Dear Parent(s) and/or Guardian(s) of NCA Students,
This letter serves as another state of (NCA) union report for all of our educational consumers at New Century Academy. The year has started on a very great note. We have increased enrollment, our awesome staff is working tirelessly to meet the needs of all students, and our recently added school activities have created a buzz at our school.
I want to remind everyone again that we have many winter activities that students can join. They include one-act play, knowledge bowl, speech, basketball, dance, and robotics. We have arranged activities transportation with ACC Midwest to provide students a means home after practices. It is hard to find a better value anywhere and we are proud to offer these great opportunities for our students.
Our educational purpose at NCA is to prepare ALL students for college and career readiness. Most schools share this same purpose; however, we have a tremendously exciting vision for NCA students. Before I go a little further, I want to inform you that we at (NCA) fell short of our academic goal for the 2012-2013 school year, last year. Our Multiple Measurement Rating (MMR) scores were simply disappointing. As you may know, NCA was declared a Celebration Eligible School with results from 2011-2012. These results were some of the highest in the State of Minnesota. The results from last year (2012-2013) shows the ebb and flow, and frankly the susceptibility of small numbers as it relates to school scores. Meaning, a few students can have a significant impact on NCA scoring either very high or very low. I invite you to the MDE website to review our scores and relative position with our schools. Again, go to Data Center, then Data for Parents and Educators. At this location, you can pull a variety of reports regarding NCA’s performance.
You may be asking, “What is the plan to address higher student achievement?” I can first tell you that we indeed have a plan. I have since visited with our staff about regarding our school improvement status with the Minnesota Department of Education. We are all committed to higher student achievement for all students. I can feel the strong sense of responsibility and accountability with our staff; thus, you can be reassured that we are taking immediate steps to reach each student’s academic potential. We are currently doing assessment testing to gather data so we can have a better understanding of our academic strengths and weaknesses. We will follow this up with data analysis meetings to create individualized learning plans for students. We will likely be using a great web-based support tool called Skills-Pointer and Compass to help students and teachers with daily progress. I have no doubt that our scores will rebound. It is our goal to maintain strong results.
Lastly, I want to invite any parents who would like to participate on our Parent-Advisory Committee. This committee serves to gain awareness of our school and to provide feedback in regards to anything school related. Student Achievement is one of the areas that we would like to discuss as well as student transportation. Our first Meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2013 beginning at 6:00 p.m. Everyone is invited. A lunch will be provided.
Good times at NCA!
Go Spartans!
