Charné Adams

Dear Parents and Students,

CRTs (Criterion Referenced Tests) are in full swing. Everything is going well with both teachers and students having prepared very well. The CRTs are part of the state’s accountability system and it provides a measure of student progress across Utah. The information gathered will [...]]]>

Charné Adams

Dear Parents and Students,

CRTs (Criterion Referenced Tests) are in full swing. Everything is going well with both teachers and students having prepared very well. The CRTs are part of the state’s accountability system and it provides a measure of student progress across Utah. The information gathered will be used to inform instruction and learning.

I am excited to announce that Mrs. Katie Thompson gave birth to her beautiful baby boy, Jaxon, Friday May 10th. Both are doing very well.

As we approach the end of the 2011-2012 school year, with many counting the days until summer, I am proud to add that our teachers and students are working at full force.

Parents, thank you for your input, perspective and thoughts throughout this year.

Have a super week!
Charné Adams
Principal

Lisa Hardy

We are surrounded with technology that bombards us with news/media about violent crimes being committed at alarming rates. This seems to promote and normalize violence in our communities. Incidents of violence and assaults, particularly among our middle school youth, continue to increase and escalate in [...]]]>

Lisa Hardy

We are surrounded with technology that bombards us with news/media about violent crimes being committed at alarming rates. This seems to promote and normalize violence in our communities. Incidents of violence and assaults, particularly among our middle school youth, continue to increase and escalate in severity. Sometimes it seems we live in a war zone!

In an attempt to address the issue of violence before us, North Star Academy administration along with the Unified Police Department’s Crime Victims Assistance Program have planned an assembly for the 9th grade class to be held on Wednesday May 23 at 1:30 p.m.

The main goal of our presentation is to educate our youth and empower them to deal effectively with gender roles and the concepts of masculinity and femininity. We hope to encourage the youth to become agents of change amongst their peers and become active role models in the battle against violence and assaults. This presentation has been created to offer youth a safe place to discuss real life situations that challenge the way adolescents understand, deal with and cope with personal boundaries. They will also learn healthy, effective ways to communicate with their peers.

An informational parent forum will be held Wednesday, May 16th at 6:00 p.m. in the NSA gym for parents. This meeting will focus on how important it is for our youth to be informed on this topic. Both presentations will be facilitated by Nubia Pena-Crime Victim Advocate from the Unified Police Department and two criminal detectives. If you have any questions, please call the office. Please use the link below to download more information and the permission form to allow your 9th grader to attend.

Sincerely,
Lisa Hardy
Counselor

Parent Student Permission Form

Troy Fernley

It’s finally arrived! This week students will start taking the Criterion-Referenced Tests (CRT). As you may know, CRT results are used to gauge how well each individual student is performing and how the school is doing academically as a whole. It also allows each [...]]]>

Troy Fernley

It’s finally arrived! This week students will start taking the Criterion-Referenced Tests (CRT). As you may know, CRT results are used to gauge how well each individual student is performing and how the school is doing academically as a whole. It also allows each teacher to find areas of concern for each student and individualize their instruction for the following year. For more information on the CRT visit http://www.schools.utah.gov/assessment/Criterion-Referenced-Tests.aspx.

Remember, it is very important that your students are at school on the days they are testing (each teacher can let you know when your student will be testing). Please don’t schedule any vacations or other appointments or activities that would take your children out of the school on a test day. Also, please keep in mind that students usually perform better if they have a good night’s sleep the evening before testing and have a good breakfast the morning of testing.

Thank you for all you do to make North Star Academy a great place to learn and grow,

Mr. Fernley
Assistant Principal

Charné Adams

It is wonderful to see respectful behavior. Students model what they see in their environment. Respect is one of the character pillars in our Character Counts program. During this past Spring Break I took out the marbles from my teaching boxes and shared with [...]]]>

Charné Adams

It is wonderful to see respectful behavior. Students model what they see in their environment. Respect is one of the character pillars in our Character Counts program. During this past Spring Break I took out the marbles from my teaching boxes and shared with my 6 year old some marble games I used to play with my friends on the school’s playground in elementary school. Watching him play with me and also with others was fascinating as I witnessed both excitement and disappointment.

There were wonderful teaching moments where I could gently tell him how pleased I was that he was showing respectful behavior. There are also other moments in life where we need to gently tell our children or students that some behavior is disrespectful or inappropriate. Talking while someone else is speaking or rolling eyes during conversation are both examples of disrespectful behavior. Teaching our students to accept other points of view in a respectful manner, even when we don’t agree with that point of view, will go a long way in helping them deal with life in general.

This same courtesy of respectful behavior at home is also expected at school. Please continue to encourage positive behavior through respect and understanding of others’ feelings, especially with our teachers and peers at school.

As a side note for all those marbles players, here is a game played in Australia that you may like to try:

Bounce Eye is believed to have been created by early Australian settlers in the late 1700s. The
game requires 3-4 players, and 3 marbles for each player.
Use a piece of chalk to draw a one-foot circle on a sidewalk or in the dirt. Each player puts two marbles in the center of the chalk circle. The first player stands up straight and drops a marble (from eye level) trying to knock the other players’ marbles out of the circle.
If any marbles are knocked out, they become the property of whoever knocked them out. Each
player has a turn, until all of the marbles are knocked out of the circle. The player with the most
marbles at the end wins!

Have a super week!
Charné Adams
Principal

Charné Adams

I am excited to announce that Mrs. Cicero gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, March 23rd. Both Mrs. Cicero and baby Jack are doing well. Mrs. Feotis also had a beautiful baby boy over Spring Break. She and baby John are also doing [...]]]>

Charné Adams

I am excited to announce that Mrs. Cicero gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, March 23rd. Both Mrs. Cicero and baby Jack are doing well. Mrs. Feotis also had a beautiful baby boy over Spring Break. She and baby John are also doing well!

Congratulations to our Math Olympiad teams who participated in the Math Olympiad at Daybreak Elementary. Special mention goes to Leah Park who placed 3rd in the 4th grade category, and Taylor Rowser who placed second overall. Well done on a great team effort! Thank you to Mrs. Van Leuven who helped co-ordinate the teams.

It was fun to celebrate student successes at yesterday’s middle school Awards Assembly. Today we celebrate elementary successes. This is always a fun time when student get to see the fruits of their hard work, and renew their desires to continue working towards and achieving their goals.

I hope you and your family had a fantastic, rejuvenating Spring Break! Even though we are in our final quarter for the year, as my Dad always says, let’s be sure to finish this race strong… “lean into the tapes”. Students, don’t relax just yet, keep doing your very best! Your teachers are committed to help you reach your goals for this quarter and succeed.

Have a super week!
Charné Adams
Principal

Troy Fernley

Students,

We’ve had a great year so far. There’s only a short nine weeks of class time left. Please keep in mind that as the weather starts improving many of you will be inclined to start “checking out.” I have one word of advice for you: Don’t! It’s [...]]]>

Troy Fernley

Students,

We’ve had a great year so far. There’s only a short nine weeks of class time left. Please keep in mind that as the weather starts improving many of you will be inclined to start “checking out.” I have one word of advice for you: Don’t! It’s the easiest time of year to start ignoring your class work, your homework, and quit focusing on your learning. Don’t think of it as almost finished; think of it as a final challenge.

Parents,

Please help your students out by not planning any extended vacations until after the end of the school year (June 8). With the weather starting to change it’s easy to slip into the vacation frame of mind. Your children have a job to do; it’s difficult for them to complete their job if they are not at work.

Have a great spring break, relax, refresh, and come back ready to work, learn, and have fun!

Troy Fernley
Assistant Principal

March 21, 2012 Dear Parents,

We all know how valuable story time is for our children. Parents who regularly read to their children enhance their child’s reading skills. This reading time can turn into a fun reading adventure by utilizing a few minutes here and there, such as when the dinner [...]]]>

Charné Adams

March 21, 2012
Dear Parents,

We all know how valuable story time is for our children. Parents who regularly read to their children enhance their child’s reading skills. This reading time can turn into a fun reading adventure by utilizing a few minutes here and there, such as when the dinner is in the oven, or while waiting for a sibling at a club/sports practice.

Keep children engaged by having them fill in the rhyming word at the end of sentences, or by choosing a word that fits appropriately when you take a longer pause while reading. I have had the pleasure of listening to our teachers a lot these last few weeks. It is fun to hear them create different voices for various characters, or add sound effects as the story progresses. One idea you may wish to try with your child, is substituting his/her name for one of the characters in the story.

I’m sure you have enjoyed hearing your children comment about the time you spend with them while you read. Thank you for your continued efforts in helping our students succeed both academically and as good citizens.

Have a great week!
Charné Adams
Principal

Charné Adams

On Friday we had our Solar Panel Informational Assemblies and Ribbon cutting. Representatives from various entities who were part of this exciting project attended the event. They included Bonnie Hagen, the grant writer, Geoff Jones and Chad Hofheins, from Wasatch Sun, Travis Tanner and Margaret Oler [...]]]>

Charné Adams

On Friday we had our Solar Panel Informational Assemblies and Ribbon cutting. Representatives from various entities who were part of this exciting project attended the event. They included Bonnie Hagen, the grant writer, Geoff Jones and Chad Hofheins, from Wasatch Sun, Travis Tanner and Margaret Oler from Rocky Mountain Power, and three of our board members, Trudy Sorensen, Pam VanWagoner, and Natalie Hall.

We are very excited about receiving the solar panels. The monitor in our entrance area displays the data relating to our solar panels. This gives students easy access to solar information collected, and exposure to new technology and sustainable energy options. Our teachers are excited to integrate the solar panel project into our curriculum, allowing students to receive information directly impacting our school. You can see this monitor on our We’ve Gone Solar! Web page as well as at the bottom of this post (best viewed in Firefox or IE).

We have our music concert tonight at 6pm, and look forward to great talent and effort being showcased by all involved.

Have a fantastic week!
Charné Adams
Principal

Troy Fernley

Thank you for joining us during parent/teacher conferences last week. We enjoy meeting with you to make sure your students have every opportunity to succeed at North Star Academy. If you were unable to join us for conferences, please feel free to contact your children’s teachers to [...]]]>

Troy Fernley

Thank you for joining us during parent/teacher conferences last week. We enjoy meeting with you to make sure your students have every opportunity to succeed at North Star Academy. If you were unable to join us for conferences, please feel free to contact your children’s teachers to schedule a time to discuss their progress.

Parents don’t forget to fill out your goal sheets with your children. Part of what makes North Star Academy so successful is the dedication our parents have to their students’ academics. The goal sheet is a great way for you to open a conversation with your students about what support they could use from you!

The parent goals should be more than a statement of support for your children. It should detail how you’re going to support your children. For example, instead of making a goal like this, “Make sure Jane gets all her work in.” You should make a goal that is more specific in nature, like this, “Help Jane with her homework and organization for 20 minutes every day after dinner.”

If you and your children write clear specific goals, there is much more of a chance that the goal will have a positive effect on your children’s academics instead of being forgotten and useless. You should keep a copy of these goals posted at home as a reminder of what you and your children plan to do throughout the semester.

Thank you for all you do!
Troy Fernley
Assistant Principal

February 29, 2012 Dear Parents and Students,

Our drama production last week was extremely successful. Students were confident and shared their acting talents with enthusiasm. Thank you to Ms. Stoddard for helping these students reach their potential. Our next production begins soon. Watch for audition and rehearsal details from Ms. Stoddard.