The Latest from L'Etoile

Dear Franklin Academy Families,

Happy March! Today, we held our Spelling Bee Final, and we want to congratulate all of our winners and participants for their hard work and dedication!

Reminders:

• Pi Day – March 14th: Wear a t-shirt representing your grade level pie with uniform bottoms.
• Book Fair – March 17th-21st: Get ready for an exciting week of reading and book shopping!
• Keep Working Toward the Amira & IXL March Madness Challenge – Keep up the great work!
• B.E.S.T Writing Assessment: Grades 4-8 will take the assessment during the first week of April.
• Field Day – March 20th: A great service hour opportunity for families!

• Don't forget! Daylight Saving Time begins this Sunday! Set your clocks forward one hour. 🌞

Thank you for taking the time to read our weekly newsletter. We truly appreciate your support in making Franklin Academy the best it can be!

All the Best,

Mrs. L'Etoile

As we celebrate the season of love, we invite you to take a moment to recognize the hard work and dedication of our amazing Franklin staff. Please fill out the form above to give a shout-out to a staff member who has made a positive impact on your child’s education. Your feedback is essential in recognizing our team’s efforts and helps motivate them to continue making a difference in our students' lives. By sharing your positive experiences, you contribute to fostering a supportive and encouraging learning environment for all.

Thank you for your continued partnership in your child’s education and for helping us celebrate the incredible work of our staff!

We are thrilled to congratulate our incredible Spelling Bee winners! 🎉 These students showcased their hard work, dedication, and spelling skills, making us all so proud.

PYP 4th Grade Winner: Kloe L.

Middle School Winner- 6th Grader, Priscilla M.

A huge thank you to all of our participants for their enthusiasm and effort—you truly made this event a success! Special appreciation goes to our teachers, staff, and families for supporting and encouraging our students throughout the competition.

Let’s celebrate our amazing spellers and their accomplishments! 🐝✨

For the safety of our students, staff, and families, please remember the following carline procedures:

• Cars must not line up outside our campus priorto 2 pm
• When cars are lined up, please do not cut in front of others.

We are a family, and it is important that we all follow our policies and procedures to ensure a safe and efficient dismissal process. Your cooperation and patience help keep everyone safe!

Thank you for your support!

Quarter 4 club registration is open! Please check out the clubs we have to offer, especially middle school since there are a few brand new clubs available. Here is the link to register: https://fabb7882.wufoo.com/forms/quarter-4-club-registration-mnlcs870o9zid3/

Registration closes on Friday, March 21st and no late registration will be accepted. For more information about clubs, check out the school website under student activities->enrichment and clubs or click here.

Spring Break is quickly approaching and with it is the end of quarter 3. Please make sure you are checking powerschool for weekly grade checks. Reach out to your child’s teacher to remedy any missing assignments or tests/quizzes.

Teachers are communicating weekly if your child has low scores or has missing assignments. Please make sure you are getting the weekly emails from your child’s teachers. If not, double check the email you have shared on PowerSchool or reach out directly to your child’s teacher(s).

The McKinney Vento Program sent home the Student Housing Questionnaire today, which helps identify families who are in need of services and resources. Those eligible for the program may be sharing the housing of others due to hardship, living in a motel, car, shelter, park, or substandard housing.

Below is an example of the top portion of the form. If you check "YES" to any of the questions below, you will continue to fill out the bottom portion and sign. Once completed, please send the signed form in with your child. If you are eligible, a member of the McKinney Vento Program will reach out to follow up. All information is confidential, however, if you would prefer to send your form to the agency directly, this is the email to send it to MVPhomeless@palmbeachschools.org.

McKinney Vento Program (MVP) Website for more information

https://www.palmbeachschools.org/studentsparents/mckinney-vento-program-mvp-homelessness

If your family has recently lost someone, and you are looking for guidance to navigate a healthy way for students to mourn, The Children’s Bereavement Center is hosting a community event for families this Sunday, March 9 from 1-3 PM. Please see the flyer below for more details.

We are excited to announce a new challenge for the month of March: March Madness Tournament! The tournament runs from March 3rd to March 31st, and it's a fantastic opportunity for students to test their skills and work together as a team.

Here’s how it works:

• Students will challenge themselves by completing 2 skills per subject area (ELA, Math, and Science for 5th and 8th graders) each week.
• They have until 8 pm every Sunday to rack up skills for their teams.
• The teams with the most completed skills will be featured in our Monday Spotlight and will earn some fantastic prizes and treats! A Grand prize will be given to the winning classes in April.

We encourage all students to participate and give their best effort as they work toward victory. It's a fun and motivating way to enhance their learning while building teamwork.

Best of luck to everyone, and let’s make this month a successful one!

March Madness Amira Tournament Announcement!

We are excited to announce a new challenge for the month of March: the March Madness Amira Tournament! The tournament will run from March 3rd to March 31st, and every minute your child spends reading on Amira will contribute to their team's score, helping them succeed!

Here’s how it works:

• Students in grades K-2 will have until 8 pm every Sunday to rack up as many reading minutes as possible for their team.
• The winning teams will be showcased in our Monday Spotlight and will receive prizes and treats!
• A Grand Prize will be awarded to the winning classes in April.

We encourage all students to participate and give their best effort as they work toward victory. It’s a fun and motivating way to enhance their learning while building teamwork.

Best of luck to everyone — let’s make this month a successful one!

3/12- Dress Down Day (Fee $15.00- Flyer below)

3/15- Campus Tour on Saturday, March 15th at 10:00 am

3/17-3/21-Book Fair

3/20- Field Day

3/20- Dessert with Admin

3/21- Early Release Day

3/24-3/28- Spring Break (No School)/Offices Open

3/31-No School/Offices Closed

4/1- Start of 4th Quarter

4/2- Campus Tour on Wednesday, April 2, 2025 at 6:00 pm

4/4- Report Cards Issued

4/17- Coffee with Admin

ELL students will be taking the paper-based ACCESS for ELLs between January 20, 2025 and March 14, 2025. ACCESS for ELLs measures your student’s progress in listening, speaking, reading, and writing English language skills. Your student will receive an Individual Student Report that provides information about how well he or she is progressing in the English language.

First-time Portal Users: To Access the Volunteer Portal, you are required to complete a one-time “Volunteer Application”. Once the application is approved, you will receive an email with instructions on the next steps, including a link to setup your portal password. All information will remain confidential.

Returning Portal Users: Click HERE to sign in.

Franklin families can access their child(ren)'s username and password via the website based Parent Portal of PowerSchool. The information can be found by clicking "Student ID's" on the left-hand side and looking under "student credentials". These credentials allow students to access clever, which connects students to curriculum materials (like HMH, Go Math, iXL, progress learning...etc), google classroom, PowerSchool, and more.

For a more detailed parent tutorial on how to access the Parent Portal of PowerSchool and look up student credentials, please click here to view this short interactive video tutorial.

March Learner Profile Attribute of the Month- Thinker

Students who are THINKERS work to solve problems independently. They can imagine many solutions to a question or challenge. Thinkers make good decisions and can predict the outcomes of their actions. They think creatively and critically.

How can parents help to develop students who are Thinkers at home?

Encourage your child to try to think of solutions to problems independently. Pose different real-life problems and questions to your child:

• “I’m not sure how to arrange the glasses so they can all fit in the cupboard.”

• “I wonder how much the groceries in the cart will cost... how can we make an estimate?”

• “We need enough cookies for the 20 people in your class. What kind of change should we make to our recipe?”

Ask your children questions when they are working on a problem:

• " Do you have any ideas about how we might begin?"

• " How can we do this differently?"

• " I had never thought of that. Tell me more about it."

• " What other ways can we show that?"

• " Why do you think that?"

• " How did you figure that out?"

Preparing for the IB Evaluation Visit - April 23-25

The elementary staff (k-5) is currently preparing for the PYP (Primary Years Programme) evaluation visit. This is an important year-long process where we review our implementation of the IB PYP framework to ensure alignment with IB standards and practices. Our goal is to reflect on our teaching and learning approaches, assess our progress, and identify areas for growth.

As part of this preparation, we are gathering evidence of our curriculum planning, student learning experiences, and school policies. We are also engaging in professional discussions to ensure that we are effectively fostering inquiry-based learning, international-mindedness, and the IB learner profile attributes.

The evaluation visit is an opportunity to celebrate our achievements while also receiving valuable feedback to enhance our PYP implementation. Everyone's collaboration and commitment are essential to making this process successful. Thanks to all who returned their PYP Surveys!

Kind regards,
Yamile Francese
IB Coordinator

PYP 2 students read about Helen Keller, explored the Braille alphabet and wrote their names in Braille.

Kindergarten students took a "Touch a Truck" tour around a fire engine. Firefighters explained the equipment and tools carried on the trucks. They also learned how the equipment is used in various types of emergencies.

We are excited to announce that Franklin Academy is now accepting applications for the 2025-2026 academic year, with the goal of achieving full enrollment at each grade level. To support this effort, we are launching a Parent Referral Program and encourage all of our current families to help spread the word and refer new families to our school.

By participating, families can earn service hours for each referred family that attends a campus tour. Additionally, new families will be entered into a drawing for a free Franklin uniform set upon enrollment.

Here’s how you can get involved:

• Pick up referral postcards at the front office or access digital copies on our website and in our weekly newsletter.
• Share the postcards in person, via social media, text, or email.
• Encourage referred families to attend a campus tour with completed materials.

Franklin Academy is known for its high academic standards, consistently exceeding district and state performance benchmarks. With our dedicated teachers, small class sizes, and unique IB World School designation, we ensure that your child receives the best possible education.

Thank you for being an integral part of our community and for helping us grow and strengthen the Franklin family!

Fortify FL is a suspicious activity reporting tool that allows students to instantly relay information to appropriate law enforcement agencies and school officials.

QUICK AND EASY SAFETY TIP SUBMISSION

By accessing Fortify FL, students can provide a description of the threat, share pics, and videos and optionally submit their contact information. Submissions can be anonymous or non-anonymous. Submitting a tip is quick and easy using our mobile app or website.

All Franklin Academy students have access to Fortify FL via their Clever portal dashboard.

https://www.franklin-academy.org/fortifyfl

Please review the list below of who to contact when certain questions/concerns arise.

Dash Pass-:Please ensure that you have an active Dash Pass account and it is working upon arrival on campus. Any Dash pass questions, please contact Ms. Huelsman at huelsman.tina@franklin-academy.org

Service Hours: Please ensure that you have a Raptor account to log your parent volunteer hours. Any questions please contact Ms. Dowdell at dowdell.alexandria@franklin-academy.org

Transportation: All transportation inquires should be directed to Ms. Huelsman at huelsman.tina@franklin-academy.org

Clever Access: If you are experiencing difficulties with your Clever account, please contact Ms. Plummer at plummer.danielle@franklin-academy.org

Family Tech Guide

Power School Access: If you are experiencing difficulties with your Power School account, please contact Ms. Atway at atway.faten@franklin-academy.org

Our office hours for in-person assistance are as follows:

Office Hours: 8:45 AM - 1:45 PM

Additionally, you can reach us by phone at any time during the following hours:

Phone Hours: 8:00 AM -4:30 PM

No School/ Office Open Holiday Hours: 8 am-3:00 pm

What's on the menu?

Connecting to your online lunch account. for snacks and ice cream.

Adding funds to your student's account

Franklin Academy, Boynton Beach Campus

Building Better People Every Day

7882 South Military Trail, Boynton Beach, FL 33463

561-767-4700

letoile.alison@franklin-academy.org

bb.franklin-academy.org