IMPORTANT EVENTS & DATES FOR MAY
Parents, please take a moment to mark your calendars. The following are important dates that you do not want to miss:
- May 19th: K-6th Grade Awards Chapel 1:00-2:00PM (Faith Hall)
- May 20th: 4th Quarter AR Deadline
- May 23rd: Royal Choir Party 11:15-2:30PM (McDonald’s)
- May 25th: End of the Year Chapel & Celebration/Last Day of School of School/12:15PM Dismissal
CHAPEL VENUES, DATES & TIMES
The following is a list of chapel dates and times for May:
- May 19th: K-6th Grade Awards Chapel 1:00-2:00PM (Faith Hall)
- May 25th: Lower School End of the Year Chapel 8:15-9:00AM (Faith Hall)
A NOTE FROM MRS. JACKSON
Last week, I challenged all of us to focus this summer on the importance of obedience in the lives of our children. This week, I want to talk about how to help our children stay sharp intellectually but still have a summer with a break from school work! What do Jay and I do with our girls over the summer? I am asked that question quite a bit! I wish that, as a teacher and a principal, I could tell you my children’s summers are filled with all sorts of intellectually-stimulating activities. That’s just not the case. As a general rule, we incorporate two main things regularly over the summer: reading and keeping sharp math facts. We also limit screen time and encourage our girls to be outside as much as possible. Parents are always looking for ideas for the summer so I wanted to share some resources that may be valuable as you think about what your children will do to help minimize the “summer brain drain.”
Lower School Summer Reading Assignments Rising 3rd/4th Grade (Optional) Rising 5th Grade Rising 6th Grade
Sunshine State Books 3rd-5th Grade Book List 6th-8th Grade Book List
Accelerated Math Renaissance Learning Home Connect
Exercise Kids’ Minds During the Summer Resource List
Children do need a rest from school. Be creative with fun ideas to keep the brain firing! Create stories while you are driving on vacation. Play alphabet games with road signs. Try to stump one another with math riddles. The next school year will be here before we know it. We want students who are rested and ready to learn!
RECOGNITION
1st Grade Camp Learned-A-Lot
First grade started their week at “Camp Learned-A-Lot”! To celebrate all the things they have learned in first grade, students will be integrating new and previously learned skills into different camping themed activities. Students will read in their class tent and around the campfire. They will practice writing as they write their own campfire stories, instructions for building s’mores, and letters to their family “back home”. In math students will compare measurement and graphing with marshmallows, they will problem solve number mysteries at camp and will practice adding money while shopping at the camp supply store. Students will explore science as they take a nature walk comparing different outdoor objects and their properties. Students will end their time at camp creating lanterns that will remind them that Jesus’s word is a lamp unto their feet and a light unto their path. Camp “Learned-A-Lot” is an exciting way to celebrate a year full of great accomplishments!
Kindergarten Legoland Field Trip
Students and parents loaded the bus on Monday and took off for a really fun (and hot) day at Legoland. Moms, dads, students, and teachers explored all parts of the theme park and made a lot of great memories. This is a great way to end a very exciting year for our almost 1st graders!
Kindergarten Superkids Day
Rowland Reading’s Superkids curriculum is so much fun for our Kindergartners. Students easily identify with the characters they meet as they learn many skills. This week we celebrated our TFA Superkids!
6th Grade Technology Science Balloon Car Race
On Wednesday, the students in the 6th grade Technology Science elective raced their handmade balloon car races.
The skills involved as part of this project included: trial and error, Newton’s third law in action, friction, simple mechanical engineering, and force is equal to mass times acceleration
NEW THIS WEEK
Library Aide Applications
4th Grade Students: Library Aide application forms are available in the library if you are interested in becoming a library aide for the 2016-2017 school year. All applications and teacher recommendation forms are due back to the library by Friday, May 20th. Please see Mrs. DeBoom in the library if there are any questions.
Library Closed (May 23rd-25th)
The Boyd Moline Library will be closed May 23rd-25th. Students must report to the Gym for Morning Care on these dates.
Summer Access to Accelerated Reader (AR)
Accelerated Reader will be turned off on Monday, May 23rd to allow time to set up the 2016-2017 school year. Summer AR testing will become available beginning Monday, June 6th. The library will not be open for testing over the summer, but students may take tests on iDevices via the AR app Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM-3:00PM. If students don’t have their own iDevices, there will be iPads available for AR testing in the Lower School lobby. Students must be on campus logged on to either the TFA Guest or TFA wifi to take AR tests. All tests taken during the summer will apply toward the first quarter goal of the 2016-2017 school year.
Library Books
All library books are due to the Boyd Moline Library by Friday, May 20th to avoid incurring a lost book charge.
Classroom Placement
The TFA Faculty and staff are committed to providing the best educational experience for each child. The Principal and Assistant Principal work with teacher(s) to prayerfully consider the needs of the student when making final decisions for student placement. Class placement decisions are based on many factors which include, but are not limited to, the student’s individual learning styles as well as emotional, social, and academic needs. Classroom structure and current teacher recommendations are also closely considered.
Faculty and staff may not be prepared—at this time—to share information regarding their assignment for the next year since we are currently in the process of finalizing teacher grade level assignments. However, God continues to bless us with a strong Lower School team. Please continue to keep our faculty and staff in your prayers throughout the summer as they prepare for a new school year.
SummerQuest
Have you started making summer plans for your children? We have camps available for all students ranging from K4 – 12th grade. Be sure to register as soon as possible, as some camps have a limited number of spots available.
SummerQuest is also open to students who do not attend TFA. We would love to see students from other schools have an opportunity to visit our amazing campus and experience our wonderful teachers and coaches. Please feel free to share the link below with anyone who might be interested.
To register, please visit https://thefirstacademy.org/academics/summer-quest/ and be sure to select the appropriate grade level for your child to see all available courses. We look forward to another year of record enrollment in SummerQuest camps. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact Doug Cohen, Summerquest Coordinator, at dougcohen@thefirstacademy.org. or 407-206-8634.
TFA’s Preschool Summer Camp 2016
Many of our families have preschool-aged children so we want to notify you of a summer camp opportunity here at TFA. Introducing TFA’s Preschool Summer Camp 2016! Children ages 8 weeks to 3 years old are invited to join in our summer fun and “dive into reading”. The first camp session runs from Monday, June 6th through Thursday, June 30th. The second camp session runs from Tuesday, July 5th through Friday, July 22nd. Core program hours run from 9:00AM-3:00PM, with wrap around care available 7:00AM-4:30PM. For more information and to register today, please visit https://thefirstacademy.org/academics/preschool/summer-camp/.
REMINDERS
Calendar Link
The TFA Calendar is a wonderful way of finding the dates of upcoming events. Access our web-based calendar anytime. We recommend that you subscribe to all relevant calendars so you can keep up with all of the events going on around the school.
Parent Volunteer Background Check
If you are a new parent and would like to volunteer in your child(ren)’s classroom(s) or chaperone on field trips please our free background check. Please note that the background check site only works on Internet Explorer or Firefox on a desktop computer. Safari and Chrome are not supported by the site. Approvals take a few weeks so plan ahead! All parents must have a completed background check before volunteering of chaperoning on a field trip.