Pre-enrollment is now open to all students residing in the respective school district. Academy of Arts and Sciences can accommodate students entering into kindergarten to 8th grade. It is imperative that parents submit enrollment applications for each student planning to enroll, as early as possible.

Academy of Arts and Sciences implements a thematic, interactive program that incorporates multiple learning styles. Mornings are dedicated to building solid skills in the core subject areas of reading, writing, math and science. While the afternoons are reserved for foreign language, music, physical education and a daily 90-minute block of Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Paragon curriculum.

The Paragon curriculum is interdisciplinary, engaging, discovery-based and multi-cultural. The hands-on approach of Paragon addresses the multiple intelligences and individual learning styles. This enhances students’ communication skills, analysis and self-expression.

Academy of Arts and Sciences also offers an emotionally and physically safe learning environment, access to computers and technology, committed and qualified teachers and staff and encourage parental involvement. Teachers will conduct regular goal setting conferences with individual children and their parents, to ensure the student’s success.

To pre-enroll, click here .

From December 1 to 21, AAS will be collecting contributions to go towards the Blessing House, which cares for children and Haven House, a shelter that takes in Lorain families in need. On December 21 the AAS Girl Scout Troop #664, will hand-deliver the brand new toys and food to the shelters.

“You can help us to make this a blessed Holiday season for the less fortunate, by placing donated items under our Christmas tree,” said Joell Mullen-Liscano, chief administrative officer for AAS. “Together we will make a difference.”

For more information on the donation drive, please call (440) 244-0156.

AAS hosts Boxes of Love Night to search extend some holiday cheer to the members of the military during, what some consider, the hardest time to be away from your loved ones. Students, teachers and staff at AAS have been collecting personal hygiene and nonperishable goods to donate to U.S. troops, this month.

For more information on Boxes of Love Night, please call (440) 244-0156.

Harvest Celebration activities include:

• Exploring shapes with homemade pumpkin molding clay;
• Creating harvest pictures using pumpkin seeds;
• Making miniature pumpkin pies;
• Assembling a pretzel and marshmallow ghost;
• Playing “Hot Pumpkin”, similar to hot potato; and
• Students in costumes will parade through the school singing.

Students are not to wear their costume to school, instead they will be allowed to wear their costumes at the start of the celebration. The costume parade is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.

AAS has sent letters to parents, via students, in regards to donating food items for the Harvest Celebration. For more information on the Harvest Celebration, please call (440) 244-0156.

Listening tentatively, students at AAS grew inspired and motivated by Pastor Lori Loomis, a local missionary, during a recent visit. Pastor Loomis spoke about her time serving as a missionary in Africa, as part of the Walking with Giants program. Through AAS’s innovative implementation of the Paragon Curriculum, it takes the Walking with Giants program to the next level, by inviting local ‘Giants’ to the school to address students monthly.

As a result, students at AAS decided to collect school supplies for students in Africa. The collection will continue until September 30, 2010, and all donations may be brought to the Academy of Arts and Sciences, 201 W. Erie Avenue, Lorain, OH 44052.

The “giant” personifies a positive character trait that AAS instills in its students. Along with these visits, AAS also has a school-wide positive character trait that is taught monthly. Students from each class who demonstrate the designated trait are rewarded, at our monthly pep rally.

Jennifer Ditzenberger is a curriculum implementation specialist for AAS.

“Our Paragon program instills such virtues as kindness and compassion for others by teaching them that though we may have cultural differences we all have similar needs,” Ditzenberger said. “After the children saw the needs of their peers in Africa they made a commitment to help them through the school supply collection.”

For August, the character trait was kindness. After Pastor Loomis’ explained to students at AAS that there are classrooms in Africa, where students share a single pencil, they quickly decided to collect school supplies for the African students in Nairobi and Kenya to show kindness. This is the second year students have been inspired to do this.

About AAS

The Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAS), a charter school in Lorain, OH., serves students in kindergarten to 3^rd grade. AAS implements a thematic, interactive program that incorporates multiple learning styles. Mornings are dedicated to building solid skills in the core subject areas of reading, writing, math and science. While the afternoons are reserved for foreign language, music, physical education and a daily 90-minute block of AAS’s Paragon curriculum.

The Paragon curriculum is interdisciplinary, engaging, discovery-based and multi-cultural. The hands-on approach of Paragon addresses the multiple intelligences and individual learning styles. This enhances students’ communication skills, analysis and self-expression.

Visit AAS online, at http://academyartssciences.org.

Referencing the Final Report of the U.S. Department of Education’s National Mathematics Advisory Panel (2008), summit attendees reviewed various math programs’ strengths and weaknesses and explored successful methods used in the United States and by countries that performed well on TIMMS, with the goal of adopting best practices from around the globe, raising math interest, and making math an integral part of school culture. Michael J. Connelly, Mosaica’s Chief Executive Officer, announced the rationale at the beginning of the summit: “Literacy and numeracy are the twin tools for international success on the global stage of the 21st century. Our schools are committed to high levels of student achievement and the development of life-long learners who are comfortable participating on that stage. Following our Literacy Summit, which launched our highly successful Literacy Initiative two years ago, this Math Summit is the both the culmination of years of research and planning and the beginning of the implementation phase.”

As a result of the decisions taken at the summit, Mosaica Education will implement a system-wide Math Initiative beginning in the fall of 2009. This initiative focuses on placing Math Coaches in every school, increasing the number of high-quality math teachers at every grade, exploring ways to offer alternative certifications to math teachers coming from science and industry, and bringing math specialists to upper elementary grades. The initiative will also adjust the daily schedule to allow for 90 minutes of uninterrupted math in all grades; provide additional professional development for teachers to cultivate confident implementation of the new program; develop math clubs and competitions in all schools; and – perhaps most importantly – ensure that learning math will be FUN!

Dr. Dawn Eidelman, Mosaica’s Co-Founder and President of its Paragon Division commented, “The beauty of our new initiative is that it will augment project-based learning by linking mathematics more integrally to the history of great ideas and great people in world culture through our Paragon curriculum. To innovate purposefully and to design the future, we must build upon the lessons from our past.”