VPA-AZ Fall Newsletter
September 2024
Pulse Check Reminder
We value your input and want to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our students and families. This is a friendly reminder to participate in our Possip Pulse Check on Wednesday, September 18th, 2024.
Your feedback is crucial for us to understand what’s working well and where we can improve. The survey is quick and easy, and your responses will help us create a better experience for everyone in our school community.
Save the Date
We’re excited to announce a special event that you won’t want to miss!
Event: Fall Outing on October 18th, 2024
Event: Thanksgiving Feast at ACP on November 21st, 2024
Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details. We look forward to seeing you there and sharing this memorable occasion with you!
Message from Ms. Nicole Gena, Counselor
September is National Suicide Prevention month, a time to remember the lives lost to suicide, acknowledge the millions who have experienced suicidal thoughts and the families and communities that have been impacted by suicide. September is also a time to raise awareness and offer messages of hope. Suicide is complex and determined by multiple combinations of factors, such as mental illness, substance misuse, trauma, painful losses, exposure to violence, social isolation and other individual factors.
What can we do to help?
September 8-14th is National suicide prevention week and September 10th is National Suicide Prevention Day. We spoke to the students to educate them about the warning signs, risk factors and how to support someone considering suicide.
Suicide Warning Signs for Youth
Talking about or making plans for suicide.
Expressing hopelessness about the future.
Displaying severe or overwhelming emotional pain or distress.
Changing or withdrawing from social connections or situations.
Changes in sleep (increased or decreased).
Anger or hostility that seems out of character or out of context.
Recent increased agitation or irritability.
Risk and Protective Factors
Risk and protective factors affect an individual's chances of positive or negative outcomes, such as suicide. These factors occur at multiple levels of influence—such as the individual, relationship, community, and greater societal levels. The Social-Ecological Model shows that effective suicide prevention interventions are needed to address these factors at all levels.
Risk factors for suicide at the individual level include untreated mental illness and substance misuse, while protective factors for suicide at this level include problem-solving and coping skills, positive self-esteem, and a sense of purpose in life.
Relationship-level risks include family conflict, knowing someone who died by suicide (particularly a family members), and social isolation; protective factors include family connectedness and supportive friendships.
Community-level risks involve community violence, historical trauma, and access to lethal means; and protective factors include access to behavioral health services, community or cultural beliefs that discourage suicide, and connectedness to community and social institutions.
Societal-level risks include stigma, racism, and discrimination, while examples of protective factors include cultural identification and policies such as anti-discrimination laws.
What to do if you think someone is having thoughts of suicide?
ASK- directly “are you having thoughts of suicide”?
Validate their feelings: “I am sorry you are feeling that way” Do not dismiss their feelings or give them reasons to not feel the way they do.
Keep them safe, do not leave them alone and reach for help.
Call National Suicide and crisis line 988 or 911.
Dr. Kayleen Marble
Dear Families,
How quickly the beginning of the school year has passed! Getting the school year started and getting used to the online system can be challenging, but I hope you are enjoying your class time with your teachers and other students. Now is an important time to make sure that students are in a good routine for school, getting to class on time, turning in assignments, and making sure to get the full attendance time each week (20 hours for K-3 and 25 hours for 4-10th grade).
Here are a few important upcoming dates:
- September 30th – 40th day of school
- October 7-11th – Fall Break (no school)
- October 18th – End of Quarter 1 and Fall Outing
- October 21st – Begin Quarter 2
- November 21st - Thanksgiving Feast with ACP in Mesa
Ms. Karli Thompson, Principal K-6
All of our K-6 students will be doing our DIBELs testing (Sept 23-27) during their live ELA classes. This is a short 10 min screener that will help us determine if students might have any holes in their development of reading. Please be sure to have your students attend their scheduled testing time with their teacher. Once we gather these results, we will be looking at all of our student data gathered this year and determine if we need to provide additional interventions and supports. This will be for our lower and advanced students! We greatly value how important it is to differentiate student learning for all students and meet each student where they are at. We are seeing so many great things happening in our K-6 classes and hope your students are taking advantage of attending live class. If they do, they will have less to do outside of class! We want to thank you for choosing to school with VPA-AZ and assure you that you made an excellent choice!
Ms. Tanyce Edwards, Principal 7-10
Hello Families,
As the cooler weather starts settling in, I am thrilled to see our students and staff settling into a great rhythm for the school year. The energy in the classroom is vibrant, and it's wonderful to see our school community growing stronger each day. Fall is a season of change and reflection, and we are embracing this time to nurture learning, creativity, and connection. Let's continue working together to make this school year productive and enjoyable.
Forgot Your Password?
Contact the School Operations Manager, Taylor Sorensen at tsorensen@accelschools.com for assistance.
7th - 10th Science Updates
7th Grade Science is working hard throughout their storyline curriculum regarding Chemical Reactions and Matter. Specially, learning about why Bath Bomb reactions occur when they interact with water.
8th Grade Science is focused on physics at the moment, more specifically contact forces, collisions, and the transfer of energy.
Physical science covered the basics of science inquiry in unit 1. We are moving into Matter and Atoms next!
Biology is wrapping up their first unit, Biochemistry this week, and we move into Cells next!
7th - 10th Math Updates
7th Grade Math students are wrapping up their unit on Scale Factor. Unit 2 is going to cover Proportional Relationships.
8th Grade Math students are wrapping up their unit on Rigid Transformations. Unit 2 will continue with non-rigid Transformations and an introduction of Slope.
9th Grade Math students are wrapping up their unit on Real Numbers. Unit 2 is going to cover Lines and Their Graphs.
10th Grade Math students are wrapping up their unit on Foundations of Geometry. Unit 2 is going to cover Transformation and Congruent Triangles.
7th - 10th History Updates
7th History : The colonies have been discovered and settled and this week we will learn more about the colonies and watch as they grow and develop.
8th Grade History: This week we will be learning about The Bill of Rights and the freedoms we have as individuals in the US.
9th Grade World History: This week we finish our unit on Mesopotamia and then move into learning more about ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt.
10th Grade US History: This week were are going to study what was happening in the colonies that make the colonist want to split ways with England.
7th- 10th English Updates
7th grade: Continue working on short stories:
“The Random of Red Chief”
Plot Diagrams
8th grade: Continue working on short stories:
"The Sniper" and "A Horseman in the Sky"
Writing a Short Story
9th grade: Wrapping up unit one with the unit one exam
Beginning Literary Minds
My Memoir: Introduction to Writing Project
10th grade: Wrapping up unit one with unit one exam
Beginning “My Memoir: Introduction to Writing Project”
Mr. Sorensen, Operations
We are pleased to announce that our Parent Portal is now live and ready for you to use! This new tool will provide you with easy access to important information about your child’s education, including grades, assignments, and more. Your login information was sent out via email.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at tsorensen@accelschools.com.
Ms. Green, Testing Coordinator
Virtual Preparatory Academy families! We're excited to jump into the new school year, and we’ve already made great progress on testing. Here's what you need to know:
What We've Accomplished:
- iReady Diagnostic Testing is complete! These scores are helping us tailor classroom instruction to meet each student's unique needs.
- AZELLA Placement Testing has begun and will continue throughout the year for our English language learners.
What’s Coming Up:
- K-6th Grade: DIBELS Testing will take place throughout the year, helping us monitor and support your child’s reading progress.
- 3rd-8th Grade: AASA and AZSCI in-person testing is scheduled for the spring.
- 9th Grade: Spring will bring ASPIRE in-person testing, setting the stage for high school success!
We’re here to ensure every student is supported and prepared. Please feel free to reach out with any questions. Let’s make this year a great one!
A Fall Treat from Our Teachers!
Crock Pot Cinnamon Apples
Here's a fun recipe that kids will love to make at home! It fills the house with delicious fall flavors and tastes amazing in a pie or served with ice cream. Enjoy!
Ingredients
· 6 large granny smith apples
o Peeled and Cored
o Kids love peeling apples!
· 2/3 cup granulated sugar
· 2 teaspoons cinnamon
· 2 tablespoons butter
Instructions
· Cut apples about 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick slices. Place in 4- or 6-quart crock pot.
· Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, then stir to coat evenly.
· Cut butter into small pieces and dot over apples.
· Cover and cook on High for 3 hours, or Low for 6 hours, stirring halfway through cook time.
· Apples are done when desired softness is reached.
Serve in an apple pie crust, roll up in a croissant or with your favorite ice cream!
