Dear Eagles,

It is hard to believe it is already December and the holiday season is here! We hope that all is well as we near the end of the semester and a much deserved winter recess. In this edition, we will highlight our third Core Value, Diversity. We have defined Diversity as “We embrace and welcome all people and their experiences.” While this can be observed in a variety of ways on campus, one of the best examples is our Inclusivity and Equity Committee. This group, which formed in the fall last school year, is comprised of staff, teachers, administrators, parents, and students. The committee has the following mission statement:

Our mission is to develop and maintain foundational shared values that ensure our campus community has a sense of belonging, a sense of safety, and a positive equitable learning environment.

It is this mission statement that truly guides and focuses the work the group does. Our Core Values and Eagle Expectations are a product of this group’s work. This year, we are proud to have students join our group, bringing a more authentic and informed perspective to our work. It is invigorating to work with our youth to improve our school and they are already hard at work on several projects. We value input from our Eagle Community and always welcome new members. If you are interested in attending our meetings, we meet every other Thursday from 3:45-4:45pm.

Please email me with any questions, dan.neff@lmusd.org.

We wish everyone a restful winter break and happy holidays.

Go Eagles!

Dan

Students! Yearbook orders are going quickly this year with less than 140 copies left for sale! If you want to make sure that you get a yearbook this year then please head on over to Jostens.com to purchase and secure your copy. Price is currently $70. After January 1st the price goes up to $85. (CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR YEARBOOK)

-Yearbook

On December 12th, 1913, the stolen “Mona Lisa” is recovered in Florence. Two years after it was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece The Mona Lisa is recovered inside Italian waiter Vincenzo Peruggia’s hotel room in Florence. Peruggia had previously worked at the Louvre and had participated in the heist with a group of accomplices dressed as Louvre janitors on the morning of August 21, 1911.

Leonardo da Vinci, one of the great Italian Renaissance painters, completed The Mona Lisa, a portrait of the wife of wealthy Florentine citizen Francesco del Gioconda, in 1504. The painting, also known as La Gioconda, depicts the figure of a woman with an enigmatic facial expression that is both aloof and alluring, seated before a visionary landscape. The Mona Lisa was eventually returned to the Louvre, where it remains today, exhibited behind bulletproof glass. It is arguably the most famous painting in the world and is seen by millions of visitors every year.