W E E K
O F
N O V E M B E R
1 3 , 2 0 1 7
El Semanario
Edison Language Academy – Together Through Two Languages (310) 828-0335 www.edison.smmusd.org
ANNOUNCEMENTS Family Salsa Night -- PTA is planning a Family Salsa evening for Education Foundation donors on December 1 to say thank you to donors, and encourage all families to donate. Donate to the Ed. Foundation, come for dinner and dancing and celebrate the ways the Ed. Foundation enriches our students’ lives!
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK: SITE COUNCIL ELECTIONS
Spanish Reading Intervention Teacher John Ellis will present Early Literacy Strategies and Activities for grades TK-2 in Room 207.
Nominations are now open for three parent seats on the Edison Site Council. The Wednesday packet contains a nomination form and we ask that you consider whether this might be a way you’d like to serve our school. Site Council is an important decision-making organization. Half its members are school staff (the Principal, three teachers, and a classified/ non-teacher employee). The other 50% of the members are parents, elected at large. Any parent/guardian is entitled to vote for the parent members of Site Council and the hope is that the elected members will be representative of the diversity of the Edison community. All members are elected to two-year staggered terms so that there is never a time when Site Council is without experienced members. The responsibility of Site Council is to develop our annual school improvement plan and decide how to allocate our resources from Title I and the Education Foundation to accomplish those goals. The parents on Site Council participate in guided learning walks in our classrooms to learn about primary instructional strategies, materials, and initiatives. They reflect on our achievement data to help us set goals that can improve achievement. They review recommendations from the School Leadership Team (SLT), the English Learners Advisory Council (ELAC), and parents at large via our annual parent survey -- and they learn about district instructional initiatives and how they may affect our unique immersion program. And together, we craft an annual Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) and determine how to spend our resources to achieve the goals we set. Throughout this process, Site Council members come to know our school demographics, achievement, instructional strategies, and some of the research around teaching and learning in quite a bit of depth. Site Council meets monthly on Wednesday afternoons from 4:006:00 p.m. Our current parent membership is composed of Carlos Villegas (chair), Carolina Vila, Betty Baboujon, Cecilia Tovar, and Michael Kremmer. Staff members are Lori Orum, Elizabeth Ipiña, Santiago Martínez, Maggie Meade, and Rocio Naranjo. Terms for Carlos, Cecilia, and Michael are ending. They can each be nominated for another term and placed on the ballot if they desire to continue to serve. When you receive the nomination form, please consider whether you might like to nominate yourself to serve. Nominations are due Monday, November 20. Elections will be held after Thanksgiving.
Literacy Coach Aileen Salmaggi will present Reading Comprehension Strategies (before, during, and after reading) that parents can use with their children for both fiction and nonfiction books for grades 3-5 in Room 206.
November 15 – PTA Meeting 8:30 – Workshop on supporting student reading.
Independent Study – While the information on Independent Study is in the Parent Handbook every year, it’s one of those things that you don’t pay attention to until you need it! We do NOT want to encourage anyone to take children out of school in the middle of the school year, but if your child needs to miss school for five or more instructional days because of some important family business, please talk to his or her teacher to arrange an Independent Study Contract. Teachers are entitled to 10 days notice to prepare the materials for your child, so please try to plan ahead. Call or email your child’s teacher and pass by the office to sign a contract. If your child completes the work assigned in the Independent Study packet and turns it in on time when you return, then your child’s absences are excused. And your child has the opportunity to keep pace with his or her classmates while they are away. Every instructional day matters!
How Can Parents Support Children’s Reading Skills? After a brief PTA Association business meeting this Wednesday, November 15 from 8:30-9:00 am, Edison’s reading specialists will offer a choice of workshops to help parents learn to better support their children’s reading skills:
November 15 – 4:00 Site Council (Room 100); 6:00 YST The Big Show (Cafeteria)
November 23-24 Thanksgiving Holiday