Arcadia This Week 3/24/2024

Hello, everyone!

I hope you are having a wonderful Spring Break! 

Today’s newsletter includes:

  1. Attendance Change

  2. Asynchronous Day on April 1st (Monday after the break)

  3. May Term Sign Up at 8:00am

  4. Student Intent to Return

  5. Arcadia Gear Online Store

  6. Gertens Fundraiser

  7. Camp Amnicon Trip?

  8. Other Announcements

    1. Child Tax Credit (State of MN)

    2. K-12 Education Credit (State of MN)

  9. Upcoming Events

 

Attendance Change

We are  working on attendance through JMC, our student information system. There are some quirks. One of those quirks is that we can only schedule one phone call at the same time each day to notify families if their child is marked absent. That used to happen at the end of the school day, so that people would know if their child missed any period, but we are going to try to have it notify people at the beginning of the school day when it would likely be more useful. 

Since it has to be at the same time every day, the automated phone call will go out at 9:45am to allow us to get attendance recorded and reconciled with the absence form before the call goes out on Wednesdays.

Please continue to communicate with us about attendance–that’s really the most important thing! If you have questions about absences, you can email Jennifer Wolff (jewolff@arcadiacharterschool.org). If you need to get an absence pre-approved, please email both Laura and Jennifer.

Here is a link to the form for reporting absences: Attendance Form

 

Asynchronous Day

Students, don’t forget to login on April 1st and complete assignments for your Day 3 classes!

 

May Term Signups

You may want to get up early on April 1st…May Term signup will begin at 8:00am!

 

Student Intent to Return

Families, if you haven’t sent this form in yet, it helps us to plan for next year! No worries if you end up filling it out twice. 

Student Intent to Return

 

Arcadia Gear Online Store

Here is a link to the Arcadia Online Store:

https://arcadiaschool2023.itemorder.com/shop/home/

Orders can be shipped to you or you can pick them up at Star Sports and Apparel in Faribault. 

 

Gertens Fundraiser

Back by popular demand, we are participating in the Gertens Spring Bedding Plants and Perennials fundraiser! You will be able to order plants between now and April 1st. Arcadia receives 30% from all plant sales, and 15% of gift card sales.

There are two ways to access our Gertens site.

The classic way is to:

  1. Go to www.gertensfundraising.com

  2. Enter the Store ID code (43) provided into the text field and click ‘Enter ID to Continue’.

Store ID code for Arcadia Charter School: 43

Or you can go to it directly via QR Code:

QR Code

Plant pickup will take place on May 15th from 3:00-5:00pm in the backyard at Arcadia. 

Camp Amnicon Trip?

The past two summers, we were able to take six trips up to Camp Amnicon to spend time camping, canoeing, and building community. We would love to do that again, but the grant funding that supported it has ended. Should I try to put something together anyway? What do you think?

Amnicon Trip 2024 Interest Form

Other Announcements

Child Tax Credit (State of Minnesota)

Minnesotans can now claim the Child Tax Credit, with no limit on the number of children claimed. You must file a 2023 individual income tax return in order to claim the credit. Most taxpayers who are eligible to claim the new Child Tax Credit are also eligible for free tax preparation assistance. Learn more about income requirements and qualifications on the Child Tax Credit webpage. 

The tax credit of up to $1750 per child is estimated to cut child poverty by up to one third in Minnesota. Nearly 300,000 households including 513,000 children are estimated to qualify for the credit.

Save Receipts for School Supplies (State of Minnesota)

The Minnesota Department of Revenue offers two valuable tax benefits for parents who purchase school supplies for their K-12 students: the K-12 Education Credit and Subtraction. These benefits can reduce parents’ taxes to increase their refund, but is only available for those who keep their receipts. Purchases for most school supplies, field trips, and musical instruments for school band are eligible.

Most Minnesota parents qualify for the K-12 subtraction, which reduces their taxable income. Parents under certain income limits may also qualify for the K-12 credit, which can refund up to 75% of their costs – even for parents who do not owe any taxes. Visit Revenue's website for details.

 

Upcoming Events

4/1: Asynchronous Day and May Term Signup (8:00am)

4/1: Gertens Fundraiser ends at 10:00pm

4/4: ACT Testing 

4/6, 10:00am-1:00pm: Arcadia Board Policy Retreat/Meeting 

(Arcadia policies may be approved at this meeting as we update the manual)

4/8: MCA Testing begins

4/11, 4:00pm: Arcadia Finance Committee (online): https://meet.google.com/vsb-nrqc-zuj

Or dial: ‪(US) +1 502-373-0319‬ PIN: ‪351 249 136‬#

4/16, 6:30pm: Arcadia School Board Meeting (in person or online): https://meet.google.com/hyf-amke-zsx

Or dial: ‪(US) +1 470-205-9841‬ PIN: ‪722 962 113‬#

4/19: Midterm (midterm grades reported on 4/26)

5/2-5/4: Spring Play (Clue)

 

Sincerely,