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El Semanario
Edison Language Academy – Together Through Two Languages (310) 828-0335 www.edison.smmusd.org
ANNOUNCEMENTS Blue Dog Deliveries – If you have not yet picked up purchases from the Blue Dog sale, please contact PTA Vice President for Fundraising Luhanda Garvin at Edison.fundraising.vp@gmail.com. Thanks to all who supported the school in this way. Supporting the Education Foundation – Nearly 40% of Edison families have made a contribution to the Education Foundation! If you haven’t yet made a contribution, November is the perfect time to do so! Choose the amount that’s right for your family --- every dollar counts. The Stretch Grant that we get from the Education Foundation makes a big difference for our children. PTA is planning a Family Salsa evening for Education Foundation donors on December 1 to say thank you to donors. Donate to the Ed. Foundation, come for dinner and dancing and celebrate the ways the Ed. Foundation enriches our students’ lives! Parking and Safety – We are continuing to have very serious problems with parents parking in the staff lots – including damaged cars, a blocked loading dock, and handicapped and staff spaces filled by parents. With the exception of TWO parking spaces in the small Virginia Avenue lot that are reserved for preschool drop off/pick up, every parking spot on campus in both lots are assigned to staff members. Do not pull into these lots and try to park – even for “just a minute.” Also, the gate between the Kansas Avenue parking lot and campus is a STAFF ONLY entrance. Families and children should not be walking through the lot and trying to enter campus through that gate. If you arrive after the green back gate has closed (at 8:30 am) then you must go around to the front entrance. To provide better security, we have changed the combination on the lock to that gate and change it periodically to increase the security of that entrance. Thank you Virgil Torres! Virgil will be starting to work as an Instructional Assistant at another school and will be reducing his playground and lunch supervision hours at Edison. He has been a wonderful and caring presence on our campus and we’re happy that he’ll still be watching the children in the courtyard in the morning.
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK:
A CONVERSATION THAT LASTS ALL YEAR By the time you read these lines, most of you will have already completed your parent-teacher conferences. If you somehow were not able to schedule an appointment during the conference window, please contact your child’s teacher and work out an alternative time for an in person or telephone conference. We want to meet with the families of all our students this fall. Your concerns and questions are important to us and we want to work with you to help your child thrive. During conferences, we try to give you a clear picture of your child’s strengths and challenges at school so far this year. The report you get from the teacher may sometimes be different than what you see in your child at home. Obviously, we will never know your child as well as you do. But as you consider this information, please keep in mind that we work with your child in a different context. At school, we are asking them to share adult attention with 23-25 other students in the classroom, to attend to instruction in their non-dominant language for large parts of the school day, to persist with tasks that they may find challenging or which require sustained focus, and to get along appropriately with a variety of other children at school. We have lots of fun too, but it’s no wonder that the children are tired at the end of the day! We are also anxious to see a glimpse of what your child is like at home -- what he or she loves to do, whether they do or do not have an easy time with homework, and how you manage challenges that may come up at home. Sometimes a child that seems shy at school, is the life of the party at home. Or a child who has challenges maintaining focus in reading and writing may be single-minded in practicing the piano or training for a belt in Karate. The better we know our students, the better able we are to find ways to encourage and support them. So, we thank you for your candor and your time in partnering with the school to support your child! If your child will need some additional support to meet grade level standards, the teacher probably worked on an Academic Improvement Plan with you. I would urge you to stay in touch with the teacher on a regular basis to make sure that your child is progressing on that plan. If your child was recommended for a before- or after-school intervention, please take full advantage of that opportunity and make sure your child attends regularly. And if your child is doing well at school and is ready to stretch a little more, please stay in touch with the teacher about that too. We want to address any problems that may arise right away. The conference is just the beginning of a conversation that continues all year! November 10 – Veterans Day – NO SCHOOL
November 15 – PTA Meeting 8:30 Site Council 4:00 BIG SHOW! 6:00 pm
November 23-24 Thanksgiving Holiday