Issue #8 January 22, 2021
A Message From Dr. Maxey
Happy New Year and Welcome Back to Virtual Learning!!!!
I hope everyone had a restful and relaxing vacation. Options for travel and events were of course limited because of the Covid pandemic, but I hope you were at least able to see friends and family virtually.
This year new year brings hope and optimism. Many frontline workers have been vaccinated. I just got an email from Kaiser sharing that they are now taking those who have underling conditions and hopefully soon we will all be able to be vaccinated.
I look forward to the day that we can all be together again! In meetings with my Principals and Staff the overwhelming sentiment is, "We want to see our kids." Students and families serve as the core for our work and are missed horribly. Let's continue the work of online education, but at the same time let's look forward to the time in which we can all be together again!
EL Updates - Title III Coaches
Meet Our Newest Title III Instructional Coach!
My name is Erika Lai. I have been with LAUSD for 13 years, as a teacher for English Learners, and as an English Learner coordinator. Having family from Peru and Cuba has made me passionate about teaching English as a second language and I am here to help make learning accessible to all students. As a Title III Coach I am looking forward to serving our EL population and supporting the Reseda Community of Schools!
SPOTLIGHT ON SPECIAL EDUCATION
Rodrigo Risiglione is currently the Special Education & Intervention Coordinator at Reseda Charter HS. He began in 2019 after being a Resource Specialist Teacher at Patrick Henry MS. Mr. Risiglione has loved the time he has spent in the classroom with his students and the connections he made over the years and at all grade levels. However, his belief is that he can make a more significant impact on students’ success by working closely with other educators and professionals. He believes that by sharing and collaborating on the application of best common practices, exploring and applying co-teaching strategies, and developing and making sure that students’ accommodations are being implemented with fidelity, he is impacting more students. He is passionate about the role of social-emotional teaching and learning for all of us in education. Reseda COS is fortunate to have Mr. Risiglione advocate for the students we serve.
SPECIAL EDUCATION RESOURCES FOR FAMILIES
Having a visual schedule provides students with predictability which helps reduce challenging behaviors that occur during transitions. Schedules allow individuals to prepare for what is coming up and allows your child to know when they will be done with a task or activity. Schedules help to strengthen expectations by making it clear what your child will be doing for the day or period of time. Depending on the reading level of your child, you can use pictures to show your child what they will be doing or write the schedule if they read independently. Schedules can be broken down by the hour or the day. Allowing your child to check-off or remove items from their schedule helps with motivation.
Kamala Harris Makes History as First Woman and Woman of Color as Vice President
Kamala Harris smashed through one of the United States’ highest glass ceilings on Wednesday, becoming the first woman, first Black American and first person of Asian heritage to be appointed vice president, blazing a trail in the most diverse White House ever.
Harris, 56, enters the post having already forged a unique path, as California’s first Black attorney general and the first woman of South Asian heritage elected to the US Senate. Ms. Harris, the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father. She was taught from the earliest days of her childhood that the road to racial justice was long.
On the campaign trail Harris spoke of her mother and the generations of women of all races who paved the way for this moment. “While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last,” she told a cheering and honking audience in Wilmington, Del. “Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.” For little girls all around the world, all things are possible!
Kamala Harris made history as the first woman, Black woman and Asian woman to be sworn in as vice president by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor as her husband Doug Emhoff holds the Bible during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021.
The swearing-in of the three new senators will be groundbreaking. Warnock and Ossoff will be the first Black and first Jewish senators, respectively, representing Georgia, while Padilla will be California's first Latino senator.
Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States took place on January 20, 2021, at noon, marking the commencement of the four-year term of Joe Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice president.
People holding placards with the photo of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris celebrate on the day of her inauguration in the village of Thulasendrapuram, where Harris’ maternal grandfather was born and grew up, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, India, January 20, 2021.
Amanda Gorman Words of Hope
Amanda Gorman, the 22nd year old Los Angeles resident, made history Wednesday when she became the youngest inaugural poet during President Joe Biden’s swearing-in ceremony in Washington. Gorman says she wasn’t given any direction in what to write, but that she would be contributing to the event’s theme of “America United.” She was about halfway finished with the piece when, on Jan. 6, pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol Building.
Gorman ended up staying up late following the unprecedented attack and finished her piece, “The Hill We Climb,” that night. The poet, whose work examines themes of race and racial justice in America, felt she couldn’t “gloss over” the events of the attack, nor of the previous few years, in her work.
Parent and Community Engagement Unit
By: Morena Camp, Parent Educator Coach
Local District Northwest Parent Page: LDNW Parent Website
Schoology Group for Parents: https://bit.ly/2JqMzcW
Title I Coordinator/Designee’s Professional Development
-Monthly meeting for all LDNW Coordinators.
Friday, January 22, 2021
9:00 a.m.
Parent Center Staff Professional Development
-Monthly meeting for all LDNW Parent Center Staff
Thursday, January 28, 2021
9:00 a.m.
Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP)
Study Group
-Please join us for the last meeting of our Local District Northwest LCAP Study Group.
English Learners Advisory Committee (ELAC)
Study Group
-Are you a member of the ELAC at your Child’s school? Are you familiar with the reclassification
process? Please join our ELAC Study Group.
School Experience Survey (SES)
(Due Date has been Extended)
-Great news! If you have not had the opportunity to complete the School Experience Survey, please complete it by visiting:
Link: https://achieve.lausd.net/Page/8397
Contact your school for questions or contact the School Experience Survey team by phone
(213) 241-5600 or by email:
SchoolExperienceSurvey@lausd.net
DUE DATE: February 5, 2021
Coffee with the Local District Northwest Superintendent
It is that time again! Please save the date for our next Coffee with the Local District Northwest Superintendent. Click on the link to register. Once registered, you will receive an email with confirmation to attend the webinar.
Newsletter-Virtual Field Trip Series
Learn about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through these fully immersive, 360-degree virtual field trips. Make it a family activity by encouraging discussions around questioning for opinions and understanding, as well as summarizing.
Take a virtual tour of the life and time of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Explore each room inside the house of where MLD, Jr. was born and lived. This virtual field trip provides audio and closed captioned information throughout.
Take a virtual tour of the life and time of Dr. Martin Luther King by exploring his birth home, the Rose Garden, Ebenezer Church, and much more. Learn about the historic national park located in Atlanta, Georgia. This virtual field trip offers audio.
Parents, refer to these prompt and response starters to engage in meaningful conversations about the virtual field trip with your child. https://achieve.lausd.net/Page/13108#spn-content
Source: Multilingual and Multicultural Education Department, LAUSD
by Katrina Antonelli-Weiss, Systems of Support Adviser
All kids deserve to learn in a safe, supportive and caring environment. The Great Kindness Challenge provides a powerful tool that actively engages students, teachers, administrators, families and communities in creating a culture of compassion, acceptance, unity and respect.
At the heart of The Great Kindness Challenge is the simple belief that kindness is strength. It is believed that as an action is repeated, a habit is formed. With the Great Kindness Challenge checklist in hand, students have the opportunity to repeat kind act after kind act. As kindness becomes a habit, peace becomes possible. The Great Kindness Challenge is a grassroots movement that is making our schools, communities, and world a kinder and more compassionate place for all. Working together, we joyfully prove that KINDNESS MATTERS! https://vimeo.com/247889893 Your family has the power to change the world! For everyone. Everywhere. Anytime.
