And just like that we have completed a month of school. In these four weeks we have learned and grown together. In these four weeks we see that there are areas to continue to grow and learn. That is the beauty of school - our improvement journey never ends!

This week we had all of our 1st - 5th grade students attend Behavior Assemblies. During these gatherings we shared expectations and students shared some of their concerns. My over-arching message to all students is to Be in the Right Place; At the Right Time; Doing the Right Thing. I deeply believe that if all people practice this every moment of every day that our school, our community, and our society would be something wonderous to behold.

For the assemblies it is clear that our primary areas of focus to grow are with respect and safety. Students shared many concerns with issues in our restrooms. We discussed how to be safe, be respectful, and be responsible. I am asking that you please assist us by reminding your child that our restrooms are for handling private business and to wash and dry our hands often while maintaining safe and clean environments. Our restrooms should not be for playing, bothering, our flooding sinks or toilets. We can do better.

For our adults I make a plea for safety first and to remember that our children are always learning while watching our adult actions. At drop off in the morning and pick up at dismissal in the afternoon I remind all that we are blessed with a surrounding community full of ample parking. Take the time to park down the block and walk a bit to come to and from school. Take that time to talk to your child about their day. Take the time to model safely crossing the street and showing consideration for others. Take the time to meet other families and your child's friends. The more we take the opportunity for purposeful modeling the better the likelihood that, together, we are working to develop model citizens for the future.

As always, please be safe and please enjoy the rest of your weekend!

William Lamb

Principal

Grateful for our amazing leaders. These two are the very best!

We will be holding a School Site Council orientation and election on Tuesday, September 12th, at 3:30pm, in Room 12 (Parent Center). This is an opportunity to learn about the roles and responsibilities of the School Site Council and how we engage each of our stakeholder groups at our school. After the orientation will be electing five parent representatives to the council. If you are interested in nominating yourself, please email Rachel Burris at: rjs6223@lausd.net. You can also nominate yourself at the orientation meeting. Please be aware that you must be present at the meeting in order to be elected. Click here to view the flyer.

Ms. Jacqueline is seeking volunteers to help out in her Spanish class. Click here to sign up to volunteer. She is at our school on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. You must be a cleared volunteer to sign up; however, you can still fill out the google form to express interest in helping out. Thank you!

PARENT MIXER - 1st COMMUNITY EVENT OF THE YEAR! 🎉

Thursday, September 21st, 6-9PM at The Penmar (map)

Buy your tickets and call your babysitters because you will NOT want to miss it! Come meet and mingle with other parents in our Short Ave community and enjoy drinks and food overlooking the beautiful Penmar Golf Course in one of the coolest venues in Venice!

Tickets are $40 (Includes dinner & your first drink) click here to purchase a ticket.

Do you want to pay it forward and buy a teacher ticket, or sponsor a parent in our community? Click here to purchase a pay it forward ticket.

ANNUAL GIVING & FOSA ANNUAL BUDGET 💙

Are you wondering why FOSA asks for donations and where the funding goes? We know that it can seem like a lot and want to provide transparency about where your donations go, so we’ve listed our annual budget below. Without the support of our incredible Short Avenue community, we cannot afford our wonderful instructional aides in every classroom, Spanish music classes, buses for field trips, the edible garden, classroom supplies, teacher professional development, and so much more!!

For Annual Giving, we’re at 12% participation level and our goal is to get to 100% family participation. And truly, every contribution makes a difference, no matter the size. We recognize that everyone's financial picture is different, so please participate at what level feels comfortable for you.

Online donations - you can make a one-time donation (click here), or sign-up to make a monthly donation during the school year (click here).

Pay by Check - please make checks payable to “Friends of Short Avenue” and hand-deliver them to the Front Office attn: FoSA.

FOSA ANNUAL BUDGET 📈

See FOSA’s updated 2023 Annual Budget here.

100% of every dollar from FOSA goes back to Short Avenue Elementary.

UPCOMING COMMUNITY DATES & EVENTS 🙌
Everyone is welcome, so please join us at any event that you can!

FoSA Meeting (virtual: Google Meet link) - September 14th, 6PM-7PM

Parent Mixer - Thursday September 21st, 6PM-9PM

1st School wide Assembly - Friday September 22nd, 8:15AM

Beautification Day - Saturday, September 30th, 9AM-1PM

Fall Festival - Saturday, October 28th, 4:30 -7:30PM

VOLUNTEER 👷‍♀️

As a parent, you play a vital role in shaping the education experience for your children, and we invite you to join us in making a difference. We are still looking for Event/Program Committees & Volunteers for the following: YearBook, Winter Bazaar. To sign up, please click here.

We are also looking for 1 or 2 people to be on the Birthday Marquee Committee. This is a job that can be done at home with a computer. Avril, our Community Rep, will train you to input Birthday messages on our Marquee. We are looking for one or two organized people who can commit the whole year, and preferably more years to help us get the Birthday messages in the Marquee's message queue. Please email Avril at avril.lipsky@lausd.net if you are interested in this volunteer opportunity.

SPIRIT WEAR RECYCLE/REUSE PROGRAM

Free, gently used Spirit wear is coming to you shortly! We are collecting any spirit wear items that do not fit your children anymore and are still in good condition. Please donate them for others to enjoy!

Please leave your gently used spirit wear items in the spirit wear bin, located in the office.

FOSA COMMUNITY MEETINGS

FoSA community meetings are held monthly and all are welcome to join!

They take place on the 3rd Thursday of every month, September*- June, and alternate between virtual (6:00PM on Google Meet) and in-person (8:20 AM on campus). Meeting invites will be sent through FreshSchools.

*September FoSA meeting will be on 2nd Thursday*, 9/14/2023.

This will be a virtual meeting, 6 PM link to Google Meet. Invites will be sent through FreshSchools.

Thank you for being a part of our school community. Together, we can achieve anything!

We look forward to your continued involvement and support.

For any other questions regarding our school community, or to get in touch with a FOSA board member, please reach out to fosaboard@friendsofshortavenue.org

We are seeing an uptick in Covid cases now that we are all back to school. The District has provided new Covid Exposure Management protocols for the 2023-2024 school year. The new guideines are as follows:

• Individuals who test positive must stay home and follow isolation instructions for 5 days (Day 0 is the day an individual tests positive).
• Parents of a student who tests positive are strongly recommended to upload their test result to the Daily Pass.
• Individuals who test positive may be released from isolation on or after Day 6, provided any symptoms are improving, and they are fever-free for the past 24 hours without fever-reducing medication.
• Students returning between day 6-10 may unmask if they have two sequential negative tests taken at least a day apart.

If you need any Covid tests, you can pick them up in the main office or request them from your child's teacher.

Additionally, there have been a few cases of lice this week. Please check your child's head regularly and notify the school if your child has lice. It is best to keep hair pulled back to avoid any spread.

Student attendance is a focus for us this school year. It is important that your child is present and on time for school EVERY DAY. An accumulation of absences can negatively impact students both socially and academically. The school is working closely with the District to monitor student attendance and reach out to parents when students are consistently absent from school. While it is understandable that students might become sick throughout the school year, the goal is for seven or less absences between now and June. Family vacations should take place during school holidays and scheduled during school vacations. Additionally, doctors' appointments should be scheduled after school or during vacations, whenever possible. If your child is out because of an appointment, we ask that you bring a note from your doctor to the main office, or your child's teacher. Please let us know if your family needs any support in getting your child to school.

***MANDATORY VOLUNTEER ORIENTATION ZOOM FOR BOTH NEW AND RETURNING VOLUNTEERS is Monday, September 18th from 6:00 to 7:00pm. This will be recorded for those who cannot make the meeting. Anyone wanting to volunteer at Short Ave is invited to come and find out both how to become a volunteer and important guidelines for volunteering.

Are you interested in volunteering in your child's classroom, the library, or the garden? We LOVE volunteers and hope that you will be one!!

1. Please sign up through this LAUSD VOLUNTEER LINK!

2. All Volunteers must be vaccinated for Covid and upload a copy of your Vaccination Card to The Daily Pass AND email a copy to avril.lipsky@lausd.net

3. Volunteers must have a negative TB test. New volunteers must have a recent negative test within 60 days of application. You must email your negative result to avril.lipsky@lausd.net so that they can be inputted into your application. You can get your TB test at CVS. TB tests for returning volunteers are good for 4 years.

4. Volunteers need to sign a Liability Waiver and the Commitment Form.

5. Please see the LAUSD Volunteer Page for answers to questions. https://www.lausd.org/volunteer

If you are a RETURNING VOLUNTEER from last year, you still need to fill out the LAUSD Volunteer Application online at LAUSD VOLUNTEER LINK! We should already have your negative TB test and Covid Vaccine Card on file. TB test's for returning volunteers are good for 4 years.

Becoming a volunteer can take a little time, but we promise you it is worth it!

All After School Enrichments except Musical Theatre start THIS WEEK!!! (Musical Theatre start the next Wednesday, September 20th.

1. Please remind your children each day that they have class
2. Please know where to pickup you child: Musical Theatre, Chess and reDiscover dismiss out the front of the Auditorium on Maxella, and ALL other classes dismiss out the back side gate on Moore St opposite the large play structure on the yard. Kids going to After Care will be brought there by their Enrichment teacher.
3. Your Enrichment Vendor/Teacher will be in communication with you during the session with any no call days. Please direct any questions to them.

Single Parents of Short Avenue

They say it takes a village… and our villages look a little different! The Single Parents of Short Avenue group was created to offer support, to inform, and to build community among single parents and the other nontraditional caregivers who have children at Short Ave. Our hope is that this group will offer the opportunity to come together and share experiences, discuss resources and best practices, and provide mutual support in navigating the issues that often arise from being a single parent. Through ongoing group dialogue and informative events (did someone say happy hour?), the group aims to foster a sense of community and addresses the needs of parents.

As a new group, we’d love some volunteers to join to help create a fun and exciting year of events and activities. And of course, if you’d like to join as a member, we invite anyone looking to expand their village. Please reach out to Madison Miller (madisonjmiller@gmail.com) if you’re interested!

Social Media: Last week I posted on our Instagram and Facebook ! A Happy Labor Day pic of our wonderful staff, a reminder that ALL Tuesdays are early days ending at 1:35pm, A Parent Mixer post, a bunch of Astro Camp posts, Alex's UTK/CC class's first time visiting our library, and a sweet pic of Mr. Lamb showing off his Short Ave Spirit! Please follow and like our social media posts, it is a wonderful way to see what is happening on campus!

9/12- School Site Council Orientation & Election in Rm. 12, Parent Center

9/18- Coffee With the Principal @8:15am, Rm. 12

9/22- School-Wide Assembly @ 8:15am

9/25- No School, Unassigned Day (Yom Kippur)