ALMOND THURSDAY WORD

September 22, 2016

UPCOMING DATES TO REMEMBER

• 9/21 thru 10/15 - Stuffed Animal Collection in Office

• Thursday, 9/22

  • Early Release Dismissal

    • TK/K = 1:10pm, Gr 1-2 = 1:20pm, Gr 3-6 = 1:40pm

• Friday, 9/23 - Staff Development Day (No School)

• Wednesday, 9/28

  • Vision screening for grades K, 2, 5

  • Principal Coffee re: Ending Grade Level Silos (Library, 8:30am)

• Thursday, 9/29

  • Early Release Dismissal

    • TK/K = 1:10pm, Gr 1-2 = 1:20pm, Gr 3-6 = 1:40pm

• Tuesday, 10/4 - LAEF Phonathon

• Wednesday, 10/5 - LAEF Phonathon

• Thursday, 10/6 - Food Pantry Volunteer Event (sign up required)

• Saturday, 10/15 - Almond Walkathon

PRINCIPAL MESSAGE

As I’m sure you already know, there’s much more that goes into “school” than ensuring ALL students learn.

Here’s just a small amount of what gets considered: is the campus safe, bathrooms must be clean, children need to feel welcome, inevitable injuries must be tended to, forgotten musical instruments must be received, sick teachers need to be covered by substitutes, students cannot get run over in the parking lot, tummies need to be nourished throughout the day (below I will specifically address concerns regarding lunch being shortened by 5 minutes), etc…

The list above goes on and on - endlessly.

It takes the efforts of MANY to ensure that the minds and bodies of students are well cared for.

These are the entities at Almond and in LASD that contribute to this work.

• LASD Staff - Our district leaders have set the mission for “revolutionizing learning for children” while coordinating the efforts of every single district employee in making certain we are a cohesive unit.

• Almond Education Staff -  The site staff works through logistics to bringing the district’s goal to fruition.  This not only includes the instructional components of our work, but also many nuts and bolts around daily happenings at the school.

• Los Altos Education Foundation (LAEF) - Provides input and funding to help the district actualize its vision for learning.

• Parent Teacher Association (PTA) - Provides input and funding to help the school actualize its vision for learning while also actively supporting the social climate of the community.

There are also two additional groups this year that will have a more prominent role in regards to providing input.

• School Site Council (SSC) - A group of parents and school employees who meet together to provide input and review goals.  This year, the Almond SSC will focus on next steps for bringing alive the mission and vision, while also focusing on school climate and how to create an environment that is inclusive of all types of learners.  We will also generate a survey that seeks input from the community on a variety of school matters.

• English Learner Advisory Council (ELAC) - A group of parents representing English Learner (EL) students and staff that collaborate around ensuring the needs of ELs are met.

There are four types of site based community meetings that are open to all parents (in other words, public).  Below I explain the general purpose and intent of each.

• Principal Coffees: Facilitated by the principal and focused on providing information to the parent community regarding a variety of topics pertaining to “school.”

• Almond PTA Meetings: Facilitated by the PTA President and focused on supporting a variety of topics under the purview of the PTA.

• School Site Council Meetings: Co-facilitated by the principal and a lead parent and focused on providing information and seeking input from stakeholders on education initiatives.

• ELAC Meetings:  Facilitated by the English Language Development (ELD) specialist and focused on providing information regarding ELD program.

These gatherings are in place to make certain our school community is the best it can be.  To ensure this, we need the partnership of our parents.  As we work together, it is expected that you will have questions, wish to communicate needs, or express concerns.

Here are a few different scenarios and suggestions for the most effective way to reach out for support.

• If you have a specific question about your child or want to address a specific situation, please ask that question in a 1:1 setting.  In other words, please speak directly with your child’s teacher.  If you need additional support, then feel free to seek me out.  You may either chat with we me when I’m out and about, email me, or schedule an appointment.  Please do not raise such a concern in a group setting (like a PTA meeting or Principal Coffee).  Should that happen, I will respectfully request that we speak together during another time where I can better understand your issue and partner with you in seeking a solution.

• If you have a concern regarding a school matter (e.g., the 5 minute reduction of lunch, regrouping, homework, etc…), it would be most appropriate for you to communicate that directly with me.  If a challenge will ultimately involve school staff, require a systematic change of practice, necessitate coordination with multiple entities - the place to start is with school leadership.  Part of my role as principal is to strategically manage our human resources.  Depending on the need, I will follow up with whomever should be involved.  That might include the Almond Leadership Team, SSC, or PTA.

• Should you have ideas for any PTA related activity or funding, it would be most courteous of you to reach out to a PTA board member ahead of time to share your thoughts.  By doing so, you afford this group of parent volunteer leaders the opportunity to meet together to brainstorm your need or concern and to provide you with a thoughtful response at an upcoming meeting.

At this week’s PTA meeting, a concern was brought up regarding lunch being shortened by 5 minutes and the impact of this on students.  As a staff, we recognized this as a potential challenge after the first few days of school.  We brainstormed potential ways to address this.  Some ideas included shifting the 5 minute decrease from lunch to recess, adding on 5 minutes to the start / end of each day, or keeping an eye on the situation and working with students to be more efficient in getting to the lunch tables.

Moms, dads, guardians - I, Mrs. Benadom, am out at lunch virtually every day.  Part of the reason for this is because it is my responsibility to oversee the overall function of our school.  However, it’s also because we do not have enough noon duty supervision (not for a lack of trying to hire staff).  While I have not physically been at the lower grade lunch tables from 12:00pm - 12:20pm, I have been at the upper grade tables from 12:20pm - 12:40pm.  Let me share what I have observed.

• Yes, there are some lower grade students who need more time.  We will continue working on solutions to provide them with a safe space to extend their eating time.

• Many upper grade students use their time effectively.  When the 12:20pm bell rings, they stop their play, quickly get their lunches and are seated at lunch tables by 12:23pm, which gives them about 17 minutes to eat.

• There are some upper grade students who bring their lunches who don’t get to the tables until 12:30pm or later because they do not stop their play when they hear the bell and instead of quickly getting their lunches, they saunter to it and take their very sweet time.  I repeatedly speak to the same children on a weekly basis about this mismanagement of their time.

• In general, students typically finish their food in 8-10 minutes.  The last 5 minutes of lunch table time can be quite an experience for adult supervision.  Think about it, 250 students waiting to be set free to play or to their classrooms who are forced to stay seated and keep the volume somewhat low.  Adding “required” time to table time will exacerbate behavior challenges.

An idea was brought forth that we explore having ALL (which is exactly 454 grade 1-6 students) eat lunch at one time.  We did brainstorm this as a staff and I did let the PTA board know that some parents had approached me about this idea.  While this idea is not off the table, it does not appear to be the most viable and effective method to solve the current challenge.  Students already stand in the hot lunch lines for a significant amount of time.  Doubling the number of students trying to retrieve their hot lunch at the same time will require even more volunteers, an additional distribution space, new lunch tables, an additional canopy, and more.  

Another proposition was to separate the areas for eating but to still maintain the two shifts.  This would enable those lower grade students who need more eating time to take the time they need.  This is a possibility and will require a significant investment of funds (in the tens of thousands range) along with additional supervision staff to not only monitor additional tables, but also those lower grade students who finish and begin play.

The Almond staff and I appreciate the commitment and passion our families have around supporting our school.  Please know that we consider these issues very important as well and that we are examining every possible way to solve whatever challenge comes our way.  We will keep you updated on this school matter.

PTA & SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENTS - NEW

EXPANDING HELPING HANDS PROGRAM - The Helping Hands Program is looking for volunteers! This program is designed to help the First Graders adjust to being at the "Big Kid" lunch tables and playground, but really it is beneficial for all grade (1-6)

Volunteer shifts are available Monday - Friday, 11:45-12:45.  If you are interested or would like more information please contact Leslie Lee (leslieherbertlee@gmail.com) or you can sign up directly HERE.

PRINCIPAL COFFEE - The upcoming topic will focus on regrouping and the Almond’s staff around meeting the diverse academic needs of ALL students by strategically working across grade levels for targeted instruction.  The structure of the meeting will be as follows:  35 minutes of presentation around pedagogy, terms, research.  15 minutes of Q&A about this specific topic.  10 minutes of open ended Q&A about general school matters.  The meeting will promptly begin at 8:30am and end at 9:30am.  Please complete THIS form with questions you hope to have addressed so that the meeting can be focused and worth your time.