Dear USPA Families,
It is a pleasure to welcome you to another “school year” at US Performance Academy. With that said, I realize many of you are months into your year already and some aren’t beginning for several weeks. That is the beauty of USPA. Each of our student-athletes is on his or her own customized schedule. We understand that your children train and travel throughout the year and require a supportive and flexible academic calendar. For me, it’s fun to be able to say that almost every week is a new start of the school year for a USPA family. And this year, we will have a pile of new faces joining our community, and I want to share a few thoughts as we start this Fall.
Coffee: some of us drink it first thing in the morning, some have it with whipped cream and pumpkin spice, and some prefer tea. No matter your preference, be sure to grab your beverage of choice and join us for “Parent Coffee Hour” where you can meet parents, share experiences, and chat. I greatly enjoyed having coffee with the vast majority of our families last week during the first parent coffee hour of this school year. We will be hosting these throughout the year, so we hope to see you around.
Transformation: a natural process takes place when students start attending USPA. There tends to be an initial discovery of struggle points. The struggle can be anything from making a connection with their teacher, finding the perfect balance in their schedule, or even knowing what their perfect learning environment is. This is one of the many places that their learning coach can be of vital importance. For example, we have a 10th grader, who initially struggled academically during 9th grade and is now ahead in all her classes as a Sophomore. In fact, she is training 8 hours a day, is keeping her grades up, and has taken the initiative to set up a weekly meeting with her AP class teacher, which is benefiting her learning immensely. I love hearing these stories from students who initially struggled and then discovered how they work and learn best which resulted in academic improvement. As a parent, take advantage of your child’s learning coach to set up these types of meetings and make introductions to other students who might serve as mentors.
Growth: how can I help spread the word about USPA so more families can benefit? I have been asked this question a lot in the past several months. As a school, you all realize that we are very different than other online learning environments. However, at first glance, I think many parents fail to really understand the value of a USPA education and the level of support our families receive. We want to build our community carefully and continually with dedicated academic student-athletes. You can help us do that by talking about USPA at events, or pointing families in our direction who might be struggling with their current school. Your help is critical in adding more sailors, sliders, skiers, surfers, paddlers (the list is too long to include all our sports!) and we welcome your support as we continue to grow as a community.
I look forward to seeing you at the docks, slopes, fields, or rink in the coming months. In the meantime, sign up for a parent coffee when they are scheduled, have your son or daughter contribute our monthly magazine, and thank you for all that you do!
-Pete