F E B R U A R Y
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Edison Language Academy – Together Through Two Languages (310) 828-0335 www.edison.smmusd.org
ANNOUNCEMENTS Valentines Dance, Raffle, and Silent Auction – Thank you to parents and staff who worked so hard to create a fun and memorable Valentine’s Dance for th Edison students! Families of 5 graders ran the food booths and successfully finished their fundraising for the year – ensuring that scholarships will be available for Catalina science camp for those who need them th and providing a 5 grade yearbook, t-shirts, and promotion after-party for students. Thank you for your efforts on behalf of your class and for the way your food sales have enhanced school events! Facilities Updates: As construction moves forward, the walkway directly behind the primary child care and Kindergarten rooms will be closing to nd allow work on the staircases coming from the 2 floor patios and the new Kinder playground. And, there should be a schedule soon for installation of these units in other classrooms. For more detail join us at our weekly Wednesday meetings at 7:45 am in the community room or visit: http://fipcontractors.smmusd.org/edison-newconstruction.aspx February Workshop for Parents – You are invited to attend: Helping Children Through Divorce – A parent hot topic workshop from Family Services of Santa Monica will be presented on February 18, 9:3011:00 am at Franklin School. Edison families welcomed; Childhood Anxiety -- A bilingual workshop for Edison families presented on February 25 from 8:30-10:00 am by Bobby Verdugo of the UCLA School Function Project in Room 208 at Edison. Used Shoes for SMMEF – We’re collecting used shoes as part of a fundraiser for the Santa Monica Malibu Education Foundation (SMMEF). Through February 24, all wearable pairs of shoes accepted (children’s, adults’, boots, cleats, etc.) Clean out your closet and help SMMEF raise cash for important initiatives at our school. Box Tops Congratulations to Maestra Murcia's class for winning the Box Top contest! They collected 1461 Box Tops. Nepomuceno's class was a close second with 1450 Box Tops! The full class list will be posted near cafecito. Together we raised nearly $900 for Edison programs!
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK: THE IMPORTANCE OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT The new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) present both challenges and opportunities for schools. The opportunities are in the ways that we can better prepare students for college and careers, and increase their critical thinking, analytic reasoning and problem solving abilities. The challenges come with the fact that these new standards can represent a significant shift from past content and teaching practice. According to Student Achievement Partners, founded by some of the authors of the CCSS, “Teaching in a way that is effectively aligned with the Common Core takes practice, effort, and patience.” We’re asking teachers to teach content that is many times new for their grade level and to teach it in different ways with increased complexity. And since we’re at the beginning of this venture, we don’t yet textbooks that are aligned to the CCSS . So, if we really want to see meaningful changes for students, effective professional development and support for teachers is an essential part of this big shift. Professional development figures heavily in our SMMUSD LCAP (Local Control Accountability Plan). It’s also a big funding and program priority in the Santa Monica Malibu Education Foundation’s (SMMEF) Vision for Student Success. And it’s an important way that we’re using the budget resources in our own Edison Site Plan. One important way we’re supporting teachers in the transition to CCSS is by providing subject matter coaches. At Edison we have a full-time literacy coach (Aileen Salmaggi), a part-time ELD Coach (Elizabeth Ipiña), part-time math coaches (Constanza Murcia and Maggie Meade), and part-time Technology Coaches (Rocio Naranjo and Carlos Morales). These coaches work in a variety of different ways depending on the discipline and on teacher need. Professional development happens in a variety of times and places -during our banked time on Wednesdays (when students get out early and teachers meet for professional development workshops), during teachers’ planning time, during class time when coaches model and teachers observe, after school, during summer institutes, and some when we provide a substitute and pull teachers out of the classroom to work with grade level peers or a coach or visit another program. It occurs when we plan as grade level teams, develop performance assessments, and review and assess student work. We try to minimize the amount of time any given teacher is out of the classroom, but in these first few years of transition to CCSS professional development is an essential investment. February 26 – Ms. Alvarez Music in Motion Dance Performance -- 10:45 am
March 9 – JAMS Science Magnet Outreach Visits
March 11 – Edison Jogathon!!