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El Semanario
Edison Language Academy – Together Through Two Languages (310) 828-0335 www.edison.smmusd.org
ANNOUNCEMENTS September is School Attendance Month –Please keep adjusting your wakeup and travel times until you can consistently get students to school and in their lines by 8:10 am (TK-2) or 8:25 am (3-4-5). We’ve still got dozens of kids scooting in late and missing initial morning activities. See the flyer in this week’s packet for important information on the of impact good attendance on your child’s school success. School Smarts Academy starts on Monday, September 16, 8:30-10:00 am in Room 206. Join other parents for breakfast and a series of seven interactive workshops designed to help parents better understand how to be an effective advocate for their child’s school success. Many School Smarts graduates have gone on to leadership roles in PTA, Site Council, ELAC, and district advisory committees. Contact Yoly Gutierrez - ex. 61305 ygutierrez@smmusd.org and reserve one of the last spots. Volunteer Trainings – For new parents and renewing volunteers (every four years), plan to come to one of the 2019-2020 Volunteer Trainings on Wednesday September 18 at either 8:30 am or 5:00 pm. In the Library. If you are out of town on that date, but need training, please let Yoly know and we’ll try to hold a third session in October. Reflective Parenting Courses – Family Services of Santa Monica’s 12-week course to help parents learn more about temperaments, emotional regulation and discipline begins at Edison in Spanish on Thursday, Sept. 19 from 8:45-10:15 am and in English at McKinley Elementary on Thursday, Sept. 26 from 8:30am to 10:00 am. To enroll, contact Counselor Cynthia Lua at (310) 828-0335 ext. 61-312. No charge for Edison families.
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK: CATCHING OUR BREATH AND SETTLING IN The first 11 days of school this year were intense! There were four minimum days and two Wednesday early release days to tax the memories of even the most organized parents! Then we had two Back to School Nights (BTSNs), a Book Fair, four grade level parent meetings, an assembly, and Picture Day. Lots of special activities and events – and lots of parent volunteers. Thanks to the 2nd grade and 5th grade families who prepared dinner for the BTSNs and to all the families who volunteered in the book fair – as PTA started the process of raising the funds needed this year to fund all the great things PTA is proposing to do to enhance learning and build community at Edison. You can learn more about these proposals on Wednesday, September 18 at 6:00 pm in the Edison library. Please note that in response to requests in last year’s parent survey, PTA has decided to hold approximately half of its meetings this year in the evening. We hope you can join us! It’s always exciting to see the strong participation of families at both Back to School Nights – in the schoolwide parent meetings and in the classroom visits. If you had to miss this evening, please contact your child’s teacher for his/her presentation so you’re aware of classroom routines, expectations and units of study from the very beginning of the year. Good parent-teacher communication and a partnership to support your child’s academic and social/emotional development increase the odds of student success. Thank you also to the over 150 parents who participated in grade level meetings with me in the first two weeks of school to learn more about schoolwide goals and programs. We hope that between these evening and morning activities, everyone found a place to connect and be informed at the beginning of the year. As we shared at Back to School Night and grade level meetings, our work each year is guided by several schoolwide goals. These are set by the Site Council – a group composed of equal numbers of elected staff and parents. Our goals this year are to: 1) To Increase achievement for all students and close achievement gaps by a) strengthening English Language Development (ELD), b) strengthening grammar and conventions in writing, and c) increasing professional development on math standards and instructional strategies; 2) Promoting social/emotional education and student engagement by continuing to build our capacity to use Mindfulness and Responsive Classroom; and 3) Increasing student safety while we continue to nurture a diverse parent community. Site Council will be putting the finishing touches on the 2019-2020 plan at its meeting this week (Wednesday, September 11 at 4:00 pm in Room 100). Agendas for these meetings are posted on the Edison web site and on a Site Council Bulletin Board in the Parent Information Center on campus.
Wed. Sept 11 ELAC Meeting -- 8:30 am Library
Wed. Sept 11 Site Council Meeting 4:00-6:00 pm, Room 100
Wed. Sept. 25 Town Hall Meetings 8:30 am and 6:00 p.m.