Mid Term Phone Conferences

Dear Central Academy Students and families,

We are almost halfway through the first semester and teachers are posting in-progress grades.  It is important to note that in-progress grades in skills based classes like English, World Languages, and Social Sciences, can be deceptively lower now than they will be at the end of the semester as students build skills.  If the topic of learning covers an entire semester, and we are only halfway through it, there is much more learning to be done to master the topic. In other subjects a topic is addressed in a single unit before going to the next topic.

We’ve been working to clarify our success criteria to specify expectations for each learning topic at the mid-point of the semester. But the pandemic slowed that work over the last year and a half as we have continually revised our curricula to match the changing and emerging needs of our students.

So, I’ve asked teachers to share with students and guardians the grade the student is on track to earn for the semester if they keep doing what they have been doing so far.  Teachers can explain the next steps in learning for their students and the pathway to earning the grade students are shooting for.

PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES

Our Parent Teacher conferences will be held by phone on Thursday, October 28 from 8- 11:30 AM and 5 – 7 PM.   These are designed to be short, scheduled conversations to check in with teachers.  If you need a longer conversation, or if October 28 doesn’t work in your schedule, please email teachers directly.  You can find all our teacher email addresses on our website: https://ca.dmschools.org/faculty/

Sign up for a time for teachers to call you.   This 2:30 VIDEO explains how to use our system to book your conference.

FAFSA NIGHT SENIOR CLASS OF 2022

Students who are planning to attend college next year should fill out the FAFSA this month (or as soon as possible).  The FAFSA is a free federal application that is used by colleges and universities throughout the United States to determine financial aid for college education.  It will be used by committees awarding grants, scholarships, and loans.  These groups will award financial aid until they run out.  So, getting your application in earlier is an advantage.

The high school counseling teams throughout DMPS are working together to offer different FAFSA help nights for DMPS students and families to attend as needed. Tomorrow night we’ll be hosting one in the Central Campus cafeteria from 4 – 7 PM.  We will have volunteers on hand to help get the FAFSA filled out and submitted. Both the student and one parent/guardian will need an FSA I.D. to complete the FAFSA.  Parents and students should bring a copy of their 2020 tax returns and a charged laptop.

Use this LINK or QR code to register:

ADVANCED PLACEMENT EXAM ORDERING

The College Board, which operates the world wide Advanced Placement program, offers AP exams in May near the conclusion of high school AP classes.  The College Board requires that schools order their AP exams in the fall.  In DMPS, it is a 3-step process:

1. Sign up for a College Board account at myap.collegeboard.org and join your advanced placement course online. (You’ll need a join code from your AP teacher).  *Note: not all Academy classes are AP classes.
2. Indicate to the College Board if you want to take the exam by November 4. (Schools are able to make corrections if orders are not placed correctly by students before finalizing the order).
3. Pay for your exam(s) with your high school’s bookkeeper by November 4.    Academy handles the orders for our Out of District students.

Specific details  about each of these steps can be found on our website at: https://ca.dmschools.org/adv-placement/ap-exam-information/