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This Week at Amana / August 22, 2011 |
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Dear Amana Family Members,
It is my privilege to welcome you to the 2011-2012 school year and to provide you with some information below that I hope will help you get off to a great start. This is going to be another phenomenal year at Amana - our best yet! You will be receiving this communication every two weeks; and it will contain important information related to school policies/procedures, PIE activities, classroom snapshots, everything you need to stay engaged in your child's learning.
This has been the smoothest and most productive back to school in Amana's history, with student's focused and on-task from day one. Teachers are working hard to establish classroom norms and are empowering students with the skills they need to ensure a successful school year. According to Mr. Leonard Box, Fulton County Schools Area Superintendent, who was on campus last Monday, "Amana students seem so engaged, as if they have been in school for weeks".
We owe the success of these past two weeks in large part to the efforts of our staff and parents like yourselves who read through school communications and made sure your child was well prepared!
I personally thank new and returning families for your commitment to your students' success and for entrusting with your child's education.
Sincerely,
Ehab Jaleel
Executive Director |
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Key Dates | |
9/5 - No School - Labor Day
9/6 - No School - Amana Teacher Workday
9/7 - New Parent Social
9/8 - K-2 Curriculum Night
9/13 - 3-5 Curriculum Night
9/15 - MS Curriculum Night
Detailed Calendar |
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ANNOUNCEMENTS / REMINDERS |
Amana a Finalist in Georgia Charter School of the Year Award
The Georgia Charter Schools Association announced on Thursday August 25th the 3-finalists for the Coca-Cola Foundation's Georgia Charter School of the Year Award, and Amana was privileged to be amo ng the finalists in this honor along with Drew Charter School (Atlanta) and Brighten Academy (Douglasville).
This prestigious award, and grant of $50,000, was established to honor excellence in education throughout the charter sector. The winner will be announced at the annual conference in Macon, October 5-7, 2011. To qualify for this honor and accompanying grant, the applicant must be operational for five or more years, serve students in the metro Atlanta, demonstrate academic excellence as measured by standardized achievement tests, and demonstrate operational sustainability and sound fiscal practices,
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 GA Public Policy Foundation Ranks Middle School #1
Congratulations, Amana! The 2010 report card issued by the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, which is based on a variety of performance indicators (GA-CRCT scores, demographics, income levels, etc.), ranked Amana's middle school 8th grade #1 in the state; and our fifth grade ranked second place in the district. Way to go! Check out the following link to see this for yourself:
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 Amana wins Annie E. Casey Foundation Grant
Last June Amana was privileged to host Robert Clanin, Treasurer, and Patrick McCarthy, CEO, of the Annie Casie Foundation. The visit was made possible through Liz Lambert, Amana's Business Manager. The two gentlemen toured our facility and were intrigued by a presentation about Amana's pioneering program, and were particularly interested in how we measure student outcomes. As a result, the Annie E. Casey Foundation has committed to awarding Amana $50,000 to support our programs. |
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PIE Student Activity Fees 
Your PIE student activity fees guarantee that programs such as Grandparent's Day, International Festival, teacher appreciation luncheons, Promotion Ceremony, field studies, Earth Day Celebration, Book Fairs and many other valuable events and resources will continue to benefit the students at Amana Academy. Fees can be paid via the front office or on the Amana website. It's only $20 for the first child and $10 each additional child for the entire school year. As always, the class with 100% participation by the end of September will receive a fabulous class party! Please go on our website and pay your fees TODAY and thank you for your support! |
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New Amana Calendar This Year
In an effort to maximize the benefits to our students, Amana Academy's Governing Board has adopted a calendar that varies slightly from the Fulton County Schools calendar. Please be sure to refer to the Amana website calendar page for the most accurate listing of school closing dates, holidays, teacher workdays, etc. |
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 Reminder: When Your Child is Absent
Should your child need to be absent from school due to illness, doctor appointments, religious holidays, or other valid reasons, please use our online form. (You must submit a separate form for each day absent.) We do not accept hard copy notes or emails for this purpose. Per Fulton County policy, absences must be reported within three days or it will be marked as unexcused and cannot be changed. You can always access the Absence Notice Form by clicking Attendance at the bottom of our home page. |
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Meet Members of our Faculty
Amana is fortunate to have one of the most talented faculty in Georgia. Over 70% of our teachers possess advanced degrees, and all classroom teachers are certified. Here are a few new faces you should meet...
 Dr. Christina Arpante is our new Middle School Administrator. She has several years experience in advertising and marketing and has 13 years education experience in the elementary, middle, high school, and technical college settings. She served in a curriculum support for Cobb County schools and in administration at the middle and high school levels. She has a Bachelors Degree in Mass Communications from Boston University, Master's in Elementary Education from Lesley University, and Educational Specialist and Doctorate degrees in Curriculum & Instruction from Argosy University.
 Melynda Galioto is a new Amana Kindergarten Teacher. She earned Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of MN and has 8 years teaching experience. She believes children learn best in a warm, friendly safe environment where the expectations are clear and there is lots of support and fun!
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 New Building Update
This spot in the newsletter will be reserved for updates on our new building project, so make sure to check in regularly. Amana's desire is to acquire 5905 Windward Parkway, Alpharetta 30005, a beautiful 75,000 square foot building with nearly 13 acres of land, in time for the start of the 2012-2013 school year. The purchase requires a zoning change for school use. Here are some key updates:
- Our Board agreed with the building's seller to postpone an Alpharetta Council zoning hearing from August 22nd to November to give us more time to engage the community and to conduct additional traffic studies.
- Although this building was the most ideal one identified by the Facilities Committee during their yearlong search, they will continue to look at alternative sites.
- How you can help! Please continue to write letters of support to Alpharetta Council Members and ask Alpharetta residents, business owners, service providers, and clergy you know to do the same. Contact Shaheen Bharde or Andrea Cooper Gatewood to sign up to speak with Council Members.
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Robotics Competition Clubs Expand
We have had an unbelievable response to our Robotics Club this year with enough students for 3 clubs! The program, which is headed by 4th Grade Teacher Mrs. Angelique Barnett (an Engineer by training by the way), had their informational meeting this past Wednesday. The first team meeting will be Sunday August 28 at 1:00 PM in the annex space, but regular meetings will be on Fridays at 6:00 PM. Helping Mrs. Barnett will be the Middle School Team Coach Mr. Shahrukh Arif, a Georgia Tech graduate. Our teams will be competing in the First Robotics Competition series. You can view pictures from last year's team and learn more by clicking here. |
 New Parent Social on September 7th
Parents of new students, as well as those parents who were unable to attend last year's social, are invited to a New Parent Social, Wednesday, September 7th at 8:15 a.m. - 9:00AM in the Media Center. Our Executive Director, Mr. Jaleel and the rest of the adminsitration and PIE Executive Board will be present to talk about Amana's programs and volunteer opportunities and to answer questions parents may have about the school. If you have a friend or know someone who is new to the school, please let them know about this special opportunity. |
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 Student Enrichment Opportunities
At Amana, we believe it's is important for students to get involved in extracurricular activities as it helps them develop leadership, interpersonal and communication skills. With close to thirty, high-quality, mission-aligned programs to choose from, it's easy to see why Amana students continue to excel as leaders in high school and beyond.
The Amana Academy website provides an overview of the many extra-curricular programs, sports, clubs, competitions, etc. we offer our students. Be sure to check our the Extra Curricular tab at the top of our home page on a regular basis as new programs are added throughout the school year.
For more information or to register your child for any one of Amana's extra curricular programs, please contact our school Director of Student Services, Mary LoCurto. |
 Order Your 2011-2012 Yearbook Today
Order your Amana yearbook today and save! Please visit the Amana website and click on Parents/PIE tab and look for the link to online ordering form to pay with Mastercard or Visa or you can print the order form and send a check payable to "Amana Academy Yearbook" in with your child. If you have any questions about the 2011-2012 yearbook or to volunteer to be a part of the production crew, please contact Tracie Burr. |
 Calling All Girl Scout Leaders
We have number of Girl Scout troops serving Amana students at all grade levels, but unfortunately, the demand far exceeds availability. This year, in fact, most of our troops are full and we already have a number of girls on a placement list. We would like to encourage parents to come forward and start new troops, especially Daisy and Brownie level troops (KG-3rd).
As a Girl Scout volunteer, you'll add meaningful days to girls' lives and to your own. Tackle everything from global warming to election reform. Travel to incredible places. Share your personal passions and create experiences together you'll never forget.
Think it's a full-year commitment? Think again. Schedule tight? No problem. There are endless, flexible ways to participate. Whether you choose to work directly or indirectly with girls on a short-term or long-term basis, you will get all the instruction, guidance, and support you need.
If you or someone you know is interested in co-leading a new Girl Scout troop, please contact Amana's Troop Organizer Lemiya Alexander today. |
Welcome from Amana's Arabic Department 
مرحبا Marhaba (Hello) Amana Parents,
Your child is engaged in Arabic instruction forty minutes everyday and will have great fun this year learning the language through hands-on activities, dialogues, games, songs, movies, stories and much more. Our Arabic curriculum is based on the State of Georgia's Foreign Language Standards which are aligned with the National Standards for Foregn Language Learning in the 21st Century ( ACTFL). Please do not forget to visit your child's Arabic teacher's page on the Amana website to stay up to date on what is being taught in the Arabic classroom.
Shukran wa Salam (Thank You and Peace)
Arabic Language Department
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Physical Education Department Kicks Off Another Exciting School Year
Amana's Physical Education Department is committed to educating students to become lifelong learners of wellness by participating in activities that develop behaviors which encourage good health, develop appropriate social skills, and promote physical fitness in and outside the school. The curriculum also emphasizes Outward Bound principles to build leadership skills and encourage youth to do more than they think they can.
Coach Maria and Coach Carson have enjoyed working with your children and hearing about all the ways they stayed healthy this summer. The current focus in PE this past week has been on gym rules and expectations and personal/general (shared) space. Please remember that is still very hot outside, and the gym does warm up during the day, so students are advised to bring their water bottles to school each and every day. This way they can access water as needed and stay hydrated for maximum learning potential.
Middle school soccer tryouts took place on Tuesday, August 23, but if your child did not get a chance to sign up during Back to School, please contact Coach Carson as soon as possible. Many other intramural sports are being sponsored by the PE Department this year - basketball, cross country, archery, etc. For more information, please visit the Amana Academy website's Extra Curricular pages.
If you would like to contact either Coach Maria or Coach Carson, please click on their names, or leave a message via the front desk and you will be responded to within 24 hours. Thank you and and we are looking forward to another great year! |
More on Ga Public Policy Foundation Recognition of Our Middle School
The traditional government agency rankings of schools in this country are primarily based on standardized test results. And this type of data is very useful when diagnosing a problem or trying to determine if a student has learned what you've tried to teach them. It is when standardized test results are used as the sole factors (or a large factor) to make decisions regarding graduation/grade promotion, funding, ability tracking, etc. in other words, when standardized tests become high-stakes tests is when they become a problem.
This test-driven mindset impacts even the savviest of parents, especially when there's an intense amount of competition between high-performing schools in a particular geographical area. In north Fulton, for example, schools routinely bombard the air waves, put up banners, send out press releases, etc. lauding their test scores, so its understandable that parents face a lot of pressure and often succumb to the high-stakes testing mindset when looking at their children's educational options.
We are fortunate indeed that Amana does a great job ensuring that the basics being measured on the standardized tests are taught in parallel with student self-exploration. And although we ranked #1 in the state and we are very proud of the efforts that got us to the top, what's even more satisfying is the fact that we have stayed true to our mission, and in many cases, are now positioned to fulfill on it even better than before.
Consider for a moment our school's mission:
To develop students who possess a healthy balance of intellect and ethical character - students with a positive self-image who are motivated for lifelong learning and achievement, who respect others and the environment and who can skillfully communicate their interests and passion; in an environment that fosters a global mindset and appreciation for the natural world and the rich diversity of humanity with an emphasis on the interconnectedness of the two.
Consider for a moment what is NOT our mission:
To produce a group of students to become short-term replicators and passive recipients of an education provided solely by textbooks, to remain focused on a limited version of self, and to become isolated members of a fragmented society.
Of course, no Amana community member or beyond would say they believe in the latter mission. But take a moment to consider: When we teach only to the standards and standardized tests, without engaging student imagination and commitment to problem-solving and innovative thinking, the second mission is the one we are actually committed to. While CRCTs are important criteria for measuring long-term academic achievement, they are a poor indicator of higher order/critical thinking skills and cannot really tell us if a student will perform well in college and at any job. Scientific research tells us that if we continually encourage students to think in an "A,B,C, or D-None of the above" manner, they will never move beyond Piaget's "concrete operational thought" into higher-level thinking. And this would be great a disservice to our society.
When we learn about our successes like the Georgia Public Policy Foundation score card results, we are immensely proud, not just because we taught students how to be successful on a standardized test, but because we did it without giving up on our unique features like Community Circle, morning meetings, field studies, constructivist/hands-on practices, flexible grouping, authentic assessment, daily recess, etc. We have stayed true the priorities outlined in our charter.
It is hard and exciting work to pioneer educational reform in Georgia and strive for more than what is easily measurable. But after seven years, we now see the results in our many parents and graduates who come back and thank us all the time for the learning we have committed to, as they continue to unlock the best of their talents and skills for their futures.
And finally a quote from the book A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille:
"The purpose of exams is to test the student's acquisition of knowledge and ability to apply it. The real question is, "Have they learned to think?"
Thank you to our dedicated parents and all our hard working faculty and staff for daring to be leaders of a crew and not passengers on this exciting journey... |
Thank You!
If you ever have any questions or concerns, please contact your child's teacher  directly, or any one of our Administrative team members. If your question was not addressed, then feel free to contact our Governing Board. Amana's main number is (678) 624-0989 and you may also find email contact information for all of our staff by visiting the Amana Staff Directory. On behalf of the Governing Board, the Amana faculty and staff, and the school Administration, thank you for entrusting your child's education to us. With your continued support, we will continue to mold the very best and brightest global leaders within our community! |
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