Sunshine STEM Academy Newsletter

Dear Sunshine Community,

I would like to thank our parents for bringing students to Book Fair and purchasing new books for them. We received a great turn out! I also would like to thank our PVO and volunteers for their outstanding efforts to make this Book Fair happen.

Last Friday was Character Day. Our students and teachers had dressed like their favorite book character. I would like to share some photos from this fun day.

Sunshine STEM Academy provides online resources and tools for our students to extend learning beyond school building. You will find some information and reports related to use of those tools below. Please encourage your child to use the tools which are available all the time.

I wish you a wonderful week!

Sincerely,

Murat Cetin, Head of School

mcetin@SunshineSTEMacademy.org

Our third, fourth, and fifth grade students had a great time at their field trip to the Yule Forest last week. While at the Yule Forest, students learned many interesting facts about the unique Georgia environment. Students first watched a puppet show, which provided information on the farm and crops. The students then moved into the on-site theatre to watch a documentary on pumpkin growth—did you know the largest pumpkin was 2,058 pounds?

In addition to information on the environment at the farm, students learned how to create mini-farm at home by fostering plant growth, as well as using safe methods which keep in mind the health and well-being of wildlife. At the bee house, students learned that bees are essential to healthy crop growth and it is important to help keep our bees alive, even if they appear to be a nuisance.

Students were also able to see and interact with reptiles in the Reptile House and see new baby farm animals during their feeding.

The third, fourth, and fifth grade students concluded their trip by playing in the Inflatable Town and by taking a hay ride through the Cartoon Forest. Students were excited to see all their favorite cartoon characters come to life! We loved our trip to the Yule Forest and hope to return again. Below are some photos of all the fun we had. Thank you to our chaperones for making this trip so memorable!

Sunshine STEM Academy provides resources and tools to make student learning possible everywhere, anytime. One of the resources available to our students is Study Island.

We would like parents to help our students logging in our Portal and click Study Island button under External Resources Tab. For your information, we share some reports which include data since beginning of this school-year.

Another tool available to our students is Khan Academy Math lessons. We have put Math lessons together for each domain in Math, based on our students' most recent (MAP Fall Term) MAP RIT Score in Math. As students' MAP Math RIT score increase throughout school year (in Winter or Spring Terms), video links will be updated and students' individualized Math lessons will be regenerated every after MAP Test administration. We strongly encourage our students to follow up individualized Math lessons on Khan Academy.

Accelerated Reader program is one of the other tools that we provide. Students read books and take quiz of the book on Accelerated Reader after reading the book. If a student passes the quiz, then system gives points to student based on difficulty level of the book. It is a great tool to motivate students for them to read more books.

You may see participation reports by percentage of students and by months. We have and inlining trend since beginning of the school.

Let's read more books, take more quizzes and surpass the numbers below in November!

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.

Our school library is available to checkout books. Students can visit Media Center between 7:10 and 7:45 to check-out books and return their books.

With the support of new volunteers, Media Center will be open every day from 10:30 am to 12:30 am. Media Center will be available for students to take AR Quizzes during lunch and recess time.

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

We need volunteer parents to help students for taking AR Quizzes in the mornings from 7:10 AM to 7:45 AM. If you are interested in being volunteer for AR quizzes, please send an email to pvo@sunshinestemacademy.org

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

• November 11: Progress Report for Quarter 2 Issued
  
• November 23 - November 27: Thanksgiving Holiday

• December 1-7: MAP Test Winter Term

Not only our students, our teachers enjoyed Character Day as well...

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