1. Opening Message from our Community of Schools Administrator, Dr. Jose Rodriguez

2. Celebrations

3. Notes From the Field

• LCAP Study Group
• School Experience Survey
• Unified Enrollment & CHOICES Programs
• Community of Schools and Local District Central Events & Announcements

We would like to congratulate these three GPLF parents who were recently elected to represent Local District Central on the Local Control and Accountability Plan Parent Advisory Committee. It is likely that it is the first time that three GPLF parents will serve on the committee at the same time!

October soon draws to a close; though 90-degree afternoons and monsoonal showers make it difficult to believe that winter approaches, the changing of seasons will nevertheless soon be here. These metamorphoses of nature, cyclic and vital to all the ecosystems of life on this planet, might also be metaphors for our own cycles of change writ large in splendid display. Just as green leaves turn to gold, and dusty chaparral mountaintops succumb to (hopefully) snow, so too do our own lives inevitably turn with tides of our own.

Learning, too, is a tidal phenomenon, and no less natural than those of the physical world around us. There are peaks, and valleys too, times when learning seems impossibly difficult and others when knowledge suddenly "clicks" into place. As our families and teachers support our children this Winter season, it is important to remember that such cycles are a natural and healthy part of the learning process. If your child seems to be stubbornly stuck in the face of new ideas, don't worry that their pace seems too slow. In fact, William Stixrud and Ned Johnson argue in their book The Self-Driven Child: The Science and Sense of Giving Your Child More Control Over Their Lives that insisting on children learning skills before they're ready might not just be unnecessary, but even counterproductive:

"One of the most obvious problems we see from rushed academic training is poor pencil grip. Holding a pencil properly is actually pretty difficult. You need to have the fine motor skills to hold the pencil lightly between the tips of the first two fingers and the thumb, to stabilize it, and to move it both horizontally and vertically using only your fingertips. In a preschool class of 20 we know of in which the kids were encouraged to write much too early, 17 needed occupational therapy to correct the workarounds they’d internalized in order to hold a pencil."

This isn't to say that it's harmful to encourage children to push their knowledge boundaries - just that it is entirely OK if children need more time. All things have their season, it seems, and for our children the doldrum winter valleys of today might be made verdant spring meadows tomorrow. Whether it's using pencils or advanced mathematics, the development of our children occurs not just through nurture, but by nature as well.

And in the meantime? Perhaps it is a good day to take a walk through the neighborhood with your child, explore the Zoo, taste an exquisite sorbet on Sunset Boulevard. Ponder together the oddities of Southern California Octobers, and make guesses as to when the next rains might come. Connect with one another, and from these precious learning experiences - of a different sort, to be sure - who knows what epiphanies might emerge!

One of the most impactful opportunities for families to engage and provide feedback to the district is to participate in the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) Study Group. In the LCAP Study Group sessions, parents and caregivers have the opportunity to learn about, discuss, and provide feedback about how the District utilizes its state funding to support all students in LAUSD including those in high needs populations.

The district's LCAP is revised every three years and the most recent plan includes 9 major goals to support student outcomes and success. Each study group session focuses on 2-3 of the goals, and we learn from local district leaders about the programs and measurements that have been implemented to make progress toward those goals. At the meetings you also have the opportunity to hear from the Parent Advisory Committee members who represent our local district at the district level. They share what they are learning and participate in the discussions about the goals.

Please join us at our next LCAP Study Group session on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. To attend, please register at https://bit.ly/ldc-lcap22-23. We will discuss Goal 4: Parent, Student, & Community Engagement and Goal 6: Basic Services. If you have questions about these topics that you would like to see addressed, please email cas3510@lausd.net

The annual School Experience Survey (SES) will be administered this year from Monday, October 24th through Friday, December 9th. The SES is given in the fall to students (4th grade and higher), parents, and staff at all LAUSD schools. The results provide valuable feedback to schools about the effectiveness of programs and services provided at schools. Moreover, school staff along with parents on School Site Councils (SSC) and English Learner Advisory Committees (ELAC) use the data they receive from the SES to inform budgetary decisions for their schools.

Students and staff will take the SES online as they have done in the past. Parents are also strongly encouraged to take the survey online. Parents who are unable to take the survey should contact their child’s school to get a paper copy of the survey.

Parents should complete a survey for each school that your children attend. In other words, if you have more than one child at a school, it is only necessary to complete one survey for that school. On the other hand, if you have children in multiple schools, then you would complete one for each school.

Details about the 2022-2023 School Experience Survey can be found at https://achieve.lausd.net/Page/8397 If you have any questions about the School Experience Survey, please send an email to schoolexperiencesurvey@lausd.net or call (213) 241-5600.

The CHOICES On-Time Application window for the 2023 - 2024 school year is open from October 3rd - November 18th To explore the options that LAUSD offers, visit goto.lausd.net. Once you have found the programs that meet your child’s needs, access online applications via apply.lausd.net.

Acceleration Days will now take place on December 19-20, 2022 and April 3-4, 2023.

Acceleration Days are designed to help address learning loss associated with the pandemic. Face-to-face instruction is a critical element of student success. In total, students will be given 32 additional hours of instruction, enrichment, connectivity and social and emotional support at school.

With these extra days of instruction, teachers and support staff will be able to meet with students one-on-one or in small group settings to identify areas of improvement. In preparation for Acceleration Days, school staff can identify students in need and provide them with the appropriate educational support so that they may reach their highest potential. We want our students to graduate ready for the world.

For students who do not need additional instructional support, Acceleration Days provide opportunities for enrichment.