Acceleration East High School
Community Brief
 Thursday, February 14, 2019 
   
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! 
 
I hope this finds you enjoying your Valentine's Day so far. Sadly, today also marks the one year anniversary of the Margery Stoneman Douglas High School tragedy. Hard to believe it's already been a year. What have we learned over the past year? First, kids are not widgets, blueberries or assembly-line products. They are complicated, evolved, and unique . . . which also makes them special and wonderful. I'm struck by how much high school principals, teachers, counselors, and coaches throughout Florida are still affected emotionally from what took place. This week reminds us that working in schools is far more than a job, or working on an assembly line that ends at high school graduation. We are influencers, connectors, builders, and motivators. And while these "jobs" may be viewed as positive, if we are not careful, we can have negative impact in each of these realms.

This tragedy has caused us to re-think our interactions with our students and identify those potentially in crisis. February 14 could be a solemn day, but it still remains Valentine's Day.  A day where we take time to show love, kindness and respect to each other. That's the best way to honor those lost a year ago.   
 
Enjoy the rest of your Valentine's Day. 
 
With Phoenix Pride,   
 
Mr. Doug Loftus
Principal   

Pictured very top: Cancer Awareness Walk

Inaugural Cancer Awareness Walk
Highlights for our school community . . .
We had our inaugural Cancer Awareness walk on February 6th. It was a huge success thanks to Ms. Marshall and her Student Government Association students!



Nicole and Lee Ann participating in our first-ever Cancer Awareness Walk

Mr. Hall walks alongside the students on Feb. 6th

Students were able to leave their hand prints on our Cancer Awareness Banner


Estimated number of new cancer cases and deaths in the U.S. for 2019, by gender
Source: statista.com (released Jan. 2019)
Very Special Student Recognition
Willian Trejo, 2019 Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award Winner from Acceleration East High School

Willian with his mother

Willian with Principal Loftus


Willian on stage with other MLK Humanitarian Award winners from throughout Orange County. The event was held again this year with great support from Walt Disney World.

 
Rigor in the Classroom Snapshot
Language Arts with Mrs. Robson - "The Break-Up Letter"
Students were working on a "break-up" letter and outlining the text. This was a creative approach to helping students understand personal expression with respect to mood and tone.
 
 
Outline for the break-up letter assignment
 
 
Three of Mrs. Robson's students collaborating on their break-up letter content
 
 
Student example

Vital Signs
One key metric used to gauge if the students are reading for pleasure is way ahead vs. the prior school year . . .


Credit: Ms. Amanda Havner
REMINDER: Annual Parent Survey
We value your opinion and ask that you take few minutes complete this year's survey. All responses to this survey are anonymous. Our goal is to ensure that at least 20% of our Acceleration East parents complete this survey.  
 
If this applies to your household, thank you very much for your help. 
 

With Deep Appreciation From Your Principal!
Mr. Loftus carved out time to visit every room on the campus last Thursday to remind teachers & staff that their tireless efforts are very much noticed and appreciated. 

Seen above with Mrs. Atehortua, Principal Loftus traveled room to room passing out blueberry, chocolate chip and corn muffins to all faculty and staff. We are now half-way through the third nine weeks of 2018-2019. This was a reminder to all that their commitment is duly noted and appreciated. Keep up the outstanding work AEHS!


Principal Loftus, Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Maldonado


Principal Loftus with Mr. Cagua, Lead Custodian


Principal Loftus with Mrs. Vieira


Principal Loftus with Vicki Jenkins, AEHS 2019 Support Person of the Year!


Principal Loftus with Ms. Havner and Ms. Trimble

Principal Loftus with the math teachers


And so, on this Valentine's Day 2019, I say thank you once again to all of our staff and educators (not everyone is pictured herein due to space) on your hard work for the students since the school year began with pre-planning week back on Monday, August 6, 2018.
Doug Loftus , Proud Principal
Acceleration East High School
Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019
(Valentine's Day)
Parting Image for the Week . . .
"Keeping their eye on the prize"

Seniors remain quite focused listening to Dean Williams review the college admissions process

 
 
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Copyright Notice
Reproduction of this material, either written or electronically, including the general layout, graphics, analyses, and content topics without the express approval of Target Performance Systems, Inc., a Florida corporation, and OCPS - Acceleration East High School is forbidden without written consent.  Thank you for your support of the Orange County Public Schools and especially Acceleration East High School. Please contact douglas.loftus@ocps.net (principal) with any questions or for further information.