, CTSOs, and new opportunities will all be posted there! Announcements are updated weekly so remind students about the wonderful things happening at DCA!

At DCA, we offer a wide array of extra-curricular opportunities for students to engage and participate. Students have the chance to join one of our Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs) or clubs. Throughout the school year, we also organize in-person events that allow students to connect with their peers in the area and partake in enjoyable and rewarding activities together. These events provide a great platform for students to socialize and collaborate, fostering a sense of community.

We are excited to invite you to celebrate the new school year with our Back to School Bash! This fun-filled event is a great way to kick off the school year and meet other WVA students, staff, and families!

When? - September 26th from 11AM to 2PM

Where? All over Wisconsin! See the link below to find a location near you and sign up to attend!

Join us to make new friends, meet WVA teachers, enjoy fun games and crafts, and celebrate the start of an exciting new school year!* Feel free to bring a lunch or a snack to enjoy while you are there.

*Activities will vary by location

👉Click this link to see the locations available, find more info, and sign up: https://sites.google.com/view/wva-backtoschoolbash2025/home

Have questions? Reach out to Rianna Kubly at rkubly@wivcs.org

We’re excited to share that the NE WI Kinect Collaborative Hub is opening its doors for some amazing hands-on opportunities this month! This is your chance to connect what you’re learning in school with real-world skills that can shape your future.

Click the calendar below to sign up for these opportunities: Kinected Communities Network Calendar of Events I September 2025 (2)

"Renaissance Star Reading" and "Renaissance Star Math" are computer-adaptive assessments created by Renaissance Learning that measure a student's reading and math skills respectively, providing teachers with data on student's individual achievement levels and growth. These assessments are built to adjust the difficulty based on each student's answers to pinpoint their current abilities in reading and math.

We take STAR Reading and STAR Math three times a year:

- Beginning of the Year (September)

- Middle of the Year (January)

- End of the Year (May)

We took the beginning-of-the-year assessments during the first week of school. All students are required to take both the math and reading assessments. If your student missed taking the assessments during homeroom, they will be given alternative opportunities. Please keep an eye out for communication from our staff.

Welcome back to school! We are super excited to get started this year. We are busy working on ensuring that schedules are accurate and getting new students into classes. We will soon be reaching out to seniors for conferences, and to all students to start connecting and building relationships with you to help you along your high school journey!

Do you want to kickstart your college education? Don't miss the chance to apply for the Spring semester before October 1st.

**Counselors will be sending out information regarding the dates and times for upcoming sessions!

Watch your email!

For more information, see our Future Ready Opportunities.

Friends Near Me, the new map feature, is now live in the Learning Coach Community. Connect with nearby families who are also learning from home. Build friendships, share tips, and get the support you need.

Check it out at community.k12.com

No interested? No problem!

You can opt out of being featured on Friends Near Me anytime by logging into your Learning Coach Community account and toggling the feature off.

K12 Robotics Competition: September 3, 2025 - November 12, 2025

Meet the Animals K12 Virtual Field Trip: September 23, 2025, at 1 PM (Eastern)

Meet the Birds of Prey at VINS: September 24, 2025, at 1:30 PM (Eastern)