REPORTS TO THE BOARD

Lewis River Academy Report

Lewis River Academy
Asha Riley, Director of Learning
September Update

October 4, 2011

TO:                 Michael Green, Superintendent
FROM:           Asha Riley

RE:     Lewis River Academy

Enrollment:

Thanks to the excellent job of our teacher Mr. Knudson word is rapidly spreading about Lewis River Academy. Since our opening we have had several inquiries and requests to enroll. After revisiting the first few weeks of instruction with Mr. Knudson we agreed we are able to successfully serve these students and add a few more. As a result we have increased our enrollment to accommodate 5 more students from our waiting list. We now have 35 students enrolled and 2 students awaiting a seat in the program.

As I look ahead I predict a significant number of K-8 students from Vancouver and surrounding areas will enroll next fall as we are one of only a few schools to offer a K-8 program. Feedback from the new and prospective families has been that the structure of the Lewis River Academy program is much easier for families with multiple children as we are able to offer support more flexibly than other programs like WAVA who only have set times students can access their teacher. Another feature families like is our open lab time, families appreciate the ability to come in to get support from Mr. Knudson face to face when they need it.

Accreditation:

On September 22^nd Mr. Knudson and I met with the Dan Whitford from Northwest Accreditation Association to begin the process of becoming a fully accredited school. We shared with him the mission of our school and how we have structured our programs to meet all ALE requirements. As a result of our meeting with Mr. Whitford we have completed the first step in a three year accreditation process. We should receive a letter shortly that grants us "Provisional Accreditation" status. Upon completion of the full three year process we will then be deemed a fully accredited school.

Parent Partnership Nights:

We have begun holding Parent Partnership meetings with parents from our school the first Monday of each month. We have found it to be a great way to get their input in our evolving program as well as interconnect them as a home-study community. From input we've gathered at these meetings we've identified future field trips and restructured our lab hours to better accommodate their needs. We are grateful to two of our parents who are taking a lead in helping their peers become successful in setting up routines at home that facilitate home-study. We have several families who have never done home-study with their children before and were grateful to have experienced peers share ideas on how they juggle to teach multiple children at the same time. I look forward to learning with these parents as we continue toward our goal to become the best home-study program in Southwest Washington. I truly believe they will help us make our school an excellent option for families.