Dear Sun Valley Community of Schools,

Thank you to all of you who attended our town hall meeting last week. In the future we will be holding our town hall meetings in the evenings. We realize that it may be difficult for parents and staff members to attend town hall meetings while school is in session.

These past weeks the District has been focused on rolling out a testing and tracing program that will eventually be used by all schools to ensure that students and staff who are on campuses are virus free. We are starting with a small group of staff members and their children who are on campuses right now. After being tested, participants will receive their results in 24 to 48 hours. Individuals who are negative for COVID-19 are cleared to be on campus. The lessons learned from this pilot will be used when the program is scaled up to all students and staff members at all schools. The successful implementation of this program will allow schools to open safely in the future.

I had the pleasure of visiting virtual lessons this week in elementary, middle and high school classrooms. I was impressed with how teachers are using digital tools to make online instruction more engaging and interactive for students. I realize this new format is very challenging and involves a learning curve, so I want to commend those educators who are stepping up to innovate and create effective lessons in the remote setting. Keep up the good work.

Thank you,

John Rome

Sun Valley Community of Schools Administrator

Polytechnic High School Special Education teacher Brenda Fishler has been selected as one of 22 LAUSD “Teachers of the Year” for 2020-21. Ms. Fishler’s 29 years in special education has included teaching students in different types of special education programs at a residential placement center, at Pacoima Middle School, and at Poly. She pioneered a co-teaching program at Pacoima Middle School, started the first Learning Center at Poly, and was on the team that created Poly’s guiding principles of “4 for Life”. She brought the first work assessment lab (PAES) to a general education campus, and she helped open a Special Education work experience store at Poly in 2014. She also co-wrote a grant to develop inclusion opportunities for all students. Ms. Fishler has served as a mentor and support provider for new teachers, and, during her 27th year of teaching, she chose to challenge herself again and earned National Board Certification in teaching students with Exceptional Needs. Today, as a teacher in Poly’s Intellectual Disabilities program, Ms. Fishler continues to advocate for her students to make sure they have the best and most innovative materials, technology, and programs available for their educational growth. Congratulations, Ms. Fishler! Your students and all of us in the Sun Valley COS are fortunate and honored to have you in our community.

Mr. Nuñez starts work as early as 6:30 a.m. daily at the Byrd Middle School Grab and Go site. He works diligently and effectively to ensure that all employees adhere to the mandated safety requirements: social distancing requirements, washing hands, wearing masks, food handling, and traffic control. We truly appreciate his hard work and dedication to providing a safe environment for families and employees that are dedicated to providing food to students and families.

Thank you Mr. Nuñez. We appreciate you!