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Great Lakes Academy Progress

9 years ago
Great Lakes Academy
The Wave Newsletter
April 2015
The Wave
April 2015
The Wave is here to keep you tuned in on the most up-to-date information, events and general news about Great Lakes Academy. Please be on the lookout for this newsletter every month to stay in the loop on all things GLA!
Latest News
Granted, We’re Doing Amazing
Great Lakes Academy has won the Next Generation Learning Challenge (NGLC) Launch Grant, a national grant awarded to schools utilizing technology and pushing innovation in education! We’re so honored to have received this gift! Every last dollar will go to supporting our scholars to ensure they receive a world class education that prepares them for success in college and careers of their choice.Mixing It Up During Morning Meeting
This month, we have introduced a feeling of the day for our scholars. In our quest to build our scholars’ vocabulary and give them tools to be more expressive, we start our Morning Meetings off with a feeling that scholars can use to describe characters they read about!
The feeling of today was furious.
Additionally, we are learning how to read graphs! As they enter the cafenasium in the morning, our scholars get to place a vote for the topic of the day, and then the entire school decodes the graph. We’ve been getting a kick out of asking scholars questions like, who is your favorite super hero? What is your favorite breakfast food?It’s been extremely rewarding to see how scholars are applying their critical thinking skills to analyze data.
Ms. Myers goes over the graph of the day with our scholars.
Growing Our Brains
As we’re nearing the end of the year, we couldn’t be more proud of our scholars and staff, and how far they’ve come since the beginning of the year. We are officially number two in the state of Illinois for growth in ST Math!
We’re number two in ST Math progress out of over 150 schools in Illinois!
We recently STEP tested our scholars, and the results were more than promising. At the end of summer, 84 percent of our scholars read below grade level. Eight months later, over 80 percent of our kids are now reading at or above grade level! We can’t wait to see what our very last cycle of STEP testing will show!
From August, 2014 to April, 2015, the majority of our scholars have grown from below grade level, to on or above grade level!
Be Here or Be Square
For May and June, if we have 100 percent attendance at our school, we will have a school-wide ice cream party! We’re not kidding! Bring your scholar to school and help them win this very special, sweet prize.
Upcoming Events
No School
There is no school on Monday, May 11 for Staff PD.
There is no school on Monday, May 25 for Memorial Day.Art Program
Our After-School Friday Art Program will end after Friday, May 29. On June 5 and June 12, students will dismiss at 2:00 p.m.Proof of Dental Exam
Per CPS mandate, we need your child’s proof of dental exam by Friday, May 1. If your child did not see the dentist here at the school, schedule a dentist visit as soon as possible.

Backyard Barbeque
Founding Families, please join us for a barbeque to celebrate the end of a fantastic year! Details to follow, but it will happen on Saturday, June 13 at 12:30 pm. We look forward to seeing everyone there!

Power Parents Meeting
Join us for the next Power Parents meeting at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 2! Please come out and support your school.
Our bright and bubbly University of Illinois Co-Teacher, Ms. Tidrick!
Get to Know… Ms. Tidrick!
Name: Molly TidrickTitle: Co-Teacher in University of IllinoisBefore I came to Great Lakes Academy… I was studying elementary education at Creighton University

My scholars have shown the most growth in… reading. It is amazing to see how far they have come since the beginning of the year. Their reading comprehension skills have greatly improved, and it is always exciting discussing a book and hearing their elaborate discussions!

My first year full-time teaching has been… excellent! I have learned so much in my development as a teacher, and I have loved every moment with our students.

When I was a kid, I used to spend my summers… at an all-girls summer camp in northern Wisconsin learning to canoe, waterski, hike and sail!

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