by Monarch Academy | Sep 29, 2020 | Events, News
The Children’s Guild Alliance in collaboration with Towson University’s department of special education will present the inaugural Kids First National Conference on Oct. 26 and 27, 2020, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EDT each day. The virtual conference will equip educators, child-serving professionals and families with strategies to support and engage children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As we grapple with how to deliver education and care for our children and families in a COVID-19 world, we must rethink how we do our work and transform the way America cares for and educates its children,” said Andrew Ross, president and CEO of The Children’s Guild Alliance. “This year demands transformation and innovation, our focus at the Kids First National Conference, where we’ll present strategies that address the needs of the whole child.”
The conference will feature child and educational experts, including the keynote speakers:
- Robert Jackson will present “Power of the Educator: Becoming Culturally Aware of Staff and Students.” Jackson received the 2019 Motivational Educator of the Year Award and has written six books, including his latest book, “Becoming the Educator They Need: Strategies, Mindsets and Beliefs for Supporting Male Black and Latino Students,” released last year. An expert in teaching cultural diversity, restorative practices, socio-emotional learning and retaining troubled students in school, he delivers keynote addresses and workshops across the country.
- Joe Sanfelippo will present “Hacking Leadership: Ways Great Leaders Inspire Learning That Teachers, Students, and Parents Love.” Sanfelippo is the superintendent of the Fall Creek School District in Fall Creek, Wisconsin, which was named an Innovative District in 2016 and 2017 by the International Center for Leadership in Education. He co-authored “The Power of Branding: Telling Your School’s Story,” “Principal Professional Development: Leading Learning in a Digital Age,” and “Hacking Leadership: 10 Ways Great Leaders Inspire Learning That Teachers, Students, and Parents Love.”
Other speakers include career child advocate Frank Kros, Stephen F. Austin State University Assistant Professor Jim Ewing, veteran administrator and author Shauna King and educator Steve Parese.
The conference will offer 150 workshops and panels to address challenges, innovations and transformation strategies in serving the whole child. Interactive sessions will cover topics on leadership; education; juvenile justice; mental health; and family, children and adolescent issues. Networking events and opportunity to review sessions on demand will also be offered.
In addition, The Children’s Guild Alliance will host a preconference from Oct. 18 to 25 with workshops and keynote presentations about innovation and transformation. Speakers come from organizations including The Children’s Guild Alliance, Zoom, Four Rivers Media, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and Oral Roberts University.
Participants who register for the conference’s Leadership Track will join other leaders and sessions will present innovative ideas and promote reflection to help participants move their organizations forward in both the COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 landscapes. Leadership Track participants will develop a work plan to drive transformation in their organizations, schools, districts, communities, states or nationally. Leaders will gain insight and ideas from outside of their fields, generating solutions from multiple perspectives.
Conference participants will receive a certificate of attendance and Category I social work continuing education units. For more information and registration, visit KidsFirstConference.org.
by Monarch Academy | Sep 11, 2020 | News
The coronavirus pandemic has brought many challenges to life as we know it. Our new issue of Transformation highlights how The Children’s Guild Alliance has responded and continues to put kids first during these unprecedented times. We share stories about our staff and how they developed new ways to deliver education, services, and operations. Learn how our educators adapted to distance learning and connected with students and personalize their virtual learning.
Join us as we reimagine The Kids First Celebration as a virtual event and redirect the funds raised to support our Chromebook campaign. Learn about our new Chromebook initiative established to provide every student with the technology they need to access online learning.
Of special interest is our recent launch of food distribution centers in Annapolis and Washington, D.C. Recognizing the impact of the pandemic on food insecure communities, we have pivoted our services to ensure the families and communities we serve continue to be fed.
We invite you to read this issue of Transformation and support and celebrate the very real ways The Children’s Guild Alliance is stepping up during these difficult times to meet the needs of the whole child.
by Monarch Academy | Aug 11, 2020 | News
This was sent via blast email 8/11. If you did not get this email, please contact the school to make sure you are on the email distribution list.
Greetings Monarch families,
I would like to welcome new families to our Monarch community and welcome back our returning families and students as we get ready to start the 2020-21 school year. Our teachers and staff have been thinking about and working on this school year all summer, and we are excited to soon begin!
As you know, per AACPS we will be in a virtual learning environment through January, and students and teachers will be engaged in daily live classes. This model will be more robust and academically rigorous than last spring as we work to ensure that our students grow in their grade level skills and abilities across content areas. To do this, we are committed to the Monarch Way, which is firmly grounded – whether virtual or face to face – in growing and supporting positive relationships among our community members, instruction / learning that is relevant, engaging, and meaningful, and the character development inherent in our Habits of Excellence. Our teachers worked this summer to develop virtual fieldwork, find experts that can join us on-line, and explore ways to engage students in a vibrant, collaborative learning community on-line.
As I explained before, as a public charter school, we get to make decisions about our curriculum and our instructional philosophy, but we also have to follow regulations and decisions from MSDE and AACPS. To that end, we continue to await information regarding student attendance and the parameters for a live teaching and learning schedule. When I receive that, I will quickly send you our plan so you can make the necessary arrangements in your family. I expect that information this week.
It is our aim to give every child a Monarch issued Chromebook for ease of access and to reduce the stress of sharing devices in the home. Hopefully, our order comes in on time, and we are able to start the year giving all children a Chromebook. If that is not possible due to production and delivery factors out of our control, we will contact families and create a need based list for distribution as they become available. To assess immediate needs, please complete the quick Monarch technology survey by Friday, August 14th. This survey is in lieu of the AACPS survey. AACPS does not provide Monarch with technology.
Survey link
To ensure that our students have all that they need at home, all Monarch students in grades K-8 will receive a string bag with grade specific school supplies and instructional materials. Bags will include pens, paper, eraser, pencils, dry erase sleeve, dry erase marker, scissors, glue, headphones, clipboard, post it notes, and ruler, as well as content and grade specific materials such as Humanities workbooks, novels, math manipulatives, reading supplies, and math workbooks. It is important that every child picks up their specific grade level supply bag so they have what they need for virtual instruction on the first day of school. If you have several children in your home, please label each child’s materials and find a place to store them for daily access and use.
This would also be a good time to explore locations in your home / day care setting where your child can focus, keep their work organized, and complete tasks on and off of the computer. Eventually students will be back in school. You may want to take advantage of sales and tax free week to purchase a backpack, lunchbox, and other typical school needs to keep for when we transition.
Please put the following dates on your calendar:
Materials Pick Up
Date Time Last Names
September 2 8-11 a.m. A-E
September 2 12-3 p.m. F-L
September 3 8-11 a.m. M-R
September 3 12-3 p.m. S-Z
Join us for a virtual Back to School Night to meet our amazing Monarch staff!
Date: Thursday, September 3rd
Time: 3 repeating sessions at 4:00, 4:30, and 5:00 p.m.
Location: Back to School Night will be virtual through Google Meets. Meeting links for each teacher will be sent on September 1st.
We will send weekly updates throughout the remainder of the summer.
Wishing you all a restful August,
Kim Jakovics
Principal
by Monarch Academy | Jun 8, 2020 | News
We are excited to celebrate The Children’s Guild Alliance’s first “Family Appreciation Week,” June 8-12, 2020 to thank our families for your role in providing distance learning to your child/ren during the sudden closure of schools due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Family Appreciation Week is designed to show our deepest appreciation for your continued partnership in your child/ren’s education.
Our families are our heroes in so many ways, and we value all of you. We have always known families play a vital role in the education of our students, as you love, nurture, protect, teach, provide for, and serve as role models for our students. Strong families, such as yours, provide much needed support and guidance to ensure our students succeed as leaners and members of a global community.
The Children’s Guild Alliance and our schools have always celebrated and honored our families as a key partner in your child/ren’s education. Now, more than ever, families have stepped up, during a time when your child/ren need you most. We want to recognize the incredible job our families have done, and the many sacrifices you have made, to ensure your child/ren’s education continued in as meaningful a way as possible, during these truly unprecedented times.
Additionally, follow us on our social media channels with hashtag #FamilyAppreciationWeek2020, as we celebrate our families throughout the week through. You can share too on your social media using #FamilyAppreciationWeek2020.
We thank you for choosing one of our Children’s Guild Alliance schools as the school of choice which allows your child/ren to excel and achieve.
We celebrate you for your vision to see, the courage to try, and the will to succeed. Together, we will create a brighter tomorrow for each our students, transforming the way America cares for and educates its youth.
With gratitude,
Kathy Lane
Chief of Educational Services
by Monarch Academy | May 26, 2020 | News
While schools remain closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, The Children’s Guild Alliance schools in Maryland and Washington, D.C., continue to implement distance learning designed for students with disabilities, providing special education and related services and achieving 85% student engagement.
“Every day missed is a day you don’t get back, especially for our students with disabilities who need consistent, predictable structures and interventions,” said Kathy Lane, chief of educational services for The Children’s Guild Alliance. “We took action immediately following the school-closure announcements, reaching out to every student across our schools and providing them with Chromebooks, Wi-Fi hotspots and the tools needed to continue their education while also ensuring they had access to meals.”
The Children’s Guild Alliance operates special education day schools in Baltimore and Prince George’s County, Monarch Academy public charter and contract schools with Anne Arundel County Public Schools and The Children’s Guild District of Columbia Public Charter School.
Teachers reach students using online platforms including Google Classroom, Google Hangouts, and Google Meet as well as i-Ready online assessments and individualized instructional programming. Small groups of students connect with teachers and each other daily during morning meetings, lunch groups and multiple 20- to 30-minute instructional periods. They study English and the humanities in the morning and science, technology, engineering and math in the afternoon with a social-emotional wellness period in the middle of the day.
“We set a high expectation for ourselves and students right out of the gate.”
“We set a high expectation for ourselves and students right out of the gate,” Lane said. “Students benefit from a regular routine and continued learning, but we also haven’t lost sight of our greater mission of serving the whole child. We serve children with special needs and they require our best, now more than ever.”
The Children’s Guild Alliance provides teletherapy for families, including one-on-one coaching for parents. The schools have safely continued mental health counseling, behavior intervention for students, mental health, speech and occupational therapy and other services virtually without a reduction in services.
“We are committed to serving our families, pandemic or not, and have developed strong relationships with the parents and caretakers of our students,” Lane said. “Many sit down with their children during instructional time, which is one reason we have seen such high participation rates. Most of our students look forward to interacting with their educators and therapists online as they seek to connect with those who care for them and to provide some sense of normalcy in an unusual and dynamic environment.”
The Children’s Guild Alliance schools created continuity of learning plans for distance learning for students with disabilities with individual education plans (IEPs), which outline educational goals for each student. These individualized continuity of learning plans guide the establishment of learning schedules, virtual lessons and classroom websites, interactive videos, regular communication and staff feedback on student assignments and assessments.
“I’m so proud of what our teachers and students have accomplished under such challenging circumstances,” Lane said. “They’re responding well to distance learning, staying engaged and participating regularly. We’ve created a multitiered system of virtual support and personalized learning that puts kids first.”
