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Lori Orum, Edison Language Academy
Edison Language Academy
Lori Orum – PRINCIPAL Bienvenidos al año escolar de 2015-2016 en la Academia de Idiomas Edison! This year, Edison Language Academy begins its 29th year as SMMUSD’s only dual immersion elementary school. This is my 10th year as Edison’s principal and I still count it as such a privilege to watch another cohort of Edison students start their journey toward bilingualism and to work with such a strong and dedicated team of dual language educators. We have so much to celebrate this year at Edison! We are nearing the end of an ambitious multi-year construction project that produced a brand new school and playfields for Edison. While we loved our little 1940s-era escuelita, the buildings were old and all the systems were in need of major repairs. Today we are nearly at the end of the journey and, thanks to Measure BB, Edison students have an amazing new facility! We have the space we need to offer enrichment and after-school programs, an abundance of modern technology tools to support 21st century learning, and a smaller carbon footprint. Construction is projected to be nearly finished by the end of October – just in time for Edison’s famous Festival de Otoño and Día de los Muertos celebration on November 7. We’re also celebrating the resources that we have through SMMUSD, SMMEF, our Title I grant, and our Edison PTA, that provide bilingual instructional assistants for all classrooms, coaches and intervention teachers, and online programs to differentiate and extend learning. Thanks to the generosity of our parents and hard work of the Edison PTA and SMMEF, we also have a robust arts
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2015 Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District
Deanna Sinfield, Franklin Elementary School
Jezelle Fullwood, Grant Elementary School
Steven Richardson, John Adams Middle School
program – including theater, visual arts, and music at all grade levels, dance for 3rd and 5th graders, and an after-school Ballet Folklorico class. Finally, we are celebrating the strong academic progress our students made again last year, including our 4th consecutive year as a California Business for Education Excellence Honor Roll School. Preliminary data from State achievement tests indicate that Edison students also did very well on the State exams – all while learning in two languages! It’s going to be a great year as we set our sights ever higher!
to stretch our students. We use Thinking Maps to help students organize their thinking and will be using part of our stretch grant from SMMEF to continue to deepen our use and understanding of Thinking Maps and Write From the Beginning (the writing program associated with Thinking Maps). We use Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) to assist in deepening students’ conceptual understanding of mathematical concepts. Thanks to SMMEF, we were able to send 11 staff members to the CGI conference over the summer. We also sent four teachers to Teacher’s College in New York to train in Reader’s Workshop. We are a community of life-long learners. I look forward to working with every parent during my second year as principal of Franklin School. I welcome back Dr. Ashley Benjamin as assistant principal. Please join us in making it our priority to provide every student with an outstanding education while maintaining a safe and supportive school community.
relying on you the families who are our most important partners to ensure a quality education for every student! Everything we do is carefully designed to create the best learning environment for our students. I am honored and privileged to work with a dynamic community of teachers and staff that cultivate an environment where students achieve and believe in themselves and their school. With our school’s aim of having an emphasis on academic outcomes and high student achievement school-wide, Grant Elementary will continue to incorporate the core values of Respect, Trustworthiness, Fairness, Responsibility, Citizenship, and Caring. Using these as our guiding principles, each child will be encouraged and supported in working to his/her full potential academically, socially, and emotionally. Remember, it does take a village to raise a child; and I add it takes a very special school like Grant Elementary to educate them. Please know that I welcome your participation, support, and efforts as they are greatly valued and appreciated. We are in this together! Wishing you a wonderful upcoming year of success!
Franklin Elementary School
Deanna Sinfield – PRINCIPAL elcome to the 2015-2016 school year! Franklin School is a community that prides itself on being engaged, forward thinking, passionate and generous. We continually work hard to fulfill SMMUSD’s mission of extraordinary achievement for all students while simultaneously closing the achievement gap. At Franklin School we are committed to exemplary instruction designed to educate the whole child so that he or she may become a productive and contributing member of the global economy. Our devoted staff, supportive PTA, and Site Governance Council are dedicated to providing an education that readies students for the challenges they may encounter throughout their lifetime and encourages lifelong learning. The entire school community has worked in unison to provide a safe and nurturing environment where students can attain their highest level of achievement while meeting the diverse needs of all. We differentiate instruction in many ways in order
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Grant Elementary School
Jezelle Fullwood – PRINCIPAL elcome to the 2015-2016 school year! I am so excited to join the Grant Elementary family as the new principal. As we begin another school year, I am reminded of an African proverb; “It takes an entire village to raise a child.” This seems fitting when I consider the accomplishments achieved and those to come! Your commitment to your child’s education, past and present, are excellent examples of what is required of that village to achieve success. Therefore, one of the goals of this school year is to help build and support an even stronger village by
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John Adams Middle School
Steven Richardson – PRINCIPAL elcome to John Adams Middle School (JAMS). We strive to meet the academic and social emotional needs of every student who walks through our doors. We are a diverse community that mirrors our
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