Family and Black Out Success!

The Black Out Dance at Encinal High's cafeteria this past Friday was a huge success. Thanks to Leadership A's Spirit Branch, the dance was fun and received some great reviews from ASTI students. Keep up the good work Leadership A and keep your eyes open for more great dance opportunities.
As many of you already have heard from your family meetings, each family is required to do a visual project answering "What does family means to you?" The Family Program urges all families to be creative with their approach and to steer away from making posters. These projects will be due at the end of the year, where you will be presenting these projects to the rest of your house. Each presentation should last about 10 minutes, so get going on your projects!

Black Out Dance!

This Friday, October 29th will be ASTI's Black Out Dance! The dance will be from 8 to 11PM at the Encinal Cafeteria. There will be black lights there so wear white if you want to glow! Tickets will be $4 for ASTI students and $5 for guests pre-purchase. It will be $6 at the door, so get your tickets ASAP.
Also, ASTI Interact Club has a volunteer opportunity for everyone! This Halloween, October 31st, there will be a Halloween Fun Fest being held on Webster Street in Alameda. The festival will have a plethora of Halloween related booths and a costume contest for kids. ASTI Interact would like some volunteers to help out at the event. There is a total of about 17 people for the booths which begin operation at 12 PM and end at 4PM. You may sign up to stay the entire 4 hours at the booth or just stay half the time. Please contact any ASTI Interact officer for more details and to sign up!

Be A Part of Change

Also, Leadership A is hosting a R&D (Rock and Dance) Game Night next Friday, October 22. It's from 4:30 to 8:00 pm. There will be Guitar Hero, Rock Band, DDR, a Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament, and lots of great food. Tickets are on sale for $4 every day at lunch and at afterschool. A portion of the proceeds will be going to Plus+Us, so this is a chance to meet new ASTI kids, show off your skills in video games and/or Yu-Gi-Oh, contribute to a good cause, and HAVE FUN!

The opportunity is the chance to be on the Alameda Youth Advisory Commission. For those of you who are not familiar, A.Y.A.C. is a committee formed by the City Council of Alameda. We are a committee dedicated to helping the youth of Alameda and encouraging them to participate in local government, and dealing with the issues that youth may want to see fixed. For a clearer picture, they are like the leadership group of a high school

If this sounds like something you want to be apart of then message Jordan Flores at jordanflores93@gmail.com, Samantha Chin at samantha.chin93@yahoo.com or Andy Wong at awong@ci.alameda.ca.us

College Applications and the PSAT!

Seniors! It is time to begin or continue your college application process. To gain the most help you can get, please make regular appointments with Ms. Ahn to discuss your application progress, personal statement status, and also to just discuss with her anything significant happening at the moment. It is very important to use Ms. Ahn, because she is a valuable resource who has been helping seniors with their application process for 4 years now, so she knows all the ins and outs of the process.

Sophomores and Juniors! If you have not paid your PSAT money to Ms. Ahn, please do so by this Monday because this coming Wednesday is the actual PSAT. It will be a regular late start day. The only modification is that Sophomores and Juniors will be taking the PSAT during 4th, 5th, and 6th periods. As for Seniors and Freshmen, it will just be your regular Wednesday schedules. Also, 7th period will not be affected by the PSAT and it will begin and end at the same times.

Movie Night Success and Upcoming Events!

Movie Night was a giant success, Leadership class made over $200 thanks to all the ASTI students who attended and bought many of the assorted treats available.

Leadership B's Family Branch will be having a special event on October 8th, 2010. It will be a chance to bond with your families and also have a lot of fun during the day. It will be a modified schedule and there will be special presents passed out to every student during first and second periods so keep your eyes peeled.

Events UPDATES!

As many of you know, Leadership is holding a Canned Food Drive! For every 200 pounds of food each class raises over the course of this semester, the class will receive a prize for every student. So donate your canned foods and help your class win! On October 16th, Interact Club will be holding its carwash at Lincoln Middle School. The carwash is free, but donations are really appreciated. It will be from 9AM to around 5PM. Come out and bring your car to support Interact. SAVE club will have its first meeting this coming Friday, October 8th. Come and learn all you can SAVE and how to save your environment. Leadership is also holding a BAck to School Movie Night. It will be from 4:45 to 8PM on Thursday, September 30th. Buy your tickets ASAP and enjoy the night of terrific movies.

Are You Ready For Club Day?!

Club Day is this Friday, September 17th at lunch time! Due to technical difficulties, we will not be having a formal assembly with an adjusted schedule. Clubs will, instead, be advertising their clubs throughout this week and have booths set up during lunch for you guys to sign up at. There will be club members walking from class to class with peculiar or wrong facing clothing on. Ask these people why they are wearing these clothes and they will surprise you with information concerning their club. Also, starting tomorrow, ASTI Leadership A will be selling tickets for the Back To School Movie Night which will be held on September 30th. Keep your eyes peeled for ticket sellers tomorrow!

Bonding Day Success and Future Events!

This past Friday was ASTI's 5th Annual Bonding Day! It was a huge success, all classes had a lot of fun rotating from activity to activity. At the end, we had our traditional potluck where a plethora of food was devoured by our voracious ASTI students. Everyone enjoyed the 2 hours of fun and hopefully next year will be even bigger and better. In other news, ASTI Leadership A's Enrichment branch had its first club meeting Friday at lunch and distributed forms vital for people who want to start and maintain their own clubs at ASTI. If you need any of these forms, please contact Carrie Huang, Samanthan Chin, or Jannell Jauregui.

We Are Back in ACTION!

Welcome back to a new school year at ASTI! Welcome incoming freshmen, hopefully your first two weeks at ASTI were fun, exciting, and enlightening. Welcome back, sophomores, juniors, and seniors, we hope you had a relaxing and productive summer and welcome back to another year of hard work at ASTI. As many of you know, there is a new dress code in effect. Students MUST wear the ASTI uniform everyday, no exceptions. But students are allowed to wear any kind of hoodie or jacket with the uniform as long as the hoodie does not have blatant advertising or obscene words on it. Leadership will be hosting ASTI's annual Bonding Day this Friday from 1 to 3PM. There will be a plethora of fun activities for everyone and it is a great chance to get to know the other classmen at the school. Also, Leadership will be hosting Bonding Day, courtesy of the Enrichment Branch. For forms to start your own club or to continue one from last year, please contact Samantha Chin or Carrie Huang.

ASTI's Graduating Seniors!!

Congratulations to all the Seniors and their efforts in completing high school! It is only a day away from the last day of your high school careers and only two days from your graduation. The 2010 ASTI graduating class' graduation will be held at Michaan's Theater (A.K.A. Auctions by the Bay) at 2700 Saratoga Street, Alameda CA. The graduation ceremony will be from 6PM to 8:30PM and the entire ASTI community is welcome to come and enjoy the event. Please come and send our Seniors off to college with a dose of ASTI love.

Drum roll please. Time for WASC Results!

Mr. Fong has put out an email to everyone about WASC's decision about ASTI. Here's the email:

"On behalf of the ASTI staff I am very happy and extremely proud to announce that ASTI has formally received a six-year term of accreditation with a midterm review from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) that begins now and will expire on June 30, 2016. This was our realistic target given the age of our school and we are very pleased.

I want to thank all who contributed to our year-long WASC efforts. This was truly a group effort on the part of staff, students, parents/guardians, and the extended community of AUSD and COA. The Visiting Committee was especially impressed with the active role our students and parents/guardians took in the school improvement process. They specifically mentioned that they had never seen a student-run or parent/guardian-run focus group!

Moving forward we are already at work on our action plan and are very excited about where ASTI is going. We are confident that in three years the Visiting Committee will be impressed with our growth and in six years we will once again receive a favorable result.

Thanks and congratulations to all."

Isn't this amazing?! ASTI has come a long way since its humble beginnings almost 6 years ago. Now we are an accredited high school. Looks like its about time for a CELEBRATION!

Think you're the most creative? Find out at ASTI's 2nd Annual Awards Night

The time has come again and ASTI's 2nd Annual Awards Night is just around the corner! For those of you who had your heads under rocks for the last week and a half, ASTI's Recognition Committee has organized another amazing awards night to recognize every and all student for their individual struggles and accomplishments throughout the year at ASTI. The Awards Night will be this Thursday, May 27th 2010. It will be from 6:00PM to 8:30PM and semi-formal wear is required. Entrance fee is a grand total of ZERO dollars, but it is going to be a potluck and so those attending with last names starting with letters A to J bring side dishes, K to S brings main dishes, and finally T to Z brings drinks and desserts.

ASTI Teacher Appreciation Dinner Information

ASTI's PTSA is proud to announce another Teacher Appreciation Banquet this Thursday, May 20th from 6:00PM to 9:30PM. The banquet will be held at Le Chavel. Please look to the flier above for the specific address of the banquet. The banquet will provide an eight-course dinner at only $15 a person and it will include an array of teacher appreciating entertainment and testimonials. Be sure to RSVP to the event with Ms. Soloman or with Elaine Ma by this Wednesday otherwise you will miss a chance of a lifetime to show your appreciation to your very own ASTI teachers! Be sure to be there and show your ASTI love.

Hot Deal on ASTI Uniforms!

Mr. Fong has been informed that Dennis Uniforms has our ASTI uniforms ready. They are also offering us a great deal. For any order of $75 or more, they will throw in an extra polo for free. This deal only lasts until May 7th. So get your uniforms fast.

You can obtain polo shirts from Dennis in one of three ways:

1. Order directly from their
2. website:www.dennisuniform.com(you will need to enter our school code: NASTIC)
3. Order by phone: (510) 763-0967
4. Visit the showroom/store: 810 E. 8^th St, Oakland, CA 94606

ASTI has already sent home with your students an informational flier, but we will also send another informational pamphlet with all the information needed to order the uniforms.

If you can't follow under the new dress code due to financial problems, please contact Mr. Fong. ASTI will make sure that all students can get their uniforms. No need to worry.

Prom Recap and College Planning

This Saturday was ASTI's Annual Prom night. The theme was Midnight Masquerade and it was a huge success. With over 50 guests attending the event, prom was once again a popular event. Prom court was decided by everyone attending. King and Queen of prom are Joshua Chow and Vivian Lai. Prince and Princess are Jonathan J. Wong and Marisa Cherry. And finally Duke and Duchess are Yong Fou Chou and Vanessa Berrios. Congratulations to them all.

Alameda Science & Technology Institute’s PTSA is hosting a FREE workshop for parents of college-bound high school students.April 22nd, 2010 6:30-8:00PM at ASTI in ROOM 6. A representative of Bay Area College Planners will present on ways of getting money for college, how to increase your eligibility for free grant money, how to save money in your first year in school, and the single biggest mistake that 9 out of 10 parents make when planning for college. Information will be helpful for families of all college bound students, and we especially encourage freshmen parents to attend.

Finally next week will begin ASTI's Spring Spirit Week! Monday will be Dress What You Want To Be Day. Tuesday will be Wacky Tacky Day. Wednesday is Time Warp Day. Thursday is Twin Day. And Friday is Class Colors! Throughout the week, we will have another Penny War so get your change ready.

Spring Break Update!

After Spring Break, there will one month left until the end of the semester and the end of 2009-2010 school year. Once we get back, everyone will be on the homestretch. For Freshmen, it will be their final month of being the babies of ASTI. Sophomores will ascend into upperclassman status. Juniors will become Seniors. And the Seniors will leave and scatter to the wind, off to their colleges. So enjoy Spring Break while you can, because we will be back to back breaking work and endless hours of studying. Also, there will be math tutoring after school starting the Monday we get back from break. It will be every Monday and Wednesday to help struggling math students catch up before the year is over. Enjoy your break and see you all after Spring Break.

What's been Going On This Past Week?

This past Friday was ASTI's Annual Community Service Fair. The nice weather provided the perfect backdrop for the fair where a plethora of opportunities were presented to our students. There was a raffle for visiting each booth for information on community service and a small game of water balloon toss to keep everyone cool on the hot day. Thanks to the Leadership class, the event went without any complications.

This coming Friday is going to be ASTI's Second Annual Spelling Bee. Everyone is invited to participate. First place prize is $300, second place is $200, and finally third place is $100. It will take place from 1:00PM to 3:00PM. Also, this week was filled with excitement because many of our Seniors received acceptance letters from colleges. The atmosphere was static with excitement and anxiety as our Seniors slowly checked their mailboxes for news of acceptance.

First WASC Visit

Today was the first WASC visit at ASTI. WASC is the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and they decide whether a school or college is fit to continue teaching students by evaluating the school, its campus, and how well the staff does their job. After a WASC visit, they decide if a school needs immediate reform, and will visit shortly after this one, if a school is borderline; in which they will visit after 3 years. Or finally, if the school is perfect as it is and will visit again after 5 years to check up. The WASC visit at ASTI will last until the 24th and we wish to be evaluated as perfectly fine so please be on your best behaviors during the visit.

Burst of Updates for EVEYRONE

During the first week of May, Freshman, Sophomores, and Juniors will be taking the California Standards Test. The modified schedule will be mailed to all students as soon as possible. Also, PTSA will be having 2010-2011 school year elections on MArch 25th. If you are interested in any of the positions, please contact Mr. Fong to be placed on the list of candidates. Finally, from March 21st to MArch 24th, evaluators from WASC will be coming to ASTI and determining the status of the school. Depending on how well we are evaluated, they will come back and review the school in 3 years, 5 years, or within the school year. Please be on the best behavior during the visits.

ASTI will be having a smoothie sale after school starting on the 15th of March. The sale will be for tickets which will be accepted by the smoothie makers who will be present on March 26th to make the smoothies for everyone. The tickets will be only $2.50 and the flavors available are Strawberry, Peach, Mango, and Berry Mix.

Mrs. Corbally is also leading ASTI's Speech Contest to promote nonviolence in Alameda. The Ninth and Tenth graders will write and perform their own speeches and there will be a school-wide speech contest to help and create a team of 3 of the best speakers who will then head to the city wide competition on May 15th. Please keep your eyes and ears open for more information about this.

Can I Get a "YAY" For Haiti Relief and Talon Updates?!

The Haiti Relief Dance last Saturday was a giant success. All attendees were amazed at the electric atmosphere and the superb MCing by our very own, Brianna Youngblood. Leadership was able to raise over $340 for Haitians through this wonderful dance. Thanks to everyone involved in making the event such a hit. ASTI's Journalism class is uploading their missed articles on their improved and wonderfully slick website. You can se all the juicy and awesome articles here.

Recently, Mr. Fong found an interesting article on Early College High Schools and their impact on at risk students. This makes a great read for any parent who is still wondering about the pros and cons about sending their child to an ECHS. You can check it out here.

Open House Family Dinner

Come to the ASTI Open House Family Dinner Bring your whole family or your friends who are like your family for dinner, entertainment and simply a GREAT time! ASTI will be holding its annual Open House Family Dinner this Thursday from 6 to 8:30pm. It will first begin at ASTI with a little open house style introduction as to what is going on at ASTI so far and then things will build in excitement and hype as everyone heads to the Cafeteria for a night filled with amazing student entertainment and a dinner made by our very own ASTI family. If you have not bought your tickets yet, BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW!! Pre-Sale Tickets will be sold at lunch and after school until 25 Feb 2010. The costs are: for presale; $5 for kids 8 and Under, $10 for ASTI students & family, $12 for Guests (Non-ASTI students or family). At the Door: $13 for ASTI students and family, $8 for kids 8yrs of age and under, $15 for guests

Volunteering Opportunities

Thank you again to all of you who helped out at Information Night a few weeks ago. It was a tremendous success and we are expecting lots of applications. In the next few weeks there are going to be two other opportunities to help out with recruitment if you are interested. The first is next Friday, the 18^th at 11:30 – 12:30. We’ll be visiting Chipman Middle School to give an overview of ASTI, answer questions, and pass out applications. If you are an alumnus of Chipman and would like to help out, come see Mr. Fong in the office. The second opportunity to volunteer is on Saturday, February 20^th from 9-2. (we may only need to be there from 9-1) This day we’ll be conducting interviews on ASTI campus. We’ll need students to fill the following roles: Interviewers, greeters and parent/guardian aides, guides, and proctors for the diagnostic exam. If you are interested in helping out on Interview day, come and sign up at my desk. You can obtain community service hours for all the time you spend helping out at recruitment.

School Loop Updates

School Loop and Communication between School and Home:

This semester our staff will begin to integrate School Loop into their course management. Teachers – to varying degrees – will be using School Loop to post assignments, course documents, announcements, and grades. I will begin using School Loop for all weekly updates and announcements instead of the weekly e-mail format from last semester. If you have not yet registered for School Loop please do so by following the steps below:

**Please be sure to register as a ‘Parent’ if you are a parent/guardian.

1. Go to http://asti.alamedausd.ca.schoolloop.com/

2. Click the ‘Register’ button

3. If needed, select the appropriate language

4. Click ‘Parent registration’

5. Fill out all appropriate information and click ‘Register’

New Semester, New Round of Applicants.

Last Thursday was ASTI's annual Info night for incoming freshmen applicants. It was a huge success with over forty ASTI students there to field questions from the audience and a huge crowd of interested families. Mr. Fong hosted the event and all ASTI teachers spoke about ASTI and put in their two cents about what it was like to work here. We were even graced with the president of College of Alameda who said a few words about what it is like to have high school students from ASTI on their campus. With Info night over with, it is now time for us, the ASTI community, to spread the word about the new application process. We need all the help we can get to spread the word about ASTI outside Alameda and in Oakland.

ASTI Doing it BIG

As some of you may have already heard, ASTI was recently awarded a ‘Bronze Medal’ in the annual US New & World Report Rankings. This is the first time we’ve been selected by US News and it is very significant to be among this nationally recognized group. As an Early College High School we don’t quite fit into their measurement system (they use AP/IB classes as a major category – our students take college courses) but it is still quite an honor. Below I am including a link to a recent cover story in the Alameda Sun about this recognition: click here.
And some additional links to US News and World Report if you are interested in how the rankings work and seeing other schools who were selected click here and here.
Lastly, April 16th (Friday) is The Alameda Education Foundation’s ‘Salute to Education: Celebrating Innovation in our Schools.’ It will be held at the Rockwell Wine Co., 2301 Monarch St, in Alameda at 6pm. For more information go here.

Beginning the year with Motivation

This Friday was ASTI's second annual Motivation Day. We had two panels, one with ASTI alumni and another with business men and women discussing how they got to where they are today. The day was focused on motivating and invigorating ASTI students for the new semester and to have their desires, goals, and dreams in the back of their heads.
This week marked the start of the Juniors' ACT prep. The ACT is a test similar to the SAT but with a totally different style of question and format. Over the course of the next few weeks, the ASTI Juniors will meet with an instructor who will help them learn the test taking skills and mindset to dominate the ACT. Good luck to them all.
Finally, college classes are beginning next Thursday and to everyone at ASTI taking college classes and in need of textbooks, Mr. Fong is implementing a new system which will make textbook check out more convenient. Please check in with Mr. Fong on Tuesday to get the exact details on the new system and how to take advantage of it.