Tuesday evening, the Pinellas County School Board voted unanimously to delay the school start date for students to August 24th.As a charter school, we follow the Pinellas County School calendar, and will begin school on August 24th for both brick and mortar learning and distance learning.
Our last day of school for students is now June 9, 2021. Please plan any summer travel accordingly to ensure your student is present through the last day of school.
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7/15/2020 0 Comments Opening Update From Principal SipeDear Plato Academy Parents,
On behalf of the entire Plato Academy family, I would like to welcome you and your children back to Plato Academy for the 2020-21 school year. As always, we are committed to providing your children with an excellent education in a safe and nurturing environment. Because we fully understand and appreciate that you have many concerns, we are sending you this update now and we kindly request your prompt response. We understand that this is a challenging time for everyone. We want you to know that we have established a plan focusing on the best interests of all our students. Some of you need and want your children to return to a brick and mortar traditional setting, and others among you need and want their children to attend Plato Academy via a robust and effective distance learning option. Please know that there is no perfect solution. Whichever decision each family makes will have its own pros and cons. In any case, please rest assured that when the pandemic is over, whichever of these two options you choose, your child’s seat at Plato Academy is his or hers to keep. We are keenly aware that the situation is very fluid and that there are many different pieces of information coming out every day. We will make all decisions based on guidance from the appropriate agencies and if/when things change, we will continue to keep you updated. In order for Plato Academy Schools to plan effectively, we need parents to notify us in the survey question below, which option they will be choosing for the first 9 weeks of school. We need you to make a decision so that we can inform all parents of how we will staff both options. As the situation progresses we will re-evaluate our needs and determine the next steps in the planning process for the following quarter. Traditional Brick and Mortar Return To School Students and families will review wellness to ensure students are feeling well and symptom-free prior to coming to school each day. School staff will use touchless thermometers upon or shortly after arrival and throughout the day as needed and able to ensure students are fever-free. Large group gatherings will not be held. Students will be required to wear masks/face coverings (NOTE: if you are uncomfortable with your child(ren) being forced to wear a mask, we recommend that you choose the distance education option. Remember, the plan for that is 9 weeks; not an entire school year.) We will use our best efforts to keep students spaced 6 feet apart in classrooms, but we are limited by our physical space. The more parents who prefer the distance learning option, the farther apart we can keep students distanced in the brick and mortar setting. Extra sanitizing will be conducted by available and additional staff Students who receive special services in the traditional setting will continue to receive appropriate services if they choose the distance learning option. Students will participate in PE outside, whenever possible based on weather and field conditions. When students cannot be outside, they will be in the gymnasium and separated by their homeroom class. Cohorts of classes will not intermingle whether inside or outside. Equipment will not be used by consecutive classes until it is properly sanitized. Elementary students will have recess with the same guidelines as above. Elementary students will not travel to art and music classes, but instead will have those classes in their homeroom class. Students who receive school breakfast will get it from the lunchroom and return to eat in their classrooms. All students will eat lunch in their classrooms. Teachers provide student make-up work, flexibility, and support if they are out of school for any reason. Teachers and office staff will arrange their desks and work areas in a manner to assist with the nightly sanitizing of those surfaces. Papers, files and books will be removed or stacked/placed in an orderly manner to allow plant operators to spray down the work surfaces without moving materials (preventing damage or loss of materials). Computer keyboards and other accessories will be placed in an accessible location and laptops will be closed to allow for exterior sanitizing. Students may also be asked to assist with keeping their areas clean for other students. Teachers will enlist the assistance of trusted students or the entire class to help keep classroom areas clean and tidy throughout the school day. Likewise, teachers and students will establish classroom protocols to wipe down desks and tabletops, and other shared equipment, in between classes and throughout the day. This type of activity could be especially effective in elementary schools if it is used as a tool related to COVID-19 safety and general good health practices. Middle school students will transition to classes in order to meet all of the requirements of their individual schedules. Middle school students will not use lockers, so as to reduce the possibility of congregation in the hallways. Teachers will be asked to assist in managing how much students are carrying by housing items that are not required to be brought home in the classroom. In the instance of positive case/exposure to COVID-19 your child(ren) may be asked to self-isolate at home according to CDC and Pinellas County Health Department recommendations and complete distance learning Families who choose the brick and mortar option will be asked to sign a liability waiver. Distance Learning Return to School Live instruction will take place every day, Monday through Friday. Although there will be similarities between this and the last quarter of our previous school year, students will be held more accountable for their learning and attendance, just as they would be in the physical classroom. Distance learning students will be accountable daily for attendance and completion of assignments. These guidelines will follow the same as if in brick and mortar for expectations, attendance, behavior, truancy, and promotion. Online teacher each morning beginning at 8:50 a.m.* The teacher will use a schedule that combines direct teaching, independent work, posted assignments (asynchronous instruction), learning, and small group instruction. Students and parents should expect to follow a full schedule, like the sample model below. Students will be ‘live’ with their teacher a minimum of four times each day. Sample Elementary Schedule 8:50-9:00 Morning Meeting 9:00- 9:20 Direct Face-to-Face Instruction Reading (live) 9:20-10:20 Independent Practice and live small group instruction 10:20-10:55 Direct Instruction Writing and Independent Practice (live) 10:55-11:25 Reading Intervention (live) 11:25-11:45 Recess (on your own) 11:45-12:15 Lunch (on your own) 12:15-12:35 Direct Math Instruction (live) 12:35-1:05 Independent Math Practice 1:05-1:25 Math Intervention, small group and independent 1:25-2:15 Specials (Art, Music, P.E recorded lessons with some live interaction) 2:15-2:55 Science Direct Instruction (live) Sample Middle School Schedule 8:50 - 9:30 Period 1 9:32 - 10:22 Period 2 10:24 - 11:14 Period 3 11:16- 12:06 Period 4 12:08 - 12:58 Period 5 12:58 - 1:28 Lunch 1:28 - 2:18 Period 6 2:20 - 3:10 Period 7 PLEASE NOTE: Failure to respond on or before July 21st will result in Plato determining in which learning mode (face-to-face or distance) your child(ren) will be placed, in order to safely balance learning options for students and teachers. If you have any questions, please let me know, and I will be happy to provide any assistance to help you make the best decision for your family. Go Bolts! In Partnership, 2020/2021 Parent Survey for ReOpening Choice First 9 weeks. : https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc7bqfopLQoonreg-TFBa1ifSrcwjOreGJVAI_c1MMNOaMXFQ/viewform?usp=sf_link Sincerely, Amber Sipe , M. Ed. Principal Plato Academy Palm Harbor 1601 Curlew Rd. Palm Harbor, FL 34683 727-205-6360 [email protected] Home of the Thunderbolts! 2/7/2020 0 Comments February FunHello Families,
Please see below for our classroom/school events and some fun events coming up! Let me know if you have any questions at all :) BEACH CLEAN UPWhere: Fred Howard Park Date: February 8th 9am-12pm Meeting location: Shelter 6 Confirm your spot by the sign up genius below: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0D49ABAE2DA02-plato3 Valentine's Day Friendship Celebration - We will be having a Valentine's Day friendship celebration on Friday, February 14th. Please use this sign up genius to send in items for the kiddos. Don't forget to have the kiddos bring in their boxes and valentines for everyone that day! Should be a great day :) https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508054EAAA623A7FF2-valentines Daddy/Daughter Dance - Join Us for Our Annual Daughter Dance on Friday, February 21st from 6:00-8:30pm at our campus. Get your tickets early and pay just $10 or purchase at the door for $12 (This price includes all of your daughters) Send in your registration & money and place it in the PTO box, then your name will be on the list the night of the dance! Weekly Curriculum ·In Language Arts we will be starting a new text called Living Through a Natural DIsaster. We will be looking at different literary skills and really focusing on our reading comprehension to get ready for the FSA. ·In Math we finished up a short unit on two-dimensional shapes. We will be taking a topic test on Tuesday, February 11th. ·In Science we will start going over living things. We will take an OPEN BOOK test on the topic on Wednesday, February 12th. ·In Social Studies we started to discuss our presidents! We are learning all the presidents from George Washington until today. If you hear them singing the song, I apologize :). -In Health we will be talking about conflict resolution and anger management. A Few Reminders and Dates to Remember · Every Tuesday: Pizza money due. $2 per slice. · Every Friday: Ice cream day, $1. - February 8 - Fred Howard Park Beach Cleanup - February 14 - Valentine's Friendship Celebration - February 17 - No school for students. Teacher work day.- February 20 - Kona Ice - February 21 - Daddy/Daughter Dance As a reminder, please remember to pack only healthy snacks and water for your child’s snack time. Avoid cookies, candies, cakes or sweets; fruits, vegetables, pretzels, crackers etc.… are healthy alternatives. As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Have a great week! Hello Families,
As we are winding down the second quarter (which ends on December 20th), we have been busy! The kiddos are learning to be responsible for their own work in the classroom. I will be pushing for them to be on top of their classwork and staying on task. If you can help reiterate that at home, I would greatly appreciate it :). Our character trait this month is Kindness, which is being nice and considerate towards others! We had a great kick off to the month with the Kindness Squad, spreading random notes of kindness in the parking lot today. Our Kindness Elf will be watching us all month to make sure we are being KIND :) SPIRIT WEEK: Please see the attached for the Spirit Week dress up days! It will be a fun week. Holiday Party: Please remember the $5 donation for the Classroom Holiday Party on Friday, December 20th. I will be getting all the food and goodies for the party, so your donation is GREATLY appreciated. Weekly Curriculum ·In Language Arts we are working with figurative language and identifying different types in our stories. ·In Math we are working on comparing fractions. ·In Science we will start discussing Plants. ·In Social Studies we will be learning about our communities. A Few Reminders and Dates to Remember · Every Tuesday: Pizza money due. $2 per slice. · Every Friday: Ice cream day, $1. · Friday, December 13th: Spelling test and Spelling homework due. · December 10-13th: Holiday Shop · December 16-20: SPIRIT WEEK · Monday, December 16th: Field Trip to Recycling Center · Tuesday, December 17th: Holiday Performance 1:30 · Tuesday, December 17th: Book Fair 3:30-7 @Barnes and Noble · Thursday, December 19th: Kona Ice · Friday, December 20th: Classroom Holiday Party As a reminder, please remember to pack only healthy snacks and water for your child’s snack time. Avoid cookies, candies, cakes or sweets; fruits, vegetables, pretzels, crackers etc.… are healthy alternatives. As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Have a great week! 11/15/2019 0 Comments Great Week Back :)Hello Families,
What a great first week back! I LOVE your kiddos! We have had a great week together. Definitely a change for them to get used to another teacher, but they are handling it well. I will continue to work with them on MY expectations in the classroom. If you have any questions about anything, please let me know!! Homework - Just an FYI, I grade the homework weekly. It is 5 points for the spelling activities and 5 points for the reading log. Please make sure your kiddo is bringing both in every week to earn those points. Next week (Nov. 18-21) we will be doing our Greatest Showman week! This is one of my favorite weeks. We use the movie to not only work on different literary skills, but also to talk about how we can celebrate and accept one another's differences. Don't be surprised if your kiddos come home singing the tunes :) Please let me know if you do not wish for your child to participate. I LOVE to decorate for the holidays, and would LOVE some decoration donations :) If you have any you would like to donate to decorate for the upcoming holidays, I would GREATLY appreciate it! Our character trait this month is Citizenship, which is being law abiding and involved in service to school, community and country. We went over ways to be a good citizen. Let us encourage one another to show good citizenship! Weekly Curriculum ·In Language Arts we will be doing our Greatest Showman Week. We will look at the different characters and analyze the song lyrics. ·In Math we are working on fractions and line plots. ·In Science we will be continuing to talk about energy. ·In Social Studies we will be discussing the first Thanksgiving. A Few Reminders and Dates to Remember · Every Tuesday: Pizza money due. $2 per slice. · Every Friday: Ice cream day, $1. · Friday, November 22nd: Spelling test and Reading Log and Spelling homework due. · Friday, November 22nd: Thanksgiving Luncheon. · November 25-29: Thanksgiving Break. As a reminder, please remember to pack only healthy snacks and water for your child’s snack time. Avoid cookies, candies, cakes or sweets; fruits, vegetables, pretzels, crackers etc.… are healthy alternatives. As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Have a great week! 11/9/2019 0 Comments Happy to be back!Can you believe we are in November already? Only 2 weeks until break!! I am so excited to be back in the classroom! Please let me know if you have any questions as we transition myself back into the room.
Wednesday, November 13th, is our Great American Teach In! I am looking forward to hearing parents come in to share their exciting careers with us. Next week (Nov. 18-21) we will be doing our Greatest Showman week! This is one of my favorite weeks. We use the movie to not only work on different literary skills, but also to talk about how we can celebrate and accept one another's differences. Don't be surprised if your kiddos come home singing the tunes :) Please let me know if you do not wish for your child to participate. I LOVE to decorate for the holidays, and would LOVE some decoration donations :) If you have any you would like to donate to decorate for the upcoming holidays, I would GREATLY appreciate it! Our character trait this month is Citizenship, which is being law abiding and involved in service to school, community and country. We went over ways to be a good citizen. Let us encourage one another to show good citizenship! Weekly Curriculum · In Language Arts we will continue reading the text called The Year of Miss Agnes. We will look at character and main idea. · In Math we are working on fractions and how we can use a number line to show fractions less than and greater than 1. · In Science we will be continuing to talk about energy. · In Social Studies we will be discussing and doing various activities about Veterans Day. A Few Reminders and Dates to Remember · Every Tuesday: Pizza money due. $2 per slice. · Every Friday: Ice cream day, $1. · Wednesday, November 13th, Great American Teach In. · Friday, November 15th: Spelling test and Reading Log and Spelling homework due. · Friday, November 22nd: Thanksgiving Luncheon. · November 25-29: Thanksgiving Break. As a reminder, please remember to pack only healthy snacks and water for your child’s snack time. Avoid cookies, candies, cakes or sweets; fruits, vegetables, pretzels, crackers etc.… are healthy alternatives. As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Have a great week! 4/15/2019 0 Comments Disney NatureHappy Monday!
The kiddos did GREAT with the sub on Friday. She left a wonderful report saying how great they were. Very proud of them! They are a great group :) We have our Disney Nature field trip on Wednesday. I will be sending an email out to those who are chaperoning, but if anyone has any questions about the trip, please let me know! 22 Days Until MATH FSA! **The important thing for the kiddos to remember is to stay on task and focused. It is that time of year where they are starting to get drained and antsy so they start to act out, talk instead of listening and so forth. Please encourage your kiddo to refrain from that and to make sure they are getting the most out of their class time.** FSA Prep After School- I will be offering a Math FSA prep for our class on Thursdays after school until 4 PM STARTING THURSDAY, APRIL 18th. I want to cover one more topic in Math before we start :). If your child plans on staying please have them go to car line and I will take them from there. Let me know if you have any questions!! Battle of the Books- If you have not turned in your permission slip for BOTB, please do so. Also do not forget we need $1 to cover their ice cream treat :) Busch Gardens- Do not forget to turn in your permission slips for the big end of the year trip. I will be reaching out the next few weeks to get info and to share the details of the trip :) Weekly Curriculum· In Language Arts we will focusing on sentence structure to help with our writing. · In Math, we are working with different kinds of polygons and how we can compare and contrast them. · In Science we are starting to go over Energy and the different forms of energy there are. · In Writing we are continuing to work on proper sentence structure and paragraph formation. · In Social Studies we be discussing how we as citizens work in our communities. We will be talking about consumers and producers, spending and saving, and all the fun stuff! A Few Reminders and Dates to Remember Every Tuesday: Pizza money due. $2 per slice. · Every Friday: Ice cream day, $1. · April 17: Disney Nature Field Trip · April 19: NO SCHOOL · April 23: Battle of the Books Trip · May 7-8: Math FSA · May 15: Busch Gardens Field Trip As a reminder, please remember to pack only healthy snacks and water for your child’s snack time. Avoid cookies, candies, cakes or sweets; fruits, vegetables, pretzels, crackers etc.… are healthy alternatives. As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Have a great week! 3/26/2019 0 Comments Crunch time!Happy Tuesday!
7 Days Until FSA! I will be sending out an email for donations for breakfast the days of FSA. If you could sign up to bring in something for the kiddos, that would be great!! **The important thing for the kiddos to remember is to stay on task and focused. It is that time of year where they are starting to get drained and antsy so they start to act out, talk instead of listening and so forth. Please encourage your kiddo to refrain from that and to make sure they are getting the most out of their class time.** FSA Prep After School- I will be offering an FSA prep for our class on Thursdays after school until 4 PM. We will spend 30 minutes working on different passages and answering questions. I will be starting this Thursday, February 28th. If your child plans on staying please have them go to car line and I will take them from there. Let me know if you have any questions!! Weekly Curriculum
· Every Tuesday: Pizza money due. $2 per slice. · Every Friday: Ice cream day, $1. · April 2-3: ELA FSA As a reminder, please remember to pack only healthy snacks and water for your child’s snack time. Avoid cookies, candies, cakes or sweets; fruits, vegetables, pretzels, crackers etc.… are healthy alternatives. As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Have a great week! 3/18/2019 0 Comments Welcome Back!Welcome back!!
15 Days Until FSA! I hope you all had a wonderful and restful spring break! We had a great first day back and we are already getting down to business. 15 days! AHH! **The important thing for the kiddos to remember is to stay on task and focused. It is that time of year where they are starting to get drained and antsy so they start to act out, talk instead of listening and so forth. Please encourage your kiddo to refrain from that and to make sure they are getting the most out of their class time.** FSA Prep After School- I will be offering an FSA prep for our class on Thursdays after school until 4 PM. We will spend 30 minutes working on different passages and answering questions. I will be starting this Thursday, February 28th. If your child plans on staying please have them go to car line and I will take them from there. Let me know if you have any questions!! Baby Holden- We found out the gender of our baby over break. It is.....ANOTHER GIRL! I did a fun gender guess with the kiddos and EVERYONE except one student said boy. Sorry to disappoint, but I guess I am meant to just have girls :) Weekly Curriculum · In Language Arts we will continue practicing some comprehension texts to sharpen our FSA Skills. · In Math, we will be continuing fractions! We will be looking at comparing fractions and fraction equivalence. · In Science we will be starting a unit on Matter. · In Writing we are continuing to work on proper sentence structure and paragraph formation. · In Social Studies we be discussing how we as citizens work in our communities. We will be talking about consumers and producers, spending and saving, and all the fun stuff! A Few Reminders and Dates to Remember · Every Tuesday: Pizza money due. $2 per slice. · Every Friday: Ice cream day, $1. · April 2-3: ELA FSA As a reminder, please remember to pack only healthy snacks and water for your child’s snack time. Avoid cookies, candies, cakes or sweets; fruits, vegetables, pretzels, crackers etc.… are healthy alternatives. As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Have a great week! 3/5/2019 0 Comments Happy Almost Spring Break!Happy Tuesday Families,
28 Days Until FSA! Time is flying! Next week is Spring Break! I hope you all enjoy a wonderful week off. Rest up and recharge to get ready for the FSA in 28 days! SO CRAZY! **The important thing for the kiddos to remember is to stay on task and focused. It is that time of year where they are starting to get drained and antsy so they start to act out, talk instead of listening and so forth. Please encourage your kiddo to refrain from that and to make sure they are getting the most out of their class time.** FSA Prep After School- I will be offering an FSA prep for our class on Thursdays after school until 4 PM. We will spend 30 minutes working on different passages and answering questions. I will be starting this Thursday, February 28th. If your child plans on staying please have them go to car line and I will take them from there. Let me know if you have any questions!! Math- I had all of the Topic 5 math test graded, and unfortunately they ended up in a pile that was tossed. SO I want to apologize! Totally my fault that I put it with the wrong pile. They all did really well though, so I have no concerns over needing more practice for the material. Again, I apologize! Weekly Curriculum · In Language Arts we will continue practicing some comprehension texts to sharpen our FSA Skills. Spelling test on Thursday, March 7th. · In Math, we will be continuing fractions! They are loving this unit so far. · In Science we continue to look at Our Universe. We will do an open book science test on Wednesday, March 6th. It will cover pages 8-23. · In Writing we are continuing to work on proper sentence structure and paragraph formation. · In Social Studies we be discussing how our nation grew at the very beginning. We will look at the new ways we traveled, communicated, and at New World ideas. A Few Reminders and Dates to Remember · Every Tuesday: Pizza money due. $2 per slice. · Every Friday: Ice cream day, $1. · Friday, March 8th: No School For Students · March 11th-15th: Spring Break As a reminder, please remember to pack only healthy snacks and water for your child’s snack time. Avoid cookies, candies, cakes or sweets; fruits, vegetables, pretzels, crackers etc.… are healthy alternatives. As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Have a great week! |
Plato Academy Mission Statement
January 2021
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