N O V E M B E R

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El Semanario

Edison Language Academy – Together Through Two Languages (310) 828-0335 www.edison.smmusd.org

ANNOUNCEMENTS Parent Education Workshops: Helping Children with Math in Grades 3-4-5. Tuesday morning, November 10, 2015 – 8:30 - 10:00 am – Room 100 or Tuesday evening, November 10, 2015 from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. Edison 5th grade teacher and math coach Constanza Murcia will be offering a workshop for Edison parents with some candid discussion and hands-on examples of how to reinforce and strengthen children’s number sense in addressing the four basic math operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). Sign up quickly for the workshop of your choice - space is limited. Site Council Elections –Ballots with the names of Site Council Parent Nominees are going home Thursday, November 5 and are due back to the Edison office by Friday, November 20. At 3:00 p.m. Volunteers Needed: We still need you! If you’d like to help make Tamales (instructions included!) come in on Thursday 11/5 or Friday 11/6 afterschool. Want to help decorate your classroom altar? Come on Friday, 11/6. Want to pitch in on the day of the festival? Please sign up on the PTA bulletin board in the breezeway and/or on your grade level bulletin board.

Appropriate Shoes and Clothes for Physical Education – Too many of our female students are NOT dressing safely for PE and recess. They cannot play safely and participate fully when they are in slip-on shoes or sandals. I am asking for your help to make sure that your daughters come to school every day in shoes and clothes that allow them to safely and fully participate in physical activities. You’ll recall our dress code from the Parent Handbook -- “Students should wear clothing appropriate for school that allows them to move, climb, run, and stretch safely. Shoes must have rubber soles, laces, straps or buckles and protect toes and heels.” Through play and physical education are so important for children— developing coordination, building small and large motor skills, growing their aerobic capacity, and building active healthy habits . Children who repeatedly do not wear safe shoes risk a lowered grade for participation. If you are having challenges providing safe footwear for your daughter(s) please let our Community Liaison Yoly know and she will try to help you find affordable and safe shoes. Please send your child to school in sturdy, rubber soled shoes that have laces, buckles, or Velcro fasteners. We all thank you for making sure that ALL OUR STUDENTS can participate fully in physical activities!

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK: MAKING SURE ALL STUDENTS MEET LITERACY STANDARDS One of the ways that SMMUSD is ensuring that the needs of all our students are met is by using a universal screening instrument. All elementary students participated in one or more assessments that are part of the Formative Assessment System for Teachers (referred to as FASTbridge). FASTbridge is periodically used to help teachers determine if your child is on-track for academic success in reading. The results help teachers better understand your child’s learning needs, determine how to better meet those needs, and measure your child’s progress within and across school years. Your child’s teacher has reviewed the results of the FASTbridge screening and other site assessment measures with Edison’s Literacy Coach Aileen Salmaggi to establish strategies to improve their literacy skills. The results of these assessments give teachers further insight into your child’s needs, can help them match students to high interest and appropriately leveled books, and indicate whether or not your child might need extra or different kinds of reading instruction. Edison’s literacy team of Coach Aileen Salmaggi, Intervention Teachers John Ellis (Spanish reading grades 1 and 2), Elizabeth Ipiña (English literacy grades 2 and 3) and Kortney Watring (English literacy grades 4 and 5) work together with the principal and teachers to monitor performance, differentiate classroom instruction and provide supplemental instruction for children working significantly below grade level. Your child’s teacher will discuss the results of some of these assessments with you at the Parent-Teacher conference and work with you to develop an intervention plan if your child needs a boost in literacy development to meet standards. November 4 – Pupil Free Day for Conferences

November 5,6,9 10 Minimum Days for Conferences

November 7 – Fall Festival / Día de los Muertos 1:00-5:00 p.m