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1.31.25 PSA Friday Letter to Families

January 31, 2025

Good afternoon, PSA families! We have had a great week with many emotions, but we made it! We have many important details for everyone. Please spend some time looking over the following updates and  a special message for Dr. Zerbst at the end. Thank you.

General Reminders - Students cannot be signed out after 2:45. If there is a medical appointment, please call the main office before arriving.

School Choice Expo - Please join us for our inaugural School Choice Expo #KidsFirst tomorrow, February 1, 2025. The expo will take place from 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM at the North Charleston Sports Complex, located at 1455 Monitor Street in North Charleston. This is a special chance to learn more about several charter schools in your area and the opportunities we offer for students and families. Charter schools are free, public K-12 schools and are now enrolling for the 2025-2026 school year. Free lunch and entertainment provided by our area schools, We look forward to meeting you and your families! https://www.facebook.com/share/14iWyTeA1p/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Graduation planning - PSA will hold graduation at Northwoods Baptist Church on May 23, 2025 at 3:30PM. Please watch the Friday notes for more information in the coming weeks. 

Community service logs - Thank you for utilizing the following links to upload completed community service for the 24-25 school year. Student community service upload  Parent community service upload

Counselors Corner - Monday, Feb 3, starts Counselor Appreciation Week! Please show some love to our counselors, Ms. Widener (High School) and Ms. Washington (Middle School), for all their hard work! One way you can support our counselors is by volunteering to cover their lunch duty one day this week from 11:40-12:45, except on Wednesday (Half Day - No Lunch Provided). If you are interested, please sign up on the Parent Community Service upload link above.

  • Check the PSA website for scholarship opportunities and updates to the counseling page.
  • Spring Virtual SC courses began on January 29.  As a reminder, students must log in regularly in order to remain active in the class.
  • Spring 1 and Spring Full dual enrollment courses through Trident Technical College began on January 13.  The deadline to drop a Spring 1 or Spring Full course was on January 22.  Students should be sure to stay up to date in their Trident portals and in regular communication with their Trident professors.  Any student dropping a course at this point will be penalized on their high school and college transcripts.  Students who fail or withdraw from a course are also responsible for the cost of the course.
  • Next week, February 3-7 is National School Counseling Week!  The goal is to focus public attention on the unique contribution of school counselors within U.S. school systems, and this year's theme is School Counseling: Helping Students Thrive. We encourage all students to think about the impact a school counselor has had on you and how they help you thrive!

Prom - The 2025 Senior/Junior Prom is just a bit over 10 weeks away. We have secured the location (King's Grant), the DJ, a photo booth, a 360 camera, and the Roushdies have generously offered to supply some of the food. 

Attached are the links for the prom Amazon Wish List for decorations and a Sign-Up Genius for additional food and drinks. If you could please take a look at these lists and consider a donation, it would be greatly appreciated. Additionally, Ms. Heisler will be sending out another request for parents to help decorate the venue on the morning of the prom.

If you have any questions, please contact Donna.Heisler@psaschool.org. Thank you for your help to make this a special night for your child.

Registrar’s Desk

  • Registration fees for current PSA students need to be paid by March 10, 2025..
  • Be sure to keep up-to-date with fees you owe by paying online (link can be found on our main homepage) or in person.

Conferences and Grade Level Promotion - February 5th will be a half day. Students will dismiss at 12:00PM and there will be no aftercare available. Please make appropriate arrangements.  As you prepare to meet with teachers regarding your child’s academic progress, please be reminded of our Student Promotion/Retention Policy, which is outlined below. For more information, please see this document or refer to our Student/Parent handbook found on our webpage..

Grade Level Promotions

Students are promoted to the next grade according to the following:

  • Grades 6-8: Final grade of 60 or above in English, Math, and 2 other core content classes
  • Grade 9: Final grade of 60 or above in English, Math, and 2 other core content classes
  • Grade 10 : 5 Total Units - 1 Math, 1 English, and 3 additional credits
  • Grade 11: 11 Total Units - 2 Math, 2 English, 1 Science, 1 Social Studies, and 4 additional credits
  • Grade 12: 16 Total Units - 3 Math, 3 English, 2 Science, 2 Social Studies, and 6 additional credits

Nurse Updates - Nurse Stone is reaching out to families needing to provide PSA with updated vaccination information. Please be on the lookout for her email and update as soon as possible  if necessary.

Yearbooks - January 31 is the last day to place your student's Tribute Ad in this year’s yearbook. Don’t miss this opportunity to showcase and highlight your student. You can order at https://jostensadservice.com?REF=A2049224. After this deadline, we will not be able to accept any additional tributes in this year’s yearbook. Also, don't forget to go to jostens.com and order a yearbook! 

Athletic Update

Please continue to check the Athletic Newsletter weekly for all our upcoming games/practices and updates for Spring Sports.

New Hires - We are excited to have our newest PSA staffulty members!

 

Shoutout to FRC 3489 Category 5 - A big thank you for supplying Engineering 3 with licenses to help get these students certification in Solid Works 3d modeling which will help them be more marketable to get internships. 

Mark your calendars:  

February 1 - Kids First Expo @Facebook  @Instagram

February 4 - Basketball Home vs Cross

February 5 - Half day for students Seat time opportunity- students must bring a LUNCH!

February 7 - Basketball vs Military Magnet (Homecoming)

February 8 - FLC Robotics Competition (Gym)

February 14 - CCSD has a half day (PSA Full Day) - Lunch orders will not be accessible and an alternate food option will be available this day. 

February 15 - Intent to Return form due date

May 23 - Graduation at Northwoods Baptist 3:30pm

PSA Parent/Student handbook

Our staffulty had the opportunity to say our goodbyes to Dr. Zerbst on Wednesday as she pursues her dream job as an educator. Her influence and impact will be felt for years to come! I am grateful for all she has done for me in preparing me for this role as Interim Principal and l look forward to continuing to build on what Dr. Zerbst has done in her time at PSA. 

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend. Thanks to all of our families and community members for all your support and, just like I tell my students and staffulty daily, don’t forget…

 

Ricky Reyes

Interim Principal,

Palmetto Scholars Academy