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Edison Language Academy – Together Through Two Languages (310) 828-0335 www.edison.smmusd.org
ANNOUNCEMENTS Town Hall Briefings on Edison’s Achievement Data -- Wednesday evening at 6:00 p.m., Principal Orum will be sharing information about Edison’s achievement data, the strengths and challenges it reveals, and how the data are being used to shape this year’s Site Plan. Join us in the library if you can. Parent Seminar on Día de los Muertos – Would you like to learn more about the cultural origins of Día de los Muertos? Our own Martha Ramirez-Oropeza (also an adjunct professor at UCLA teaching a course on the Ritual of Día de los Muertos) will offer a seminar for Edison parents on Monday evening, October 21 at 6:00 pm in the Library. PTA will be providing child care for schoolage children and refreshments. Come and learn more about this observance. PTA Association Meeting -- There’s still time to become a member of the Edison PTA ($10.00 per member) and be able to vote on the Association’s Annual Budget at the PTA Meeting on October 23. Come to the library at 8:30 am. and hear what your PTA proposes to do for our students this year. Parent Teacher Conferences – Each year we schedule 1:1 parent-teacher conferences for each student at Edison. Over the course of four days (November 5-8), our teachers will hold an average of 24 parent conferences. Tuesday, November 5 is a pupil free day so that teachers can hold conferences all day. The 6, 7 and 8 of November are all minimum days with afternoons devoted to conferences. Please note these special schedule dates on your calendar. Make sure that you have scheduled a date and time for your conference with the teacher. I know that many sign ups were done during back to school night, but please contact your child’s teacher if you do not yet have an appointment. If you are a two-household family and parents would like separate conference appointments, please let the teacher know and we will be happy to do that. This is a great opportunity to see how your child is doing this year – and make a plan with the teacher to help them meet or exceed standards this year!
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK: SUPPORTING READING AT HOME WITH KID BIZ /ACHIEVE3000 Earlier this week, we sponsored a parent seminar on KidBiz/Achieve 3000 to show parents how to use this tool to help support and grow student reading skills at home. Since not everyone can come to morning meetings, I wanted to pass along some of the information that the Achieve3000 trainer shared. First of all, this information is most relevant to parents of students in grades 3-5. Through our Title I funds, the Edison Site Council invests in an on-line personalized learning platform called KidBiz/Achieve 3000 and purchases licenses for all students in grades 2-5. The platform can be accessed from computers or tablets from school, home, public libraries or wherever you have internet access. While 3-4-5 grades use the program all year, 2nd grade generally doesn’t start until 2nd semester. KidBiz provides high-interest non-fiction articles in English and Spanish at students’ own individual reading level. It also provides comprehension activities that go along with the article. Students’ reading (or Lexile) levels are assessed at the beginning of the year with an on-line assessment that determines their independent reading level. The reading level adjusts over the course of the year as students read and answer questions correctly. Research has shown that students who read at least 40 articles and complete the comprehension activities with a 75% or better accuracy rate can make three times the expected growth in reading over the course of the year. So, this is a powerful tool to use to support the other reading work done at school. Each classroom sets goals for the number of articles that students should be reading in English and in Spanish. But upper grade children should be using this program at least once per week as part of their homework. Each student in Grades 3-4-5 has a username and password. Teachers at these grade levels will be sending a parent letter home with this information – and a parent code that you can use to log on to the Home Edition of KidBiz to monitor your student’s progress. Watch for the letter and follow the steps to create your own home edition account. Setting up a parent account will let you see the lessons and articles your child is completing. You can also find additional articles in Spanish or English on topics that you think would be of high interest to your child and explore those topics together. And, if you’re learning Spanish or English as a second language, you can choose articles for yourself at your own reading level to boost your own reading skills in your second language! October 21 – 6:00 pm – Dia de los Muertos seminar
October 23 – 6:00 pm Town Hall Briefing on Achievement Data
October 28. 8:30 am Dr. Drati at Special PTA meeting – Safety and Visitor ID