| Sage Oak Virtual Academy Update: August 25, 2025 |
| Happy First Day of School, Virtual Learning Academy! We are so excited for this school year and all that we have planned! We’re looking forward to partnering with you as we continue to nurture every student’s unique strengths and passions. If you have not received a welcome email from your teacher, please let us know immediately. Please note that curriculum boxes will continue to be shipped through this week and students will not need school supplies for the first couple of weeks of school.Please note the important information below, and do not hesitate to email virtualacademy@sageoak.education with any questions. We are here for you!  Monday, August 25th: virtual back-to-school event and orientation at 9am Tuesday, August 26th: first day of live class! Wednesday, August 27th: iReady testing begins Wednesday, August 27th- September 2nd: field trip sign-ups window Monday, September 1st: Labor Day school holiday Friday, September 26th: beach service trip and beginning-of-the-year social in Huntington Beach 2025-2026 School CalendarVLA Year-at-a-Glance: some of these dates/events are subject to change  We’re excited to welcome our families to the new school year! Please log into your teacher’s Zoom link TODAY at 9:00 AM for our Virtual Back-to-School Event and Orientation. Each teacher will host a virtual session and provide a classroom-specific orientation. Our new student orientation sessions will be immediately following around 10:00 AM. Attendance is required for all new Virtual Academy families to ensure a smooth start to the year. Refer to your teacher’s email from Thursday, August 21st for the login information.  No School September 1st – Labor Day Just a friendly reminder that there is no school on Monday, September 1st. Wishing everyone a wonderful Labor Day Holiday!  Sage Oak Store is Now Open! The Sage Oak Spirit Store is now open and accepting orders through Sunday, August 31st!Items will ship to your home, so please anticipate a shipping fee added to your order. Allow 2-3 weeks after the store closes for production and delivery. CLICK HERE TO SHOP  Sign ups for our first field trip release run from Wednesday, August 27th at 12pm – Tuesday, September 2nd at 11:59 pm. Get Ready… 1. Please refer to Field Trip Support for tips on being prepared to sign up for the field trips you would like to attend. We highly recommend that you practice going through the process of signing up for a field trip with our Field Trip to the Moon! Get Set… 1. Explore Release #1 field trips by using our 2025-26 VLA Field Trip Planning Document *2. **NEW*** Use our new map feature (linked at the top of the planning doc) to search by area. Trips marked in blue are for VLA students 3. Make sure you have your student’s 10-digit SSID# handy, as it is required to sign up for a field trip. Please reach out to your student’s teacher if you need to know the 10-digit SSID#. Go! 1. Claim your first-semester field trip tickets on the Sage Oak website starting on Wednesday, August 27th, at noon! 2. Be sure to sign up for our back to school social on September 26th, your grade level trips, grade band field trips, and some of the unique experiences for 4th-8th grade students like the Pali Institute and Sacramento! 3. Reach out to the Sage Oak Events Team if you have questions or need support: events@sageoak.education  Local Assessment Pre-Test Window The local assessment pre-test window will be open from August 25th through September 5th. Students in grades TK-11 will be assessed in both ELA and Math. Your teacher will be reaching out to you with their specific proctoring schedule. 2025 CAASPP/CAST scores are in! You can easily access your student’s scores through your parent portal. As always, your teacher is the best resource for any questions you may have about score reports. To access student scores, ENTER the portal: 1. Select the “Reports” tab 2. Select “Test Results” 3. Click “Most Recent CAASPP/ CAST Score Report PDF” link 4. If you need help with accessing the parent portal, please contact support@sageoak.education. To learn more about your child’s scores, click here: CAASPP – Starting Smarter. What is i-Ready? Want to know more about why we use i-Ready and how it can complement your educational journey? Check out this informational flyer.  Counseling Corner The TK-8 Sage Oak counseling team is excited to partner with students and families this year! From building strong academic skills, planning for the future, or supporting social-emotional growth, your School Counselors, Ms. Allie and Ms. Jenny, are here to help your Sage Oak students thrive. We’d love for you to watch our short counseling program overview and share your feedback and suggestions to help shape our student groups, resources shared, and informational webinars offered! We can’t wait to work together and have an awesome year!  Get involved and Join a Sage Oak Committee! Sage Oak’s Advisory Committees strive to shape and improve various aspects of Sage Oak’s operations, policies, and programs. We meet virtually four times during the school year. – Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) – English Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC) – Student Advisory Committee (STAC) Click here for more information. Ready to join? Sign up here! Recruitment closes on Friday, September 5th.  We are thrilled to announce that all Sage Oak students in grades 4-12 will have 24/7 access to online, individualized tutoring and homework help in English and Spanish. This service is available anytime, day or night, in a wide range of subjects (including math, writing, and world languages). Every learner receives focused, personalized attention, and students can choose to communicate with their tutors via text-chat or voice – whichever is more comfortable for them. Academic support through Tutor.com is always safe and secure, with tutors undergoing a rigorous vetting process. Sessions are recorded and reviewed by the company’s quality control team, and students’ identities are anonymized. Tutor.com’s expert tutors help students by showing them how to figure out problems themselves – never providing the answers. They are dedicated to giving students encouraging, judgment-free support. Connecting with a tutor is quick and easy: Students can access Tutor.com through their Clever dashboard via the Tutor.com app. Check out the steps here! We hope you’ll encourage your learners to connect with Tutor.com whenever they need help!  We’re excited to share that all TK–8th grade students will continue to have full access to IXL this school year! IXL is an engaging online program that supports learning in ELA, math, science, and social studies. With personalized skill practice, immediate feedback, and interactive questions and videos, IXL helps students strengthen their understanding and build confidence across subjects. Our teachers will assign specific IXL lessons, and we encourage families to set aside regular time for IXL at home. Just 10–15 minutes a day can make a big difference in keeping skills sharp and supporting progress all year long.  Oakschool classes start today! But it’s not too late to enroll – enrollment for all quarters will stay open all year long! Our Virtual Learning Academy will purchase the materials for students to participate in 1 enrichment and 1 art class per quarter. While the deadline for the VLA to purchase materials has passed for Quarter 1, we encourage you to sign up for Quarters 2, 3, and 4! Have you checked out these new hybrid opportunities? Sculpt & Spin: Handbuilding and Wheel Throwing in Clay (Zoom and in-person in Santa Ana) Plein Air Painting Series: Part 1 – Sailboats and Sunlight (Zoom and in-person in Long Beach) Or our array of enrichment and academic support classes? Here are just a few of the 100+ we are offering in Quarter 1 alone! The Code Crusades: Advanced Let’s Get Moving Kinesiology Explorers Sage Oak Newscasters: The Acorn Myth Makers: Craft Your Own Legendary Stories! – Just added! View the schedule for the full school year and the full year’s course catalog today. Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4  Future Ambassador/ASB: We are excited to announce that our second year of our Future Ambassador program is up and running with a new class time so VLA students can join!. If you are interested in leadership opportunities, our Future Ambassador program may be a good fit for you. You can fill out the application and will need to enroll in our ASB Oakschool class to qualify for this role. Please note our new day and time of our ASB Oakschool class! If you have additional questions about this, please reach out to Lauren Holman LHolman@sageoak.education. Back to School Beach Hangout!: Please join us for our Back to School Beach Hangout. This hangout is specifically for middle school students. We will be joining the high school but will have our own area to socialize, enjoy the beach and bonfire. Please fill out both the permission click and permission slip to attend. Here’s to an amazing school year!  Sincerely, Mrs. Lana Beshara Virtual Learning Academy Principal |
