Director's Letter April 4, 2025
- Shelly Smith
- Apr 4
- 5 min read
Dear ACA Community,
The beautiful weather was perfectly timed for the ACA Garden Collective’s activities today! It’s great to see a renewed commitment to reviving our community garden space. Families brought flowers of their choice to plant in the new flower beds and the kids had fun painting rocks. I highly recommend joining in the ‘Collective’ fun!
Thank you to everyone who is taking time to participate in the 24-25 state testing. Our first groups were here today and everything went very smoothly. Thank you to our Test Coordinators, Meagan Kimball and Erika Lute, who have done a phenomenal job of organizing! And thanks to all the students and parents…everyone showed up ready to go! A reminder to parents, if your child is grades 3-5 you must remain on-site during testing. For those of you who haven’t confirmed test session times, please check your student’s testing schedule and rsvp through the form provided. If you need to change your child’s scheduled sessions, you may choose a different time by answering ‘No’ to the question ‘My student is able to attend the assigned testing times’ then submitting alternate times. We have just a few more students to schedule!
Over Spring Break, parent and Board Member Robert Bruders helped out with some repairs around the building…thank you Mr. Bruders! There are many ways to help out our school, especially with so many events coming up this spring. We need and appreciate our volunteers very much!
Speaking of events…there is a lot happening in the next few weeks!
One of my favorite ACA events happens this week…the Interactive Music Assemblies! Our Choirs, Orchestras and Bands all perform together in a really fun format that involves the audience. Guests and parents are welcome to join in on Wednesday, April 9, at 11:15am and 1:45pm. It’s a joyful event and may inspire new musicians to join our music classes next year! The following week, on Monday, April 14, come visit the ACA Band Instrument Petting Zoo at 10:30 and 3:30 in Music Room 114. It’s a great opportunity to get up close and personal with a variety of instruments!
Ms. Castellano's 9th Grade Scientific Research & Design classes will each be hosting an "Open House" to show off their amazing individual experiments! Please join us in room 207 on Wednesday April 9 and Thursday April 10 any time between 10:45-11:45 (different experiments each day). This is a great chance for students, parents, ESes and staff to get ideas for future science projects and see examples of Science Fair/LPAR projects! We have a wide variety of topics including sports, animals, archery and projectiles, plants and bacteria, artificial limbs, the biology of using social media or video games, bridge construction and more. There's definitely something for everyone; please join us and support our science students!
Tickets are on sale now in the office for the Spring Dance. Students grades 6-12 are invited to attend on Friday, April 18, from 6:00 to 8:30pm.
Also, Juniors and Seniors, save the date of May 2 for the 24-25 ACA Prom…more details coming soon! Presale tickets are $10 and will go on sale April 9th.
Speaking of Prom, Leadership’s fundraiser for the party will be culminating next week. Get this…$316 worth of raffle tickets were sold, meaning that eleven staff members are going to get a pie in the face! Don’t miss the fun every day next week at lunch time!
I know it seems early, but there is a great opportunity for ACA’s rising 9th graders to earn FREE college credit at Clackamas Community College for Summer, 2025! Career & Technical Education (CTE) Summer Camp will be held August 11-15, 2025 on the CCC Oregon City Campus. Camp is open to students who live or go to school in Clackamas County, and entering grades 9-12 fall 2025. There is no cost for CTE Summer Camp, and students will earn college credit for the courses they complete! To RSVP to the Information Session, or to sign up for CTE Summer Camp, please visit this LINK
And another great event at CCC is happening Tuesday from 3:30-6:30pm. The Career Technical Education Showcase is not to be missed for students interested in exploring careers in the trades! Click HERE to see what’s happening and to register.
The ACA Graduation Committee is ramping up the plans for the Class of 2025 events which are coming quickly! The Graduation committee would like to invite parents, especially Junior parents, to volunteer to help with Graduation. There are a variety of ways that volunteers can be a huge help in making graduation weekend special for our Seniors June 5-7th. Here’s the LINK to sign up. It’s a really fun way to contribute to our school as we send our Seniors on their way!
Ericka Engle, an ACA parent from the school’s beginnings, will graduate her youngest child this year. Ericka is ACA’s long-time ‘plant fairy’ and has kept our plant collection watered and tended for many years. We’re seeking a new volunteer to step into Ericka’s place at the end of this year. Let me know if you would like to help ACA in this very important way. And thank you, very sincerely, Ericka, for your many years of caring for our beautiful plant collection!
We’re soliciting donations for Mr. Toth’s woodworking classes. Please consider picking up a Home Depot or Lowe’s gift card for Mr. Toth to use for purchasing supplies. The students are learning a lot and really enjoy the class!
ACA is hosting an event presented by Oregon City Together and The Children’s Center. The movie ‘Angst’ will be shown on Thursday evening, April 24, at ACA. Dinner and childcare will be provided. Check out the flyer below for registration details.
A very important way to serve ACA is by joining our School Board. Please consider applying for a two year term. Here is the link to the APPLICATION. The deadline to apply is May 14th.
Gentle Rule Reminder: Circling back to a theme from earlier in the year…There are still far too many tardy students rolling into class late. This happens all throughout the day and is disruptive to classes and disrespectful to our teachers. ACA’s stated policy is that if a student accumulates three unexcused tardies, the teacher has the authority to drop the student from the class. ACA classes are a privilege. Please help with this in the morning, between classes, and after lunch.
There are a lot of great flyers below, so keep scrolling for some nice events and opportunities!
Here’s the LINK to preorder pizza for Thursday.
Remember to check the calendar on our website often, AllianceCharterAcademy.org and don’t forget to log your Volunteer hours here Volunteer Time Log.
Have a wonderful weekend, and thank you for being part of the ACA family!
Go Eagles,
Shelly Smith
24-25 Executive Director
“Our mission is to personalize learning through a collaboration of family, community and school; to nurture the innate curiosity of all our students; to ignite their passion for learning; and to prepare them for lifelong success.”
Volunteer Opportunities:
Senior Bingo Party
Monday, April 7, 2025
3:45-5:15pm
Pie A Teacher Fundraiser
Week of April 7 - 10
12:00pm Daily
ACA’s Fabulous Music Assemblies
Wednesday, April 9, 2025
First Concert at 11:15am
Second Concert at 1:45pm
ACA Governing Board Meeting
Wednesday, April 9, 2025
Virtual
6:00pm
Science Fair
Thursday, April 10, 2025
ACA Gym
Setup 3:30-4:00pm
Open 4:00-5:30pm
All Grades Scout Recognition Day
Monday, Apr 14, 2025
Fire Drill (with alarm)
Monday, April 14, 2025
12:45pm
Band Petting Zoo
Monday, April 14, 2025
Room 114
10:30am and 3:30pm
Spring Dance Grades 6-12
Friday, April 18
ACA Gym
6:00-8:30pm
Administrative Professionals Week
April 21 - 25
Movie Screening - Angst
Thursday, April 24, 2025
ACA Gym
5:00-7:30
Prom - A Stellar Night
Friday, May 2, 2025
Lakeside Hall, Clackamas Community College
6:00-8:30pm
Drama Performances
C. I. A. Communism Investigation Allegations
Friday, May 9 at 6:00pm
Saturday, May 10 at 3:00pm and 6:00pm
ACA Gym
