At CLA’s 5/17/13 Friday celebration, 7th grade students shared the final piece of their Veteran’s book project with our participating veterans.  To enjoy the Plain Dealer article detailing the experience, click here.

CLA’s long relationship with Young Audiences has provided a chance for artists to showcase their skills and develop student creativity in dance, drumming, comic book drawing and manyother fields.  View The Plain Dealer’s article here, YA celebrates 60 years, outlining Young Audience’s presence at Citizens Leadership Academy

Please view the file below for our April newsletter from Head of School Shelly Saltzman.

CLA April Newsletter

February 1, 2013

Dear CLA Families,

Happy February!  February is a pivotal month for your CLA scholar.  We have our third interim exams this month, and the results of those exams will give us strong indicators of what each scholar has mastered and what needs to be re-taught between now and the Ohio Achievement Assessments (OAAs) in early May.  Academic rigor is being pushed in all classes.  Students are being asked not only to learn specific skills; they are being required to think through and articulate their thinking and the processes involved.  Reading fluency and reading comprehension are critical for student achievement not just on the Reading OAA but also on the Math OAA.  To bolster both fluency and comprehension, students are given regular independent reading time at school.  You can partner with us in supporting your student by:

1. Checking his or her homework for thoroughness in addition to completion.
2. Strongly encouraging at least 30 minutes of independent reading each evening. Visiting the local library and getting new and interesting books at each visit would be great!
3. Encouraging your scholar to go online and push herself or himself to excel in the IXL math program we use at CLA (http://www.ixl.com).

I wanted to touch upon a few home-school communication protocols.  We consider CLA families our partners in supporting our CLA scholars, and the CLA enjoys close communication with each family.  We encourage phone calls and e-mails from families, but please note you should allow a full 24 hours for a thoughtful response.  Teachers have one planning period each day, and that may not come until the end of the day, and that is generally a good time to respond.  If you have a concern that needs a more immediate initial response, please let a dean (Ms. Cunningham (6) or Ms. Shobe (7) ) know, and of course Ms. Pratt, our CLA receptionist extraordinaire, can help get your message to the right person.
Another communication-related issue is oversight of student use of Facebook and other social media.  We have seen an uptick in student use of Facebook, and we strongly suggest that you become aware of your child’s activity on this popular form of social media.  I am attaching a web article from Common Sense Media that gives you some hints in this important arena.

Finally, here are some important February dates to make sure you have on your family calendars:

Tuesday, February 12^th – Interim Exam in Reading

Wednesday, February 13^th – Interim Exam in Math

Thursday and Friday, February 14^th and 15^th – Professional Development Days (Interim Analyis) NO SCHOOL

Monday, February 18^th – President’s Day   NO SCHOOL

Wednesday, February 20^th – PAC Meeting at 6 p.m.

Wednesday, February 27^th – Winter Trimester Report Cards mailed

Thursday, February 28^th – CLA Reenrollment Closes

Looking forward to a productive and enjoyable February with your CLA scholars!

Sincerely,

Shelly Saltzman

Head of School

p.s.  Come cheer on our CLA Panthers and CLA Lady Panthers and see our CLA Cheerleaders in action.  Here is a list of our game dates and locations:

February 2 – Pinnacle Academy     9 a.m. Girls     11 a.m. Boys

February 9 –              Apex Academy           9 a.m. Girls     11 a.m. Boys

February 16 – Pinnacle Academy   9 a.m. Girls     11 a.m. Boys

February 23 – Pinnacle Academy   9 a.m. Girls     11 a.m. Boys