Tag Archives: ilead antelope valley

Studio

iLEAD Antelope Valley Distance Learning Survey Closes May 11

We recently sent a brief survey to gain insight into your perception of our school’s effectiveness during distance learning. A huge thank-you to everyone who has taken the survey! If you haven’t had a chance yet,  please check your email, including your spam folder, for the survey from Panorama Education. We rely on your feedback in order to continually improve in our mission to provide high-quality learning experiences that meet the needs of our lifelong learners.

To conduct our Family Survey, we have partnered with Panorama Education, who safeguard your privacy, keeping your responses confidential. The survey will be open through May 11 and shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to complete. Thank you in advance for your valuable responses.

Studio

Exploring iLEAD Antelope Valley Culture: What’s the ‘A’ in ‘iLEAD’?

Editor’s Note: This is one in a series of articles on the pillars of iLEAD’s educational philosophy and approach. 

“The arts…are all keys that unlock profound human understanding and accomplishment.” – William Bennett

This week, we’re exploring the fourth pillar of the iLEAD acronym: the letter A, which stands for arts. We believe creating and exploring the world through the artistic experience enhances all subject areas for our learners.

We know the arts helps kids unlock their creativity and explore their imagination, but what else is happening when the arts are integrated into the curriculum?

  • Kids develop problem-solving skills.
  • Studies have connected kids’ involvement in the arts with gains in math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skills.
  • Art presents challenges to overcome at every age level.
  • Arts-based curriculum can help break down complicated subjects, making them easier to grasp. 

A focus on one subject can have dramatic influence on other areas of learning. A 2006 study by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum found links between studying the arts and increased literacy skills. Another by the Arts Education Partnership revealed that students who study music have increased achievement and proficiency in math. Reading and cognitive development were found to increase, as well. 

Additionally, arts integration plants the seeds for social benefits. A report by the National Endowment for the Arts revealed that students with a low socioeconomic status that have a history of involvement in the arts have better long-term academic, occupational, and social outcomes than their peers.

The benefits of integrating art into learning are practically limitless.

At iLEAD Antelope Valley, learners find a variety of ways to explore the arts, from theater to music to visual arts.

Beyond how arts integration leads to academic and social benefits, let us not overlook one of the other monumental benefits: Exploring art and using imagination empowers learners to create something that makes the world a richer, brighter, more diverse place. 

And that is a great thing. 

Next week, join us as we dive into the final pillar of the iLEAD acronym: Design Thinking.

Studio

Remember to Fill Out Your 2020-21 Re-enrollment Form from Pathways!

Dear Families,

We recently sent an email via Pathways asking all returning families to complete their re-enrollment forms for the 2020-2021 school year. This requires several steps, and we greatly appreciate you taking the time to complete this process. A huge thank-you to everyone who has completed this process already! If you haven’t yet, please read on and view the video below for more information. Please feel free to contact the office with any questions.

The “Why” of Re-enrollment

One of the primary purposes of the re-enrollment process is to ensure your child’s safety. We’ll send an email from Pathways to collect emergency contact info, including phone numbers and email addresses, as well as information about your learner’s particular health needs that we may need to be aware of. We will also request signatures for forms that must be updated yearly, such as permission for your learner to use technology, a photo release and address verification. 

In July, we will be asking all families to complete the School Nutrition Programs Forms, which help us to provide lunches and receive funding for our school.

How to Use Pathways to Re-enroll

Please refer to the video below for instructions on registering online in Pathways.

Looking Forward to 2020-2021!

Thank you for your prompt attention to our upcoming requests as we complete re-enrollment for our exciting school year of 2020-2021!

Studio

Spring MAP Assessments: Help Us Celebrate Your Child’s Growth!

Hello, iLEAD Antelope Valley Families!

As you may know, we measure learners’ academic growth over the school year by using the MAP NWEA computer-adaptive assessment three times a year: fall, winter, and spring. The MAP assessment is a vital part of our holistic approach to education, as evidenced in our Individualized Learning Plans (ILPs). MAP helps us set academic goals for each learner, as a balancing counterpart to the social and emotional goals that we closely monitor and work on throughout the school year.

If your child has been continuously enrolled since the beginning of the year, they have completed two MAP assessments thus far. Fortunately, our school has the unique opportunity to be able to proctor the test virtually, so that your child can complete the spring MAP assessment from home in a comfortable environment at a time that works best for you and your family, using the schedule that will be provided by your child’s facilitator.

We understand the challenges of the move to distance learning and adaptation to newly created educational, societal, and living conditions. Honoring the social-emotional well-being of each learner, we would like to offer a few reasons for having your child participate in this end-of-year MAP assessment:

  • MAP enables us to see how your child is progressing toward their academic Individualized Learning Plan (ILP) goals, which were set at the beginning of the year and nurtured by our community, including parents, families, learners, and facilitators. iLEAD Antelope Valley embraces the whole child, focusing on both social-emotional and academic skills. The ILP is an integral part of this framework, ensuring that each child is respected and treated as an essential part of the ILP team, encouraged to be a self-directed learner and, therefore, work toward attainable self-created goals aligned to one’s individual development.

  • Educating the whole child, we measure progress and emphasize growth versus final outcome and summative assessments. Thus, the spring assessment is designed to determine and document your child’s growth throughout the year. Even if your child participated in fall or winter MAP assessments, we highly encourage you to have your child complete this benchmark assessment again to measure their progress. Let them show off how much they have learned and celebrate their success!

  • As a school that emphasizes each learner’s individual growth and educational journey, MAP is an important measure we use to document and show our progress to our local district authorizers, who in turn determine our school’s renewal status.

  • The MAP results, which will be shared with you after the assessments are completed, allow us to personalize each child’s learning path by identifying areas of strength as well as areas that need additional support and extension.

Your child’s facilitator has been trained on the remote administration of MAP and is available to support you with any issues you may have. Please contact them as needed. We want to make the process as easy and comfortable for your family as possible!

If you are having technical difficulties, you may also submit a help ticket to our amazing Tech Team here. For further information on setting up your learner’s assessment session, please view this brief training video below. There are also troubleshooting tips here to help with any issues that may arise.

Thank you for encouraging your amazing learners to continue working on their ILP goals and participating in MAP testing — and for supporting our school!

With gratitude,

Dawn Roberson
Interim School Director

Studio

Don’t Forget to Fill Out Your 2020-21 Re-enrollment Form from Pathways!

Dear Families,

A few weeks ago, we sent an email via Pathways asking all returning families to complete their re-enrollment forms for the 2020-2021 school year. This requires several steps, and we greatly appreciate you taking the time to complete this process. A huge thank-you to everyone who has completed this process already! If you haven’t yet, please read on and view the video below for more information. Please feel free to contact the office with any questions.

The “Why” of Re-enrollment

One of the primary purposes of the re-enrollment process is to ensure your child’s safety. We’ll send an email from Pathways to collect emergency contact info, including phone numbers and email addresses, as well as information about your learner’s particular health needs that we may need to be aware of. We will also request signatures for forms that must be updated yearly, such as permission for your learner to use technology, a photo release and address verification. 

In July, we will be asking all families to complete the School Nutrition Programs Forms, which help us to provide lunches and receive funding for our school.

How to Use Pathways to Re-enroll

Please refer to the video below for instructions on registering online in Pathways.

Looking Forward to 2020-2021!

Thank you for your prompt attention to our upcoming requests as we complete re-enrollment for our exciting school year of 2020-2021!

Studio

Spring MAP Assessments: Help Us Celebrate Your Child’s Growth!

Hello, iLEAD Antelope Valley Families!

As you may know, we measure learners’ academic growth over the school year by using the MAP NWEA computer-adaptive assessment three times a year: fall, winter, and spring. The MAP assessment is a vital part of our holistic approach to education, as evidenced in our Individualized Learning Plans (ILPs). MAP helps us set academic goals for each learner, as a balancing counterpart to the social and emotional goals that we closely monitor and work on throughout the school year.

If your child has been continuously enrolled since the beginning of the year, they have completed two MAP assessments thus far. Fortunately, our school has the unique opportunity to be able to proctor the test virtually, so that your child can complete the spring MAP assessment from home in a comfortable environment at a time that works best for you and your family, using the schedule that will be provided by your child’s facilitator.

We understand the challenges of the move to distance learning and adaptation to newly created educational, societal, and living conditions. Honoring the social-emotional well-being of each learner, we would like to offer a few reasons for having your child participate in this end-of-year MAP assessment:

  • MAP enables us to see how your child is progressing toward their academic Individualized Learning Plan (ILP) goals, which were set at the beginning of the year and nurtured by our community, including parents, families, learners, and facilitators. iLEAD Antelope Valley embraces the whole child, focusing on both social-emotional and academic skills. The ILP is an integral part of this framework, ensuring that each child is respected and treated as an essential part of the ILP team, encouraged to be a self-directed learner and, therefore, work toward attainable self-created goals aligned to one’s individual development.

  • Educating the whole child, we measure progress and emphasize growth versus final outcome and summative assessments. Thus, the spring assessment is designed to determine and document your child’s growth throughout the year. Even if your child participated in fall or winter MAP assessments, we highly encourage you to have your child complete this benchmark assessment again to measure their progress. Let them show off how much they have learned and celebrate their success!

  • As a school that emphasizes each learner’s individual growth and educational journey, MAP is an important measure we use to document and show our progress to our local district authorizers, who in turn determine our school’s renewal status.

  • The MAP results, which will be shared with you after the assessments are completed, allow us to personalize each child’s learning path by identifying areas of strength as well as areas that need additional support and extension.

Your child’s facilitator has been trained on the remote administration of MAP and is available to support you with any issues you may have. Please contact them as needed. We want to make the process as easy and comfortable for your family as possible!

If you are having technical difficulties, you may also submit a help ticket to our amazing Tech Team here. For further information on setting up your learner’s assessment session, please view this brief training video below. There are also troubleshooting tips here to help with any issues that may arise.

Thank you for encouraging your amazing learners to continue working on their ILP goals and participating in MAP testing — and for supporting our school!

With gratitude,

Dawn Roberson
Interim School Director