AEHS Community Member,
I can hardly believe school starts tomorrow! The staff and I are very excited to have our students back in the building. As you have hopefully heard from the district, masks are MANDATORY again. However, you can OPT OUT your student from wearing one by writing us a note and signing it. Please send in the note with your child on the first day and have them turn it into to Ms. Vicki Jenkins at the front desk. All adults in the building are REQUIRED to wear masks at all times. This includes visitors to the office. We appreciate your support in helping us keep our students and staff safe as the COVID virus continues to spread in our community.
I know you probably have some questions about starting school, so let me cover a few of the most frequently asked questions for you.
How can I support the school?
There are two very important ways you can support our school. First, if you have a little time once in awhile, you can sign up as an ADDitions Volunteer at the OCPS website: Sign up here to Volunteer
A second option is to join the School Advisory Council (SAC). We will be meeting once a month every second Tuesday at 3:30pm. This is a very important group that helps to monitor our ongoing school improvement efforts.
What is the Dress Code this year?
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NEW this year: backless shoes are ALLOWED! Yes, this means you can wear your crocks and your slides to school
- Clothing must cover the body from one armpit across to the other armpit and down to approximately mid-thigh. NO shirts that show your belly will be allowed.
- Tops must have straps
- Undergarments must not be viewable
- Rips, holes, or tears in clothing must be below the knee
How does arrival and dismissal work?
Need to find your student’s bus for the first day: Find my bus
What meals do you serve on campus?
Perhaps you are wondering about how your student will eat on campus. This school year we will have breakfast and lunch at NO COST to any student. If you would like to see the menus or get more information, please visit the OCPS website: Food and Nutrition Services
We are all looking forward to seeing the students on Tuesday for a successful, on-time start to 2021-2022!
Douglas K. Loftus
Proud Principal
Acceleration East High School
Pictured very top: Staff members Josue Maldonado, Christina Savage, Angelic Troche, Richard Diaz ( kneeling) , Helga Olafsson, and Gigi Santiago are ready to welcome back our Phoenixes tomorrow morning!
Above right and just below: Students visited campus last week with their parents to pick up their schedules and laptop computers (Principal Loftus is pictured on the far right above).
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Preparing for Tuesday, August 10th
Highlights leading up to the 1st day of school
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Kim Smith was presenting ESE information to the faculty last week ahead of the students' return (Ms. Annie Naffizger is on the left). |
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Last week we held a lunch appreciation for our custodial team. They have done another superior job prepping and deep cleaning the entire campus prior to the start of school. Pictured here are Angelic Troche, George Quinones, Gigi Santiago, Josue Maldonado. |
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Snapshot of a "Common Board Configuration" or CBC found in Ms. Vieira's class. This snapshot includes both Spanish 1 and Spanish 2. The "Common Board" allows students to see at a glance what is expected and addresses key learning elements such as SWBAT (Students Will Be Able To), essential questions, the agenda for the day, and more. All of our talented educators at Acceleration East employ Common Boards that they continuously update all along. |
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To the left is our wonderful ELA Department pictured with Ms. Roca, our guidance counselor, who is seated on the right. They paused for this picture taken one morning during their pre-planning efforts last week. |
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Kyla Wilson and Sam Demarco flanking a new parent and student. |
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Above and just below: One of the high points of our annual pre-planning week is the bowling outing we hold with staff which, as these images illustrate, has always been a lot of fun. One of the many strengths that Acceleration East offers its students is a closely knit team of faculty and staff - a hard working, tireless group that works very well together throughout the school year. |
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OCPS families and staff,
As many of you know, the State Board of Education met this morning to adopt new rules related to attendance and Hope Scholarships. You can find the new rules by clicking Back-to-School FAQs on the district’s home page at ocps.net. While neither rule addressed face masks, they did provide background for the 1:30pm webinar presented by the Florida Department of Education. More critical to that presentation was the newly adopted rule by the Florida Department of Health which is also available in the FAQ. Details include that parents must be given an opt out choice if face masks are required by the school district. I want to acknowledge parents who are passionate on both sides of this debate and realize neither group will be fully satisfied at this juncture.
Out of an abundance of caution for the safety of our students and employees, and after consultation with our health experts and school board members, I am implementing required face masks for all students unless the parent chooses to opt out of the requirement. Opting out means sending a simple note with your child on the first day of school such as “I am opting out of the face mask requirement for (child’s name)” with your signature. The student may give the note to the teacher. This mandate is effective for 30 days, beginning Tuesday, August 10th. We will continue to monitor the situation with our local experts and make a determination about how to proceed before the 30 days have expired.
~ Dr. Barbara Jenkins, Superintendent of Schools
Message sent Friday, August 6, 2021
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1) Back to school sales tax break ends on Monday, August 9th: |
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* During this period, shoppers can avoid paying sales taxes on clothes costing $60 or less, school supplies costing $15 or less and the first $1,000 of the price of personal computers. Source: Florida Dept. of Revenue
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2) Consumer Financial Protection Bureau launches new rent assistance search tool:
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday, July 28 introduced its new Rental Assistance Finder, a search tool* anyone can use to quickly access more than 700 emergency rental assistance programs local, state and tribal governments have launched nationwide.
*The search tool allows users to filter assistance programs by location to find help near them.
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WELCOME BACK PHOENIXES!
Douglas K. Loftus, Principal
Acceleration East High School
Monday, August 9, 2021
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This communication may contain information that is legally privileged, confidential or exempt from disclosure and intended only for the use of the addressee(s) named above. If you are not the intended recipient, please note that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. Anyone who receives this message in error should notify the sender immediately by telephone or by return e-mail, and delete the message from their computer and any printout thereof. Please note that OCPS utilizes spam and junk e-mail filtration applications in its e-mail systems. That filtering process may prevent or delay delivery of certain e-mail communications. If you do not receive a timely response to an e-mail communication, please contact the intended recipient by phone.
OCPS EEO Non-Discrimination Statement:
The School Board of Orange County, Florida, does not discriminate in admission or access to, or treatment or employment in its programs and activities, on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, marital status, disability, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other reason prohibited by law. The following individuals at the Ronald Blocker Educational Leadership Center, 445 West Amelia Street, Orlando, Florida 32801, attend to compliance matters: Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Officer & Title IX Coordinator: Keshara Cowans; ADA Coordinator; ADA Coordinator: Jay Cardinali; Section 504 Coordinator: Tajuana Lee-Wenze. (407.317.3200)
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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.
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2274 S. Semoran Blvd.,
Orlando, FL 32822-2704
Phone 407-992-0917
Fax 407-207-4961
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