ASOP Newsletter - December 2023

Students and Teacher Donate Artwork for a Cause!

Art teacher Joy and 10 of her students created and donated 29 art pieces to InterUrban ArtHouse's annual Arts on Fire fundraiser this past October.

Over 700 art pieces, donated by local artists but kept anonymous, were available for purchase, with the proceeds helping to fund InterUrban's art programming.

Every art piece donated by ASOP was sold, contributing to the $20,000 raised at this event!

The students who participated were Ali, Cal, Charlotte, Corbin, Drew, Elizabeth, Jackson, Kale, Lainey and Tro.

Artists in photo collage:

Row 1 (L-R): Cal, Cal, Charlotte

Row 2 (L-R): Jackson, Ali, Lainey, Charlotte

Row 3 (L-R): Kale, Corbin, Tro, Tro

Mark Your Calendars

1:00pm Early Dismissal | End of 1st Semester: December 20

No School — Winter Break: December 21-January 2

No School for Students | Professional Development for Staff: January 3

No School — Martin Luther King Jr. Day: January 15

1:00pm Early Dismissal: January 18

See the Calendar below for more information and other calendar dates.

A Spooky Day at ASOP

Student Council (STUCO) held a Halloween Costume Contest and a Best Halloween Door Decorating Contest for this year's spooky holiday. The competition for both was fierce! There were many outstanding costumes and decorated doors, but STUCO did the tough work judging and voting for their favorites. The winners are listed below.

Other activities surrounding Halloween included pumpkin painting during Laura's STEAM class, performance of a short play written and produced by Libby's drama students,

and the creation of skull artwork for Days of the Dead by Joy's art students.

Best High School Halloween Costumes

Alex: Best Creative as a My Little Pony with rainbow hair (row 1 below)
Wyatt: Best Design as a twin of his teacher Tony (row 1 below)

Best Middle School Halloween Costumes

Ollie: Best Creative in a long, peach gown and wings (row 1 below)
Xander: Best Design in steampunk gentleman attire

Door Decorating Contest:

Math teacher Leah: 1st place (row 4 below)
Science/Business teacher Tony: Place
English teacher Tuttle: Show

All Set for Inclement Weather!

It took 19 months of effort by Director Jane, but her perseverance in securing a building permit from the city of Overland Park to install an interior door between the north and south buildings has finally paid off!

Construction of the passageway occurred over Thanksgiving break and it is a big hit with staff and students who routinely travel back and forth between the two buildings. The interior door will allow everyone to stay warm, dry and safe when the weather is inclement.

Students' Understanding of Other Cultures Broadened

Emmanuel Pius, a medical student in Tanzania, spoke to ASOP's middle school students in October while visiting the United States.

Emmanuel spoke about his personal experience with Angel House Orphanage and School in Tanzania, his medical school sponsorship by the orphanage and the cultural differences between our two countries.

Emmanuel, who was here raising sponsorship funds for Angel House, was invited to speak by Teri Waters (mother of ASOP teacher Kyle), who visited Angel House and met Emmanuel while visiting Tanzania.

Native American Erin Blackshere visited the school's middle school students in October at the invitation of ASOP teacher Kyle. The Social Studies classes had been learning about the arrival of Spaniards in America.

Erin spoke about Native American culture and traditions, including lodging, powwows and native dress.

She also displayed many artifacts, one of which was an Eagle feather fan. Only eligible Native Americans can apply for a permit to own or receive eagle feathers and parts from the National Eagle Repository.

Union Station Field Trip

ASOP's middle school students had a great day during their field trip to Science City and the Planetarium at Union Station.

Science City has over 25 spaces to explore, including the new Riveting Robots. The students had approximately two hours to experience the exhibits in small groups.

After that it was off to the Arvin Gottlieb Planetarium to watch "Sky Station LIVE: Season Star Tour" on the Planetarium's 60-foot dome with 4K projection. The show did not disappoint!

The students were then ready to relax during lunch at the Crown Center food court before returning back to school.

Your Time to Make a Tax-Deductible Gift Is Almost Up!

End 2023 on a positive note by making a tax-deductible gift today to Accelerated Schools of Overland Park.

Your contribution to the Jane Curran Endowment Fund, whether large or small, helps ensure our continued success in educating our students.

Just click the button below

to make a difference in only minutes.

Thank you for caring and supporting our school!

MAKE YOUR GIFT NOW!

We'd Love Your Feedback

If you have a few minutes today, please consider visiting one of the platforms below to write a review of Accelerated Schools of Overland Park. A few sentences is all it takes!

Your review helps us to continue providing the best educational experience possible for you and your student, and helps others understand what ASOP has to offer. Thank you in advance!

Google (sign into your Google account first)

Great Schools

Private School Review (click on "Submit a Review" at the top of the page)

You can read testimonials from our school community on our website.