Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Charlie Keyan Armenian Community School reached record enrollment in January 2016 when it accepted its 112th
student. For the first time in its history the Pre-K program is now at maximum capacity, with forty students between its
two classrooms. This is a testament to the quality of leadership on a daily basis at the school, combined with a cohesive
staff and top-quality instructors said Marshall D. Moushigian, Chairman of the Board of Education.
For anybody following the progress of the school, especially over the last five years, there has been a marked upward
trend in not only student enrollment, but also retention. In fact, another benchmark was recently reached. The 20152016 year started off with the same number of students that finished the 2014-2015 year. In every past year, the school
always saw a slight drop off from the final bell to the first day of the next year.
Although we are very pleased, these numbers are not a surprise to us, said Principal Zaroohi Der Mugrdechian, who is
now in her fifth year at the helm. One trend we have been monitoring closely is what happens when children are ready
ALUMNI ANTRATAR@
to pass from Pre-K to Kindergarten. In years past, we tended to lose a fair number of paying, Pre-K students, to public
school Kindergarten. We believe, more and more, that because parents are seeing how well their youngsters do in our
Pre-K, they know that the high quality of education, in a nurturing environment, will continue at Kindergarten and beyond; there is immense value in a quality education at an early age.
Its the Kindergarten and beyond that many parents and the schools community stakeholders focus on and invest in.
With an average class size of just over ten students, the students are not distracted, and teachers can focus on teaching.
It is a very healthy relationship whose efficacy has been proven year after year with increasingly high test scores, not to
mention the praise Charlie Keyan students receive when they enter middle school, and the success they enjoy throughout their lives. I was so thrilled when we enrolled our fortieth student to hit two important milestones at one time is
very rewarding, said Principal Zar.
Next year we celebrate 40 years. With 245 students going back to 1977, were proud of the success our students achieve after their years at CKACS. As the test
results below reinforce, our students excel while they
are here but we want to celebrate our alumni for what
they do AFTER CKACS/ACSF as well. Each issue we select an alumni to highlight and reveal some clues. The
first person to correctly guess receives a gift. Winners
have received Henrys House of Coffee and Enzo Olive
Oil gift packs.
CLUE: Graduating with
one of the largest 6th
grade classes in CKACS
history, this true[x]ly
successful young entrepreneur went on
to study fractals and
operator theory as a
Triton. Visit facebook.
com/ckacs or instagram.com/ckacs
to
guess and for the next
clue.
Congrats to Renie
Kayaian for identifying
Arevig Atarian Gabriel
from the class of 1996.
Boardmember Karen DeOrian has over 20 years of teaching experience with Fresno Unified School District. She
has taught every grade from Transitional-Kindergarten
to Sixth grade. She has taught educators in special education and providing Professional Learning in curriculum,
and classroom management. She is currently a Regional
Instruction Manager for FUSD, managing special education programs at 10 schools in the Roosevelt Region.
LION HOOPS
SCIENCE FAIR
those years.
We then went to Noravank Monastery, standing alone in
the middle of mountains, near the Amaghu River. Noravank Monastery is famous for its two-story Surb Astvatsatin church; to get to the second floor a visitor must
negotiate a narrow stone-made staircase from outside
of the building.
As we ventured along, we stopped by at very nice restaurant right by the Amaghu River and had a great lunch.
We next continued on to Tatev, which is an Armenian
The Back to the Fabulous 50s and Swinging 60s could
not have happened without the dedication of Ron & Barbara Mortanian and their core committee. Special thanks
to Betty & Larry Sommerville, Rod Avedikian of Fashion
Furniture, Expo Party Rental, Mission Linen Supply, Frito
Lay, Packaging Concepts, Michaels Limo Service, The
Meat Market, Sunnyside Trophy, Wholesale Appliance
Warehouse, and Joe Ulmer of Signs & Banners for their
strong support and in kind donations.
temple. The Garni temple is a reconstruction - in part of a classical Hellenistic temple. While there we learned
about the gods our Armenian ancestors used to worship
before becoming Christian. After enjoying the spectacular views, and taking some beautiful pictures by the
temple, we returned to our hotels.
In conclusion, during this trip we learned and explored
many different places. We all had a lot of fun, and my
brothers and I cannot wait to go back to Armenia again.
Did you know that the Charlie Keyan Armenian CommuPRE-KINDERGARTEN SUMMER PROGRAM
nity School has its own Endowment Fund, established
- Open to children 2-4 years old
to fund scholarships and benefit the maintenance and
- 8.15am - 3.15pm Monday through Friday
growth of the school?
- Daily activities in Math, ABCs, Science,
Each year CKACS has the ability to receive distributions
Health & Social Studies
earned by the investments of the Endowment. The prin
- June 13th through August 12th
- $470 per month cipal is not touched, allowing it to continue to grow taxSUMMER ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES deferred for the benefit of the school.
Anyone can make a gift to the Endowment in one or
- Open to 1st through 6th grade students
more of the following ways:
- Open to students from all schools
Cash: If you itemize your deductions, cash gifts made
- 8.15am - 3.15pm Monday through Friday
directly to the Endowment may be used as direct offsets
- 3-D Printing/Armenian Language/Language
against income.
Arts/Writing/Drama/Math/Arts & Crafts/
Distributions from a Retirement Account (IRA): Indi
Science/PE
viduals may make tax-free transfers up to $100,000 from
- June 13th through August 12th
their IRA directly to the Endowment. A big benefit to the
- $100 per week - first child
donor is that the transfer fulfills his or her required mini
- $95 per week - second child
mum distribution (RMD) without increasing his or her
- $90 per week - third child
taxable income.
KINDERGARTEN CAMP
Gifts of Highly Appreciated Stock: One may also make
a direct gift of highly appreciated stock directly to the
Endowment, allowing the donor to deduct the full fair
market value of the security without regard to his or her
cost-basis. CKACS will not be subject to any type of capital gains tax when it receives and/or sells the security.
If you are interested in making such a gift, please do not
hesitate to contact CKACS directly.
You may also contact Richard, Jason or Jeff Ahronian at
- Designed to ensure all students are ready to
Morgan Stanley, 559.431.5900 or 800.640.4465; they will
start Kindergarten successfully.
be happy to answer any questions you have.
- Taught by Jane Knar,
Retired FUSD Kindergarten Teacher
- 8.30am - 11.30am Monday through Friday
DONOR RECOGNITION
- Daily activities in Language Arts, Math,
Science, Music, Art & PE
- June 13th through July 8th
This year the Bertha and John Garabedian Foundation
- $400 total fee
generously gave a check for $11,000 to CKACS. This
brings their total support of CKACS over the years to
be over $344,000. The School Board, Principal and staff
3D PRINTING & DESIGN - SUMMMER CLASS
warmly thank the trustees of the Foundation for continuing their commitment to the programs and vision of the
This summer at CKACS we will be offering an exciting
school.
and cutting edge class that teaches students about the
A $5,000. gift was made to the CKACS Endowment Fund
design process using 3D printing technology. The 3D
by Siranouch Krikorian. Over the years she has seen how
printer is a tool which is used to help students develop
CKACS has grown and continuously strives to improve.
design thinking and problem solving skills. The class
Ms. Krikorian strongly believes in supporting CKACS and
will meet twice weekly for nine weeks.
has taken this step to ensure the financial viability of the
Last summer, students worked in groups, learned to
school at a pivotal time. We thank her for understanding
brainstorm ideas, sketch concepts, develop their design
how an Endowment functions in the life of an institution
in a team setting, 3D digitally model their design, print
and how it will help fund the school far into the future.
a prototype, evaluate their prototype and improve on
We are very appreciative to the Bertha and John Garabetheir design for their final solution.
dian Foundation for their financial support of our school
mission and programs which we received in December.
We also thank the Azad and Roxie Joseph Foundation
for a $20,000. grant received in February. We, the School
Board, Staff and all stake holders are reenergized when
we see members of the community from near and far
recognize the importance of our mission at this school
and support us. Thank you very much.
We also thank Seranouch Krikorian for a generous $5,000.
contribution to the CKACS Endowment Fund. The Endowment Fund dividends will continue to be used for
school operations and scholarships.
VARTANANTS AT CKACS
Each year at CKACS, our students learn about, commemorate and show their appreciation for Saint Vartan
Mamikonian. The commemoration, Vartanantz, is the
day which marks the fifth century victory led by our
General and [later] Saint Vartan Mamikonian, which allowed us to retain our right to remain a Christian nation.
This year students performed songs and poems about
St. Vartan. The Assembly ended with a rousing rendition
of Garmeer Vartan sung by students from PreKindergarten through Sixth Grade led by Chorus Teacher Or. Roza
Pashayan.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
Charlie Keyan Armenian Community School is seeking
qualified elementary school teachers to join our team.
We seek credentialed, experienced and passionate educators to begin in August 2016. Available positions are
for full-time Kindergarten teachers.
Our small classroom sizes (112 students in Pre-K through
6th Grades) allow for greater impact in student academic performance and greater student focus.
We are committed to academic excellence, providing a
comprehensive, standards based English language educational program while creating a healthy, moral and
ethical environment. In addition to English education,
students are given an opportunity to learn to read, write
and speak in the Armenian language to gain an appreciation for heritage and culture their own and those of
others.
Our K-6 program is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and the Pre-K program is accredited by the
National Association for the Education of Young Children
(NAEYC). We also have music, art and sports programs
to further support students creative development.
Academic Calendar is Mid-August through Early-June.
Salary will vary based on experience and education.
We seek candidates who meet the following Minimum Qualifications:
Teaching credential or enrolled in a credential
program
Full-time classroom teaching experience.
We seek candidates who can demonstrate the following skills and abilities:
Will maintain and communicate high expectations
and firm boundaries with both children and adults
in a consistently kind, clear and respectful manner.
Will maintain the highest personal and professional
standards.
Are well-versed in age/grade level-appropriate
academic content.
Are excellent communicators, both verbally and in
writing.
Please review our website (www.ckacs.org) and, if interested, submit a resume (PDF) by email to principal@
ckas.org . We will review all applications and contact
candidates that we believe match the criteria that we
are seeking. Thank you for your interest.
PRINCIPALS MESSAGE
We desire to have our students not only succeed and exceed California State Standards, but also be well-rounded in their non academic activities. As we complete
the school year our students are to be commended on
keeping their academic work at a high level. They have
competed in the Private School Spelling Bee, CSUFresno
Peach Blossom Festival, Basketball games for boys and
girls, Science Fair, etc.
We thank Chair of Crab Feed Even Committee, Diane
Messerlian; Heritage Night Comittee, Vatche Vassilian;
International Night Committee, Asthik Sahakian and the
PTC; each for extremely successful events which directly
benefit the school.
Sincerely,
www.ckacs.org
NEW WEBSITE LAUNCHING
THIS SUMMER
LIONS