J A N U A R Y
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Edison Language Academy – Together Through Two Languages (310) 828-0335 www.edison.smmusd.org
ANNOUNCEMENTS DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. HOLIDAY – School is closed on January 16 to honor Dr. King’s life and work. LUNAR NEW YEAR – begins on January 28 this year. Happy New Year to all those in our community who will be celebrating the Year of the Rooster later this month! SAFETY AT DROP OFF AND PICK UP – SMPD has notified us that they intend to concentrate on improving safety around schools at drop off and pick up times in the next few months. They expect to be more visible and will be enforcing speed limits, parking regulations, double parking, cell phone use and other unsafe behaviors. All of these things will keep our students safer going to and coming from school. Please pay particular attention to safety at drop off and pick up and be sure to alert anyone who drops off or picks up your children of the need for safety and the enhanced police presence.
PLANNING FOR AN EDISON EDIBLE GARDEN We now have a great space for an edible garden. Would you like to be part of a team planning for how we can use a garden as part of the children’s learning experience? Please join Principal Orum to begin this conversation at the PTA Association Meeting on January 25 or email her at lorum@smmusd.org
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK: TURNING RESOLUTIONS INTO GOALS Does your family have the practice of making New Year’s Resolutions? Many of us start each new year resolving to be more patient, eat healthier food, save more money, lose weight, etc. But unless we figure out the steps needed to accomplish our resolutions and set specific goals, steps and deadlines to accomplish them, they usually fall flat. Goals are much on my mind in January as I observe instruction and help teachers work toward the goals they set each year for professional growth and as our Site Council crafts our annual Site Plan. In each case we develop specific, measurable goals with action plans, strategies, and time frames to guide us in the way we want to go. Many studies show that student achievement and motivation also increase when students set goals for themselves. January is a great time to work on this because during the Martin Luther King, Jr. Kindness and Justice Challenge, we are already working with students on goal setting at school. And with the end of the first semester come progress reports that give teachers and parents the information they need to help students set academic goals for the next semester. From January 18 to February 14, Edison participates in the MLK Kindness and Justice Challenge. All students are asked to plan and set a goal of taking at least one kind and/or just action each day. We ask students to be accountable on a daily basis for their actions because we’re also trying to teach them the power of setting goals as well as helping them build the habits of kindness and justice. The students write down their daily actions on colored strips of paper which become links in a classroom and then schoolwide paper chain – showing the multiplier effect of conscious acts of kindness and justice. If you’d like to extend this learning into your home, please participate along with us. We also refresh our schoolwide Olweus Bullying Prevention Program in January because being kind and just and eliminating bullying behaviors go hand in hand. Not only do we expect individual students to “do the right thing” in their behavior with others, but we also teach that it is important to be an upstander and not a bystander when we see someone being hurt by bullying behaviors and to include rather than exclude. Academic goal setting is important too. Students should set goals that will prepare them to be successful at school --- to become strong readers and writers in both languages, to become flexible and confident mathematicians, to become critical thinkers, and to develop the habits of focus and perseverance that help them learn more successfully. In January, teachers are assessing the progress made in during the first semester. In the beginning of February, progress reports will be sent home. These are not report cards with grades – they are mid-year progress reports and are designed to let you know where there are opportunities for greater growth in the second semester. Please consider working with your child’s teacher to help your child set some goals for the second semester – with short-term monitoring targets. You can reinforce and monitor their progress at home and celebrate with them as they achieve their targets – and then adjust goals a little further upward! January 12 – 10-week Ballroom Dancing Unit for 5th Graders Begins
January 16 – MLK Holiday School Closed
January 25 – PTA Association Meeting 8:30 am