July 19, 2010
Welcome to the 2010-11 School Year!

Welcome to the 2010-11 School Year! I hope all of you have been enjoying your summer relaxing, swimming, playing outside and participating in the Marion Country Summer Reading program. If you haven’t signed up yet, there is still time to earn some prizes and read a great book!

We have been very busy at Fall Creek Academy. Our summer experience has been outstanding between our time at Marian University in the Ecolab learning science as well as in the university classrooms with language arts and math, Gustafson Pool, Civic Theatre and our time back in our own building experiencing from the Indianapolis Art Center and physical education. We believe that having an eight hour a day summer program was a great decision and our students enjoyed the changes we made in our summer programming. It was a great summer learning camp. We were proud to offer a full day experience in tight economic times for most schools.

Our senior class, the class of 2011, has already started to prepare for college. Our seniors attended a four day Peer Leadership meeting with College Summit that gave our students a head start on their college readiness. There have even been discussions on where to send off early college admission applications. Watch out Purdue…I hear FCA Engineers heading your way!

We have also added new faces to our teaching team. I would like to welcome two more Teach for America teachers to our staff. Welcome Spencer Forte, our new middle school language arts teacher. Mrs. Arthurton is not leaving us. She is transitioning to a part time position as our community outreach coordinator as she also prepares for full time motherhood. I would also like to welcome Sarah Nichols who will be teaching secondary social studies including middle school social studies and high school electives. We are very excited to have new members to our Fall Creek Academy family.

Orientation will take place August 5 from 11-7 and August 6 from 8-4. Schoolbelles, our uniform company, will be at orientation on August 5 from 4-6pm. Your student’s advisory teacher will be contacting you to schedule an orientation appointment. PARENTS/GUARDIANS OF ALL STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO ATTEND AN ORIENTATION APPOINTMENT IN ORDER FOR THEIR CHILD TO ATTEND FALL CREEK ACADEMY. FAILURE TO ATTEND ORIENTATION WILL RESULT IN YOUR CHILD LOSING THEIR PLACE IN OUR SCHOOL. During orientation teachers will discuss coursework, discipline, uniforms, school supplies and other items related to school. If you do not hear from an advisory teacher, please come in during orientation hours to meet with your child’s teacher or myself to receive materials regarding your child’s education.

School begins for students with a full day on Monday, August 9 at 7:30am. We believe that being on time for school is essential for a child to receive a high quality education. If a child is 10 minutes late every day, they will miss nearly an hour of school a week. We want our students to always receive a full day of learning. Please remember that students must be in full uniform. This includes Fall Creek Academy shirts (no 21st century shirts and no solid shirts without logos). Shirts may be purchased at SchoolBelles. Students are also expected to be in tan, khaki or black bottoms, belts, solid socks and solid shoes. Jewelry should be kept to a minimum and only silver or gold. Earrings should be a quarter size or smaller. A complete description of uniform expectations is described in our handbook that you will be provided at the time of registration.

As we approach the start of the school year please keep the basics in mind such as a good breakfast and a good night’s sleep. I know that with the sun going down a bit later that this can be difficult, but please remember that our children need 8-9 hours of good sleep a night to be productive during the day. I encourage backing up bedtime or creating bedtime routines about one week before school begins. It is especially important with our older students to establish cell phone rules so texting and talking on phones in the wee hours of the night comes to a halt (in my house we charge phones in the kitchen so they can’t be in the teenager’s room at night). A good breakfast can be cereal or a bagel or even a sandwich as long as a student doesn’t come with an empty stomach to school. Of course, we also provide breakfast at Fall Creek Academy. A good night’s rest and a happy tummy translate to a great day of learning.

You should hear from your advisory teacher soon. If your phone number has changed, please call the school with an update. At orientation you will receive directions on how to login to ARK, our new student management system, to update information by a simple click of the computer mouse so that you can always keep us current of phone numbers or other pertinent information. At the same time, you will always be able to stay current on information concerning your child’s work here at Fall Creek Academy as well. Please check out our website for updates: www.Fall Creek Academy.org and click on Fall Creek Academy. I look forward to seeing you next month and sharing in the excitement of educating your children. Enjoy the rest of your summer!

For the love of kids,
Dr. Silverman