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El Semanario
Edison Language Academy – Together Through Two Languages (310) 828-0335 www.edison.smmusd.org
ANNOUNCEMENTS Last Chance to Nominate Yourself or Another Parent for Site Council – This year we have three terms for parent representatives that are coming open. All nominations received by Wednesday, November 20 will be included on a ballot to be sent home the following week. The members of Site Council (half staff and half parents) develop our Site Plan and Safety Plan and monitor their implementation. The Council meets monthly on Wednesday afternoon (4:00-6:00 pm). PTA Evening Meeting: On-Line Learning Programs and Keeping Kids Safe On Line - Based on feedback from last year’s Family Survey and to increase accessibility to parents with various schedules, the Edison PTA is holding several evening meetings this year. You are invited to join your fellow Edison parents on Wednesday, November 20 at 6:00 pm in the Edison Library for a PTA Association Meeting and Parent Seminar on Technology. Child care and light refreshments will be provided. Maestro Carlos Morales will be presenting information from Common Sense Media about screen time and internet safety. He will also be demonstrating On-Line Learning Programs we provide for Edison students. Please join us for this informative evening. Get Ready for Family Salsa Night! Mark your calendars for Family Salsa Night on Friday, December 6. This event also includes a best salsa competition, so dust off your favorite salsa recipe (in addition to your dancing shoes!) and share some of your “killer salsa.” Help plan a family-friendly and fun event! Sign ups at the Nov. 20 PTA meeting and in the Parent Information Center. Grade Level Standards: What is My Child Supposed to Learn this Year in English Language Arts and Math? Because it’s so important for parents to understand the expectations at each grade level, we’re re-posting this link to help you access an easy to understand list of core standards (in English or Spanish) https://www.cgcs.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=328 Young Storytellers – For the last 15 years, Edison has been fortunate to work with the Young Storytellers Foundation (YST). Twice a year, volunteer writing mentors from YST spend 8 weeks working with ten 5th graders, helping them write screenplays that are then brought to life by a group of actors. Congratulations to Benny Hernandez, Camila Valladares, Mayra Delgado, Jonathan Granados, Luis Montano Sanchez, Miriam Yebalih, Anthony Garcia, Mia Lara, and Nalani Olivares!
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK: NEW VISITOR SCREENING PROGRAM It’s the time of the year when SMMUSD schools review and update our Comprehensive School Safety Plans (CSSP). These plans are mandated by California Education Code 32281, which requires a district plan and individual campus safety plans (developed by the school’s Site Council or a committee that it authorizes). Over the last two years, SMMUSD has added several new safety protocols that aim to increase campus safety by limiting access to campuses only to properly authorized persons at all times of the day. Last year, we were all asked to review gate policies at drop off and pick up and some schools closed their campuses to all but students those times. At Edison, we took most of the year to talk about how to use gate policy as a way to increase safety and take advantage of the internal fencing that allows us to divide our campus into zones. We started fully implementing our gate policies at the beginning of this school year. This year, SMMUSD has added an additional safety protocol - computerized visitor identification systems that check all visitors against national data bases of registered sex offenders. Each school office is now equipped with this system so that visitor ID can be checked, a record created of the time of the visit and the authorized location, and an indvidual badge produced. If you haven’t yet read Superintendent Drati’s letter to all parents about this new system, I’d encourage you to check out our SMMUSD website for a copy of the letter and a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) in Spanish and English (www.smmusd.org) or pick up a print copy in the office. With any on-line system comes concerns about privacy and there were a number of questions raised on our campus. So we’ve delayed Edison’s implementation of the system until parents have had a chance to discuss those concerns with Superintendent Drati. We hope that you will join us on Tuesday, November 26 at 6:00 pm for a conversation with the Superintendent and members of the District Safety Committee about the new visitor management system. We’ll meet in the Edison library and PTA will offer child care and light refreshments. Stay tuned to El Seminario for information about other aspecs of the Edison CSSP as we review and update. You are also welcome to visit the Edison Site Council meeting on December 11 (4:00-6:00 pm in Room 100) as we review the entire Edison CSSP.
11/27 Minimum Day
11/28 and 11/29 Thanksgiving Holidays NO SCHOOL
12/4 PTA Executive Board 6:00-8:00 pm