DESTINATIONS CAREER ACADEMY OF WI

Dear DCA Families,

I hope your September is off to a great start! We have now been in school for a few weeks and your students have had the chance to meet their teachers, counselors, and school staff. We are really looking forward to the 2024-2025 school year. In this newsletter you will find helpful information regarding what the day-to-day life is like at DCA, how to report an absence for your student, and how your student can get involved at DCA!

Our students have been exploring different career options related to their interests using Xello. Based on their interests, we are excited to offer numerous opportunities for guest speakers and information sessions focused on future readiness throughout the school year.

A lot of this future readiness work takes place during homeroom, which is scheduled every Tuesday and Thursday from 12:35pm to 1:05pm. Attendance at homeroom is mandatory, and we want to ensure that our students don't miss out on this valuable time.

If you have not already done so for this school year, please sign the student/learning coach handbook. The handbook needs to be acknowledged by families on a yearly basis. More information and links can be found in this newsletter.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out!

Jen Wegner

Principal

As a public school we are responsible for creating and maintaining attendance records for students. At our school, we define attendance as the following:

• A student attending live Class Connect Sessions.
• A student receiving and responding to communication from a teacher.
• A student completing an assignment.
• A student participating in daily lessons.

Students need to complete one of the above requirements within 5 school days for each of the courses they are enrolled in in order to be marked as present.

Students who do not meet these minimum attendance requirements for any course (or combination of courses if enrolled in more than one course), for part or all of 5 or more days in which school is held, without an acceptable excuse, are considered habitually truant and, therefore, in violation of Wisconsin’s Compulsory Attendance Law. Wis. Stat. § 118.15 (1) (a). The law requires that a child attend school regularly until graduation from high school, or until the end of the semester in which he/she turns 18 years of age, or until he/she is excused from attendance by the school board.

Make sure your student reviews the DCA announcements page. Information on clubs, CTSOs, and new opportunities will all be posted there! Announcements are updated weekly so remind students about the wonderful things happening at DCA!

At DCA, we offer a wide array of extra-curricular opportunities for students to engage and participate. Students have the chance to join one of our Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs) or clubs. Throughout the school year, we also organize in-person events that allow students to connect with their peers in the area and partake in enjoyable and rewarding activities together. These events provide a great platform for students to socialize and collaborate, fostering a sense of community.

Check below for detailed information on CTSOs, club opportunities/sign-up, the first in-person event of the year and online opportunities available to students!

Back to School Bash:

Friday, September 27th 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

We are excited to connect with students and families at our Back-to-School BASH in September!

Bring a smile, a game to play (ball, frisbee, etc.), lunch and beverages, and come ready to meet your classmates and families in your area!

Sign up for a location near you! BACK TO SCHOOL BASH | Smore Newsletters

Interested in joining? Click HERE.

Fill out the Clubs Interest Form (Grades 9-12 Only) to indicate clubs you would like to join!

Enter the K12 Game On Competition and pitch your educational video game idea for a shot at winning a PS5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, or Steam Deck! 

• Open to students in grades K–12
• Winners in each grade band (K–2, 3–5, 6–8, and 9–12) get their choice of game systems
• People’s Choice winners in each grade band get a $100 Amazon gift card

Enter by Nov. 18 to join the fun! Learn more and enter today!

Virtual Field Trips

September 18: Delightful Dolphins at Clearwater Marine Aquarium

September 26th: Sloths in the Spotlights

Parents are required to review and acknowledge the DCA Student/Parent Handbook. The handbook can be accessed at this link.

Additionally, your acknowledgement of having reviewed the document for yourself and with your student is required. Find the acknowledgement form here.

If you have more than one student, be sure to fill out the form for each student. If you have students in schools other than DCA, be sure to complete the form for each child in their corresponding school.

Please come to the monthly Family Advisory Board meeting. We would love to hear from you.

When: The3rd Wednesday of every month

Place: Engageli by clicking here.

Time: 5:00pm-6:00pm

"Renaissance Star Reading" and "Renaissance Star Math" are computer-adaptive assessments created by Renaissance Learning that measure a student's reading and math skills respectively, providing teachers with data on student's individual achievement levels and growth. These assessments are built to adjust the difficulty based on each student's answers to pinpoint their current abilities in reading and math.

We take STAR Reading and STAR Math three times a year:

- Beginning of the Year (September)

- Middle of the Year (January)

- End of the Year (May)

We took the beginning of the year assessments on Thursday, September 7th. All students are required to take both the math and reading assessments. If your student missed taking the assessments during homeroom, the will be given alternative opportunities. Please keep an eye out for communiction from our staff.

Welcome back to school! We are super excited to get started this year. We are busy working on ensuring that schedules are accurate and getting new students into classes. We will soon be reaching out to seniors for conferences, and to all students to start connecting and building relationships with you to help you along your high school journey!

Do you want to kickstart your college education? Don't miss the chance to apply for the Spring semester before October 1st. Reach out to your school counselor for additional details!

For more information, see our Future Ready Opportunities.