Monday, September 27, 2021
AEHS Community Member,

This week I want to focus on celebrating Hispanic Heritage month. We have a large population of Hispanic students in our school community (83%) and celebrating our diversity is an important part of our school culture. We did some research and found a great article full of suggestions at the Click Orlando website. You can read the entire article here: 12 Ways to Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. Here are ten of the suggestions:

  1. Support a local Hispanic or Latinx-Owned Business
  2. Cook your own Latin-inspired meal (pork carnitas are my personal favorite)
  3. Make a playlist of Hispanic artists (check out a new playlist on Spotify)
  4. Take a Dance Class or watch a dance video (try out Flamenco, Bachata, Salsa, Rumba, Merengue, Samba, Bolero, or the Tango)
  5. Check out a museum exhibit (The Orange County Regional History Center will feature a Smithsonian Museum Day: Celebrating Latin American Arts & Culture.)
  6. Take a Spanish class or start an online program
  7. Listen to a Spanish or Latinx podcast
  8. Watch a Spanish-language movie (check out the list on Netflix this month)
  9. Visit one of the sites highlighting Florida’s Spanish Colonial Heritage
  10. Check out some Hispanic/Latin history (The Florida Memory: State Library and Archives of Florida has plenty of articles and photos to check out)
South and Central American flags on display for Hispanic Heritage Month
All 4th graders in the state of Florida spend time learning our state’s history. As you probably know the first European settlements in Florida were from Spain. There’s rich history throughout the state, including in nearby St. Augustine. St. Augustine is a wonderful place to start exploring our history. Be sure to visit the fort while you are there. The Florida Division of Historical Resources has put together a list in the Florida Spanish Colonial Heritage Trail. There’s more than 50 sites highlighted dating from 1513 to 1821. Check out the bilingual brochure here to plan your own Hispanic Heritage Month sightseeing tour. 

Enjoy your week and, as always, thank you for reading about some of our recent Phoenix happenings. 

Douglas K. Loftus, M.S. Ed.
Principal
Virtual Open House
Open house is scheduled on Tuesday, October 12th from 5-6:30pm. This year’s open house will occur in a virtual setting as a precaution due to Covid-19. We will be providing links for parents to ask questions and to speak with teachers that evening in the very near future.  
Classroom Highlights: Week #7
Math with Ms. Lopez:
Ms. Lopez working one on one with one of her math students.
Ms. Lopez teaching the concepts behind exponents and whole numbers. 
Tutoring Opportunities!
Two options: After school at AEHS and Online (Brainfuse)
After school tutoring has begun on campus.
Acceleration East offers reading and math tutoring all students. Tutoring begins at 2:30 and ends at 4pm.
Acceleration East's Dean of Students, James "Chief" Williams, discussing the importance of tutoring. 
Tutoring is now in full swing as we move into the final days of the 1st quarter. Pictured above is Ms. Naffziger working with a small group of students.
Did you know that OCPS offers FREE online tutoring!!!!

* Free online tutoring through the Orange County Library System to ALL students in Orange County Public Schools.

* Using Brainfuse, students can connect with a qualified tutor for expert help in a variety of subjects.

* Test Prep

* Live Spanish support

Attached you will find a step-by-step guide on accessing this FREE resource available to our English Language Learners.
Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month
Last week Ms. Vieira and her students put up their posters for Hispanic Heritage Month:
Student artwork:
Marilyn Hurtedo with her art work
Heleanys Sierra with her art work
Community Resources
Learning English opportunity through OCPS:
Family resources (please click on image below for helpful links):
Tomorrow: Annual Title I Meeting
Acceleration East, September 28th
SEL Message for the Week: Relationship Skills
(English & Spanish)
Relationship skills (English):
Relationship skills (Spanish):
Food for Thought
1) Hispanic American college graduation rates have soared this century.
Source: US Census Bureau
2) The growth rate in the number of Latino-owned employer businesses has been higher than the U.S. national average growth rate for all employer businesses in 41 states.
Source: Stanford University Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative; Read full article
3) US undergraduate enrollment with forecast:
Source: @WSJ Read full article
Have a wonderful week!
Douglas K. Loftus, Principal
Acceleration East High School
Monday, September 27, 2021
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