7-12 Diamond Newsletter 9/21/2020

Good afternoon!

We have completed 4 weeks of school and still have no reported positive cases from the 7-12 campus. Thank you to everyone for complying with the mask mandate, maintaining social distancing, and helping to keep all of us healthy. Our district nurse, Katie Milligan, has created a Covid-tracker on our website: https://www.artsk12.org/covid-resources--3 so that you can easily check on cases reported at your own convenience. She updates the tracker daily.

This week is parent-teacher conference week. For the first time ever, we have more demand for conferences than our teachers have time during PTC hours available. If you were unable to find a slot during the PTC hours after school and would still like to meet with your student's teachers, please reach out to them to set up a conference during school hours when they have availability. Thank you for your involvement in your student's education. We will be looking at how we can make changes for the spring semester and future years.

We are now accepting nominations for the 2021 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. Students who volunteer in their community can complete the application at nassp.org/spirit. We will award student's at the school level and nominate outstanding candidates for the State Award. State Honorees will receive a $1000 scholarship, silver medallion, and all-expenses paid trip to Washington DC with a parent or guardian in May for national recognition. 10 students will be named National Honorees and receive $5000 scholarships, gold medallions, a trophy for their school, and a $5000 grant to the nonprofit of their choice. Applications are due on November 10, 2020.

The Arkansas Department of Education has released a Social Media Awareness Campaign to help parents and students understand the importance of using Social Media and the Internet wisely so that they can avoid negative impacts. They will be releasing new content on the last day of every month throughout the school year. A calendar of topics is listed below and the resources can be accessed at smactalk.info

  • August: Self-Assess Readiness & Introduction to SMACtalk (available now)
  • September: Online Etiquette (e.g., cyberbullying, upstanding) available September 30th
  • October: Developing Healthy Virtual Relationships -- available October 31st
  • November: Vetting Information -- available November 30th
  • December: Privacy Protection (e.g., personal privacy, privacy of others) available December 31st
  • January: Establishing an Online Presence (e.g., employment, college recruitment, Digital Billboard) available January 31st
  • February: Online Dangers (e.g., online predators, sexting) available February 28th
  • March: Unplugging (e.g., setting limits) available March 31st
  • April: Summer SMAC (e.g., staying connected, virtual learning opportunities, mental wellness)

Please remember that our school calendar changed as a result in the delay of the first day of school. The new calendar can be found here: https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/856587/doc03249520200812133129.pdf

Upcoming dates:

  • September 21-25 -- Parent-Teacher Conferences
  • September 24 -- Spirit Night at Slim Chicken's on Promenade Blvd.
  • September 28 -- Release of Video Guides for DocHub, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Calendar, and GMail
  • October 1 -- Parent Education Night - Senior Transitions at 5:00 pm
  • October 1 -- PTG Meeting at 6 pm
  • October 5-9 -- Virtual Learning Week (survey to come soon if you need your student to be on campus)
  • October 12-16 -- Fall Break (No School)
  • October 13 -- School Board Meeting at 6:30 pm
  • October 20 -- Parent Education Night -- Suicide Prevention at 5 pm
  • October 22 -- Night at the Museum at Crystal Bridges 6-8 pm

Thank you and have a great week!

Heather Wright
Principal, Arkansas Arts Academy 7-12 Campus