F E B R U A R Y
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El Semanario
Edison Language Academy – Together Through Two Languages (310) 828-0335 www.edison.smmusd.org
ANNOUNCEMENTS . VOTE AT THE EDISON LIBRARY –The Library at Edison has been designated as a Four-Day Voting Center and will be open for voting from February 29 - March 2 (8:00 - 5:00 pm) and on election day March 3 (7:00 am – 8:00 pm). Registered voters in Los Angeles County who want to vote in person at the polls are no longer restricted to the precinct polling place closest to their home. So, come vote at Edison and bring your child along to see democracy in action! This also means that the Edison Library will be closed to students and staff from Wednesday, February 26 through Wednesday March 4. KEEPING OUR CHILDREN SUN-SAFE – Enclosed in this week’s packet is a letter from Edison parent and dermatologist Dr. Paola Rodriguez with some important information about the risks of too much exposure to the sun and some ideas about how to keep children sun safe. When students come to school with hats, sunglasses, sun safe clothing for outdoor play, and sunscreen applied at home before school, it decreases their risk of skin cancer later in life. Sunscreens typically have to be reapplied after a few yours, so If you can send some sun screen that children can re-apply later before they head outside again for recess/PE/lunch. With a few small changes, we can keep our kids safer from skin cancer.
NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS (NGSS) TRAININGS: 1st grade teachers will be out on Thursday 2/20 and Kinder teachers are out on Thursday 2/27 at UCLA professional development on the NGSS.
Wednesday, February 19 PTA Association Meeting 8:30-10:00 am - Library
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK: FOLLOWING UP AFTER PROGRESS REPORTS Recently, TK-5 grade teachers sent home mid-year progress reports on the growth students have made in the first semester. I hope you have had a chance to read the reports and the teacher’s comments carefully. Don’t be worried if there are some items that aren’t marked or are designated with a N/A; not everything is taught in the first semester. It’s important to keep in mind that these are not report cards – they report on growth toward year-end grade level standards. We still have February, March, April and May for students to continue to strive toward meeting or exceeding those standards! All of our students still have learning to do in their classes in the second half of the year – whether it’s consolidating, deepening and applying skills, or accelerating progress so that they can master those targets by the end of the year. The progress reports also totaled attendance and tardies. I want to call out a few things about attendance because it can have such an impact on children’s education. If your child is tardy or absent enough, maybe the only reason they’re behind is that they have missed too much instruction. Even a consistent 15-20-minute late arrival can make a big impact if students are consistently missing instruction in core concepts. And it mounts up – 20 minutes late per day can be 100 missed minutes in a week and 400 missed minutes in a month, etc. If you doubt the importance of missed time, it turns out that one of the best predictors of later high school completion is attendance and on-time arrivals in Kindergarten. Attendance concerns extend to before- and after-school intervention classes too. Your child cannot benefit from the specialized, small group instruction designed to help them close gaps if they don’t come. Make sure you know if your child is attending each day of their intervention classes. Poor attendance can also invalidate evaluations for learning disabilities—making it more difficult to figure out what’s going on when children aren’t learning. Finally, for all of our students on inter-district permits, maintaining good attendance is a condition of continued enrollment in SMMUSD. If those permits are revoked, they cannot be reinstated and usually students need to exit within a few weeks of revocation. Do not put your child’s enrollment in danger because of something like tardies or non-essential absences. It’s also a good idea to take a look at the effort/work habits ratings and any teacher comments about challenges with attention, focus, organization or work completion, and impulsivity. There can be many reasons for these sorts of comments, but it’s probably time for a talk with the teacher so you can work together to help improve your child’s skills in these areas. Don’t hesitate to call or email. We are all working for the same thing – that your child and all Edison students are academically successful!
Thursday and Friday, Feb 20 and 21 – No music for grades 3-4-5.
Thursday, February 20 Theater Informance Melendez, 1:00 pm
Monday, February 24 Theater Informance Jimenez, 11:00 am