STEAM Academy Family Newsletter

STEAM Families,

Happy March and Happy Women's History Month. It is hard to believe that we are already in March. Spring break will be here before we know it and just a reminder that next Friday, March 14th is a regular school day now.

On Tuesday of next week (March 11th), our 10th and 11th grade students will all take the ACT. This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to take advantage of a free ACT Test, so it is very important that all our students are present. Please avoid scheduling appointments or checking your students out early on Tuesday. We also need all students to be at school on time because we have a very strict 7:45am start time and you don't want your student to miss taking the test. Students need to make sure that their Chromebooks are working and fully charged before Tuesday as we will have limited extras to pass out. I hope all our 10th and 11th grade students take this test seriously and try their best as I know they will to represent themselves and STEAM well.

9th and 12th grade students will remain in advisory groups while students take the ACT. Technical school students will still attend tech school and once the ACT is over, we will resume a normal school day and students who are not dual credit students will be counted as absent, unexcused if they check out after the ACT.

Thanks to all the juniors who presented their resumes and elevator pitches to community business leaders. It was a great morning, and we appreciate all the hard work put into the planning and preparation for this event.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

-Dr. Flores

• March 11:10th and 11th Grade ACT Testing Day (Please avoid scheduling appointments)
• March 14: A Regular Instruction Day
• March 18: STEAM Advisory Council (STAC) Meeting
• April 7-11: FCPS Spring Break

Our weekly Goal for Average Daily Attendance is 95%. Please help us reach this goal weekly by encouraging your students to come to school and be on time. Just a reminder that dropping students off at 7:45 is a tardy to school and students must be in their advisory room when the 7:45 bell rings or they are late. Please allow 5 extra minutes to get your students to school on time so that your family is not notified by a truancy officer for excessive tardies to school.

If your student is out for any reason, you have three school days after the absence to turn in an excuse note or a doctor's note. After three days, the absence will remain unexcused. To log an excuse note, please see the following link or email our attendance specialist, Erin Grupe.

Report an Absence

The following Advisories had 95% or above attendance for the week of 2/27 to 3/5: Mr. Shepherd, Ms. Schwarz, Ms. Sheldon, Ms. Boytek, Mrs. Garrison, Mr. Manley, Ms. Owens, and Ms. White. Each of these Advisories will be entered into our monthly drawing for a treat!

We need your help to complete the FCPS Family Survey related to STEAM. This is a great way for school and district leaders to received feedback from our families are things we are doing well as well as things we could maybe improve upon. We are always looking to grow in order to best serve our families, so we would appreciate if you would take the time to fill the survey out linked below. If you have already completed the survey sent through district communications, we appreciate your feedback. Today is the last day to complete the survey!

In the event that an NTI day is called, student work will be posted to Canvas by 8am the morning of the NTI day. All work will be review and no new content will be presented. Students will have three days from the time we return to school to turn in their completed work in order for it to be counted and attendance to be marked accordingly. Teachers will also host live Office Hours via Zoom from 1:30-3:30pm on an NTI Day where you can log in and ask questions or get help if needed. Those Zoom links will be posted on our website and on each teacher's Canvas page. Please see the information below for more NTI Information from FCPS.

STEAM NTI Information

Dual Credit Students will follow the college expectations for attendance on a FCPS NTI Day.

Please visit the following link to download the information on how to become a parent/guardian observer on your student's Canvas Account. Canvas is where all live grades will be housed and where you can keep up with all STEAM Assignments. If your student will not share their password with you, never fear....just email Ashley Rosen with any questions or to reset a student password. If you have any issues setting up your Canvas account, please call the FCPS Tech Help Desk at 859-422-5555.

Please make sure all students are bringing their Chromebooks fully charged each day to school. We do not have many devices to loan to students for daily use. If students are needing to use a loaner Chromebook, we will ask for collateral by asking students to trade their cell phones for the Chromebook to ensure that students return the loaner at the end of the block/day.

The Application window for new students to apply to STEAM for the 25-26 school year is now open through March 17th. If you know someone who may be interested in applying to STEAM, please have them visit our Website to find the application link. Current students do not need to reapply each year.

ESS is now underway and takes place on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 3-4pm. The sign-up process is the same as before where students will need to sign up on the sign-up sheets located outside the teacher's door. Once the spots are filled, the teacher won't be able to accommodate any more for that session. Rides must be here promptly at 4pm. Students who sign up for ESS and do not stay but try to wonder the building will not be permitted to stay. See the information below to see what teachers/contents will be staying each day.

For those students enrolled in Dual Credit with BCTC or UK, please check the live document that is updated frequently with all information related to Dual Credit. If you have specific questions, please contact Mr. Ridd or Mrs. Strange.

The date for our STEAM Academy Graduation Recognition Ceremony has been finalized! We look forward to celebrating our graduates with all our STEAM families, staff, and friends. Save the date and location below. Delivery of the Jostens cap/gowns is anticipated in late March, and they will be sent home with students as soon as they arrive.

STEAM Academy Graduation Recognition Ceremony

Thursday, May 22, 2025

Ceremony: 6:00 pm

Reception: ~7:30 following the ceremony

University of Kentucky

Singletary Center for the Arts

405 Rose Street

Lexington, KY

Detailed information on invitations, parking, etc. will be sent home with seniors the first week of March. Questions? Email: Geralyn Strange

If you have any needs, please reach out to Ms. Bell.

See information below on Summer Healthcare Success Academies hosted by Bluegrass Community and Technical College

Launching in August 2025, The Hub for Innovative Learning and Leadership, located at 100 Midland Avenue in downtown Lexington, will offer 19 career pathways for students in grades 9-12. To learn about programming, the application process, and other important details, please click the picture below. For more information, please contact Michelle Wilson, Principal of The HILL, at Michelle.wilson@fayette.kyschools.us.

Students currently enrolled at Eastside and Southside will not automatically transfer enrollment into these programs and will need to reapply. Students at STEAM will select two programs because we do not operate on an A/B schedule and our students would need to attend every day.

Students enrolled at Locust Trace will continue to follow the Locust Trace enrollment expectations.

The STEAM PTSA would love for all students and families to join the Parent, Teacher, Student Association. The goal was to get at least 110 members for this school year and I am excited to report that last week we met our goal! Thank you to all those that joined and if you still want to join, we'd love to exceed our goal! JOIN PTSA

As the year comes to a close, many of our PTSA Board Members will step off the board because of graduating seniors. We need a Treasurer, Secretary, VP of Membership, VP of Outreach, and VP of Fundraising. If you would be willing to serve in any of these roles or need more information about, please email PTSA President Sarah Barrett with any questions.

The Unity, Belonging & Student Efficacy team of FCPS, along with STEAM Academy, have chosen to celebrate a student each month that exemplifies a "Unity Champion". A Unity Champion ensures and promotes unity, belonging and student efficacy at their school or in the community. Teachers and staff nominate these students monthly, and they will receive recognition from the district for their efforts. Our Unity Champion for this month is Bri'Elle Johnson.

Bri'Elle is a true Unity Champion, consistently working to ensure that all students feel included and supported in the coursework. When she notices someone struggling to understand the material or sitting alone, she proactively invites them to join her group, creating an inclusive environment. She also takes the initiative by offering peer teaching opportunities, encouraging collaboration, and ensuring no one is left behind. Her dedication to fostering unity and teamwork is truly inspiring. Thank you, Bri'Elle, for being a STEAM Unity Champion!

This week I had the pleasure of announcing our STEAM Teacher of the Year and our STEAM Building Support Person of the Year. Our staff nominated individuals for these awards and once nominations were complete, the staff voted on who they felt was most deserving of the awards.

A huge congratulations to our STEAM Teacher of the Year, Ms. Ashley Rosen and our STEAM Building Support Person of the Year, Mrs. Geralyn Strange.

Both Ms. Rosen and Mrs. Strange have the opportunity to now compete against other school level winners for the district Teacher and Building Support Person of the Year.

Congratulations!

Each week we will try to spotlight staff members, students, community partners, a school event, a school club, etc. that adds value to our school community. This week we are spotlighting our STEAM Junior Defenses.

In their Advisory meetings at STEAM and in their Weekly Advising meetings at BCTC, juniors have been preparing their resumes and elevator pitches. This morning, they presented their resumes and elevator pitches and engaged in conversations with three professionals from the community.

Students received feedback on both their resumes and their professionalism in the elevator pitch and conversation from all three professionals. Next week during advisory, they will reflect on their experience and the feedback they were given.

This Junior Defense was all about having students experience professional engagement and reflect on the feedback. Students who completed both steps (participating in the event and logging a reflection in Elevate) will have successfully completed their Junior Defense.

Thanks to the defense team for organizing this event and all our community partners who volunteered their time to engage with our students.

Email: christopher.flores@fayette.kyschools.us
Website: www.steam.fcps.net
Location: 1555 Georgetown Road, Lexington, KY, USA
Phone: (859) 422-0048
Facebook: facebook.com/steamacademyfcps
STEAM News: www.steamacademynews.com