Sunshine STEM Academy Newsletter

Dear Sunshine Community,

Quarter 2 Progress Reports have been issued and available on Sunshine Connect. Please check your child's Sunshine Connect account to view the progress report.

In order to create awareness in our community, our school's Student Council will organize Food Drive at our school. I will be happy if you could encourage your child to bring food donations for our Food Drive.

Deadline for Apogee Tax Credit application is approaching. I would like all parents to submit application (http://www.apogeebase.com/donate) by December 15.

I wish you a wonderful week!

Sincerely,

Murat Cetin, Head of School

mcetin@SunshineSTEMacademy.org

The Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized mini computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV, and uses a standard keyboard and mouse. It is a small capable device that enables people of all ages to explore computing, and to learn how to program in languages like Scratch and Python.

As we planned, we will start Programming Lessons in Computer classes at the beginning of 2nd Semester. We are planning to teach Scratch block-programming to our 5th grade students. Our 5th graders will build their own Raspberry Pi computers and they will learn and practice Scratch on their own Raspberry Pi's in our new Raspberry Pi Lab.

Come and visit our new Raspberry Pi Lab!

Our Math Olympiad Team has completed the 1st round exam of MOEMS Math competition on Tuesday, November 17. Other rounds will be held on December, January, February, and March.

During the show, students traveled around the world visiting a vast array of animals from the tropics to the desert, from reptiles, to insects, to mammals and birds.

Sunshine STEM Academy hosted a Recycling Assembly in order to create awareness regarding recycling among students.

Ms. Terry Porter, Environmental Programs Coordinator of Alpharetta Public Works Department and Ms. Vicki Culbreth of Roswell Environmental Center have visited our school and provided information about recycling to our students.

Please see reflections of our students about the recycling assembly below.

Dear Sunshine Community,

Today in the recycling assembly I learned that if you throw something it has to go somewhere. I also learned that if you litter the animals that depend on water and food will die. If you litter the environment will be filthy. Also if you throw litter in the water the fish will die and plants couldn’t live. You can walk, ride your bike, use a train, and go on the subway could keep the environment more healthy. Pick up trash from the floor reduce reuse or recycle it. Don’t cut down trees for no reason. Don’t step in swamps because animals live there. Reduce reuse and recycle plastic, metal, and paper. Turn off the light if you not using it.

By: Melda A.

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Dear Sunshine Community,

Today in the recycling assembly we learned about reduce, reuse, and recycle. They showed us a video about recycling .Their names were Ms. Vikki and Ms. Terry. They told us what and what couldn’t be recycled, then they gave us items and we had to tell if you should reduce, reuse, recycle. I got an old phone. I had a hard time thinking about what to do with it.She had to explain it to me.Recycling may sound easy, but it is actually hard to remember which one is which. We were split into groups. First grade in one second and kindergarten in the other group. Some kids thought it was boring, but I thought it was really cool. I really enjoyed the assembly.

Sincerely,

Sanaa S.

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Dear Sunshine STEM Academy,

The date is 11-12-2015. Today we had an assembly. We learned about recycling. Did you know that if you throw glass away it will stay there forever? And that the things that you don’t recycle go to a landfill? You have to recycle because it could threaten our world if you don’t! The animals, plants, us! We’ll all go down until there is no living thing on our planet. Oh no! We also learned about the 3 R’s. Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle! Reduce means to use less of something. Like you need to use less of electricity. You have to remember to turn off lights when you are not using them! Reuse means to use something more than once. You can go to a garage sale and buy a toy that another person already used. Recycle means to put in a recycling bin and the recycle collectors will come and take it to the recycling center. There it will be broken down and made into new things. As you can see you really have to recycle! The world needs it! If you don’t you know what will happen and that will not be good!

By Sophia K.

Sunshine STEM Academy Student Council organizes school-wide Food Drive at our school. Collected items will be donated to Atlanta Community Food Bank. Please encourage your child to give back to their community by donating non-perishable food to our Food Drive.

The food drive is held on between November 17th and December 15th.

Please find list of the most needed items below. We appreciate your donation.

Sunshine STEM Academy offers College Mentorship Program for our 5th grade students.

Administration invites all 5th grade parents to the parent meeting. We will provide information about the College Mentorship Program, structure, and expectations.

5th grade parents, please join us on December 15th to discuss about our College Mentorship Program.

Sunshine STEM Academy will offer middle school grade starting 2016-17 school year. We would like to invite our 5th grade parents to Middle School Presentation which will be held on January 14th, 2016.

Sunshine STEM Academy Private School offers a Saturday STEM Workshop for elementary school students in our community.

The workshop is planned to be held on consecutive two Saturdays on November 14th & November 21st from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Due to high interest from community, we will offer workshops on January 9th and January 16th.

During workshop, students are able to learn about;

• Video Editing & Video Production

• Creating Slideshows with visual effects

• Building a mini-computer (Raspberry Pi)

• Working with computer peripherals

• Learning block-programming language on the Raspberry Pi computers.

APOOGEE is now accepting tax credit applications for 2016. Please take a moment to re-direct your tax dollars in order to provide much-needed scholarship funds to help academically qualified, mission-compatible students afford a Sunshine STEM Academy education.

Please watch the video below to get a quick overview of the Apogee Tax Credit Program.

You are already paying income taxes – why not direct those funds to Sunshine STEM Academy. By contributing to APOGEE for a tax credit, you will provide opportunities for Georgia families desiring to attend Sunshine STEM Academy. Our school is then able to:

• increase the amount of tuition assistance that can be offered to new students
• preserve more of our existing tuition assistance to help families already enrolled
• increase enrollment
• increase tuition income
• increase the funds available to improve educational offerings
• enable the school to further its mission by reaching more families desiring a STEM education

What is the Maximum Amount I Can Contribute?

• Single individual or head of household – up to $1,000
• Married couple filing joint return – up to $2,500
• Married couple filing separate return – up to $1,250
• C Corporation – 75% of Georgia income tax liability
• S Corporation shareholder, LLC member, or partnership partner – up to $10,000

We all have an opportunity to redirect a portion of our Georgia State Tax dollars, (money we are already paying), to Sunshine STEM Academy.

How Do I Participate?

• Go to apogeebase.com/donate
• Please select new donor and provide the information requested after selecting “filing type”
• Hit submit and you will receive an email confirmation Apogee that your request has been received and will be submitted to the DOR on Jan 1, 2016 for approval.
• Click here to complete APOGEE’S Online Paperless Process, or
• Click here for the APOGEE Contribution Form; print the form and mail or bring to Sunshine STEM Academy.

Once you receive notification of your approval, please make a check payable to “Apogee Scholarship Fund” in the amount of your contribution and mail to Apogee Scholarship Fund, 3330 Cumberland Blvd, Suite 400 Atlanta, GA 30339, or simply Click here to pay online.

APOGEE will send you the required paperwork to claim the credit on your tax return.

We would like to announce that MAP Winter Term will be administered at the first week of December, from December 1st to December 7th. Results will be shared with parents after December 8th.

Accelerated Reader quiz is be available for all students. Students can visit Media Center in the morning between 7:10 and 7:45 to take AR Quizzes for the book they read.

If you are interested in volunteering for AR Quiz Help for students, please send an email to PVO@sunshinestemacademy.org

Please see upcoming important days below. Please mark your calendar for our upcoming events.

• November 20: Dress-down Day
• November 23 - November 27: Thanksgiving Holiday

• December 1-7: MAP Test Winter Term
• December 15: Apogee Tax Credit Application Deadline
• December 6: Open House
• December 15: College Mentorship Program Introduction - Presentation for 5th Grade Parents
• December 18: Last Day of First Semester
• January 5: First Day of Second Semester
• January 14: Middle School Presentation

One of our 1st grade students, Varun Gadi stood second in Georgia grade level chess championship tournament that was held at Epicenter on Saturday, November 14th.

Congratulations Varun!

During the show, students traveled around the world visiting a vast array of animals from the tropics to the desert, from reptiles, to insects, to mammals and birds.

One of our FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Robotics Teams presents their robot and project to the Student Council students.

We update our social media channels frequently with the news and happenings at our school. You may follow/like/subscribe us to stay connected. Please share our social media channels with your friends.

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sunshine-STEM-Academy/683495445106457
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/sunshinestem
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6upaG6AO7KCueMm_4hfbIw

Sunshine STEM Academy strives for success and continued desire to provide a quality education to all students. With a strong administration, passionate teachers, and enthusiastic support staff, Sunshine STEM Academy as one of the top private schools in Atlanta is pleased to continue offering exciting learning environments to foster the growth and development of young scholars.

Email: info@sunshinestemacademy.org
Website: http://sunshinestemacademy.org/
Location: 1675 Hembree Rd, Alpharetta, GA 30009
Phone: 770-674-0010
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sunshine-STEM-Academy/683495445106457
Twitter: @SunshineSTEM

Our doors are open! Sunshine STEM Academy Open House information.