El Semanario
September 19-22, 2022
This Week at Edison
- Monday, September 19 – PTA Association Meeting -- 8:30- 9:30 am Library; Kindergarten teachers attending science adoption training
- Tuesday, September 20 – Fall Book Fair – Library (September 20-23); TK teacher attending science adoption training; Edison School Leadership Team subbed out for training
- Thursday, September 22 – Fire Drill 10:45 am
From the Principal's Desk
Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month: Honoring Martha Ramírez Oropeza
Last week I listed an eclectic group of notable Latinx figures and asked how many we could identify. Among others, these included: Dominican American author Julia Alvarez; Mexican American journalist Jovita Idar who organized a 1911 conference to address racism, lynching, and dismal educational opportunities; Spanish Chef José Andrés and his World Central Kitchen that provides mass meals in the wake or disasters; and Sylvia Méndez, the plaintiff in a 1948 landmark school desegregation case (Westminster v. Mendez). I included current HHS Secretary and former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra; Patricia Guerrero, newly appointed as the first Latina California Supreme Court Chief Justice; and Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski, a young Cuban American physicist who is compared to the likes of Albert Einstein and Steven Hawking. I also invited people to suggest other people that we should add to the list of individuals we learn about during Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month.
One very welcome suggestion I received was that we profile our own teaching artist Martha Ramírez Oropeza. If you haven't yet had the chance to meet her, Martha has worked with Edison for more than 15 years in her capacity as a teaching artist with PS Arts. What you may not know about Martha is that she is an artist and scholar of many and diverse talents. She teaches theater and visual arts to all our students PreK-5, and writes and directs our annual 4th and 5th grade plays -- drawing inspiration from the popular theater skills that she honed as a member of Los Mascarones theater troupe. On our campus, you can see her artwork on the walls of our amphitheater (Together Through Two Languages), on the butterfly triptich in La Placita (Mariposas sin fronteras), in the Mariposa Labyrinth outside the garden, and on the wall of our library. (Together through the Quarantine).Together with various generations of 4th graders, Martha also created the large portrait of Cesar Chavez, the portraits of Women Who Made a Difference, and the canvases illustrating some of our school values -- all of which adorn the walls of our Cafeteria. You may not know that Martha is also an accomplished and internationally-exhibited muralist. Early in her career, she studied with master Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siquieros and has collaborated with Muralist Judy Baca of the Social and Public Art Center (SPARC). One of Martha's well-known large murals is currently being exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown Los Angeles. As part of Judy Baca's World Wall: A Vision of the World Without Fear, Martha and Patricia Quijano created the portion of the mural titled Tlazolteotl: Creative Force of the Un-Woven.” Martha is also an expert in Nahuatl culture. Each year she creates the design for Edison's Alfombra de Asserín (the temporary artwork that we produce in sawdust or sand for the Día de los Muertos Festival) and directs the annual ritual to open our Día de los Muertos altar exhibit. This work comes from her work as co-founder and teacher at the Universidad Nahuatl in Oactapec, Cuernavaca, Mexico. Now she is also a Lecturer at UCLA, where she teaches a very popular course on the Ritual of Day of the Dead and her many university students create altars that reflect their family's regional roots as part of a large observance of Día de los Muertos at SPARC. In her youth, Martha and her family were farmworkers who migrated between Delicias, Chihuahua and Colusa, California and she still spends part of the year in Delicias, creating art and spending time with her beloved family. We are so fortunate to have this multi-talented artist and gifted teacher as a part of the Edison community. ¡Que viva Martha Ramírez Oropeza!
Juntos a través de dos idiomas - Edison
Tlazolteotl: Creative Force of the Un-Woven -- World Wall
Martha Ramirez Oropeza
September Calendar
- Monday, September 26 – Local Holiday/Rosh Hashanah – No Classes
- Wednesday, September 28 – Site Council 4:30-6:30 pm – Via Zoom
- Friday, September 30 – Duck and Cover Drill – 1:30 pm
Seeking: The expertise and insights of any families who have made barriletes for Día de los Muertos
Each year, in the towns of Santiago Sacatepéquez and Sumpango in Guatemala, residents build and fly giant kites or barriletes as part of their observance of Día de los Muertos. Some of the kites are enormous and require teams of people and six months to construct. This is a tradition with ancient roots and hundreds of thousands of visitors each year come to see the kites at these festivals. We are learning about this tradition and attempting to make some small barriletes to add a display about this practice to Edison's observance of Día de los Muertos this year. If your family has any experience with making barriletes or has a tradition of observing November 2 in this fashion, could you share your insights and expertise with our students? Please contact Jessica Hernández (310) 828-0335, ext 61-305 or jessicahernandez@smmusd.org and let us know how we can connect with you. Thank you in advance. And, if you've never seen the barriletes gigantes de Sumpango or Santiago Sacatepéquez or heard about this tradition, check out this video to learn a little about it and to see some incredible kites! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crxz9X_J8CQ
Policy Focus
Attendance
Last year was an unusual year in terms of attendance. Not only were there many illness-related absences, but there were also absences related to quarantines for exposure or children being sent home with symptoms related to Covid. Sometimes those children were out for several days while symptoms resolved or until their parents could make arrangements for testing and get results. And after a year at home, many children just weren't used to the rigors of coming to school every day. Finally, after a year of not being allowed to travel, many families caught up with overdue visits to extended family -- even if those trips were during the school year. Whatever the reasons, the missed school days made it harder for students to learn new material and caused some challenges in relationship building with peers.
We should be able to dramatically reduce absences this school year now that we're allowed to do in-school quarantines after exposure as long as we mask and since antigen tests are now so easily available and yield quick results. Please do all that you can to make sure if your child is healthy, they are in school, for the full school day, every day of the school term. If your child is accumulating late arrivals, unexcused absences, and excessive excused absences, you will be receiving a letter from the school. Our goal is to help you monitor the number of absences and late arrivals and so that we can work together to maximize the time that your child is in school. Please remember to call or email our Office Specialist Melina Garcia (310) 828-0335, ext 61-348 or melinagarcia@smmusd.org the day that your child misses instruction to avoid unexcused absences. And for those Edison students who attend SMMUSD with a permit to attend the dual language program, keep in mind that maintaining good attendance is one of the conditions for annual permit renewal.
Responsive Classroom
Thanks to those parents who joined us at Coffee with the Principal last week to learn about Responsive Classroom and Edison's Discipline Plan. As a Responsive Classroom school, this philosophy shapes not only our discipline practices but also how we teach, what we believe, and how we interact with parents. As a follow up to that discussion, I wanted to share with everyone some of the core beliefs in Responsive Classroom:
- Teaching Social and Emotional Skills is as important as teaching academic content.
- How we teach is as important as what we teach.
- Great cognitive growth occurs through social interaction.
- How we work together as adults to create a safe, joyful and inclusive school is as important as our individual contribution or competence.
- What we know and believe about our students – individually, culturally, developmentally – informs our expectations, reactions, and attitudes about those students.
- Partnering with families – knowing them and valuing their contributions – is as important as knowing the children we teach.
Teachers use Responsive Classroom in their classrooms by planning and holding Morning Meetings to build community, in the kind of language they use with students (Reminding, Reinforcing, and Redirecting), by using Interactive Modeling, by developing classroom rules WITH students instead of FOR them, and by assigning logical consequences for behaviors that break community rules.
At the request of parents at the meeting who asked for additional concrete examples of what Responsive Classroom looks like in action, we've attached an extended slide deck from the presentation with both examples of language and links to videos of Responsive Classroom in action.
You can access the presentation at: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1xJWdWUICXulOcDd1AWTtR8xLZx-ZoivG/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=101646978151216629374&rtpof=true&sd=true
Logical Consequences
Responsive Classroom Practices
Core Beliefs and Guiding Principles
Covid Health Precautions
Antigen Testing
Please continue to use an antigen test on Sunday evenings or Monday mornings to make sure your child is testing negative for Covid and ready to attend school on Monday. Keep students home if they have symptoms of Covid and if they test positive. Notify the office to report any illness related absence (melinagarcia@smmusd.org) or (310) 828-0335, ext. 61-348. Antigen tests for students are sent home Fridays with students. Masking continues to be highly recommended indoors. And when classes have been exposed, students can continue to attend school if they test negative and are symptom free and IF THEY MASK indoors for 10 days.
Announcements
PTA Association Meeting
Join us at the monthly Edison PTA Association Meeting on Monday, September 19 at 8;30 am in the Edison Library. Grab a cup of coffee or tea from the Edison cafecito cart and join other families to get an update on Room Reps, Book Fair, Fall Festival/Día de los Muertos, and other fall activities sponsored by the PTA. The meetings are held in person but also offer a hybrid option if you'd like to join in via zoom.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82844049979?pwd=NDlHUmxBTnB0M09wT29ydWFXYWgvdz09
Meeting ID: 828 4404 9979 Passcode: aguilas
English Learners Advisory Committee (ELAC)
Thank you to all the parents of English Learners who joined us last week for the first ELAC meeting of the 2022-2023 school year. Congratulations to Lucy Prieto who was elected as the new ELAC President! At the meeting, members participated in an annual training about the purpose and role of ELAC and how it makes its decisions. Members also received a briefing on the process for identifying, assessing, monitoring, and reclassifying students who are English Learners and a description of Edison's English Learner Program. ELAC meeting notices, agendas, minutes and handouts from meetings are posted on the Edison website at https://www.smmusd.org/Page/722 . Newly elected leadership will be meeting with Bilingual Community Liaison Jessica Hernández to plan future meetings --- including a possible option to return to on-campus and in-person meetings!
Updating the Edison Safety Plan
The annual work of updating our Comprehensive School Safety Plan (CSSP) and holding School Safety Committee Meetings is underway. The Safety Plan includes all our procedures for keeping students safe at school -- prevention programs, policies related to discipline and school rules, and all our emergency response protocols. Safety work goes on all year. We held rules and safety assemblies for all students earlier in the month, offered a parent workshop on discipline policies and Responsive Classroom at a Coffee with the Principal and have been updating playground game rules. Currently. we're inventorying and updating emergency supplies, preparing for the Great California Shakeout (statewide earthquake drill to be held October 20), and arranging for staff trainings for the Olweus Anti-Bullying Program and Restorative Justice. If you are interested in learning more about the CSSP, there will be a public hearing on the plan held in conjunction with the September meeting of Edison's School Site Council on Wednesday, September 28 at 4:30 pm. The meeting notice, zoom link, and agenda will be posted on the Edison website at https://www.smmusd.org/Page/715 If you're interested in joining the School Safety Committee, or volunteering to help on safety projects, please contact Assistant Principal Elizabeth Ipiña for more information (eipina@smmusd.org; (310) 828-0335, ext 61-305).
Mariachi Class Stlll has Space! Now Tuesdays Only!
The Mariachi class for 5th graders will now meet only on Tuesday 3:30-5:30 pm (supervision begins at 3:00 pm) Students can still join the class.
https://tinyurl.com/MariachiClassRegistration . If you have any difficulty registering on line, Edison’s Community Liaison Jessica Hernandez can assist you (310) 828-0335, ext 61-306. There is no cost for this program and instruments are provided.
PTA Reflections Art Contest
PTA is sponsoring the Reflections Student Art Contest inviting Edison students to submit original works of visual arts, music, dance/choreography, photography, film, or literature. All works should reflect the theme "Show Your Voice" and should include an artist's statement that connects to the theme. Student submissions are due by October 7 and may be turned in at the main office or submitted online, To obtain a digital form, go to https://tinyurl.com/EdisonReflections
Fall Book Fair
This week the PTA is hosting the fall Book Fair with collections of books from Scholastic and La Librería. Drop by the Edison Library after drop off in the morning or after school in the afternoon and stock up on affordable, high-interest books in English and Spanish. All funds raised from the book fair go to programs and materials at Edison. Can't make it to school? No problem, you can shop on line and your purchase still benefits our school! Edison library 8:00 - 9:00 am and 1:00 - 5:30 pm next Tuesday, September 20 - Friday, September 23. Want to volunteer and love books? Sign up to help families find books! Sign up below. Please check in with the PTA Board Members at the registers when you arrive. Sign up here/ Regístrese aquí: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508044aa9af2ca0f85-edison1
5th Grade Dance Start Date Postponed
A glitch in the agreement between the district and the Santa Monica Dance Academy has resulted in the need for the Santa Monica Dance Academy to postpone the start date for the 5th grade dance program. This program offers 20 classes of American Jazz and Musical Theater during extended PE periods for our 5th grade students. As soon as this is resolved we'll message new start dates.
Attention Young Artists and Readers
Our County Supervisor Shiela Kuehl invites young artists and bookworms to participate in the LA County Library Bookmark contest. This contest showcases the talent, creativity, and passion for reading displayed by LA County youth. If your child would like to create a bookmark showing what reading means to them, use the link below for info on how to enter the county contest. And if you send the Edison library a copy of your entry, you just might find your bookmark available in our own library!
Click here to learn more and enter the 43rd Annual Bookmark Contest!
The Research Corner
Brain Benefits of Bilingual Education
"Bilingualism is an experience that shapes our brains for a lifetime."
Dr. Gigl Luk, Associate Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Education
In the last two decades, we have learned much more about the human brain and the effects of having more than one language. NPR Ed interviews some of bilingual education's most prominent researchers to look at some of the surprising ways that bilingual education appears to be shaping the students' brains. A 2016 NPR Ed brief on the benefits of bilingualism highlighted several interesting effects.
Attention -- One of the skills of knowing two languages is being able to suppress one language to speak the other. Switching between two languages requires the skills of "inhibition" and "task switching" which are abilities that are part of "executive function" -- an area where bilinguals often outscore monolinguals. . Says Antonella Sorace at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, "bilinguals can pay focused attention without being distracted and also improve in the ability to switch from one task to another."
Empathy -- Because bilinguals have to pay attention to social cues to decide what language to speak with what person in what setting. Some studies have demonstrated that young bilinguals have a head start on tests of perspective taking and theory of mind -- both of which are fundamental tests of social and emotional skills
School Performance and Engagement -- Studies by Ginger Collier and Wayne Thomas (George Mason University) conducted over 30 yers in over six states and 37 districts have demonstrated that, copared with students in English-only classrooms or in one-way immersion, dual language students have "somewhat higher test scores and also seem to be happier in school. Attendance is better, behavioral problems fewer, parent involvement is higher."
Diversity and Integration: While American public schools are becoming more stratified along racial and socioeconomic lines, dual language programs are often exceptions. These programs deliberately place native English speakers with immigrants and tend to be more ethnically and socioeconomically balanced. Researchers report some evidence that this "helps kids of all backgrounds gain comfort with diversity and different cultures."
About Us
El Semanario is the weekly family newsletter from Edison Language Academy in the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District. Edison is a school of choice and offers a 90-10 Spanish-English dual immersion program for all students. Edison's PreK-5th grade program is the first of three schools hosting SMMUSD's PreK-12 grade Language Academy. Students promoting from Edison can continue the dual immersion program at John Adams Middle School (JAMS) and Santa Monica High School (Samohi).
Edison is a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, twice named as a California Distinguished School, a multi-year recipient of the State of California's Title I Academic Achievement Award, holder of a Seal of Excellence from the California Association for Bilingual Education, and a multi-year Honor Roll designee from the Education Results Partnership. This is Edison's 35th year as a dual immersion academy.
Email: lorum@smmusd.org
Website: www.edison.smmusd.org
Location: 2402 Virginia Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90404, USA
Phone: (310) 828-0335