W E E K
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Edison Language Academy – Together Through Two Languages (310) 828-0335 www.edison.smmusd.org
ANNOUNCEMENTS School Smarts Academy – Sign up now to secure a space in this 7-week parent leadership academy. School Smarts helps parents learn how to be effectively involved in their child’s schooling – as partners and advocates. The seminars are presented bilingually and will be held Thursday mornings 8:30-10:00 am, beginning September 28. Return one of the blue School Smarts forms to the office or contact Yoly Gutierrez at ext. 61-305 or email her at ygutierrez@smmusd.org to enroll. Support the SMM Education Foundation AND the Edison PTA – Please donate (whatever amount you are able) to the Ed. Foundation and the Edison PTA. Help support Edison’s Instructional Assistants, arts programs, online learning programs, edible garden, assemblies, field trips, and more. Every dollar counts! Blue Dog Sale Starts September 6 – PTA’s fall fundraiser is a catalogue sale affectionately known as Blue Dog. The sale begins on September 6 when the materials will be included in your child’s Wednesday packet. This is a fundraiser that allows grandparents, neighbors, and co-workers to purchase gifts and giftwraps with a percentage of all sales benefiting our school. Volunteer Trainings – Join more than 200 Edison parents who are trained and screened Parent Volunteers. For initial training – or if it’s time to renew – please join us Tuesday, September 5 at 8:30 am, Wednesday evening, September 13 at 6:15 pm or Monday morning September 25 at 8:30 am. If you want to volunteer in classrooms, on field trips or in any activity where you work with students, you need to have current volunteer status. Complete an application, attend one of the above trainings, and present evidence of current negative TB status. Volunteers in Preschool have additional vaccination requirements. Please note that we check all prospective volunteers on Megan’s List. TK and Kinder Días de Independencia Tostada Party – Celebrate Latin American Independence Days and the beginning of school at a Tostada potluck on Friday, September 15 at 5:30 pm.
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK:
START THE YEAR WITH GOOD ATTENDANCE Study after study confirms the importance of regular school attendance for young children and the relationship between consistent attendance and school success. Building the habit of good attendance begins early - in preschool, Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten. Children at these grades who attend regularly, are more likely to develop the social emotional skills that help them persevere in school. Additionally, because so much literacy instruction and practice is front-loaded in the early years, missing instruction in these years undercuts the foundational skills they need for reading. And in dual immersion programs, acquiring a second language absolutely requires time on task. Especially for children whose only exposure to their second language is at school, days that they are absent are days when they are not adding to their vocabulary or practicing their emergent skills. Early absences in school correlate with reading difficulties and poor attendance patterns in later years. One study in California found that only 17% of children who were chronically absent in K and 1st grade were reading proficiently in 3rd grade, compared to 64% of those students with good attendance. Chronic absenteeism is particularly dangerous for children from low-income families – and poverty can create many challenges for getting to school. Their school absences have a particularly adverse consequence on literacy development. Research also shows that parents often don’t realize that absences are adding up. Even missing a day or two a month can result in 10% of more of missed instructional days. So what can parents do? Don’t allow your child to miss school “just because.” Unless your child is ill or there is an unavoidable emergency, he or she belongs at school. When your child must miss school, please call Senior Office Specialist Kathy Fargnoli in our office to report the absence (310) 828-0335, ext. 61-348, or email her at kfargnoli@smmusd.org. Schedule routine medical appointments after school or at the very beginning or very end of the day to minimize time away from school -- and always bring a doctor’s note. If you absolutely must be away for five or more days, use our Independent Study Program to have your child complete work while he or she is gone. Give your child’s teacher a week’s notice to prepare the materials and make sure your child completes and turns in the work to excuse the absences. To help you keep track of absences, we will send you a notice if absences or tardies are creeping into the danger zone. Let’s work together this year to maximize students’ time in class so we can maximize learning in two languages! Wed. Sept. 6 – PTA Executive Board Meeting 6:00-8:00 pm Community Room
Wed. Sept 13 ELAC Meeting 8:30 am Community Room
Wed. Sept 13 Site Council 4:00-6:00 pm Community Room