A New Look For High School Gym

Attention High School Parents: our high school gym uniforms are now online! Visit Land’s End to check out our new gear. Do you have a student participating in Fortune Academy athletics? We also have warm-up jackets and pants available as well to help you stay warm when the temperatures begin to drop. They're are also fun to wear on game days or spirit wear days!

UPDATED: DEAL EXPIRED 

Also, if you order today, you can save 25% on your purchase by using the Code: BRISK and PIN: 6149. The offer is only good for the day, so don't wait. 

Order today!

A Great Start to a Great Day

Our school community warms my heart. It is a special place indeed! Mornings begin with administrators waving, smiling, and giving hugs - welcoming our students to school. Mr. Chip can be found at one of the doors playing his harmonica or using a microphone to welcome students on campus. Teachers are waiting at the classroom doors making sure all students are greeted with a warm welcome. And that is just the start of a very typical day at Fortune.

What else is very special are our parents, grandparents and school board members who lend a hand on campus. You will find them volunteering in the lunchroom, building chair racks, listening to children read, or going on field trips. Fortune Academy has volunteers on campus every day. These helping hands are an important part of our school community.  I am honored to lead such a special school.

Yours for Fortune, 

Janet George

The Yearbook Cover Design Contest Has Begun!

It's time to get creative! Students of all ages are invited and encouraged to participate in their year's competition. Students can submit handmade or digital art by December 1st. A winner will then be chosen and announced at the family meeting on December 8th. 

That was easy

Remember the Staples Easy Button? "That was easy," runs through my head every time I think about our four ongoing shopping fundraisers. Our small school community can literally raise thousands and thousands of dollars just by shopping with pre-purchased gifts cards from Scrip, using your Kroger Plus Shoppers Card, ordering from the AmazonSmile page, and clipping Box Tops. No kidding! If every Fortune family ordered just one Lands' End $100 Gift Card to purchase uniforms, the school would earn $1440.00! And that’s just one of over 350 Indianapolis area restaurants and retailers from which to choose. Just think how much you could give back to Fortune by purchasing gift cards from the places you frequent.

Recently I looked up my personal school contribution from Kroger. Scanning my Kroger Plus card each time I shopped there, I earned the school over $50 in one year. And all I did was select the school at Kroger.com. Now do you see why "That was easy," runs through my head all the time? So go ahead - push that Easy button and start shopping for Fortune Academy. Scrip order forms along with information on the other three fundraisers went home with students on Friday. Additional order forms and information are available at the front desk. 

And oh yeah, if Fortune collects $350.00 of Box Tops by November 1, 2017 students will receive a “Dress Down” Day in November. See complete list of participating products.

That was easy.

Our Kids Are Out of This World

The Solar Eclipse made a pretty big impression on our kids. The lower school has been having a blast building rockets, learning about galaxies far far away, and making planets out of yummy food! Check out what our students have been up to in the gallery below. 

Reaching for Success

Students with learning differences may have challenges with understanding what behaviors are appropriate in school. Knowing and consistently applying appropriate school behavior equates to a successful school experience. It is the task of parents and teachers working together to educate our children through direct instruction, modeling, and consistent reinforcement of rules and acceptable behaviors. Doing so entrenches the rules and actually gives our students a sense of freedom. The rules are predictable and students can actually enjoy what is necessary- learning and success in the classroom.

Give visual examples of what behaviors you are seeking. Then be consistent, model, and stick with rule reinforcement. And remember, it takes lots of practice to change a behavior. It's never to late to jump right in.

Yours for Fortune, 

Janet George

Join Us For Our Spotlight Breakfast

Join us Wednesday, September 27, 2017 for our Spotlight Breakfast! In fact, bring a friend, invite your family! 

7:45am to 9:30am

Janet George, Head of School, will present an insightful simulation that will challenge the way you see our students. Attendees will experience what school can feel like for those with learning differences.  This impactful presentation is a must for anyone who interacts regularly with a child with learning differences. See and feel what life through the eyes of our students is like. 

Parents – you are encouraged to invite family and friends that you believe would benefit from gaining more insight about learning differences. We are making this event free to be able to reach as many people as we can. Please register online using the link below, we can't wait to see you there! 

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REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED

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Coffee and Conversation Book- My Thirteenth Winter

Join us on October 6th at 9:15 to discuss the book My Thirteenth Winter.  Enjoy great conversation and some delicious Fortune Roast Coffee!

BACK OF THE BOOK:

"In this beautiful and chilling memoir, twenty-five-year-old Samantha Abeel describes her struggles with a math-related learning disability, and how it forced her to find inner strength and courage.

Samantha Abeel couldn't tell time, remember her locker combination, or count out change at a checkout counter -- and she was in seventh grade. For a straight-A student like Samantha, problems like these made no sense. She dreaded school, and began having anxiety attacks. In her thirteenth winter, she found the courage to confront her problems -- and was diagnosed with a learning disability. Slowly, Samantha's life began to change again. She discovered that she was stronger than she'd ever thought possible -- and that sometimes, when things look bleakest, hope is closer than you think."

Working at the car wash, yeah!

History Lesson of the Day:  The song Car Wash, performed by Rose Royce in 1976, was written by Norman Whitfield, who also wrote other classics like, "I Heard It Through The Grape Vine," "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone," and "War." Just to name a few. The guy was a hit making machine.

And we certainly can't get "Car Wash" out of our head because...

The Middle School will be having fun washing cars Friday, September 8th, from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm. Tell your friends! Proceeds will go to offset the cost of their overnight, educational adventure at Camp Tecumseh in October. If you or your student participates, we are offering a discount for the trip. Cool! Sign up to volunteer using the link below. 

We are working hard to promote this fundraiser and hope to have record participation from the community. We will need all hands on deck to make sure the car wash runs efficiently and effectively. We hope you are able to join us and contribute to the needed supplies.

Rain date will be September 15th.

 

Which Door Will You Choose?

Have you ever found yourself standing in the toothpaste aisle wondering why there are so many choices to clean your teeth? Really, endless rows and rows of boxes all claiming to clean your teeth in new and exciting ways. So how do you choose? Where do you begin? For someone shopping for toothpaste, making a decision can be overwhelming.

It's like playing the game 20 Choices. Given a single problem, what are the top 20 choices you could make or decide? For children with impulsivity challenges, choosing the "wrong door" can be the difference between success and potential trouble. So how can we help them begin to filter through options when they are presented with many? 

For fun dinner conversation starters, have a jar pre-filled with problem situations and have your child draw on slip out of the jar. A parent can read the problem and everyone take turns discussing possible choices -  decisions. Some might be good decisions. Some, not so great. The point is to stop and think before "walking through the door" and making a right choice. You can even talk about the  choice that was made and ask why it was made. This can give you incredible insight into the way your child is making decisions. Give it a try! 

Tales From Astro: The Planning Pup

When I was sniffing around in the classrooms this week I came across a wonderful tool the students use in school that I think will really help me get things done.  My discovery is called the planner, also known as an agenda. The students use it everyday to write down what they need to do for homework each night.  They can also write down notes about what they need to bring to school like a box for a project or a dog bone for a super cute , cuddly dog they know.  Parents can also use the planner to communicate with the teacher.  They can alert them about upcoming doctor appointments, ask questions about their student, or let the teacher know of a struggle the student might have had by while completing work.  

I think this planner could be a game changer for me.  It could help me stay super organized and plan out how much time I have to get things done.  My agenda might look something like this:  

Writing items down helps the students process what needs to be done and helps them think about how much time they need to set aside to complete the tasks on the list.  It also helps them prioritize and put items in order of importance.   This task really assists them with their executive functioning skills.  And if I get some extra treats and dog bones out of the deal, I would be one happy dog.  

Stop! Think! Decide!

Impulsive actions can get the best of all of us! People are human and we all have made some impulsive decisions from time to time. The grocery store check-out lines are the worst. Those rows of vivid images on magazine covers draw us in to read more. Tantalizing candy bars make our mouths water. And we are in a hurry to get out of the store and on our way. So we quickly pick up an item or two that we had not planned on purchasing, and check out. It is later that we may feel a bit guilty for the impulsive purchases.

If we can STOP and THINK about what we are about to do before we act upon it, we can save ourselves a lot of money, weight, time, and sometimes, heartache. Children with impulsivity challenges face "the grocery store check-out line" all the time.  As adults, we can directly teach them through visual supports and lots of repetition to STOP, THINK, and then DECIDE. Having a card with a picture of a stop sign, someone thinking, and then someone deciding during instruction or posted in the house, is a great visual reminder to refer to when children need support to practice this skill.