Hello Parents,

Would you like your son or daughter to take the ACT?

CALO will be taking students to ACT testing on September 8, 2012. If you are interested and would like to register your child, the registration deadline is August 17th.

Parents may register and pay for their child's ACT testing at www.actstudent.org. You may have the results sent directly to you by choosing "homeschool" rather than inputting a high school code. Please register for the Osage Beach test site. CALO will provide transportation to and from the testing.

Questions? Please contact kallison@caloteens.com

Next time you come to campus, make sure to check out all the new artwork that is displayed around campus. Phil Young, our art teacher, has been working consistently on both our CALO mural and daily art projects with students. Art gives our students the opportunity to express themselves and think creatively, offering a wonderful therapeutic outlet that they love. You will see great new work by our talented students all around the CALO campus. In the future we will continue to expand these exhibits, so stay tuned! Here is a glimpse of some of the art currently on display:

As you know, the CALO academic department has partnered with Park City Independent to provide online curriculum for educating our students. For the last two years, they have provided us with the curriculum necessary to help our students attain educational goals. They have offered our students a variety of courses and given us the ability to accept students from any state with the guarantee that the credits earned at CALO will be honored in their home states and local school. We are grateful for all that Park City has been able to offer CALO. However, as we look to the future, we have found a different curriculum provider who can provide a more robust academic experience on many different levels.

We are extremely excited to announce a new partnership with curriculum provider K12. Beginning March 5th, CALO will be utilizing a variety of curriculum offered by this nationally known and recognized group. In order to ensure that our students continue to earn credits which will be recognized nation-wide, we are also partnering with Advantages School for our academic accreditation (Advantages is accredited by AdvancED). Curriculum will be primarily computer based, but will incorporate many more didactic learning (teacher led, with teacher at the head of the class) opportunities than are currently available. To assist in this process, we are purchasing an additional smart board as well as several tablets and laptops to allow for more interactivity and creativity from both students and teachers. With the addition of this curriculum, we now have the capability of offering credit recovery courses as well as an honors/AP track for our students. During this process, we will also begin teaching students in classes which are divided based upon grade level. We believe this curriculum will enable our students to progress through courses in a more efficient manner while learning the necessary material through interactive methods. In combination with our teachers’ skills and creativity, we are confident that this curriculum will provide students the enhanced learning opportunities they need.

In preparation for this change of curriculum, CALO will spend one week (February 27- March 2) focusing on elective courses such as Canine Science, Interpersonal Communication, PE, Art, and Recreational Therapy. This will allow teachers the time necessary to adequately train, plan, and create the courses inside of K12. As we transition to this new curriculum, students will begin a class in the same place where they have left off with their Park City course. For instance, if student Janey is in Science and has completed 25% of the course, we will make certain that we extract 25% of the lessons from her K12 curriculum. She will not lose any progress or be penalized for this curriculum transition.

This is an exciting day for CALO Academics and for all our students. We believe this partnership with K12 will add tremendous learning power to what we are providing for our students. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Krista Allison

As you may know, I have recently joined CALO as the Academic Director. I am excited about the academic growth that lies ahead and look forward to meeting each of you. In the meantime, I wanted to make sure that you are aware of the transitions occurring and how these changes may affect you.

Abby Mayer and I share many responsibilities and she has been an incredible asset as I have begun learning about CALO’s Academic Department. She is now the registrar and will be taking care of all transcript issues, academic plans, and many day to day operational tasks. If you have any questions about these areas, please feel free to contact her. I am currently focusing on leading the accreditation process for CALO as well as curriculum enhancement, faculty development, and academic counseling. As questions arise, I will be happy to assist you as well.

Currently, Abby and I share a phone line, so you are likely to speak with both of us at some time in the future. Our direct line is 866-501-1395. We look forward to assisting you and ensuring that our students receive countless opportunities for academic success.

Sincerely,
Krista Allison