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Edison Language Academy – Together Through Two Languages (310) 828-0335 www.edison.smmusd.org
ANNOUNCEMENTS We’re still looking for a few actors– 5th grade students and any interested parents -- to perform a Teatro Campesino piece about farmworkers on March 23 at Noche de César Chávez. Please contact Martha at martha@sparcinla.org. March is Women’s Herstory/ History Month – Check out Edison’s portrait gallery of women who have worked to promote peace and justice hanging in our cafeteria. Originally painted by Maestra Martha and a group of Edison 5th graders, these paintings are permanently installed our wall to remind us all of their contributions. Do you know these women and their “herstories”? What other women should we add to the gallery? Safety Update – Thanks to all of you who attended Coffee with the Principal last week. Our discussion was mainly about safety and access to campus. We have changed the code to the staff gate from the Kansas parking lot to the school. All staff will now open this gate with their keys. It is not intended to be a gate for families or students, so only itinerant staff and subs will be given the code – which will change frequently. If you exit through that gate without closing it, that action puts our students at risk. Starting this week, the large green front gate is no longer open for K or TK pick up. K and TK families have been provided with a code that will open the after-hours pedestrian gate only between 1:30 and 1:50 pm. PTA President Heidi Vega Aimonetti and Principal Orum are meeting with CREST staff this week to follow up with concerns about campus access afterschool. Edison to JAMS Immersion Transition Meeting – This Thursday (3/15) at 6:00 pm, join Principal Richardson, Maestra Kusion, Counselor Cowgill and others in the cafeteria for a discussion about the immersion program at JAMS.
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK:
LCAP, CSSP AND SPSA, OH MY! Those of us who do not speak English as a first language are often confounded by way English speakers take the initials of several words and treat it as a new word. For example, BTW for “By the Way,” and FYI for “For Your Information.” Sometimes, these initials can actually be pronounced as words and we use them as proper names! These initialisms and acronyms make interpreting challenging! Tuesday evening, March 13, we held an evening briefing dealing several acronyms/initialisms that are important in the life of our school -- the LCAP, CSSP and the SPSA! If you weren’t able to attend, here is a brief overview. The LCAP is the Local Control Accountability Plan and is three-year plan (with annual updates) that school districts develop to let the state know their improvement goals and how they intend to spend state funding. The LCAP must address eight different state priority areas. The SMMUSD LCAP has distilled those eight areas into three goals: 1) All graduates are ready for college and careers; 2) English Learners will become proficient in English while engaging in rigorous standardsaligned core curriculum; and 3) All students engage in schools that are safe, wellmaintained and family-friendly. SMMUSD is preparing for revisions in the LCAP and our meeting on March 13 was a briefing so families can offer informed input. Superintendent Ben Drati is also conducting a community meeting to review the LCAP plan and progress and seek input for next year’s plan on 3/23 - 6-7:30 pm in the Will Rogers Cafeteria. Submit ideas using “Let’s Talk” on the SMMUSD website. The Edison SPSA, or the Single Plan for Student Achievement, is a site-specific plan (also updated annually) that sets goals, describes strategies, and assigns budget resources from our Title I and Stretch Grants to achieve them. The Edison Site Council develops the SPSA with input from stakeholders. Goals must be related to the District LCAP goals, but address site specific priorities and challenges. Edison SPSA Goals are: 1) To build the foundation for college- and career-readiness by increasing the percentage of all groups of students who meet or exceed standards in English Language Arts and Mathematics; 2) To increase the percentage of English Learners who meet or exceed grade level standards in English and simultaneously reduce the percentage who are far below standards; and 3) To operate a safe, family-friendly school with an emphasis on developing engaged, culturally competent students with the skills to manage problems and their own learning. Our briefing on 3/13 was designed to prepare families to provide input on the 2018-19 plan beginning in April. Finally, the CSSP, or Comprehensive School Safety Plan, is our plan for providing a school that is physically and emotionally safe for students and a detailed for a wide variety of emergency situations. The CSSP is developed in January of each year with input from stakeholders and approved by the Edison Site Council. MARCH 22 5th Grade Tour of JAMS 8:30 am departure
MARCH 23 Noche de Cesar Chavez, 6:00 pm
SPRING BREAK March 25 – April 6