Fulton Science Academy

Dear Parents,

I hope that you are having a great summer.

We enjoy our summer very much as we prepare for the new school year with many improvements for our precious students.

Please see some of our new initiatives for 2019-2020 school year below.

Beginning this August, students in pre-k through eighth grade will participate in daily 20-minutes Social Emotional Learning at the end of their first period. Relationships are at the core of a successful learning community . Caring School Community builds classroom and schoolwide community while developing students’ social and emotional learning (SEL) skills and competencies. It is designed to help students become caring, responsible members of their school communities and, ultimately, to grow into humane, principled, and skilled citizens of a democratic society. The program helps teachers create warm, safe, and disciplined classroom environments where students can develop the skills and dispositions they need to interact constructively with others. The program achieves this by doing the following:

• building caring relationships with and among students
• directly teaching social skills
• creating calm, orderly learning environments through the effective use of classroom management practices

The social skills addressed in the lessons fall into four categories:

1. Beginning-of-year skills, such as learning and following the classroom and school rules and procedures and learning to look at and greet one another by name;

2. Self-management skills, such as reflecting on their own behavior and asking for help when needed;

3. Interpersonal skills, such as including one another and sharing work fairly; and,

4. Executive function skills, such as monitoring attention and refocusing when necessary .

We now have daily 25 minutes College Prep Time for high school students at the end of first period. College Prep Time will include AP course support, ACT/SAT support, grade level guidance sessions, and professional speakers for high school students.

We are happy to inform you that we have added Mrs. Katie Beck to our counseling team as middle school counselor this year. We now have one counselor in each section of the school.

We are pleased to inform you that beginning this August, we will be implementing FOSS Science Curriculum in elementary and middle school. While, FOSS curriculum cover the basis for Science teaching, our science department will further enhance it with instructional activities and strategies specifically designed for gifted students.

Research shows that the best way to learn science is by doing science. FOSS Next Generation puts the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) into practice by integrating all three dimensions: the Disciplinary Core Ideas, the Science and Engineering Practices, and the Crosscutting Concepts, all within our classroom-proven tools and strategies to engage students and teachers in enduring experiences that lead to deeper understanding of the natural and designed world.

FOSS Next Generation:

• Engages all students with meaningful active learning experiences
• Prepares all students to succeed with the NGSS performance expectations
• Integrates robust reading and literacy strategies to support ELA learning for all students
• Utilizes technology to deliver learning experiences and provide teachers with time-saving classroom management resources

As you might already know, South Korea's top gifted science school visited our school this year with their principal and six department chairs. They invited us to their school and we will be visiting them during this Fall Holiday with our admin team members and department chairs.

We are pleased to inform you that our school is leading an initiative to create an international coalition of top gifted and science schools around the world and soon you will be hearing more about this. Through this international partnership, we will continuously improve our educational program and offer a variety of international opportunities to our students.

We are excited to say that we will offer an AP Capstone Program to our high school students this year.

"AP Capstone™ is a diploma program from the College Board. It’s based on two yearlong AP courses: AP Seminar and AP Research."

Participating in AP Capstone can help students:

• Stand out to colleges in the application process.
  
• Develop key academic skills they’ll use in college and beyond.
• Become self-confident, independent thinkers and problem solvers.
• Earn college credit: Many colleges offer credit for qualifying scores.

AP Capstone Diploma™: Granted to students who earn scores of 3 or higher in AP Seminar and AP Research and on four additional AP Exams of their choosing.

AP Seminar and Research Certificate™: Granted to students who earn scores of 3 or higher in both AP Seminar and AP Research.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT AP CAPSTONE CLICK HERE

Our fine arts program continue to grow rapidly under the leadership of our Fine Arts Program Director, Mrs. Kayla Otim.

This year, we have added two more teachers to enhance fine arts program offerings. These teachers are Ms. Elizabeth Martin (Digital Arts) and Mrs. Kate Meyers (Drama). They will offer Digital Arts and Drama as both course and club. We welcome them to FSA!

We are very excited to be offering more after school opportunities for our FSA students in the upcoming school year. One new partnership we have is with Ivy Bridge Academy who will join us in the Fall to offer a Debate Program to FSA students this year! Students in elementary grades 3-5 and middle grades 6-8 will have the opportunity register for this weekly class where they will participate in debate practice and even have the opportunity to compete in debate tournaments throughout the year against students from other schools! Ivy Bridge Academy works to provide interactive and personal learning to educate students on the thinking process and expression of that process with precision and confidence. Their goal for each student to become academic scholars and real world leaders. We are very excited to partner with them this year to offer this program at FSA.

Our athletic program continues to grow under the leadership of our Athletic Director, Mr. Alex Ayers. We are pleased to inform you of our Athletic Program offerings as follows:

• Middle School & Varsity Cross Country
  
• Middle School & Varsity Volleyball
  
• Middle School & Varsity Basketball
  
• Middle School & Varsity Tennis
  
• Middle School & Varsity Track
  
• Middle School & Varsity Fencing
  
• Middle School & Varsity Tennis
  
• Middle School & Varsity Golf
  
• Middle School Swimming
  

We have been working hard on our after school club options for the 2019-2020 school year and are excited about the improvements we have made. Be on the lookout when clubs are announced for some new partnerships for our students. We will be offering more paid club options for our students through established programs to provide our students with more opportunities to find their passions both inside and outside of the classroom!

CHARACTER, EXCELLENCE, INNOVATION

Serving Advanced and Gifted Students

Pre-K through High School

Email: ksener@fultonscienceacademy.org
Website: www.fultonscienceacademy.org
Location: 3035 Fanfare Way, GA, United States
Phone: (678) 366-2555
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FultonScienceAcademyPrivateSchool
Twitter: @fsaprivate