Dear Lynden Academy Families:

First of all, I wish you all warm and happy holidays!  It is a privilege to work with you and your children in this parent partnership.  I am reminded by recent national news that our job one is to ensure that our learning community is safe for our kids and families.

Secondly, we are developing an in-school academic intervention for the 2^nd semester here at LA.  Parent leaders, office staff members and teachers have been working together to create what we call a Flex Period in our daily schedule for the Senior Academy  starting on January 22^nd.  We have students that need extra help and attention with math/writing skills.  The concept of “Flex Classes” is to have students and teachers use a flexible schedule to meet the student’s academic needs in a customized way.  The focus of Flex Classes will be to get students up to grade level with specific skill sets in writing and math.

When students demonstrate evidence of being at grade level in both math and writing, we then have a Leadership Class for those students to join.  I (Mr. Jorgensen) will be working with the Leadership Class and the Flex Writing Class, Mr. Noteboom will work with the Flex Writing Class, Mrs. Meenk will work with both Flex Math and Flex Writing Classes, and Mr. Joseph will work with the Flex Math Class.

Our current schedule now has four class periods that are one hour and 15 minutes long.  We are simply taking the extra 15 minutes off of each class period and creating a one-hour Flex Period. 

The schedule will be:

Geometry 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM,  First Period  8:30 AM to 9:30 AM,  Second Period  9:30 AM to 10:30 AM,              Flex Period 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM,  Lunch 11:30 AM to 12:00 PM,  Third Period 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM,             Fourth Period 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM, Math Tutoring 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM.

We will assign students to either a Flex Writing or Flex Math Class based on their current achievement levels in class and most recent MAP and State test scores in those areas.  Regarding those students who are on the “bubble” as to which class best fits, we will be asking the parents and students to give us their feedback.

We are excited about the opportunity to customize the learning for each student in these Flex Classes. These classes will not be “study halls” for homework, but instead a chance for students to gain needed skill sets that each one needs to be successful in school and in life.

Sincerely, 

Chris Jorgensen