Assalamu Alaikum , Dear AYA Families,

Alhamdulilah, we have so many blessings we are grateful for everyday, and November at AYA has

filled our dua’ with many more reasons to be thankful! We are very proud of our hardworking students,

families and staff who work together to make this school year a success!

Each department was active in contributing vibrant activities for students, and their families to enjoy

together. We extend a special thank you to the parent volunteers that helped this month.

Although December will be a short month, we have many exciting plans! We will kick off the month

with our Annual Dinner. From there we have planning for the Elementary Science Fair, prepping for the

school wide Spelling Bee, the IPTA Fall Festival and of course, winter break! Parents will be invited to

observe in the classrooms, as we value your input and time! Secondary students will take semester ex-

ams from December 20-22– which are also half-days, and then school will be closed for Winter Break.

Students return on January 3, 2018, in shaa Allah.

Farhat Siddiqui, Head of School

Inside this issue:

Note from Admin 1

Principal’s Letter 1

MAP Testing 1

Islamic History Week 2

Book Fair 2

IPTA Corner 2

Pre K Showcases 2

KG Special Days 3

Focus on PBIS 3

Counselor Corner 4

December

1: Annual Dinner

7: 1st Grade Jobs Day

9: IPTA Fall Festival

11-15: Parent Observation Day

18-19; Exam Review Days

20-22: 1/2 Day– Exam Week

22– End of Quarter 2

12/25-1/3: Winter Break

January

3: School Resumes

11: Semester 1 Awards Ceremony

15: MLK Day– School Open

AYA 2017-2018

December Newsletter

American Youth Academy

MAP Assessments - Results and Next Steps

MAP Testing was completed by all students from Kindergarten through 12th grades. MAP, or the Measure of

Academic Progress, is a computerized adaptive test which helps teachers, parents, and administrators improve

learning for all students and make informed decisions to promote a child's academic growth. This test will be

administered 3 times per year to monitor student progress and to help us make informed decisions about our

school curriculum and student placement in programs and classes for the new school year. Results will be sent

home the week of December 4th. Teachers will be scheduling meetings and working closely with par-

ents of students with low scores. In this way the teachers can create effective plans for overall im-

provement for all classes.

Principal’s Letter

Dear Respected Parents,

Thank you for your continued support. At AYA, we truly feel blessed to serve you and your children eve-

ry day. We also strongly believe that in order to ensure the success of all students, the curriculum and in-

struction must be tailored to their individual needs. Since our parents play an integral part in this process,

we want to make sure that the expectations are clear and specific. As it has been explained in previous

meetings, students are placed in their Quran classes according to their reading ability, not memorization

ability. All students in 3rd grade and up have been given a Nouraniyah test to determine their knowledge

and ability to independently recite the Holy Quran. The process of level placement took a lot of effort and

careful consideration to make sure that students are placed in classes where they will be successful.

Alhamdulillah we are providing students who are advanced in memorizing, new surah's to learn. We also

encourage them to participate in the Quran Competition that AYA is planning on having in the Spring

(more information will be shared with parents soon). The Quran department chair and Principal have care-

fully selected and assigned these Surah's to those advanced students, who have successfully completed the

memorization of their Regular Curriculum Surah’s. The Quran teachers will share the individual Compe-

tition Surah’s with parents of advanced students who will participate in the Quran Competition by grade

level.

May Allah (SWT) give us guidance and grant your children success in this life and Hereafter. If you have

any questions or concerns, please email Br. Feras , Principal at fabuzayda@ayatampa.com.

Islamic History: Remembering the Past, Creating the Future! American Youth Academy Page 2

Scholastic Book Fair Sr. Sahar would like to extend a sincere thanks to all the students and parents

who supported and patronized the Fall Scholastic "Wild West" Book Fair!

My especial thanks to the parents that gave their time in creating decorations

and volunteering throughout the book fair. Alhumdulillah, with all of your

help, we were able to raise $4,076.47 in book and merchandise sales; half of

which our school will be allowed to use in order to supply and replenish class-

rooms. A total of 160 books were sold during the fair and we congratulate all

our future scholars for making the choice to read!

In an effort to strengthen AYA Eagles’ Muslim identity, teachers and parents worked with the students to create a connection to key Muslims in histo-

ry, their contributions to and impacts on our modern day society. Students first had the opportunity to share their presentations with their classes.

Then, a student was selected from classes in each grade level for first place recognition in every grade level. On Wednesday November 22, 2017 these

winners were recognized at and presented during a special morning assembly.

Alhamdulillah! We are excited to share with our community the 15 winners of the Islamic History Week Presentations Assembly.

Congratulations to our rising Muslim leaders!

6th Grade 8th Grade 10th Grade 11th Grade

Rayhan Khan Amro Abdelrahim Ayat Hasan Ahmed Nofal

Zainab Hasan Haneen Hasan Mariam Elsayed Sumeyye Erdem

Omar Awad

7th Grade 9th Grade 12th Grade

Heba Tamimi Abdrahman Idahmed Khaled Rahman

Saajid Khan Azeeza Sarour Mariam AlAsfour

MashAllah, AYA Eagles have the most creative, or-

ganized and active IPTA!

By working closely with Admin, the IPTA organized

a very successful Fall Out of Uniform Fundraising

event, where students in every grade level showed

their personality on this special day!

Save the Date for the Fall Festival on December 9th!

Be sure to find them on Facebook- AYA IPTA, and

look out for more events throughout the rest of the

year. Be sure to attend IPTA Meetings, and be sure

to join the fun by volunteering with them!

IPTA: Fall out of Uniform and Fall Festival

Page 3 American Youth Academy

Each Pre-Kindergarten class presented engaging showcases of all the wonderful skills they are learning with their teachers to their parents. Each showcase incorporated key curriculum objectives ,such as math and science by using measurements and tools, language, literacy, fine motor skills, and most of all social and emotional excellence!

Sr Ilham & Sr. Salwa’s Sr. Omida , Sr. Maha Sr. Laila & PK2 Sr. Sameera & Sr. Jihan’s Sr. Martha’s PK2 Cuties

PK4A Farmers started & PK4Busy Bees Sweeties Pies Engineers shared their made and serve the best

a garden! Chefs created Baked Excellent Learning Wheel! Tea Party in Tampa!

Pizzalicious Pizza’s! Apple Pies!

Special Days in Kindergarten Sr. Samantha and Sr. Palestine and their super Kindergartener’s worked very hard to build their special skills and powers of cooperating,

sharing, and learning. For this, they were able to show off their best Super Hero outfits. Next, they reflected and created Thankful Trees.

Parents joined KGA for a special party to share what they were most thankful for!

Sr. Lanitra and Sr. Naghmee worked with K5B

Eagles to create a kaleidoscope, patchwork

tapestry of the different heritages they represent.

The masterpiece is displayed and ad

mired by parents on their special day. AYA is

proud to display this unique, precious artwork!

Pre Kindergarten Curriculum Show cases: Community Workers

PBIS: Redemptions & Pizza Parties, Oh My! The PBIS Rewards program has been a huge hit at AYA. Our Eagles are soaring to success by making better choices, being conscious of others, and valuing their time and

that of their peers and teachers. Sr. Manal’s 5B students earned a pizza party by learning about accountability, responsibility, and following class procedures.

“I’m very proud of how far they have come both academi-

cally and in being conscious of their choices. My sincerest gratitude to the parents of 5B for bringing in special treats to make this party memorable, and for the implementation

of PBIS at AYA!” - Manal Ramadan, 5B Lead Teacher

4th Grade students redeemed their hard earned PBIS Tickets to be out of uniform for the day! PBIS has been a great match for rewarding our Eagles for all the ways they are outstanding!

Check us out on the

web!

www.ayatampa.org

5905 E 130th Avenue

Tampa, FL 33617

Phone: 813-987-9282

Fax: 813-987-9262

Counselor’s Corner

9th Grade Checklist:

Extracurricular Activities:

√ Participate in activities you enjoy; mark your calendar

with auditions, tryouts and sign-up dates that apply to

you.

√ Take PSAT/PACT

√ Community Service: Volunteer at a worthwhile organi-

zation through school or on your own. Try to find a

cause/service that speaks to you or your interests.

√ Advanced Classes: Get a list of Advanced Placement

(AP), Honors, or International Baccalaureate (IB) classes

your school offers and the prerequisites needed in order

to take them.

Study Skills:

√ Work on ways to be more efficient with your time. Use

a daily planner.

√ Review class notes regularly, do homework on time,

prepare for class tests, and if you work better with

others, organize a small study group with other college

bound classmates.

√ Ask for help from a teacher or tutor if needed.

10 Grade Checklist:

Fall/Winter:

√Extracurricular Activities: Choose a new activity and/or

continue to participate in activities you have already

chosen. Keep track of hours or weeks spent on each

activity, plus a detailed description of these activities and

your involvement in them.

√Community Service: Continue to volunteer for the or-

ganization(s) to which you have already committed. Add

more if you like.

√Attend Career Fair: Check the weekly memo to see

when the career fair will take place and attend in order to

familiarize yourself with careers that interest you. Intro-

duce yourself to professionals who can talk more about

the profession.

√Academic Support: If you are struggling with a subject,

talk to your counselor about getting help.

√Student Resume: Keep track of all your jobs, activities,

hobbies, favorite books and films. Update it regularly.

√Create a portfolio if you have any special talents or

hobbies to present. During your high school years, col-

lect samples in a large manila envelope, digitally or USB

drive.

√Your School Counselor: Set up a meeting to plan the

most challenging 11th grade academic schedule you can

handle, including AP and honors classes. Consider taking

a second foreign language for two years and any other

suggestions your counselor has.

Spring/Summer:

√Start to explore college enrichment programs for high

school students.

√Find a summer job, internship or volunteer opportunity

in your community, out of state, or with an international

program.

√Begin to research colleges that interest you. Take virtual

college tours and read student reviews and blogs.

√Browse The Fiske Guide to Colleges in order to com-

pare, contrast, and critique a wide selection of schools.

√Make campus visits to colleges that interest you, prefer-

ably those that will be in session during your spring

break.

√If you are interested in a specific college, early contact

with that school's admissions office could help your

chances when you apply

11th Grade Checklist:

According to College Admissions Officers, your performance

in the 11th Grade is the most important year of high school,

unlike the 12th grade, when only your first semester perfor-

mance (and not even that if you are applying earlier) will be

evaluated before the deadlines.

Take advantage of the 11th Grade when you will not be dis-

tracted by college applications and can focus completely on

school. Toward the end of the school year is the best time to

choose your recommenders as they will have known you for a

full year.

Summer between 10th & 11th Grades

√ Network: Talk with college friends who are home for the

summer about their school experiences. Get suggestions of

colleges from friends who are entering the 12th grade.

√ Update your College Brochures: You will receive the bulk

of college materials in 11th grade. Discard any college bro-

chures you are definitely not interested in.

√ Log on to the Common Application and/or Naviance: See

what information each requires.

√ Honors and Awards Outside of School: Research this

topic on The Common Application website and on related

sites and blogs.

√ Student Resume: Update it regularly.

√ Portfolio: Continue to save appropriate material. (See "10th

Grade To Do List").

Fall

√ Find out about Required Standardized Tests from The Col-

lege Board: www.collegeboard.com. Figure out which test

(SAT or ACT) suits you better/take one or both.

√ Keep track of each test you plan to take during the 11th and

12th grades.

√ Extracurricular Activities: Continue to participate in activ-

ities you have already committed to, and whenever possible,

pursue leadership roles.

√ Community Service: Continue to volunteer and keep track

of your hours.

√ College Reps: Attend meetings at your high school or in

your area with representatives from colleges that interest

you.

√ Academic Support: If you are having difficulty with any

subject (getting below a "B") talk to your counselor about

academic assistance. The earlier you do this, the better.