El Semanario
November 14-19, 2022
This Week at Edison
Monday, November 14 - 8:30 am Coffee with the Principal, Edison Library
Tuesday, November 15 - Field Trip to Aquarium -- Maestras Cachú and Mejia; 10:30 Fire Drill
Thursday, November 17 - 1st Grade Dental Presentation 2:15 pm; Deadline for 5th grade parents to give permission for participation in the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS)
Friday, November 18 - Shelter in Place Drill 10:45 am
Saturday, November 19 - TK-K Prospective Parent Orientation 9:00-10:30 am
From the Principal's Desk
This week is one of those rare occurrences in November -- a full five-day week of instruction with no holidays or minimum days! Between the Thanksgiving Holidays and the minimum day right before the winter break, we have only 21 full instructional days left in this calendar year. It hardly seems possible. Please help us make maximum use of this precious instructional time by minimizing absences for outside appointments during this time. And kindly remember that district policy does not allow independent study to be used for the purpose of extending a school vacation.
We had a very productive meeting of our School Leadership Team (SLT) last week, reviewing the progress that each grade-level Professional Learning Community (PLC) is making toward our School Improvement Plan. Our focus this year is on increasing active learning in our classrooms, especially using strategies such as Think-Pair-Share, Gallery Walks, and Quick Writes. Not only do these strategies build student engagement, they require more student oral and written language and help build supportive learning communities. I'll have more information to share on this at Monday morning's Coffee with the Principal if you're interested in learning more about what this looks like in action and what we're learning. If your schedule allows, linger a little on Monday morning, grab a cup of coffee or tea from the PTA Cafecito Cart and join me in the library for conversation (8:30-9:30 am).
We have two important safety drills this week (see the Safety column below for more information) and this Thursday afternoon our first graders will be participating in a workshop on dental health provided by dentists from UCLA. In addition to regularly scheduled meetings of the Student Success Team (SST) and Individualized Academic Plan (IEP) team, we are in the heart of observations for the teacher evaluation cycle this week. Other important work happening this week during our Wednesday early dismissal day includes a staff analysis of information from our recent interim assessments and planning for how to adjust classroom instruction to meet the needs revealed in this data. We've also finished our first cycles of intensive reading intervention and supplemental English language development (ELD) instruction and sent home progress reports from Maestras Naranjo-Badillo or Salmaggi to families of children in these programs. We're using recent assessment information to exit students who have made great progress and pick up others whose scores show that they are not keeping pace with classroom instruction. If your child is in either category, you will receive a letter notifying you of any change. We're also hoping to start another targeted intervention program this week before school, targeting 3rd grade English learners who need additional academic vocabulary in English to be on target for reclassification.
A reminder that we are still looking for parents who can help in the morning at the front or back gates to help with safety at drop off. If you have time on Friday mornings and would like to help distribute Covid antigen tests, I'm sure our Friday morning volunteer crew would also appreciate additional help. Please let Jessica Hernandez know of your availability and she'll get you connected (310) 828-0335, ext. 61-306, or jessicahernandez@smmusd.org. And a continued plea for parents to please stay out of the staff parking lots in the mornings -- these are not safe drop off zones and the presence of extra cars in those tight areas makes it more difficult for staff to get to work in a timely and safe fashion. There are just a few people who do this, but unfortunately, you are having a large impact on our staff. Please take an extra minute in the morning and use the drop off zones designed for safe school arrivals.
November Calendar
November 21 - PTA Association Meeting 8:30 am Library
November 22 - Maestras Melendez and Jimenez field trip to Japanese Cultural Center
November 23-25 - Thanksgiving Holidays - No School
November 30 - School Site Council, 4:30 pm via Zoom. -- Vote on School Safety Plan
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Health and Safety
Safety
Safety Drills -- This week we have two safety drills scheduled -- a fire drill in the morning on Tuesday at 10:30 am and a shelter in place drill on Friday at 10:45 am. If you are coming to campus either morning to pick up a student for an appointment, plan to arrive at least 10 minutes before those times or well after the drill. Fire Drills -- Students are accustomed to our monthly fire drills and know how to quickly and safety evacuate buildings. Fire drills (complete with sweeping and accounting for students) only take about 10 minutes at this time of the year. Some of our younger students have lately been displaying an interest in the red fire alarm stations that are in every room -- asking what would happen if THEY pulled the lever. Please help us with messaging at home that these alarm stations are not toys and that no one should pull them as a joke or just to see what happens.. Children need to know that these alarm boxes exist for their safety, but they also need to understand that there are serious consequences for anyone who plays with these alarm boxes or deliberately sets off false alarms The alarms not only trigger a response that affects the entire school, but they alert the fire department and (unless we have previously let them know that we are having a drill), they have to respond as if there is a real fire -- with fire trucks and sirens. Thank you for also messaging this at home!
Shelter In Place Drill -- We have our first Shelter In Place drill this Thursday, teaching and practicing the procedures we use if we ever need to quickly lock our campus and move all children to secure indoor locations. The situations that warrant a Shelter In Place are rare, but they can happen without warning and so we need to be prepared. In such a drill we check gates, quickly move children who are outside into locked and secure locations, and make sure everyone is accounted for. A Shelter In Place can be called by site administrators or by local law enforcement if there is a situation that they are working nearby that could possibly affect the school or access to the school. For example, a few years ago, there was an active situation on Cloverfield Blvd. close to the end of the day and law enforcement did not want parents driving into that situation so they placed the school on a Shelter in Place order. When a Shelter In Place command is given, all children are brought to secure indoor locations -- behind locked doors. Teachers lock doors, lower shades, and turn off lights. We have a system for everyone to report their status to the office and account for all persons on campus. Students can leave the classrooms (in an emergency) to use restrooms but are accompanied by an adult. Because it can sometimes take a while for an "all clear" to be called, we keep water and granola bars in the classrooms. Teachers can continue with instruction, read aloud to keep students relaxed, etc. In a Shelter In Place situation, we will send a dialer home to keep you informed and let you know when you can come to campus. For this week, we just want to let you know that we are teaching this protocol and practicing on Thursday morning.
From a Shelter in Place, we can pivot to a Lock Down situation if a threat actually happens on campus, These situations always involve Law Enforcement and no one leaves classrooms, enters or leaves campus, until Law Enforcement releases the school from the lock down. As part of our preparation for this scenario, every space on campus where students could be sheltered has supplies to set up emergency restrooms (including privacy pop-ups) and we have emergency food and water in classrooms. Our first priority in such a circumstance is the safety of students and staff and notices to parents would most likely come from the district. It has been nearly a decade since we've been placed on a Lock Down but we have many staff who were part of our team during that experience and we teach and train staff for Lock Downs every year so that everyone would be prepared in case such an emergency should occur.
Health Precautions
It is really important that students and staff check any Covid-related symptoms with antigen tests and do the routine weekend screening Sunday evening or Monday morning. We're seeing an up-tick in reported Covid cases among adults and students and the best way to stop the spread at school is for anyone with symptoms to test and anyone testing positive to stay home until they get a negative test. Notify the office to report any illness-related absence (melinagarcia@smmusd.org) or (310) 828-0335, ext. 61-348. We are still sending antigen tests for students home every Fridays with students. We really appreciate the parent volunteers who have been coming each Friday morning to distribute the test kits and families who are doing the routine screening.
If a child or adult tests positive and may have exposed others in the classroom -- First of all, anyone testing positive needs to stay home until they have re-tested with a negative result. Usually this takes 5-10 days. Please notify Office Specialist Melina Garcia (310) 828-0335, ext. 61-348 or melinagarcia@smmusd.org) when an absence is due to illness so we can let the teachers know about work that will be needed, and so we can notify others who have potentially been exposed. If your child attends other after school programs where they mix with students in other classrooms, parents must notify those programs so all exposed students and staff can take precautions. The notices of exposure that we send to classrooms DO NOT IDENTIFY children or adults by name, but do include the date of last exposure and instructions about how exposed students and adults may continue in person instruction. After an exposure, students and staff must mask indoors for the 10 days following exposure and families should be alert to monitor for potential symptoms and use an antigen test if symptoms do appear. Everyone is fatigued with masking, but the support of families in taking appropriate precautions in those situations has to date resulted in very low rates of transmission for exposures at school and we thank you for your continued attention to the challenges that these viruses cause.
In addition to Covid, we are in the middle of flu season and there are higher than normal rates of RSV (respiratory virus) among children right now. These are both highly transmissible. So, we all need to practice the routine health practices of frequent hand-washing, sneezing into an elbow or sleeve, and keeping students home when they have a fever of symptoms that require medication to control. No one wants students to miss school unnecessarily and we understand that having a sick child also often means that a parent cannot go to work. But, please do not dose children with medicine to temporarily control symptoms and send them to school while they have a fever. Those doses tend to wear off by mid-morning and then we have children who are feverish, congested, short of breath, or wracked with coughs streaming into the office -- where we must contact parents to come and pick them up. When children are ill, they will recuperate much more quickly if they stay home. Keeping them home also reduces transmission to other children.
We continue the practices of having air scrubbers and filters in our classrooms, maximizing ventilation, eating in outside settings, and offering hand sanitizer and opportunities for hand washing as a routine practice. Covid boosters for better protection against newer strains of the Covid virus and flu shots tailored to this year's strains of flue are available now for adults and most age groups of children. Both are highly recommended this year. Thank you again for your help in minimizing the spread of these viruses at school and for helping your own child to recover more quickly by keeping them home when sick.
Announcements
Congratulations Young Storytellers!
November 9, families and friends of this fall's 5th grade Young Storytellers had a wonderful time attending "The Big Show!" The cafeteria was filled with laughter and applause as Edison students Delilah Cortez, Moises De Leon, Daniela Hernández, Yovani Hernández, Allison Medrano-Rivera and Kimberly Garcia Santiago shared their screenplays. Young Storytellers recruits working writers to be 1:1 mentors and writing coaches the 5th graders, teaching them how to write screenplays over a 9-week program. The mentors are overseen by our extraordinary Head Mentor Damon Lira. The evening of The Big Show, Young Storytellers recruits volunteer working actors to bring the students' screenplays to life on the stage -- and hilarity ensues! This year was particularly fun as one of the actors was Will Rothaar, who attended Edison as a child.
Young Storytellers is a small and intensive program, serving 6-10 5th grade students -- usually in fall and spring cycles. Students are dismissed from class a few minutes early to go get their lunch. They eat and spend lunch recess with their mentors and even contribute some after school time. As the organization explains "Young Storytellers equips young people to be the driving force of their own narratives. We raise voices, one story at a time." Edison has been so fortunate to have partnered with Young Storytellers for approximately 20 years. To learn more about this wonderful organization or to donate, visit www.youngstorytellers.com..We are so grateful for their partnership and support!
More Congratulations to Edison Students!
Edison students from Elemental Choir (an enrichment choral music program with students across the district that meets at Edison afterschool) performed Dos Oruguitas as part of Encanto Live at The Hollywood Bowl this weekend! What an exciting musical opportunity for our students! Congratulations to Elemental Choir director Jessi Spikes Gravelle (who also teaches 4th/5th grade choir at Edison) and to all the students who participated.
Edison’s 4/5 football team (sponsored by the Boys and Girls Club after school programs) won the district championship this weekend. They were undefeated all season! Students practice on the Edison field after school and play games against other SMMUSD schools on the weekends. Congratulations to Coach Abraham Badillo and all the Edison students for their hard work, teamwork and Eagle Spirit!
Stairway Honor Groups Auditions
All 5th grade students are encouraged to audition for this year’s Elementary Music Honor Groups. The ensembles will perform alongside middle and high school orchestras, bands, and choirs in the Samohi Greek Theater on March 25th, 2023. Auditions will be held on zoom, on Saturday December 3rd, 2022. For more information and to sign up, please click here.
Announcements from SMMUSD
Board Meeting Agenda Published: The 11/17/22 regular board meeting agenda has been published online. The start time for open session will be 6 p.m.
Free State Park Passes for 4th Graders
Fourth graders can get into 19 state parks for FREE. A California State Park Adventure Pass helps them do just that. Parents of fourth grade students can sign up for the pass on behalf of their student. For more information, visit www.parks.ca.gov/AdventurePass.
Siblings Ready for Kindergarten or Transitional Kindergarten in 2023-2024?
Do you have a younger child born on or before September 1, 2018 (Kindergarten) or between 9/2/2018 and 4/2/2019 (Transitional Kindergarten? If you are interested in having them attend Kindergarten or Transitional Kindergarten next year (2023-2024) at Edison, it's time to let us know!
Please email Jessica Hernandez (jessicahernandez@smmusd.org) or call her at (310) 828-0335 ext. 61-306 and she will send you an application. Younger siblings of immersion program students receive a preference for enrollment as long as we have space in an appropriate program to meet their needs. But in order to take advantage of this preference, you must submit a complete application before the deadline -- February 10, 2023. We cannot assure sibling preference for late applicants.
We recommend not waiting until February 10 -- apply as early as possible so that we can language screen students and process an early admission. This will give you additional time to take care of inter- and/or intra-district permits, make sure your child's medical exam and immunizations are up to date and sign up for an early enrollment appointment.
If you have an older child who is still at Edison, you do not need to attend an orientation. However, if your older child is in middle or high school, it's time for you to come to another orientation. Policies and programs can change! We will have three orientations this year -- two on Saturday mornings and in the evening and all in person.
- Saturday, November 19 - 9:00-10:30 am
- Saturday, December 10 - 9:00-10:30 am
- Thursday, January 26 -- 6:00-7:30 pm
You must sign up in advance to assure that we have room (see the link below). Please spread the word to interested friends and neighbors, have them sign up on line, and help us recruit the next Kindergarten and Transitional Kindergarten Edison students!
Native American Heritage Month
Native Perspectives on Climate Change
November is designated as Native American Heritage Month. During National Native American Heritage Month, we explore the heritage, culture, and experience of Indigenous peoples both historically and in American life today, PBS Learning Media has some wonderful resources for listening to contemporary Native voices on the issues of climate change, sustainability, and care for Mother Earth. You might enjoy some of the brief videos linked below, starting with this simple exploration of Sustainable Food Practices.
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