New Lost and found items this week:

blue and gray lunch box-Ainsley

navy hoodie-Large “Clyde Companies” logo

knit hat with long tassles- brown with red snowflakes

bright orange beanie

gray knit gloves

one black knit glove

red v-neck Gap sweater size 6-7

black and pink winter coat- Harrison, girls 7-8

navy v-neck sweater vest youth large

red zip hoodie “Qualtics.com” logo

yellow lunch bag- “Ultimate Sandwich Makeover”

1 black knit glove with gray trim

red hair band

brown lace hairbow

1 pair white knit gloves

1 pair white knit gloves

1 purple knit glove

black knit hat with brim

navy knit hat with red lining

1 gray glove with green and white spiders

1 pair purple knit gloves

black lanyard

black knit head band with flower

white polo-large

cream knit scarf

navy zip hoodie size 10-12

light blue hat with fuzzy white lining

navy hoodie size 10-12

black rain coat

navy pants size 14

black and gray Arctic Zone lunch box “Larsen”

gray and red “Ci Sport” lunch box

black lunch box with green and gray design

bright blue lunch dufflebag

Algebra 1 workbook

black and gray football

Items removed from the Lost and Found Bins this week (contact Kathie Michaelis @ 801-369-9898):

silver hoop earring

striped headband

blue rubber watch

christmas bow clip

teal and white scarf

white lid container

black lid Tupperware container

metal pink water bottle

white hat

gray, black, red striped hat

sparkle pink gloves

hot pink gloves

tan Liz Claiborne cardigan-small

purple sweatshirt-”Flaming Gorge” with moose

navy polo-xs

pullover navy fleece size 14

navy pants-14

red polo-large

brown sweatshirt with “Toxic Diesel”

navy zip hoodie-large

gray and black jacket 12-14

navy and tan reversible BYU beanie

navy glove

navy glove

black glove

red cardigan size 7-8

red and black zip hoodie “Jordan” logo

navy hoodie with “Football 56″

navy blue v-neck sweater

pink Dora gloves

Every student in grades K through 9^th is invited to participate in the contest.

The contest will only run for only TWO weeks. Reading Logs will be picked on the mornings of February 17^th and the 24^th.

We will award the following prizes: A top Reader for each grade will be chosen each week and a top class will be chosen on the second week only. We will also choose a top student.

Our school goal is to read a total of 280,000 minutes. If every student reads at least 30 minutes a day for the length of the contest we will be able to meet this goal. Our reward for reaching our goal will be a free dress day .

Rules: The boxes are separated into 30 minute increments. Each box must be initialed by an adult whenever the reading is completed. K-2^nd grade may have a parent or older sibling read to them. The remainder of the grades must read on their own. However time spent reading to a younger sibling can be counted. The minutes can only be counted if they are read outside of class time. Book on tapes cannot be counted.

If you have any questions please contact a member of the committee:

Raquel Timpson (Chair) 801-768-0638 Chelsee Jensen, Anne McDonald, Marsha Lindsey and Kristen Smeltzer

We had 2 level II couples given Top Performers medals and 1 Level I couple given Top Technique medals.

Congratulations to the Ballroom Teams!

Please help your students by preparing them with their grade level lists.

Please print the 2012_spellingwords_FULL_SET to study the words at home.

Renaissance Academy
BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Board Meeting Agenda
January 25, 2012
7:00 pm

Location: Renaissance Academy; 3435 North 1120 East, Lehi; 1^st floor in the Rousseau
Room (southwest corner classroom).  Public Welcome.

Welcome and Call to Order:  Carolyn Bayly, Chair

Approval of Minutes: November 30, December 20, 2011

Public Comment: Please sign up on sheet

Executive Update:

• Red Apple
• Chinese Dual Immersion Program Update
• HR Update
• Other School House and Administrative Update Items
• Lottery/ Re-enrollment Update

Items of Discussion:

• 2012 Yearly Calendar Items
• Charter and Bylaws training minute
• USOE online training reminder

Items of Business:

• Lottery Policy
• Enrollment Policy
• World Language Policy
• Classroom Placement Policy

Closed Session:

“A closed meeting described under Section 52-4-204 will be held for: (a) a discussion of the character, professional competence, or physical or mental health of an individual

Register for the lottery

Renaissance Academy
BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Board Meeting Agenda
December 20, 2011
8:00pm

Location: Renaissance Academy; 3435 North 1120 East, Lehi; 1^st floor in the Rousseau
Room (southwest corner classroom).  Public Welcome.

Welcome and Call to Order:  Carolyn Bayly, Chair

Approval of Minutes: November 30, 2011

Public Comment: Please sign up on sheet.  Please keep your comments to 2 minutes.

Executive Update:

• Chinese Immersion program review

Items of Business:

• Chinese Immersion 2012-2013

Renaissance Academy
BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Board Meeting Minutes
December 20, 2011
8:20 pm

Location: Renaissance Academy; 3435 North 1120 East, Lehi; 1^st floor in the Rousseau
Room (southwest corner classroom).  Public Welcome.

Board Members in Attendance: Ryan Hunter, Mariah Fralick, Heather Miller, Branton  Richter and Carolyn Bayly.

Advisory Board: Mark Ursic, Executive Director Kaylene Jackson FEC

Public in Attendance:  Cyndy Garrison, Heather Groom, Jenn Wilks, Anne Macdonald, Deidre Nelson, Tregaron Bayly, Rachelle Stokes,Sonya Jolley, Kaylene Jackson, Tracy Scott,  Shera & Blaire, Megan Hawkes, Kriszta Gruebele, Samantha Walker, Rae Seal, and Stay Lru
 
Approval of Minutes:  Ryan Hunter voted that we postpone the approval of minutes till next meeting.    

Welcome and Call to Order:  Carolyn Bayly, Chair

Public Comment: Cyndy Garrison hopes that other languages don’t suffer, Heather Groom represented 5 other families and she and these five families are in support in the Chinese immersion.  She spoke in support of the 50 50 model. It will be a great opportunity for the school.  Deidre Nelson is feeling undecided. 2 concerns: curriculum integration & staff changes.  She would like RA to be a recipe for other charter schools to fix the foreign language program with measurements!

Executive Update:

Mariah asked if the Chinese Immersion program could be analyzed every year and that the board receive a program review every year.  Where are the weak links in the program?  They happen in the first year. The program is in high demand and we are in a good location geographically to add to its success.  The other question Mariah has is from the teacher’s perspective – and having a guest teacher’s program.  Build stability in the school and community in creating a commitment for the teachers who will be coming from overseas.  Greg Robert’s presentation was very informative and he answered several questions from parents and faculty.  Mark feels that we can learn much from the state which will help our language programs across the board.  He also hopes to have measureable criteria in place by the beginning of August for Spanish and Arabic so those languages can be evaluated and progress tracked by the administration and the World Language Department.

Ryan made a motion to pass the Chinese Immersion Program for Renaissance Academy beginning in August of 2012.  Heather commented that this will be a great opportunity for the students, families and community in opening up future business opportunuites to Utah.  All board members voted in favor of supporting the Chinese Immersion Program for Renaissance Academy.  

The RA Board Meeting adjourned  at 8:45 pm.

Dear Renaissance Academy Parents,

I am writing you about an exciting opportunity we have at Renaissance to participate in the Utah State Office of Education’s (USOE) Chinese Dual Immersion Program for the 2012-2013 school year. Gregg Roberts, World Language Specialist with the USOE will be doing a presentation on the dual immersion program this Friday in the Rousseau Room at 5:00 PM. I invite you all to attend. Utah has a nationally recognized program and Mr. Roberts has been instrumental in its development and implementation. This is a great opportunity to learn about the benefits of language immersion and get your questions answered by Utah’s leading expert in this field.

What is dual immersion?

In Utah’s dual immersion model, students’ daily instruction would be divided half in English and half in the target language—Chinese. Target language instruction would occur in mathematics, science, social studies and language arts content areas. Art, music and PE would be conducted in English. The program starts with 50 students in 1st grade, adding an immersion class by grade level in each successive year.

Why immersion?

Decades of research has documented the significant power immersion programs have in driving second language proficiency—only living in a second language environment is as successful. Furthermore, the state of Utah has made a significant investment in the development of a highly recognized immersion model for participating schools. This research based program provides the framework and support necessary to implement a successful immersion program with clearly defined objectives and measurable proficiency results.

Why now?

The possibility of implementing an immersion language track has been discussed at Renaissance for some time. Each year the state accepts applications to the immersion program for the following year. When considering the opportunity this year, there seemed a natural alignment with other strategic initiatives currently underway, such as the grade level expansion plan and development of World Language (WL) standards and proficiency assessments. Once implemented, the immersion model structure would serve as a catalyst for the other current WL development initiatives to improve assessment and increase proficiency in all languages.

What is next?

In order to leverage the opportunity for improvement, last month Renaissance submitted our application to participate in the USOE’s dual immersion program for next year. The application was discussed in our most recent board meeting and generated a lot of excitement and questions. I would welcome your participation in this public dialogue as we continue to study this opportunity.

The window between the application deadline and program orientation is very small. We will have less than two weeks to study details and research answers to our questions. In order to facilitate a public dialogue, accompanying this communication you will find a list of meetings/round-table discussions where you can come with any questions you may have. In addition to other updates, we will post frequently asked questions on the school website for your reference.

At the conclusion of this process, the board of directors will meet on December 20th to vote on the implementation of this program. The evening will start with an “open forum” discussion at 7:30 PM. The official board meeting will start at 8:00 PM and will include time for public comment.

In the mean time, please email your questions and comments directly to me. I would appreciate your feedback and an opportunity to get you the answers you need. Thank you for your commitment to Renaissance. We appreciate the opportunity to provide quality educational opportunities for your students.

Best regards,
Mark Ursic
Executive Director
Renaissance Academy