We're just three days away from the opening of Neil Armstrong Academy. As the big day comes, I want to paint a clear picture of what our school looks like. Nearly every person who walks through our doors has the same reaction. It's a somewhat humorous mixed bag. First comes the astonishment of what remains to be done. This is usually accompanied with the question, "Kids are coming when?" Then, slowly, excitement seems to overtake the ...
First-Day Instructions (Digital Packet)
The first day is almost here! And with it, comes instructions concerning student drop off, line up, and first day activities. The best information will come from our first-ever episode of ABC (Armstrong Broadcast Corporation) News. Please make sure you watch it before the first-day of school and encourage others to watch it as well. As much as possible, we want everyone to be on the same page and know what to ...
Lunch Money
The start of school year is always a little chaotic, and that's all the more true given the construction needs of our school. To help a couple things go a little smoother, take care of school lunch payments online beforehand. Two tools will help you do this: PayPAMS - Allows you to pay your lunch money online and receive notifications concerning your student's lunch balance. applyforlunch.com - Allows you to fill out an online application ...
Moving Out!
Mr. Howe and Mr. Goebel were very excited to be "moving out" of their office at the Granite Education Center this week. Although they really had little to move into with no furniture yet at Armstrong, the event marked the exciting beginning of a new chapter for them and for the school. The teachers will have the same opportunity later this week, and the students and parents will follow next week. ...
The First Ever Neil Armstrong Academy Class Lists
The first-ever Neil Armstrong Academy class lists went online on Tuesday. And, after a couple hours of confusion, the corrected lists replaced the originals (Mr. Howe is very sorry, by the way). This marks the first class and teacher assignments of the new school. Students can now start visualizing exactly where they'll spend the majority of their day when school gets underway in two weeks. And, Armstrong Academy chose to have the ...
Mascot Possibilities
The Granite communications department has been hard at work developing possible logo representations for the five most popular mascot suggestions. What do you think? At this point, the students will really get to own the final decision. We'll have the student body vote for the mascot of Neil Armstrong Academy on August 30th. ...
The Armstrong Credential
One unique thing you might notice about the students of Neil Armstrong Academy this year is that each one will be wearing an Armstrong lanyard and ID badge at all times while at school. This will help greatly with our efforts to make the school as safe and secure as possible, but it will also be just plain fun and act as a symbolic reminder to the kids that they are part of something special. The name tags and lanyards will allow classroom ...
Faculty Walk Through
Today, the faculty and staff of Neil Armstrong Academy set foot in the building for the very first time. After most of the crews had finished their work for the day, Granite's lead architect, Jim Day, led the eager group into the building. Until this moment, most had never seen more than what you can see from the street. Needless to say, they were all anxious to get in and get a feel for their future classrooms or work areas. And, they ...
One-to-One iPad Ratio
As most of you are aware, Armstrong had been planning on a one-to-two iPad-to-student ratio made possible through the Granite TILT (Teachers Increasing Learning through Technology) program. This program (formerly known as the eMINTS program) brings technology into teachers' classrooms in exchange for the teachers participating in professional development to learn how to best utilize that technology in their instruction. I am pleased ...
And a Name on the Building
Today, the name was added to the building. Mr. Goebel snapped this picture before the process was complete. It'll be awfully hard for us fly under the radar now--now that we have our name on the front. Pity, too. We've kept such a low profile up until now. ...
