The Weekly Roar
February 12, 2022
Things I Love About La Ballona
Dear La Ballona Community,
In honor of Valentine's Day, here is a list of things I LOVE about La Ballona.
- The La Ballona PTA made up of staff, teachers, parents, community members who work together to improve our school.
- Our Beautiful Garden tenderly cared for by Michelle Weiner.
- The best custodians in CCUSD
- Our curious children learning about their world.
- Our dedicated Food Services team.
- Having a full time Counselor each and every day.
- Having an MTSS Coordinator, 3 intervention teachers, Instructional Coach, and 3 Special Education teachers.
- All of our Instructional aides that hold us together.
- Everything about Ms. Nakagawa, including her Wednesday assembly below.
- Our dedicated teachers who show up each day, even when their personal lives may be rocky and demands continue to increase.
- Our Office Team. They are expected to know and do all things at all times while being available to all people in all places.
- Our Instructional Excellence and Resources Room where teachers get the tools they need to teach.
- Our IT Aide who immediately responds to each and every email or phone call.
- Our librarian dedicated to enhancing La Ballona's library.
- Our PE team who instructs 570 students every single day. And they know almost every student's name!
- Our Arrival and Dismissal Parent Lead Cone Crew.
- Our Noon Supervisors who support our children during during lunch and recess each day.
- Our School Board, Superintendent, and District Administrators who support us in our goals toward academic excellence and equity.
- Our Music and Arts & Innovation programs
- My puppet, Leo the Lion, who brings me more joy and allows my inner child to take a minute and just be fun with children.
I could probably go on and on, but we all have some good football to watch. Have a great super bowl weekend.
Stay PAWSitive!
Dr. Becky Godbey
Principal
Welcome to La Ballona, Ms. Tiffany Douzart
PS- Special thanks to Ms. Anderson, long term Arts & Innovation substitute who has now transitioned to long term substitute in Room 3, Dual Immersion Kdg.
Last Week: National School Counselor Week
Below is a presentation she created celebrating the week.
Kindergarten Meet & Greets for Incoming Kindergarteners
📸 Lion Snapshots 📸
Baked good/fruit/treats Needed MONDAY
Calling all La Ballona families! Let's show our teachers and staff some love by bringing baked goods/treats or fruit to the office on Monday morning (or any day next week) in honor of Valentine's day.When dropping off, please let the office know that it is for the teachers lounge, thank you.
The Month of February
Click on the image for the PTA's Cultural Calendar, February 2022
Important Dates (New Dates in Bold)
- February 14- Fire Drill, 10:45am
- February 15- Kindergarten Virtual Meet & Greet in English (for Incoming Kindergarteners), 12pm
- February 16- Jog-a-thon Assembly
- February 17- PTA Coffee Chat, Teacher's Parking Lot & Principal's Patio, 8:45a
- February 18- Kindergarten Virtual Meet & Greet in Spanish, 10:30am
- February 21- No School President’s Day
- February 23- Kindergarten Virtual Meet & Greet in English, 5:30pm
- February 24- DEI Meeting, 6:30
- February 28- Kindergarten Virtual Meet & Greet in English, 3:30pm
- March 7- Kindergarten Virtual Meet & Greet in English, 2:00pm
- March 7- 11- Book Fair
Meet the PTA "coffee chat" and ask any question!!
Do you have any questions for a PTA board member? Want to come find out what we do and get more info about our open board position? Do you want to stop by just for a coffee and chat? Then swing by the teachers parking lot on Thursday morning, February 17th at 8:45am to say "hi"! Hope to see lots of you there
Winter Break Photos needed for Yearbook
The yearbook committee is requesting specifically a photo of your child/children from winter break. Here are the specs needed.....
- 1 photo only per family
- please send us a photo of your child enjoying winter break WITHOUT a mask
- state the name of the child, grade and teacher
- email the photo to LaBallonaYearbook@gmail.com by Friday, February 25th! ((with the title "winter vacation photo" in the subject line)
Cone crew need 2 different afternoon shifts to be filled!
Our trusty afternoon 'Cone Crew' have 2 shifts in the afternoon that need to be filled permanently (it's only 40 minutes, once a week).....Wednesday from 1:25-2:05pm and Friday from 2:55pm-3:35pm needs 1-2 new people to help out on a weekly basis. Our current crew can't fill these positions and we need your help please?
La Ballona 'Student Store' is open again - in the front lobby
Monday & Friday - 8:50am-9:30am
Wednesday - 1:50pm-2:30pm
Tuesday and Thursday CLOSED!
Star NOVA after school program is back to 5 days a week!
STAR NOVA's aftercare activity classes at La Ballona are back to 5 days a week starting at the end of February. Don't forget to check out all the new, fun classes to register for. Registration starts February 14th at 12pm.
Lions' Pride Run (Jogathon) - NEEDS YOUR HELP!
The Lions Pride Run, our biggest fundraiser of the year, is starting now and we need all the help we can get. Students are lacing up their shoes in preparation and we need parent support as soon as possible. Please contact Rocio Alvarez - webadmin@laballonapta.org if you can help organize this amazing fundraiser. Thank you for your continued support throughout the year.
STAR free Aftercare registration for fall 2022 info
Flyer attached below with more information for registering for the fall of 2022 for Star's free aftercare program
Our "Online Auction fundraiser Team" needs new help - easy as just writing some emails and requesting donations!
Looking for a flexible way to help La Ballona? Join our online Auction Team! We need volunteers for a variety of jobs—from those who prefer to just send emails, to people who like to talk to local business owners and ask for donations. We meet via Zoom once a month (even when there’s not a pandemic) and our meetings are after our kids are in bed. Working on the auction is an incredibly satisfying way to bring in the money that funds all the wonderful PTA programming! Plus, we are a fun and welcoming group—a terrific way to make friends with La Ballona parents. Please contact anyone on the Auction Team to learn more. Send any one of us a PM (Michele, Laura, Lisa, Felicity, Patricia, Silvia or Christine) or send a direct email to Michele Cerra Lachoff at michelej75@gmail.com
2022-2023 La Ballona PTA board Nomination Committee NEEDS YOU!
Our La Ballona Lions PTA is on prowl for next year's board leaders! Our PTA Board leads parent volunteers in creating educational opportunities and experiences for the students at La Ballona. If you're interested in taking an active role in the PTA, please fill out the nomination form linked HERE. Details on each role can be found in the form. Please reach out to Jamie Krute, msjamiedoody@gmail.com with any questions. Nominations are open until Friday, Feb 18th. As well, check out the graph listed below that will help you decide where you'd best fit in for volunteering with the new PTA board this coming fall. Thank you so much!
La Ballona Elementary School
Culver City, CA 90232
Email: erikaarredondo@ccusd.org
Website: www.laballona.ccusd.org
Location: La Ballona Elementary School, Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, USA
Phone: 3108424334
Facebook: facebook.com/laballonaelementary
Twitter: @LaBallona