Bell High School
Principals Update Week 25
From The Desk of Rafael L. Balderas, Principal
Greetings Bell HS Family,
I hope this message finds you and your family in great health and sound in mind.
As principal of this great educational institution, I am proud to announce our very own Bell HS Academic Decathlon has placed in the top five and will once again compete at the State level! In summary; The top teams were announced February 18, 2021 at L.A. Unified 2021 Academic Decathlon awards ceremony, held virtually. Hundreds of decathletes, representing 45 high school teams across the District, celebrated their achievements virtually with family members, friends, teachers, principals, school staff and other supporters. Top-scoring students also were honored with individual medals and trophies for academic achievement.
The theme of this year’s decathlon is “The Cold War,” with students spending countless hours of intense study preparing for multiple-choice tests in art, economics, math, music, science and social science, as well as prepared and impromptu speeches, an interview and an essay. Due to the current health crisis, the academic tests were administered online, while the speeches and interviews were virtual.
Bell High School placed 5thplace overall, with 37,787.7 pointsamong 45 high schools. Bell HS will again be competing at the State level for the tenth consecutive year. Congratulations to all the decathletes and their coaches, Heather Wilson and Mathew Moreno.
The top 8 teams will move ahead to the 2021 Virtual California Academic Decathlon competition, scheduled March 3-10, 2021. Since 1987, L.A. Unified has won 23 state contests. Go Eagles! You Got This!
In conclusion, I will continue to reiterate, If we are to return to any model of face to face learning, EVERYONE must do their part by wearing a mask, practice social distancing, wash your hands, Covid test and remain home. We Can Get Through This!
In Partnership,
Rafael L. Balderas, Principal
PRELIMINARY BUDGET INFORMATIVE FOR 2021-22
Please be informed that the upcoming budget improves funding from last year’s allocations, although due to a projected higher cost of staff coupled with a focus on mitigating the pandemic learning loss we will redirect costs for the coming school year. Due to this, our priorities will continue to meet the demands of our most challenging subgroups to bridge the learning and digital divide. First and foremost, we will need to allocate resources to target the instructional needs of our English Learners and Student with Disabilities. Nevertheless, continued efforts in the four cores English, Math, Science, and Social Studies will continue with a laser like focus. These core areas are the corner stone of higher learning and thus should not be compromised. To maximize our resources the majority of the funding will be used to support the core program to keep class size and counselor ratios to a minimum, along with targeted school mental health services. It is the intent that next years budget will serve the students’ best instructional and emotional needs. Please find below a two-year comparison of the preliminary Federal and State Categorical budgets for the 2021-22 school year:
PROGRAM 2021-22
Title 1 (7S046) = $1,694,740
Title 1 Parent Involvement (7E046) = $23,100
Targeted Student Population (TSP) = $1,939,714
In the upcoming weeks we have scheduled budgetary informational meetings with our School Site Council to ensure that our budget is transparent. In summary, please be assured that all instructional materials, including student textbooks and personnel with a direct impact on student achievement will continue for the following school year. Our goal for the upcoming school year is to mitigate the learning loss to all of our students.
NEED CASH FOR COLLEGE? WE GOT FAFSA WORKSHOP SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, & 27, 2021!
Saturday, February 20 and 27, 2021 Bell HS and all High Schools in the Community will be hosting a Financial Aide FAFSA Workshop to ALL Seniors. Please join us to get help on navigating the FAFSA to receive money for college. Remember we do NOT want to leave money on the table!
Saturday - 9:00 am to 1:00 pm
Please Log Into our Zoom Meeting:
Meeting ID: 841 7811 3927
Password: 758954
WE GOT COLLEGE CENTER SUPPORT FOR COLLEGE APPLICATIONS AND FASFA FOR SENIORS!
Attention ALL Seniors, from our College Counselor Mr. Marquez, we have schedule College Application support with our TELACU Talent Search, UCLA EAOP and ETS team every Tuesday and Thursday from 11:30 am to 1 pm by logging onto the following Meeting ID: 841 8564 889 Passcode: COLLEGE. Or you may visit the College Center for a drop-in every Wednesday from 3 to 4 pm by logging onto the following meeting ID: 827 4332 5772.
Please note there a very important due dates:
- FASFA should be completed by March 2, 2021
- California Dream Act Applications are due March 2, 2021
For additional information please email Mr. Marquez at fxm94721@lausd.net or please visit our Bell High Schol Virtual College Center at: https://bit.ly/BellCollegeCenter
Do We COVID TEST? YES, We COVID TEST!
LAUSD has embarked on an ambitious plan to Covid test our staff, students and families. The test is free to all members of the school community. In an effort to help keep our communities and schools safe, we ask for members of our learning community to register and make an appointment at https://achieve.lausd.net/covidtestingappt
As a reminder our Testing Center for all Bell HS students and families is located at Maywood Academy HS at 6125 Pine Avenue, Maywood CA. Please make an appointment prior to your arrival.
@Home Learning? YES We Teach Remotely!
Shout out to everyone for this week of teaching and learning! As a reminder, attendance is MANDATORY, based on the following schoology & zoom logon analytics we have for the following week:
Week of February 15 to 19, 2021
Students Virtual Attendance = 2,308 out of 2,381 students for a 96.9%
Weekly Log-on Grade Leaders (schoology & zoom)
Grade 12 – 96.8% / Grade 11 – 96.05% / Grade 10 – 94.6% / Grade 9 – 94.4%
Congratulation Class of 2021 “Seniors” Grade 12 You Are Still on Top!
Social, Emotional & Mental Health? We Got SEL!
We know from the data that students and families continue to feel isolated and alone, the Los Angeles Unified Launched Mental Health Hotline To Help Students and Families. Please have them call (213) 241-3840 – Please be mindful our students and parents world has been turned upside down and we need to make sure students have the support they need. In the event that you need immediate emergency assistance, please call 911.
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, please call either of the following phone numbers for mental health support:
- LAUSD Mental Health Hotline (213) 241-3840 M-F 6am-6pm
- LA County Department of Mental Health (800) 854-7771
- Didi Hirsch Suicide Prevention Hotline (877) 727-4747 (24 hours)
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800) 273-TALK (8255) (24 hours)
- Bell High School Confidential Text Tip Line (323) 989-3750 (24 hours)
For immediate contact with the Bell High School’s Social, Emotional and Mental Health Team, please communicate with one of the following SEL Team Members:
- Sara Soto, PSW – sara.soto@lausd.net
- Keilah Gomez, Psychologist - keilah.gomez1@lausd.net
- Julia Carrera, Psychologist - julia.carrera@lausd.net
- Marissa Franco, PSA - marisa.franco@lausd.net
YES, MONDAY IS GOLD SCHEDULE!
Purple & GOLD Bell Schedule from Tuesday to Friday
As a reminder please follow our regular Tuesday to Friday bell schedule, see schedule below:
How are we doing in feeding our community? We Feed Our Learning Community!
As a reminder to our families and community members Bell HS will host its next Food Banks on Tuesday, February 23, 2021. Also, our schools Grab & Go Food Distribution Center continues to serve meals everyday from Monday to Friday from 7 to 10 am! Please drive up on Pine Ave. and NO ID is required. Our motto will always be “No Family Will GO Hungry”.
Do We Have Social Media? Yes We Got Social Media!
ALPHA Academy @BHS_ALPHA
Bell High School @bellhighschool
AVID Academy @BHSAVID_familia
Global Studies Academy @BHSGlobalStudy
MTCA Academy @bhs_mtca
STEM Magnet @BHSGiftedMagnet
Bell Senior High School
Email: Bell-SH@lausd.net
Website: www.bellhs.org
Location: 4328 Bell Avenue, Bell, CA, USA
Phone: (323) 832-4700
Twitter: @bellhighschool