Above: Chef Josue Maldonado, our new security officer, cooking breakfast for the staff last Thursday, just two week days before the official start of 2020-2021 on August 10. Right: The main entrance to our high school with ready to receive students and families prepared courtesy of Mr. Maldonado.

Laptop pick up this past Friday. Pictured are Ms. Medina and Ms. Irizarry helping out the parents as they pull up in their vehicles.

Schedule pick up. Stephanie Carballea is seen above handing out schedules to parents.

AEHS Phoenix families on campus this past Friday picking up materials for Monday's first day of school.

Chief Williams, a member Acceleration East's leadership team, on campus to help with the distribution of schedules.

	Mr. Demarco prepared a short message for his incoming math students from his backyard. If you look closely, there is a deer standing in the background behind him!

Douglas Loftus, Principal
Sam Demarco, Math Teacher
Barry Hall, Testing Coordinator
Susan Ker, Drawing and English Teacher
Lurdes Lopez, OCVS Teacher
Yesenia Maldonado, English Teacher
Angella Marshall, Business Teacher
Norma Medina, World History Teacher
Amanda Melton, Math and ASL Teacher
Vanessa Roca & Kim Smith, Guidance Counselor and Staffing Specialist
Lynn Shewchuk, History and Psychology Teacher
Alka Singh, Science Teacher
John Soriano, SAFE Coordinator
Cole Trimble, PE Teacher
James "Chief" Williams, Dean
Jamie Williams, English Teacher

* Community footnote: As of 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, the Twitter feed was not operating. However, these messages are all linked up and hopefully will be operational later today (or may be already by the time you read this). They are very well done and we do not want you to miss out!

If you plan to take advantage of getting school meals this school year and you are participating in LaunchEd, have no fear... we've got you! However, we still need to know how many to expect.

Please complete this form if you plan to come by and pick up meals on Mondays. Meals became available yesterday, Monday, August 10th, and you can pick up every Monday from 3:00pm-4:30pm for the week ahead. Please complete this form today if you have not already. Thank you.

Acceleration East's "Brag Wall" contains handwritten messages by staff members for staff members that have traveled "that extra mile" by way of support in some manner. This has been an institution at Acceleration East for some time now and as you can see, had quite a number of recognitions in place by the time Day #1 of virtual learning began Monday.

The Brag Wall as it appeared exactly one year ago today: August 12, 2019

 

Date & Time

Location

• Virtual

Description

• During this 1-hour online session, families will learn how to create conditions that lead to improved social, emotional, academic and physical well-being of our students.
• For  more information and to register click here

By phone call: 407-317-3300 - Contact: Alexis Ramos

1. Worldwide school closures: 1,058,547,236 affected learners or 60.5% of total enrolled learners (105 total country-wide closures). OCPS is most fortunate vs. many other U.S. school districts and nations at this time as it has the technology (LaunchEd), a rigorous curriculum, and the teacher talent to get 2020-2021 underway. Source: UNESCO; click here for interactive map

2. In the United States, being out of work often reflects one's educational attainment. Here are this year's unemployment rates through July: Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; data table

3. Face mask effectiveness: Source: Danske Bank

Some members of our community may have forgotten, but it was only one year ago as the 2019-2020 school year got underway that we also faced some major challenges. This included the rollout of a new online student information system plus a major hurricane that was on track for central Florida and wound up devastating large portions of the Bahamas. The point is that when you set goals, they may be subject to change due to external forces.

Below are six keys to success that when put into practice will help you to perform at your best beginning with the first week of OCPS' innovative LaunchEd model.  

1. Develop an unwavering faith that you will do very well this school year starting with week #1! While the delivery method of instruction has changed for the moment, we still have our excellent Acceleration East faculty who are always ready to help, a rigorous curriculum, and the technology to work with; something many students around the world do not (see map above).

2. Maintain your best efforts every day. Do not back off just because for now you are learning from home vs. being physically in the classroom.

3. Set high personal standards. Harry Truman, the 33rd president of the United States once remarked, "In reading the lives of great people, I found that the first victory won was over themselves . . . self-discipline with all of them came first."

4. Don't waste time. Remember that time is usually wasted in the same way by most people each day.

5. There is no success without discipline. Adhere to the daily bell schedule and complete your assignments as they come. Remember, if you learn to do what you must, then you will be able to do what you want.

6. Don't quit on yourself. Dr. Benjamin Bloom of the University of Chicago (well known for his "Bloom's Taxonomy") and his team of researchers discovered that it was drive and determination - not talent - that led to success among leaders in whatever their fields of endeavor.