Click here to read this letter in Spanish
Dear Alma del Mar Families,
Welcome back to a new and exciting school year! We hope you had a wonderful summer and are ready for a great year of learning and growth.
This year, each of our campuses has a special focus:
Ottiwell Campus: "Anchoring in Excellence” What this means: We're building on the strong foundation set last school year to push the quality of instruction even higher. You'll see your scholars engaged in more challenging and exciting learning experiences.
Douglass Campus: "Positive Days Filled with Learning" What this means: We're focusing on creating a strong scholar culture in all spaces and developing academic habits that will push achievement to higher levels. Your scholars will experience a positive, supportive environment that encourages their best learning.
We have chosen these themes intentionally in light of the unfinished learning from the pandemic years, which continues to have a significant impact on student academic performance across the state and here at Alma. While we've seen some growth on some of our internal assessments, we're still working hard to reach our academic goals. We'll share official MCAS results with you this fall, and we're already using this information to fine tune our instruction.
Your role in your scholar's success is so important! Here's how you can help:
- Make sure your scholar comes to school every day, on time and in uniform. This helps them get the most out of their school day, as well as the week, month and school year!
- Remind your scholar to turn off and store their cell phone in their class’s cell phone box each morning. This helps everyone focus on learning.
- Stay informed and get involved! We'll send an email newsletter every Monday (in addition to paper notices/fliers or emails). We invite you to attend the meetings for our Alma Family Advisory or SEPAC/ELPAC groups - these meetings are listed on the school calendar, website and social media. Also, watch out for our new online parent portal, launching at Back to School Night on Sept. 19!
Finally, Alma is embarking on an exciting journey this fall. We're starting a strategic planning process to set our course for the next five years. Our big goal is to improve academic outcomes and make sure all our scholars are on the path to college. As a part of that process, we want to hear from you! If you'd like to join a focus group to share your Alma experience and hopes for your scholar's future, please fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/6DURXtssubmGmD1n7
Thank you for being part of our Alma family. Together, we can make this the best year yet for our scholars!
In Service,
Taylor DeLoach
Executive Director