January Parent Newsletter
Hello Central Academy student and families!
PROGRESS REPORTS
This afternoon I will trigger the automated progress report for Academy courses. An email will be sent to every email address that parents or guardians selected during the online registration process. The progress report will give you an overview of your child’s progress to date.
Please remember these are in-progress grades. The semester grades will be finalized until Mid-January. The semester ends next week on January 15. The final semester grades will be available by January 21.
To see more details beyond the progress report, log into the Parent Portal. Here are some helpful instructions for accessing student grades online: https://ca.dmschools.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2018/11/Progress-Reports-in-IC.pdf
Here is an overview of how to interpret the information in Infinite Campus: https://ca.dmschools.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2018/10/Scoring-by-target-Summary.pdf
As always, parents are encouraged to communicate with teachers if you have concerns or questions about your child’s progress in a class. You can get the email of any teacher on our website: https://ca.dmschools.org/faculty/
AFTER HOURS
Every Tuesday we have Academy After Hours where students can meet with teachers, have access to school computers, form study groups, and participate in extra curricular activities (such as math counts) from 3:05 – 4:45.
Ms. Kellen offers support and instruction for any Academy student on English or other essays in room 1007 during After Hours. She can provide feedback on something you’ve written, additional instruction, or even design individualized lesson for students upon request. And it is free.
We provide free popcorn in the lobby at 3:30 and students can sign up to get a bus back to their home schools.
MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS TAKING HIGH SCHOOL COURSES
Middle school students who come to Academy in the afternoon (mostly 8th grade students) take high school courses that will add 0.5 credits to their high school transcript for each of the 3 Academy courses they are taking this semester (for a total of 1.5 credits). Directed Study does not earn high school credit.
Parents have two options about how the grades will appear on the high school transcript: 1) pass/no pass (NOT calculated in high school Grade Point Average) or 2) a regular letter grade (calculated in high school GPA).
I will send you a link to the form after semester grades have been finalized on January 21 so that you know what the letter grade is when you make your choice. A parent or guardian will have to indicate how each credit will appear on the high school transcript by February 4. If we don’t hear from you we will automatically add any letter grade of A or B to the high school transcript and any grade of C or lower will be listed as Pass/No Pass. You can learn more about this choice here: https://youtu.be/iS7amd8QSy4
The process repeats for second semester. Each course, each semester is added separately. So, your choice for first semester does NOT change your options for the second semester of a course. For example, if you take Algebra I, Semester 1 for a letter grade, you could take Algebra I, Semester 2 for Pass/ No Pass.
UPCOMING CALENDAR EVENTS
January 15: Last day of First Semester.
January 16: First day of Second Semester– fresh start!
January 21: No school for students or teachers in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday.
February 20: ACT Day at high schools– only Juniors report. Academy has classes for 7th and 8th grade students only that day.
February 28 and March 5: Parent Teacher conferences at Academy, 3:30 – 7:30 PM
March 15 – 26: Spring break for students.
Find the A/B schedule for the second semester here: DMPS A B Day Calendar FY2019