Happy Kwanzaa to those who celebrate! Wishing you light, happiness, and peace in the coming year!
Wishing a very Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!
Our equity specialist, Ms. Spencer, and her students organized Spirit Week at the ALC! The hallways were filled with students and staff in pajamas, in all black, in ugly sweaters, and in outfits representing their favorite decade!
Remember that RPS Winter Break is December 22- January 2. We hope you enjoy some time off with your family and friends and can't wait to see you in the new year!
Thank you to Mayo Clinic's Phlebotomy department for all of the wonderful donations that were dropped off for our Food Pantry and Resource Room. A special thank you for the Bath & Body Works sprays... These were a BIG hit with our students!
It was Service Learning Day at the ALC today! Students signed up for a volunteering experience. Some of the options were: sorting produce at Channel One, making birthday boxes for the ALC food pantry, mentoring elementary school students and a cookie mix in a jar activity, and spending time at a senior living center. (More photos to come!)
Today, the Mayo Clinic announced a gift of $10 million to Rochester Public Schools to enable the school district to sustain the implementation of the district’s strategic plan for academic transformation. As a result of the gift, Dr. Pekel has made important changes in the Attendance Options Redesign proposal that incorporates insights gained from the extensive feedback that the school district has sought on the proposal since the release of the first draft of the Redesign. View the updated proposal here: https://www.rochesterschools.org/attendance‑options‑redesign
At the ALC, we believe in helping students learn positive ways of socializing with each other. Here, students are playing a variety of card games, engaging in Lego challenges, getting active during Disc Golf at Gamehaven Reservoir, and birdwatching together at Quarry HIll. #schoolcommunity
A HUGE thank you to Autumn Ridge Church for purchasing holiday gifts for 50 of our students, meeting their individual needs and wants, up to $50/student. Appreciate the love and kindness towards our ALC community.
We wanted to get food delivered straight to our families in our holiday boxes. Our food pantry was nearly cleared out, when Autumn Ridge dropped off 10 food boxes. Students helped to unpack them, and now both our healthy snack cabinet and food pantry are full again. At the same time, local company Vanicream donated shampoo, conditioner, soap, and other hygiene items. So thankful. (Our food pantry and resource room are available to all students and families.) #communityschool
Congrats to November's ALC Students of the Month! Each month, staff nominate students across our Day School, Night School, and Success Lab programs. They write a note explaining to their student why they were chosen and what they appreciate about them. #schoolcommunity
We are postponing the Attendance Options Redesign Information Sessions scheduled for in-person tonight, Monday, December 18, at 7 p.m. and tomorrow, Tuesday, December 19, 2023, virtually at 12 p.m. and in-person at 7 p.m., to provide school district staff with additional time to prepare an updated version of the Attendance Options Redesign proposal that we plan to announce in the coming days.
You are welcome to continue providing feedback via the feedback forms on our website at www.rochesterschools.org/attendance-options-redesign.
Rescheduled dates will be announced soon.
We love bringing students out into the community. Our 9th graders got a behind-the-scenes look at the public library, and our APEX Recovery School students are helping local artist, Mary Beth Magyar, each week on the Soldier's Field Pool House mural. Seniors in the STRIVE Mentorship program (in partnership with the Rotary Club) attended a night of personalized tours of RCTC's main campus and the Heintz Center to learn about a variety of programs.
Night School staff organized the program's first Student-Centered Learning day. Students signed up for different experiences, including resin art, making dog toys/treats for Paws & Claws, boxing, organized games at Rush World, designing gingerbread houses, learning cookie decorating from Red Barn Bakery, and knitting. A fun evening!
Our December Monthly Wellness topic was Animal Therapy. Students talked about the physical, mental, social, and emotional benefits that connections with animals can bring. Today, students engaged with two therapy dogs, Lola and Hugo!
The Attendance Options Redesign proposal feedback forms are available on our website at www.rochesterschools.org/attendance-options-redesign. These forms are available in English, Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, and Chinese. You are invited to submit feedback via the forms if you haven't already done so via email. The forms will be available until the end of the day on December 22, 2023.
The Rochester ALC staff packed 50 holiday boxes to deliver to 50 students/families this week. We appreciate all of the community donations (so much love and kindness) and were able to pack them into the boxes.
This includes: games collected from our Trunk or Treat community event; cake baking kits (Latter-day Saints); water bottles (Scheels), grocery and gas cards (Zumbro Lutheran Church); snacks/handmade quilted items (125 Live Castle Quilters); boxes/mittens/grocery cards (raised by Junk-B-Gone), and handmade gifts tags (ALC staff Brenda Wendt).
We were also able to pack food items because the following organizations ran food drives for us: Latter-day Saints; GEOTEK; and Mayo Clinic's Department of Laboratory Medicine.
This was truly a community effort! #communityschool
An FAQ about the Attendance Options Redesign proposal is now available on our website. Information sessions start tomorrow. Feedback forms in English, Spanish, Somali, Chinese, and Vietnamese will also be available tomorrow. Learn more: https://www.rochesterschools.org/article/1374854
Happy Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe to those who celebrate!
Happy Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe to those who celebrate!