Secondary Principal Weekly Newsletter

 February 6, 2026

Secondary Principal Weekly Newsletter

Dear Secondary Families,

Thank you to our entire ACS community for your ardent support of our Carnaval celebration and for joining us on Friday. It was truly a wonderfully successful event filled with color, joy, and Cougar spirit. Events such as Carnaval remind us of the strength of our community and the importance of celebrating culture, creativity, and connection together. We are deeply grateful to our students, families, faculty, and staff who contributed their time, energy, and enthusiasm to make the day so special. A special shout out to Ms. Claudia Vargas who pours her heart and soul into this event, purely out of generosity and love for this very special tradition. 

As we continue through the semester, I would like to share an important reminder regarding attendance and punctuality. It is imperative that students arrive at school on time and attend all scheduled classes unless there is a legitimate and unavoidable reason for absence or early departure. We ask parents to please refrain from granting permission for students to arrive late, leave early, or miss school for reasons that do not meet our attendance expectations.

Eighteen absences is the maximum number permitted during the school year. At this time, we are seeing a concerning number of students who have already surpassed, or are at risk of surpassing, this limit, and we are only in February. Please note that absences will be marked as unexcused if the school does not receive legitimate justification along with appropriate supporting documentation. Consistent attendance is critical to student learning, engagement, and overall academic success, and we appreciate your partnership in reinforcing this expectation at home.

Finally, a reminder that February 16 and 17 are school holidays in celebration of Carnaval. There will be no classes on these days. We hope our families enjoy this time together and we look forward to welcoming students back rested and ready to learn.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support and partnership.

Warm regards,
Dr. Ann Peterson
Secondary Principal and Director of Learning & Teaching

Boletín Semanal de la Directora de Secundaria

Estimadas Familias de Secundaria,

Deseo agradecer a toda nuestra comunidad de ACS por su entusiasta apoyo a nuestra celebración de Carnaval y por acompañarnos el viernes. Fue un evento maravillosamente exitoso, lleno de color, alegría y espíritu Cougar. Eventos como Carnaval nos recuerdan la fortaleza de nuestra comunidad y la importancia de celebrar juntos la cultura, la creatividad y la conexión. Estamos profundamente agradecidos con nuestros estudiantes, familias, docentes y personal que contribuyeron con su tiempo, energía y entusiasmo para hacer de este día algo tan especial. Un reconocimiento especial para la Sra. Claudia Vargas, quien entrega su corazón y alma a este evento, por pura generosidad y amor por esta tradición tan especial.

A medida que continuamos avanzando en el semestre, quisiera compartir un recordatorio importante sobre la asistencia y la puntualidad. Es fundamental que los estudiantes lleguen a la escuela a tiempo y asistan a todas sus clases programadas, a menos que exista una razón legítima e inevitable para una ausencia o salida anticipada. Pedimos a los padres de familia que, por favor, eviten otorgar permisos para que los estudiantes lleguen tarde, salgan temprano o falten a la escuela por razones que no cumplan con nuestras expectativas de asistencia.

Dieciocho ausencias es el máximo permitido durante el año escolar. En este momento, estamos observando con preocupación que varios estudiantes ya han superado, o están en riesgo de superar, este límite, y aún estamos en febrero. Les recordamos que las ausencias serán marcadas como injustificadas si la escuela no recibe una justificación válida junto con la documentación correspondiente. La asistencia constante es fundamental para el aprendizaje, la participación y el éxito académico general de los estudiantes, y agradecemos su colaboración para reforzar esta expectativa en casa.

Finalmente, les recordamos que el 16 y 17 de febrero son feriados escolares por la celebración de Carnaval. No habrá clases en esos días. Esperamos que nuestras familias disfruten este tiempo juntos y esperamos con gusto el regreso de los estudiantes, descansados y listos para continuar aprendiendo.

Gracias, como siempre, por su continuo apoyo y colaboración.

Atentamente,
Dra. Ann Peterson
Directora de Secundaria y Directora de Enseñanza y Aprendizaje

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Secondary Principal Weekly Update

Image
  Friday, May 30, 2025 Dear Secondary Families, What a week it has been! From creative academic showcases and experiences to meaningful moments of celebration, our campus has been alive with purpose, pride, and joy. Impactful teaching and learning continues to take place throughout our campus. A couple of examples this week include high school Social Science students engaging in interview simulations with outside guests - a meaningful real-world experience that will surely yield long term impact. On Wednesday afternoon, our Middle School Math Fair took center stage for the first time—and what an outstanding debut it was! Students presented impressive projects inspired by Bolivian culture, with models of cholets and cable cars that demonstrated not only artistic vision but also deep mathematical understanding. They explained challenging concepts such as area, perimeter, surface area, volume, and pi with confidence, creativity, and clarity. It was a true joy to witness how this ...
Read more

Secondary Principal Weekly Newsletter

Secondary Principal’s Weekly Newsletter August 22, 2025 Dear Secondary Families, Thank you for joining us at Back to School Night this past Wednesday. It was a pleasure to see so many parents engaging with teachers and learning more about the year ahead. Your partnership is vital to our students’ success, and we greatly appreciate your presence and support. Semester 2 Awards Assembly We are pleased to announce that the Awards Assembly recognizing student achievements from Semester 2 of the 2024–2025 school year will take place on Thursday, August 28th, at 11:15 a.m. in the Theater . We look forward to celebrating our students’ accomplishments together as a community. High School Community Service Program High school students filled out a form indicating their top three choices of  Community Service Project for the year. As a reminder, all students are required to complete 20 hours of community service. We deeply appreciate your encouragement and support in helping students...
Read more

Secondary Principal Weekly Newsletter

Image
ACS Calvert Secondary Newsletter From the Secondary Principal — Friday, October 3, 2025 Hi Secondary families, Highlights National Honor Society Induction (Oct 2) Congratulations to our newest NHS inductees! Thursday’s ceremony honored students who exemplify scholarship, service, leadership, and character. Thank you to our NHS advisor, guest speakers, faculty, and families for making the event special. Next Week at a Glance (Oct 6–10) Mon, Oct 6 — Full School Day CWW Learning Fair, 11:15–12:15, Gym (all are welcome!) Come see student showcases from our Classroom/Local Without Walls experiences. Tue–Fri, Oct 7–10 — End-of-Quarter Schedule Dismissal at 1:30 p.m. each day Students attend two classes per day and have “What You Need” time with their Advisor. Parent Events Secondary Parent Coffee — Fri, Oct 10, 8:15 a.m., Secondary Library What’s On Your Mind? Join Carolina Blanco, Carolina Soliz, and Ann Peterson for an open conversation about our scho...
Read more