Renaissance Academy Charter School of the Arts

Mindfulness in the Home Webinar The School Mental Health Resource and Training Center is excited to bring you the latest installment in the Family Education Webinar series, Mindfulness in the Home. This 30 minute webinar will highlight the physical and emotional benefits of mindfulness, such as enhanced whole body wellness, improved sleep, increased focus and attention, and stress reduction. Join us to learn the basics of Mindfulness practice; simple strategies to utilize mindfulness techniques and activities in the home and as part of your family's daily routine. Please note, the intended audience for this specific webinar is family and caregivers, professional development credit is not available. Friday, July 31, 2020 from 11:30 AM to 12:00 PM REGISTER HERE. Funding for the family webinar series is provided by Mother Cabrini Health Foundation. To view recordings of previous webinars in this series, please go to our Family Education Webinar Series page https://www.mentalhealthednys.org/family-education-webinar-series/.

Hello RA Families: The Summer Meals Partnership is excited to be able to share updates regarding summer meals distribution. Both Foodlink and RTS have been incredibly adaptive and strategic in making changes to better meet needs of families. The updates are listed below and have been made on www.SummerMealsROC.org. Click on the link for more information.  Mobile Site Updates: Avenue Black Box Theater, 780 Joseph Ave. 14621, 11:15-12:00Brothers & Sisters Unisex Salon, 1274 Dewey Ave. 14613, 12:00-12:45Conkey Corner Park, 92 Conkey Ave. 14621, 12:00-12:45Green Knolls, Green Knolls Drive 14620, 12:15-12:45St. Stephen's Episcopal Church 14611, 12:00-12:45Troup Street Park, 210-266 Troup Street 14608, 11:30-12:15 RTS Meal Delivery Updates: Charlotte route was adjusted to reach more housing/apartment complexesSouth Wedge route was adjusted to help cover some of the areas that East would have coveredMaplewood, Lyell-Otis and 19th Ward remain the same--  For more information: www.SummerMealsROC.org. Have a safe and fun summer!

Dear RA Families, As we are crafting our back to school plan we would like to receive current feedback from our families. Please access the survey via the following link and do your best to reply by tomorrow by 3:00. If we do not get a high return we will be reaching out to families to record their preference. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/W6CVZGH Thank you, RA's School Reopening Committee.

Dear RA Families, We hope this message finds you well. Attached for your review is the approved 2020-2021 school calendar. Please be advised that as things change due to the COVID pandemic, this calendar may be adjusted. We are following the NYS Department of Health's, the NYS Department of Education's, and Governor Cuomo's guidance very closely to ensure we are providing the best possible school year for our children. If changes to the calendar need to be made we will provide as much advanced notice as possible.

Good Morning RA Families, The NYSED Charter School Office recognizes that parents and guardians play a vital role in your children’s education and therefore we are seeking to learn from you what went right and what can be improved with regard to your children’s education during the Covid-19 pandemic. In order to learn directly from you, we have created a brief survey. Please complete the brief survey: Click here to enter the survey or you may copy and paste following link into your browser:   https://tinyurl.com/csoparentcovid19 and enter the password: csoparent We believe your input is essential to inform both policy and practice as we move toward the re-opening of our schools. Thank you

Hello RA! Please read the following letter from Mr. Koch regarding trimester 3 report cards. Thank you and have a great summer!

This organization is funded by the UR School of Music. This organization brings upwards of 100 classically trained musicians of African descent to Rochester to perform fundraising concerts in private homes and a grand concert at Kodak Hall, as well as, conduct workshops for minority students in local area schools. It’s a wonderful music festival that is supported by the Rochester Community.

Don't Forget Your RA Charter School Renewal Letter of Support Greetings RA Families,  This is a reminder to bring your letter of support when you come to the school to pick up your student's belongings, return library books, and drop off the school's Chromebook and charger this Friday (6/26) or next Monday (6/29). Please see the attached letters for further instructions regarding the letter of support and the schedule to drop off Chromebooks. Please show your support and take action. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and thank you to the families that have already submitted their letters. On behalf of Renaissance Academy Charter School of the Arts, have a safe and fun summer.

School's out. Summer's in. SUMMER MEALS Free for kids 18 and under. Find a site near you! Click on the link below for a list of locations and times. You can also access the information on RA's website or Facebook page. Have a safe and fun summer! https://www.summermealsroc.org/

New York State Charter Parent Council SAVE THE DATE! Dear RA Families, Thank you to all who joined us last month for our first-ever New York State Charter Parent Council meeting! As a reminder, on July 1, 2020, at 6 pm we will be holding our second meeting. We are hoping to see the size of our original group double by our meeting next month! You can join the July 1 meeting using the information below: Join by link: https://nycharters.zoom.us/j/95289904440 Meeting ID: 952 8990 4440 Join by phone: +19292056099,,95289904440# US (New York) I am so excited to watch this group grow and evolve as we work together to make a difference for our kids! In partnership, Ashara Baker Community Engagement Manager abaker@nycharters.net

Hello RA Families, Take a few minutes to read the schedule for pick-up and drop-off of your student's belongings.

Dear Sixth Grade Families, On Wednesday, June 24th @ 6:00 p.m. RA will be hosting our first ever virtual graduation via zoom. One hour prior to the graduation ceremony the zoom link will be sent to the 6th graders' school email address. We are asking that only the students use the zoom link, this will enable us to see the students and limit the number of people on the zoom meeting. For all other family members who would like to watch the graduation in real time, please direct them to RA's facebook page. We will be streaming the Zoom graduation LIVE on our page. We are very excited to share this momentous occasion with all of you! Sincerely, RA's Graduation Committee

Hello RA Families, PANDEMIC EBT: EXTRA FOOD ASSISTANCE FOR CHILDREN Pandemic-EBT provides money to families with school-aged children to cover the cost of meals that students would have received at school during the pandemic. Every family in the state with eligible school-aged children will receive $420 in food assistance per child. These funds can then be used at most supermarkets, corner stores, bodegas, and farmers markets to buy groceries for up to a year. For more information, please refer to RA's website or Facebook page to view the flyer.

Hello, 5th and 6th-grade Families,  Ms. Emily Nichol, the Coordinator of RA's Safety Patrol Program is asking any 5th and 6th-grade students that have a safety belt at home to drop it off at school when you return your Chromebooks and Library books. More information regarding when to return these items will be forthcoming. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Have a safe and fun summer!

Hello RA Families, I hope this message finds you and your family well. I just wanted to share with you a great opportunity for parents and school leaders at your school of PLTI, in partnership with East EPO and the U of R, will present an online discussion, where parent leaders will share the strong practices implemented at K-12 schools & districts that support parent empowerment. Our parent-leader panelists will also share perspective on building trust for a safe return to school beyond COVID-19 and anti-racism work inside of schools. Parent leaders will represent urban, suburban, charter and private schools. The event will be on Wednesday, June 17th at 5:30 pm on Zoom. Please RSVP Here! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RSXVR7H. Regards, L. Alvarez

Hello RA Families! The end of the school year is nearly here and summer vacation is calling! But before we head into summer, would you kindly have your students check around carefully at home and locate all their missing library books. There are many books still checked out to students since mid-March when we had to suddenly leave our wonderful school building. Please gather them up and return them - when you return the chromebooks to school would be the perfect time. Thank you so much! I hope everyone has been able to thoroughly enjoy these books leisurely at home! Enjoy your summer! Mrs. Maltzan P.S. Remember to send in your letters of support for RA's Charter Renewal. Please refer to RA's website and Facebook page for more information. Thank you!

Good Afternoon RA Community, Please complete this brief survey regarding the re-opening of charter schools. Thank you

Good Morning Families, Just a kind reminder that we will continue to provide meals on Mondays and Thursdays until June 25th. Have a great rest of your day!

Hello RA families and friends! There will not be a town hall meeting this evening. We will communicate when the next meeting will be held. Have a great day and stay safe!

Dear RA Families, As the end of the year approaches RA needs to plan for the opening of school in the fall. We are not sure if we can reopen fully therefore a group of parents, staff members, and community members have been working to create options for opening school in the fall in two different formats. The first format is 100% virtual, similar to what we have been doing since March 16th. The second option is a hybrid program where half the students come to the school building two days a week, the other half attend the other two days and one day a week is all virtual from home. We are hopeful that by using all open areas in our building we will be able to service half of the school following the CDC guidelines for social distancing. The committee is eager to hear your thoughts on each option and will use your feedback to continue to plan. We feel that these two plans will best meet the needs of our students. As has been the case since the beginning of the Coronavirus outbreak, the actions that we take will be based on the guidance provided by Governor Cuomo’s office which should come by the end of June. Please take a few moments to respond to these survey questions by Wednesday, Jun 10th at noon. Please access the survey via this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Renacad Thank you, Donna Marie Cozine, Ed.D.