Orientation Workshop Saturday Sept 12
Tuesday, Sept. 8, begins the first week of school this year. Having completed this first week of school, APS families will be ready for our
Mandatory Orientation Workshop
Saturday, Sept 12; 8:45 am
Orientation will take place in
“F” building at
Grace Baptist Church
22833 Copper Hill
Santa Clarita, CA 91350
We have a lot to accomplish at this Workshop. It is only open to APS Parents and the Class of 2016 who will help serve breakfast before going to have group photos taken.
What to Bring to Orientation:
Questions
Survival Guide
APS Calendar or any month-at-a-glance calendar.
Coupons, pen, paper Lion Moola and checkbook.
E-mail address, work phone number, etc. to update the APS database.
Any outstanding paperwork needed to complete enrollment (and late fees).
A BIG SMILE
Items for Breakfast (those who signed up)
Blank Grade Sheet for each student.
There are a number of reasons to attend Orientation; the simplest is that it is mandatory for APS families. Besides that, we expect to:
HEAR important information.
MEET other families with children the same age as your own.
DISCUSS the APS Survival Guide, Resources and Special Events available to APS.
REVIEW Info needed to complete enrollment, make photo day appointments, etc.
We would especially encourage APS-Dads to attend Orientation. We have a very high percentage of supportive Dads, but MORE is BETTER. So Dads, come and find out all that is planned for the coming school year.
We are doing everything we can to shorten the meeting and will be asking you to do some tasks at home and via e-mail. Your help in this will make the meeting shorter for everyone.
APS Seniors and some parents will help provide and serve breakfast during the Orientation meeting.
ARE YOU BRINGING items for Breakfast?
Please COME EARLY and deposit your items in “F” building.
We ask that APS parents help bring food for breakfast – Please mail your coupon indicating how you would like to help. Menu choices will be e-mailed to you.
Regarding forms:
ALL ENROLLMENT RELATED FORMS SHOULD HAVE BEEN TURNED IN TO APS BY July 31.
Forms that are turned in after a deadline are subject to a late fee of $10 per week, per form.
Why would APS charge late fees?
One of the biggest work-makers for APS is paperwork that is late or poorly done.
Every time something is due, APS office workers (mostly Richard and Cindee Grant) must check who is on time and who is late or incomplete.
They then must make a list of the late families and contact them.
Then, they must re-check late incoming paperwork, make another contact list, re-contact those who are still late, etc. The solution: A late fee.
Believe it or not, Cindee and APS-Mom Jodi Syms have processed over 1000 forms this summer, spending hundreds of hours reviewing what you submitted.
Grades were entered into CUMS, which require comparing courses, units and grades listed on the grade sheets against the courses and units listed on the Educational Expectations filed last year.
Lesson Plans and Educational Expectations for this year were reviewed and new CUMS created listing the courses written on your Educational Expectations forms for this year.
Other forms, like immunization / health forms, required by the State of California, were checked and rechecked.
Some families understand what is needed and turn in forms without any issues. Other families either seem to not understand or they fail to read their Survival Guide when filling out their forms. So, Cindee has to contact them to set things in order. One of the reasons our transcripts are so well accepted by universities and other schools is the care and attention to details that Cindee provides.
Special thanks to: Jodi Syms
who joined Cindee in reviewing Lesson Plans, Educational Expectations, Health records etc., entering database information like grades and CUMS, typing e-mails and letters, etc. All this was done so that everything will be in order by Orientation.
Obviously, this all takes a great deal of time and effort. The July 31 deadline gives APS only five weeks to complete the job. Just answering the e-mail could take five weeks!
So, the answer to the question: “Why would APS charge late fees?” is obvious, don’t you think?
How can you help?
The BIG #1 thing you can do to help reduce the workload is turn in all your forms complete and on time. Please don’t send APS forms via e-mail – it might be easier for you, but it is not easier for us. If we accepted forms via e-mail all we would do all day is open e-mails and print forms.
When sending in coupons, make sure they ARRIVE BEFORE the posted deadline. We suggest you mail your coupons on the first day they are published; like the Orentation Help coupn that was recently sent by e-mail. You cannot be too early. Why wait?
The BIG #2 thing you can do to help is, if you are late, please include the standard late fee of $10 per form, per week.
(Do the math – if one form is late one week, include $10. If two forms are late one week, include $20, etc. – this incremental late fee is our way of encouraging everyone to be ON TIME. We don’t want the fees we want the forms. But if you are late, pay the fees.)
FYI: The fee for missing a mandatory Workshop is $25.
Some families act as if the fees just don’t’ apply to them, or so it seems, because they don’t send in their fees when they turn in late forms. This then creates MORE office work because someone has to check, call them, then make a list and recheck it as the fees comes in.
The BIG #3 thing you can do to help is to READ YOUR SURVIVAL GUIDE before sending an e-mail with a question. New families can also ask their Friendly Families. Of course, if you need us, the APS Office is only an e-mail away.
One note to Freindly Families, this would be a great time to contact your New Families, welcome them to APS and invite them to sit with you at Orentation.
