Reminder for All JCS Online Users! Site Is Down For Maintenance on Friday, September 19
September 19, 2008
The Orange County Department of Education is upgrading and performing maintenance on JCS Online all day on Friday, September 19, 2008. The system will be unavailable during the upgrade and should be back online over the weekend.
We apologize for the downtime, but are confident you will enjoy the new features being introduced. Please plan accordingly for the downtime as you will be unable to access the system during this time.
Check Out Some Reasons Why our Staff Members Believe Julian Charter School Is a Great Place to Homeschool
September 18, 2008
A couple of weeks back, I asked our staff to cite some good reasons why parents or guardians would want to homeschool their student(s) with JCS. My original intent was to make this a top 10 list, but I received a lot of excellent responses and think all of them deserve to be shared. We hope you’ll agree that these are just some of the great reasons you homeschool with our program!
- One of my favorite things about Julian Charter School is we try to serve each and every student by personalizing their learning experience. We have a variety of support programs to try and find the ‘right fit’ for each student and family so their home study experience is the best it can be.
- I have a 20 year old son who went through JCS from 9th to 12th grade. I recall him as a goofy 10th grader telling me “I cannot wait to go to school tomorrow. I love my school! My teachers love me!” To this day he will tell me “I am going to be the best me I can be today” It was one of the many lessons he learned here at JCS. Does it get any better?
- Access to a vast curriculum library with nearly 100,000 items available for checkout.
- We provide support and structure, while still allowing parental choice and educational freedom.
- Excellent facilitator support! Students can work at their level and pace to grow! For students who need extra support, we offer excellent “safety net” programs for our promising students who are facing academic challenges.
- The incredible number of vendors on the JCS EMR Vendor list with website links to the vendors, to cover any materials that are not in our already large curriculum library.
- Unlike some home school programs, JCS has tremendous ACCOUNTABILITY!
- I’ll add NWEA MAP testing as a great source to find out a student’s strengths and weaknesses as well as Compass Learning and United Streaming as motivating teaching tools.
- We are a reflective school. After we put something in place, it is not in place forever. We evaluate its efficiency and make necessary adjustments. We try to keep moving forward … avoiding the educational ‘ruts’.
- Our facilitators are learners themselves who are passionate about education. That passion is contagious and students have a chance at “catching the bug” to become lifelong learners. Also, our facilitators aren’t afraid to try new experimental strategies to reach reluctant learners.
- Challenging and fun classes that can be purchased with EUs and clubs for free!
- Facilitators and staff who really care about students and families. They also work hard to make sure students are learning and have a well-rounded educational experience that is personalized to their needs.
- The opportunity to sit with a Facilitator or Curriculum Team Lead or an Assistant Director and discuss methods, curriculum, or creative ideas on how to make a lesson become more valuable. This is what attracted me to homeschool with JCS. I also enjoyed the camaraderie with other home schooling families.
- Vendor course instruction allows a student to pursue their passion in a variety of areas including horseback riding lessons, piano, dance, photography, karate, and gymnastics.
- Our school always challenges us to think outside the box and build learning tools for each student, enhance their learning, and to encourage life long learning.
- Flexibility; custom-made & tailored lesson plans with curriculum to fit the needs of our students who just may become…tomorrow’s leaders!
- We offer wonderful extracurricular opportunities!! Between our Learning Center options, as well as sports clinics and other vendor offerings, we have a lot of great ways for our students to get together to meet other friends and socialize.
We’re sure you have your own reasons as well! Why not join our parent wiki and add to the discussion?
Sincerely-
Chris Bell
Lead Technology Teacher
K-8 Back-to-School Event Coming to San Diego on September 26, 2008
September 16, 2008
San Diego
Friday, September 26, 2008
12:00 ‐ 3:00 p.m.
6104 Adelaide Street
San Diego, CA 92115
- Learn how to successfully use the new Houghton Mifflin K‐8 science and math programs.
- Gain insights into Strategies for Writers and methods for using the Institute for Writing homeschooling curriculum.
- Learn how to implement and embellish K‐8 curriculum.
- Listen to ideas and ask questions of experienced home schoolers about how to manage and organize your day.
- Review what needs to be taught and effective ways to manage teaching and learning from kinder to grade 8.
- Get ideas on how to use the “JCS Organizer.”
- Learn about the Parent Wiki and more . . .
Advisory Council Meeting Agenda for September 17, 2008
September 11, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
12:00 p.m. lunch
1:00 pm meeting
JCS Meeting Center
26396 Beckman Court, Suite A
Murrieta, CA 92562
951-304-3051
Advisory Council Agenda (09/17/08) (PDF)
Board Meeting on Friday, September 12, 2008 at the Murrieta Meeting & Resource Center
September 9, 2008
NOTICE: A MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF JULIAN CHARTER SCHOOL
Will be held on Friday, September 12, 2008
Open Session:
10:00 a.m.
Closed Session
12:00 p.m.
JCS Meeting & Resource Center
26396 Beckman Court, Suite A
Murrieta, CA 92562
951-304-3051
September 12, 2008 Board Meeting Agenda (PDF)
Grade 2-3 Reading Club in Murrieta-First Thursday of Every Month
September 9, 2008
Reading Club for 2nd - 3rd Grade Students
- Share Books
- Read Stories
- Fun Activities
- Prizes for Book Logs
- Reading is Fun!
Meeting Dates and Times:
Reading Club will meet on the 1st Thursday of each month at the Elementary Learning Center in Murrieta, located at the Salvation Army Facility. We will meet from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. during Fall semester on the following dates:
- October 2
- November 6
- December 4
To join please complete the form below or email any questions to Lori Orrell @ lorrell@juliancharterschool.org
JCS Online Quick Tip: How to Update Your Personal Information
September 5, 2008
Updating your personal information (spelling of name, email address, etc.) is very easy to accomplish in JCS Online/Angel.
The first thing you need to do is log in to your account. Once you are logged in, you’ll select the small wrench icon on the left side of your page.
Next, you’ll be taken to General Settings. You’ll now want to select Personal Information.
Once you are in the Personal Information page, you can make any updates you want with a few clicks of the mouse and keyboard!
Please note that although JCS Online is private, we do share the server space with nearly 5,000 students and teachers from all over southern California. When adding information, please exercise good online habits and don’t add sensitive personal information (where you live, birth date, etc.). It’s never a good idea to divulge this kind of information online for your own identity protection and for personal safety.
Scholarship Opportunity: Council for America’s First Freedom
September 4, 2008
The Council for America’s First Freedom announces the 16th annual First Freedom Student Competition. This national essay contest offers 9th - 12th grade students an opportunity to compete for a $3,000, $1,500 and $750 award, as they examine the First Amendment and the history and relevance of religious freedom in America and the world today.
This year’s topic introduces students to George Washington’s famous statement about “mere” toleration in his 1790 letter to the Jewish congregation of Newport, Rhode Island. Students will identify the basic principles of religious liberty espoused in this primary document and will further research and assess how well the United States has lived up to Washington’s ideal. In addition to the monetary award, the first-place winner and his or her teacher (or other adult chaperone) will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Newport, Rhode Island in mid-August 2009 for the annual VIP reading of President Washington’s historic letter.
Online registration by participating students is required by November 24, 2008, and the postmark entry deadline is November 29. For more details on the competition and for a classroom poster and student flyer, visit www.firstfreedom.org, and then click on the red button under Council News.
If you have not signed up for your complimentary copy of The Constitution and Religion in the Classroom, click on the blue button (under the competition button) to preview and order your copy today. The free 16-page teacher’s manual and DVD contain answers and guidance to the most-frequently-asked questions about religion in the classroom.
We look forward to your participation in the First Freedom Student Competition!
Sincerely,
Isabelle Kinnard, JD, Ph.D.
Vice President for Education
Council for America’s First Freedom
1321 E. Main Street
Richmond, VA 23219
804-643-1786
804-644-5024
competition@firstfreedom.org
www.firstfreedom.org
Please Join our Parent Wiki
September 3, 2008
We’ve set up a wiki for Julian Charter School parents that we’d like to share with you. You’ll be able to join parent discussions, access resources unavailable to the public, share resources, and edit pages. It is a private site and only available to current JCS parents, so you’ll need to request an account at the link below.
http://parents.jcs.wiki.juliancharterschool.org/
When requesting an account, please be sure to use the email address you have on file with the registrar or your account may be rejected.
If you would like to use a different email address to request the account, then complete this form with your student details. We will confirm your student is enrolled with the school and then grant account access.
Plant Sale at San Diego Learning Center Delayed Until October
September 3, 2008
The previously scheduled plant sale for the San Diego Learning Center on September 5 has been cancelled and will be rescheduled for an undetermined date in October. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.
