THIS WEEK

Don't forget Pajama Day for Pediatric Cancer tomorrow.  Send your child with a minimum of a $1 donation and they can wear their jammies to school.

Watch for an article in Wednesday's paper about Oasis Academy's outstanding performance on the state CRT testing.

Warning- SOAP BOX TIME!  

As a staff we are reading a great book called Readicide by Kelly Gallagher.  As a mom of young children, one particular quote really knocked the wind out of me and I want to share that with you.

"As children grow they have distinct developmental needs. Neuroscience suggests strongly that if the child's developmental needs during these periods are not met, we may actually close down some some of those developmental windows. Like many parents and teachers, Healy is concerned about the effects of television and video games on our children's brains, especially when they are in these key cognitive developmental windows.  It is no coincidence, Healy suggests, that alongside the advent of television and computer games, there has been a drastic increase in the number of children diagnosed with attention deficit disorder.  And though certain brains have constitutional difficulty in paying attention, our culture is not helping those brains develop strategies for attention and it may be pushing some kids off the deep end who wouldn't be there otherwise.  Outside of school, many students are not partaking in those critical activities that stretch and deepen their brains.  Instead, they often gravitate to those behaviors that offer instant gratification.  As a result, Healy notes, many children are literally starving the lobes of the prefrontal cortex of their brains, a starvation Healy characterizes as frightening.  

LAST WEEK

Thank you all for making count day a huge success. I know some of you had to adjust your schedules, and alter your plans and we really appreciate it.  

These next pictures are from the 9-11 ceremony.  I wanted to be sure and share them with you because it's not everyday you get your picture taken with the governor.  Also, I want to thank Mrs. Trinidad for sharing them.  If you take great pictures please make sure you email them to Melissa so she can share them. 

NEXT WEEK

I am not 100% sure this will be ready to go next week, but in the next few weeks please look for our new student blog.  One of the areas we are trying to focus on is authentic reading and writing.  Often times, authentic writing requires an audience so we are going to provide that audience to our students.  The blog will be about a variety of topics of interest to our kids, and will feature their best work.  It should be really fun!  More info. to follow.