Attending a New School

School has begun! And with this comes a new set of challenges for you and your child! As a parent, I understand and am aware of the challenges and concerns experienced by my child and our family. During the summer our children enjoyed the fun activities, the longer days, and their flexible schedules. In our home, the whole summer was spent speaking Spanish and English at home and in the community. The routine has changed and to top that off, my son is learning Mandarin at a brand new school! There are obvious challenges and concerns to overcome for our family!

You and your children may be experiencing some anxiety in the form of fear, worry, distress, or apprehension, especially about immersion. This is a typical and common reaction to an unfamiliar situation. Unfamiliar situations your child may be experiencing are learning a new language, attending a new school, new people, and new friends. Your child is beginning to learn about life’s challenges. They will typically learn to resolve these fears incorporating some of their abilities which you are helping them master. They are relying on you for reassurance, support, and encouragement. You can facilitate your child success during the school year by doing the following:

Being accepting of your child's concerns,
Listening to your child's perceptions
Kindly correcting misinformation
Encouraging your child to approach the situation slowly
Always talk to your child about their day
Talk to the teacher
Understanding, reassurance, encouragement and support!
Tell them how special they are for learning a new language

As they become used to Global Village Academy, understand and master the daily routines, make friends, and discover that they can learn a second language, they will really enjoy this amazing experience that your are offering them.

Evelin Gomez, PhD
Board Member, Global Village Academy, Northglenn

FREE Full-Day Kindergarten at GVA-Northglenn

The Board of Directors of Global Village Academy-Northglenn voted unanimously at their Board meeting on August 6, 2011 to offer tuition-free full-day Kindergarten for this school year (2011-2012). It is the right decision educationally for the school in order to give Kindergarten students a solid foundation in the second language that they are learning. Despite budget cuts by the state, the school’s budget was reworked to make this possible.

While there are Kindergarten slots available in all three languages at this point, classes are filling quickly. Parents who want to enroll should do so immediately to insure that their child has a place in the school.

Please know that full-day attendance in Kindergarten is not required, since this is not the right choice for some families. But it is now available for all students for free!

Playworks is Coming to GVA

We are so excited and grateful! Global Village Academy-Northglenn was just chosen as a Playworks school, joining Global Village Academy-Aurora, which was selected as a Playworks school last spring.

Playworks is an amazing program that uses play to foster the physical, social, and emotional development of our children. This dynamic organization was founded in Oakland, California by Jill Vialet in 1996 as Sports4Kids. They changed their name to Playworks in 2009. The program came to Denver in 2010. They worked with seven schools last year. And now they will be working with both of our campuses for the 2011-2012 school year.

Playworks implements “a powerful system of play that is making a daily difference where it is most needed. With energy and imagination, high fives and hula hoops, Playworks builds play and physical activity into a positive school environment, offering opportunities throughout the entire day, beginning before the first bell rings and continuing until well after the last has silenced.”

They work in the following five areas as their website explains.

Recess Time: Armed with balls, cones, jump ropes and enthusiasm, Playworks coaches take to the blacktop or hardwood every recess, taking advantage of the amazing teaching and learning opportunities inherent in recess and bringing healthy, inclusive play that moves kids off the sidelines and engages them in the action.

Leadership Development: We build play into leadership through the Playworks Junior Coach program, which encourages teams of students to work together to learn games, fair play and positive conflict resolution and to teach these skills and lessons appropriately to their classmates.

Class Game Time: Between recess bells, Playworks coaches establish a weekly schedule of class game time activities, providing an inclusive, consciously cooperative approach to introducing sports and physical activity to children. Kids learn basic sports, playground and cooperative games, as well as lessons on physical health and fitness and principals of violence prevention and safety.

Interscholastic/Developmental Sports Leagues: Playworks builds empathy and teamwork through our interscholastic/developmental sports leagues, which teach students the skills of games like basketball, volleyball and soccer. In many cases, these Playworks leagues provide opportunities that students may not otherwise have.

Out-of-School Time Programs: Finally, Playworks builds play into the fabric of the community with our out-of-school time programs, which bring kids together before or after the bells each day to focus on learning and growing. These programs provide students with a solid combination of scholastic support, engaging physical activities and group projects within a consistent community.

To learn more about Global Village Academy, visit our web site: www.globalvillageacademy.org

A Revolution in School Lunches

Global Village Academy is proud to be associated with Revolution Foods as the provider of school lunches for our students at our campuses in Aurora and Northglenn. They were founded in 2006, and they began providing food at our Aurora campus in September 2009.

Revolution Foods is committed to serving good food that tastes good; food, as they say, that is “healthy, tasty, and home-made.” They work with Whole Foods and other select providers of high quality ingredients for their menu.

We are fortunate, as well, that we have Mandy Emanuel, who manages our lunch program. She has received high praise from Revolution Foods because she really pays attention to what students like. And of course, they tell us when they don’t like something. Mandy continues to adjust our menu selections based on what our kids like.

Your child doesn’t have to buy their lunch at school, but every day they do you know that it will be good food that tastes good. Following is their philosophy about food and our children.

Appealing and Delicious: We want students to eat our food and to try new things. That’s why we focus on making our meals tasty, fun and interactive.

Variety: We think it’s important to eat a variety of foods – a balance of lean protein, whole grains, healthy fats, fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, and calcium/dairy.

Natural and real: Natural to us means using real food, cooking with few ingredients, and making sure the ingredients we use are recognizable and not artificial.

Home-style: We believe in eating foods that are close to their original state and avoiding unhealthily processed foods.

Right-size, not super size: We offer age-appropriate portion sizes to support kids to maintain and grow into a healthy weight.

Balance: We believe that to combat obesity, students should eat a balanced diet of fresh, whole foods that taste delicious and satisfy kids’ hunger so they aren’t forced to fill up with unhealthy snacks and junk food.

Revolution Foods qualifies for free & reduce lunch, so we can serve our students who qualify for that program.

Bringing the World to Colorado

Global Village Academy (GVA) is a K-8 international charter school with campuses in Aurora, CO and Northglenn, CO. In addition to a world class curriculum in English, students also learn a second language. At GVA-Aurora students can study one of the following world languages: Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, or French. At GVA-Northglenn, the choices are Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, or Russian. Like any traditional public school, students attend Global Village Academy for free. To learn more about Global Village Academy, visit our web site: http://www.globalvillageacademy.org/