Valley West SMaRT Academy Magnet Program

See you bright and early showing your Valley West pride!

Tuesday, October 12

•9:30 a.m., Revere Middle School (10502 Briar Forest)
•6:00 p.m., Reagan High School (413 East 13th)
•7:00 p.m., Yates High School (3703 Sampson)

Martin Luther King J. Oratory Competition

2010-10-05T12:53:00.004-05:00

Topic:
How will you carry forward the legacy of Dr. King in your personal and professional life?

Event Dates:
-Schoolwide Competition @ Valley West – November 1st -9:00AM
-Semi-Finals @ Thompson Elem. – Jan.7th – 10:00 AM
-Finals @ Antioch Missionary Baptist Church- Jan.14th-10:00AM

Participants Criteria:
- Fourth and Fifth grade students compose their own original 3-5 minute speech, incorporating ideals from Dr. Kings writings, speeches, and other records.
- Students are judged on delivery, stage presence and decorum, content interpretation and memorization at all three levels.

- In school competition committee must select 20 students to be judged by Gardere attorneys and staff.

History and Awards:
- Savings Bonds
- Certificate of participation, plaques, book on civil rights
- Appearance on local Television shows, Good Morning America, Fox 26 News and The Early Show

http://www.gardere.com/Firm_Profile/Community/Community_Gardere_Article/?id=CommunityItem2)

Magnet Review Community Meeting

2010-10-05T12:26:00.004-05:00

Objective: To gather input from parents and community members regarding HISD's Magnet program, including its vision, governance, procedures and practices, funding, quality and the selection process.

Schedule:

Let your voice be heard!

Sign up to attend a community meeting, and get a free SMaRT Academy t-shirt to wear to the event! Let's show the school board that we care about our children's education and we care about our magnet program!

HISD to Hold Parent-Community Forums on District’s Magnet Program

2010-09-30T09:33:00.003-05:00

Today, the Board of Education of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) received an update on the logistics and timeline of the external review of the district’s magnet program. The program review, which will be conducted by Magnet Schools of America, falls under the district’s Strategic Direction core initiative of maintaining rigorous instructional standards and supports.

“We want this process to be thoughtful, transparent and involve parents and members of the community,” said Superintendent Terry Grier. “This review isn’t about choice or taking choices away from parents and students, it’s about ensuring that our magnet program is effective, equitable and efficient.”

Beginning in October, parent–community forums will be held throughout the district to gather input regarding HISD’s magnet program, including its vision, governance, procedures and practices, funding, quality, and the process and criteria by which magnet students are selected.
Parents, students, staff, and community members will also be able to give feedback on the HISD
website.

Also in October, consultants from Magnet Schools of America will visit each individual magnet school to tour its program and classes and meet with the principal, magnet coordinator and other staff members. Currently there are 113 magnet schools within the district—55 elementary, 31 middle, and 27 high schools. The magnet review process timeline currently calls for a preliminary and final report from Magnet Schools of America in December.

Board trustees at their meeting today also received an update on the district’s process and timeline for building a new teacher appraisal and development system. Beginning in late September and continuing through the middle of January, the District Advisory Committee (DAC) and members of each school’s Shared Decision Making Committee (SDMC) will meet to develop the criteria and appraisal process for the new system. The criteria will be the principles
by which teacher performance will be evaluated. The appraisal process will be the set of rules and procedures under which teachers will be evaluated, including assessment methods, the frequency and timeline for evaluation, and modes for feedback.

“There will be an extensive public comment period surrounding the criteria and appraisal process that comes out of the DAC and the SDMC meetings,” said Julie Baker, HISD’s Chief Major Projects Officer. “The comments and feedback from all of our stakeholders will be taken into consideration before the final plan is sent to the school board for approval in March of next year.”

Upon board approval, the new teacher appraisal and development system would not go into effect until the 2011-12 school year. The Houston Independent School District is the largest school district in Texas and the seventh-largest in the United States with 298 schools and more than 200,000 students. The 301-square-mile district is one of the largest employers in the Houston metropolitan area with nearly 30,000 employees.

For more information, visit the HISD Web site at www.houstonisd.org.

Get Connected – Smart Academy RSS

2010-09-10T13:21:00.004-05:00

Staying connected to SMaRT Academy news and updates is easy with RSS!

Real Simple Syndication (RSS) is a no hassle way to easily stay informed and up-to-date on all your news. RSS allows you to automatically retrieve any new content from all your favorite sites and blogs.

With RSS:

Save time by getting all your updates and news in one place
There's no need to remember to check updates; they are sent automatically
Prioritizing your news is easy with the ability to select news categories

To stay connected to Smart Academy news updates automatically through RSS, simply enter the following URL into your favorite feed reader:

http://vwsmart.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Most popular readers:

Bloglines – Bloglines is a FREE online service for subscribing, creating and sharing news feeds, blogs and rich web content.

Google
– Google Reader is a Web-based aggregator, capable of pulling feeds (news links) online or offline. Read them in one place with Google Reader, where keeping up with your favorite websites is as easy as checking your email.

Register for Parent Student Connect

2010-09-07T12:30:00.003-05:00

Parent Student Connect:

Online access to daily grades, assignments, progress reports, and more!

Register at www.houstonisd.org/PSC today!

Parent Student Connect (PSC), a new online service launched by HISD last year, allows registered users (i.e., parents and students) to log in to access a variety of student information, see class assignments and school calendars, and even communicate electronically with teachers. Users can also choose to have an e-mail or text message sent if a child's grades drop below a selected average or is absent or tardy to class.

Information that PSC provides access to includes:

Period and Daily Attendance
Class Schedules and Assignments
Progress Reports
Report Cards*
Standardized Test Results (TAKS by subject area)
Curriculum Resources
Parent and Student Resources

* Printed report cards will still be mailed to students' homes.

To get started, log in or register at www.houstonisd.org/PSC.

Parents will need the following information to complete registration:

Student ID number (HISD)
Student date of birth
Last five digits of student's Social Security number if on file with HISD. If not on file, use the last five digits of the "S-Number" provided to your child by HISD. Please call the school if you do not know this number.

For more about PSC,
www.houstonisd.org/PSC!

SMaRT Buck Program

2010-09-02T15:28:00.004-05:00

The SMaRT Buck Program was created to award magnet students for high academic achievement, leadership ability, excellent work habits and good citizenship.

Here's how it works:

SMaRT Bucks are issued by all magnet staff member when witnessing superior student behavior.

At the end of each month, all magnet students who earned SMaRT Bucks are eligible to shop at the SMaRT ACADEMY Shopping Mall.

The shopping mall is open from 4:30 - 6:00PM.

The color of the bucks change from month to month to ensure consistent participation. Saved bucks are not allowed.

Shopping Mall Rules:

Student's name must be legible on the back of each buck.
Students may not share bucks.
SMaRT Bucks must be verbally counted out to the store clerk.
Torn or mutilated bucks are not accepted at the mall.
Students may not purchase more than one item of the same kind.
SMaRt Bucks are not loaned, they have to be earned.
Lost or stolen bucks are not replaced.
All Bucks are destroyed by the clerk at the time of purchase.

Water Needed

2010-09-02T15:08:00.003-05:00

We need all parents to donate one case of water.

Valley West - Rated Best in Area

2010-08-27T14:44:00.002-05:00

New Website Teaching Kids About Money

2010-08-20T08:06:00.003-05:00

www.MoneyBunny.com

T-Shirt Sale, August 20th

2010-08-19T08:26:00.002-05:00

FREE School Supplies!

2010-08-18T16:26:00.001-05:00

2010-08-13T09:03:00.001-05:00

Magnet Parent Registration, June 1 @ Noon

2010-06-01T00:37:00.002-05:00

Magnet parent meeting and registration for the 2010/2011 school year will be held on
June 1, 2010 at noon.

Please note - tuition and fees are due.

Please bring the following school enrollment documents:

Last report card
Utility bill
Birth certificate
Shot records
Social security card
Parent/guardian ID

Magnet Open Enrollment

2009-11-30T17:05:00.003-06:00

Open Enrollment - Middle School Magnet Applications are now being accepted

November 16, 2009 – January 8, 2010

Middle School Magnet applications are online www.houstonisd.org/magnet.

Don't miss your opportunity to be considered first for the school of your choice:

* Johnston, Lanier,

* TH Rogers,

* Fondren,

* Rice School,

* Welch,

* Pershing,

* Pin Oak,

* Sharpstown,

* Revere, and

* Long.

Reminder – Parent Student Connect is live and available!

2009-10-15T16:00:00.004-05:00

Parent Student Connect (PSC) is a new service that allows registered parents and students the ability to log in to view grades, assignments, progress reports, attendance records, achievement test scores, report cards, and more. Please note, printed report cards will still be mailed to students' homes.

Users can also set up "triggers" that send an e-mail or text message if a child's grades drop below a selected average or a student is absent or tardy to class.

Stay informed and register for Parent Student Connect today!

Third Grade Magnet News

2009-09-23T08:35:00.004-05:00

Ms. Rudolph’s Corner

I will be attending a leadership conference in Las Vegas on September 30, 2009- October 2, 2009. Please remind students to be on their BEST behavior.

MATH
We are currently working on addition and subtraction with 2 and 3 digit numbers. It would be helpful to have your student constantly reading numbers. ( Watch for the word “and” when reading numbers) EX. Wrong way…. 179… One hundred and seventy- nine. Correct way.. 179… One hundred seventy- nine. Also, students should be reviewing addition and subtraction facts.

SCIENCE
We will be working on matter and its three states for the next four weeks. Students should be able to explain and discuss the properties of the three states.

Mrs. Anciano’s Corner

SOCIAL STUDIES
In Social Studies we are and will continue to explore communities and how they are impacted by people who live in them. We will also look at some famous Americans and how they have made contributions to our national community.

READING
During the next few weeks, we will continue to read our Open Court textbook as well as various novels focusing on drawing conclusions, making an inference, summarizing, finding main idea and details, as well as sequencing and cause and effect.

LANGUAGE ARTS
We will be learning more about the writing process and creating original pieces.

School News

* Progress reports are will be send home on Tuesday, September 22, 2009.

* Parent/ Teacher conference week is in full swing.. please make arrangements to see us to discuss your student’s progress.

* Upcoming early dismissal days are September 23 and October 14, all magnet students must be picked up at 12 noon!

* No school on Monday, September 28, 2009.

Student Affairs

Thanks to all the students that participated in the Million dollar reading summer program… They received a t-shirt for their efforts! Way to READ!

Congratulations to:
* Isaac Rueda won the grand prize drawing from the Million dollar reading summer program!

* Jonathan Abrahams won the math problem solving contest for the month of September!

Projects

* Our book club selection is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. We would like for each student to buy a copy of the book to follow along and to do selected read at home.

* Our featured author is Patrice Polacco. Ms. Anciano will read selected books from this author. The featured book at present is Pink and Say.

Why is there so much homework!

2009-09-21T12:59:00.000-05:00

Smart Academy is an accelerated program, so homework and practice time is an important element of the program’s success. Although homework assignments are not graded and will not negatively affect your child’s grade, it can improve the grade and overall understanding of the subject matter. By completing homework assignments, students earn five points of extra credit.

Every day after Smart Academy classes, students are given time to complete homework assignments. When used wisely, the hour (5:00 to 6:00) is a sufficient amount of time to complete the entire homework assignment.

If you are concerned about homework, don’t be. Your child’s grade will not be negatively affected by homework. If you are concerned about your child’s grade and feel that they can use the practice, encourage them to complete their homework during the after school program. In some cases, you may have to allow time at home to complete the homework.

Teachers are available to assist with questions or difficult problems the following day. Encourage your child to work through the problems that he or she understands and save questions for their teacher.

Helpful homework tips (from GreatSchools.net):

1. No TV. As a general rule, kids should not watch TV while doing their homework. It might be a good policy to have the television turned off any time it's time to do homework.

2. The radio is OK. Contrary to what many so-called experts recommend, actual studies have shown that having the radio on a child's or teenager's favorite music station can actually help him learn better.

3. Set fixed hours. There should be a set schedule for homework. This way, the youngsters can arrange their schedules and make sure they get their homework done every day.

4. Set telephone rules. As a general rule, kids should not be allowed to use the telephone during those hours when they are supposed to be doing their homework. However, sometimes it becomes necessary to use the phone, say, for confirming homework and the like. In these cases, the parents should set a fixed number of minutes for discussing school-related matters so the kids can get back to their homework right away.

5. Create a good study area. First, designate an area where it would be ideal for your children to do their homework, usually in their rooms. Set up this area to make it conducive for studying by putting proper lighting, an area for studying supplies such as pencils, pens, paper, books, and other essentials and make the area free from distractions.

First Off Campus Class - Texas State University

2009-09-14T16:29:00.004-05:00

Our first off campus class is scheduled for September 18. Fourth and fith grade students will study aquatic biology at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.

Students will:

Departure Time: 5:00AM
Arrival Time: 9:30 AM - Freeman Aquatic Biology Building
Return Time: 9:00 PM

PROCEDURES: (Students)

* Extra pair of shoes to be worn in the water (Old Tennis Shoes)
* Wear clothes on bus that you plan to get wet in
* A large towel for drying off
* Change of clothing including socks and shoes
* Plastic bag for wet clothing/dirty shoes
* Hand sanitizer
* Sack Lunch

COST: Transportation Cost = $10.00
Plus activities

Breakfast: McDonald’s Columbus, Texas (Optional) -$4.00

DINNER: Furr’s Cafeteria, San Marcos
Cost: $7.99 includes Drink and Dessert

Contact: Nae Washington, Magnet Coordinator (832-771-0583)
School: (713) 773-6151
Magnet Teacher: Mrs. A. Kenley

Smart Academy Robotics Program

2009-09-03T14:55:00.002-05:00

The American Robotics Academy program at the Smart Academy emphasizes understanding simple machines then working up to making complex robots.

Joe Dilworth graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Houston Downtownwhere he earned a Bachelor of Science degree.

He worked at Compaq Computer Corporation for over ten years as the Senior Systems Engineer in the Desktop Manufacturing Diagnostics Group.

He currently is the Senior Robotics Instructor at the American Robotics Academy.

He is active in robotics' competitions and is a Head Judge for the South East Texas First LEGO League tournaments.

SMaRT Academy Parent Pick –Up Procedures:

2009-08-24T16:52:00.000-05:00

1. All SMaRT Academy Magnet students will be dismissed from class at 5:00PM.

2. The SMaRT Academy Student will then report to the school cafeteria to await parent pick-up.

3. Parents must come inside the building and sign their child out of SMaRT Academy. Students will not be allowed to enter an adult vehicle before they are properly signed out.

4. All SMaRT Academy students will remain in the school cafeteria until they are picked up by a parent, guardian or approved designee.

5. Students must complete their homework at this time. Homework will be checked for accuracy and completion.

6. Students who have completed their homework may sometimes be allowed outside for creative play with staff supervision.

7. The student will then be called from the playground for pick up by a member of the SMaRT Academy staff.

8. The SMaRT Academy Log book is located in the school cafeteria.

9. SMaRT Academy staff are on duty until 6:00PM

Welcome Back to School

2009-08-24T13:44:00.001-05:00

Today is the first day of school, which for many, means the first day of a new routine. At Valley West, classes start at 7:30 a.m. Students can arrive for breakfast as early as 6:45 a.m.

The first day of school is also the day that your child will come home with lots of important paperwork and forms for you to complete. Please lookout for:

Enrollment Card – Remember to update your email address.

Lunch Application – All students should have one on file, regardless of lunch status.

Student Information Card – It’s important to include all special needs and requirements on this card.

General Information Sheet - This is the document that includes all the information you’ll ever need about your child’s school. Keep this sheet handy in case you need to call or fax something to the school.

As for settling into your new routine – start with a night-time routine you can stick to. Gather homework, lay out clothes and prepare lunches before bedtime. Experts say children 5 to 12 years of age need 10 to 11 hours of sleep each night. Consider how active their school days are and insist on an appropriate bedtime. It’s important to also have a morning routine that works.

Lab Coats – Do’s and Don’ts

2009-08-18T15:06:00.007-05:00

Do’s:
Do wear lab coats during the first week of school
Do wear lab coats with school uniforms – including Smart Academy t-shirts
Do expect to pay a $5.00 storage fee for lab coats found
Do take lab coats to Bellfort Cleaners (8761 W Bellfort) to have them cleaned for $3.00
Do take lab coats to Bellfort Cleaners for professionally stitched patches at $2.50
Do replace lost lab coats ASAP – lab coats are part of the mandatory dress code
Do use color safe bleach when washing lab coats

Don’ts:
Don’t use chlorine bleach on lab coats
Don’t wear lab coats around the waist during recess – leave in classroom
Don’t put lab coats in backpacks
Don’t allow food stains, ink and grime to remain on lab coats
Don’t wear lab coats wrinkled

Tuition, tuition, calling for all unpaid tuition!

2009-08-15T17:48:00.001-05:00

Tuition is due, in full, by Friday, August 21st. Final tuition payments will be accepted on campus during lab jacket pickup on Friday between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. For parents with second grade students, or those not picking up lab jackets, tuition will be accepted at the front desk during school business hours between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday of next week.

If tuition is not paid in full for any student registered for the upcoming school year’s Smart Academy Magnet Program, there spot may be offered to a child on the waiting list. Remember, tuition for this upcoming school year is $600 for the first or only child, and $150 for each additional child.

If you are not able to make your final tuition payment by Friday, August 21st, please contact Mrs. Washington on campus during school business hours next week – August 17th through August 21st.

Stay connected with your new PAC blog!

2009-08-13T15:42:00.003-05:00

Welcome to the Parent Advisory Council (PAC) blog. Here you’ll find timely posts over the latest news and updates for the Smart Academy Magnet Program. The goal of the PAC blog is to help parents stay connected and plugged into the program initiatives and to provide a platform for discussing issues and ideas.

The PAC was established last year (2008/2009 school year). It’s comprised of five elected members who meet on a regular basis to provide support and input on the programs and services offered to magnet students. The PAC acts as a unified voice for parents and guardians. It’s important for all parents to stay linked and provide insight and direction. We strongly encourage all parents to participate by visiting the blog, contributing posts and leaving comments.

Staying connected is easy! Simply RSS by clicking: Subscribe to Posts.

On September 10, 2009 at 7:00 p.m., we’ll be hosting a parent meet and greet immediately after the Valley West Open House scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Stay tuned for more details.

We have several exciting things planned for this upcoming school year. Don’t miss your opportunity to get involved and be part of the excitement!

Meet your PAC:

• Aisha Hughes – Alkirksey@yahoo.com
• Jerry Walters – Jerry-Walters2@yahoo.com
• Tanisha Warner – Tanisha.Warner@gmail.com
• Laura Torres – Laura.Torres6156@sbcglobal.net
• Edwin Munoz – Edwin.Munoz@gmail.com

A Look Inside SMaRT Academy

2008-08-29T15:14:00.001-05:00

SMaRT Academy News

2008-08-18T09:53:00.001-05:00

The SMaRT Academy will begin on September 8, 2008.

We will meet in the (SMaRTatorium) the library at Valley West.

Time 3-5 p.m.