Message from the Director
- Welcome back! I hope you enjoyed Spring Break last week.
- State-mandated CAASPP testing is quickly approaching; it begins at the end of this month.
- “The California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) is designed to give information to teachers, students, and their families about what students know and are able to do and whether they are on track to be ready for success in college or a career when they graduate from high school.”
- CAASPP has provided resources just for parents that you can use by clicking here.
“Practice tests are available for parents and students. Practice tests are a great way to preview the test, view sample questions, and practice with the tools and resources (e.g., highlighter, calculator). Need help with the practice test? Reference Guides are available to assist with the login process and can be accessed here.” - Order your yearbook today! Yearbooks are on sale now in the office. All-color pages that vibrantly capture memories throughout the school year, for only $20.
Parent Resources
This week the 7 Habits focus is Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw. Many of us believe this is best saved for vacations like last week’s Spring Break, but it is actually a daily practice. Simple activities include walking the dog, playing a game, exercise, reading a book, or listening to music or an inspiring podcast.
Habit 7, from The Leader in Me Parent Guide
“Sharpen the Saw” means to have balance in your life. There is a story of a man who was sawing down a tree and not making a lot of progress. When a passerby asked him why he didn’t stop sawing to sharpen his saw, he remarked that he was too busy sawing. Habit 7 reminds us that we are more productive when we are in balance — body, brain, heart, and soul. Just like the four tires on a car, if one area is being ignored or overused, the rest will feel the results. For young children, the car analogy is one they understand; a car could not go anywhere on fewer than all four tires. Explain the four parts of each person (body, brain, heart, and soul) and how important it is to take care of each part to make them all work better.
Younger-Child Activities
- Develop a “Sharpen the Saw” activity center in your home. Include arts and crafts supplies, learning games, puzzles, classical music, books, etc.
- Discuss various ways to Sharpen the Saw in all areas. Ideas might include: body (playing outside, riding your bike), brain (balancing reading with TV watching or making smarter choices about what you watch), heart (making a list of what makes you happy and doing something on the list every day; spending time with special friends and family), and soul (attending religious services, starting a journal).
- Read inspiring books (See the book list in the “Additional Resources” section).
- Read chapter 7 of The 7 Habits of Happy Kids book with your child and then complete the Parent’s Corner.
Teen Activities
- Encourage your child to keep a regular journal or blog.
- Subscribe to magazines that have educational value or read good books.
- Encourage your teen to get in the habit of reading a newspaper every day. Online works, too!
- Make sure you are also modeling the behaviors in steps 1–3.
Works for All Ages
- Join a gymnasium or start a regular exercise program with your child.
- Pick an organization to volunteer with for you and your children.
- Visit a new museum, or try a new type of cuisine — expand your horizons and try new things.
- Learn how Leader in Me (7 Habits) can help parents and guardians establish a powerful framework to nurture and develop life-ready leadership skills at home. This link will give you access to the entire resource.
Please Join Us Friday for the 2019 Vision in Education Benefit Dinner
The 2019 iLEAD Antelope Valley Region Vision in Education Benefit Dinner is coming up this Friday, April 26, and we’re hoping to see you there!
The Vision in Education Benefit Dinner is a wonderful gala evening that helps raise funds to support iLEAD Lancaster, iLEAD Antelope Valley, and Empower Generations, as well as honor some of our dedicated community members and staff. At the Vision in Education dinner, you’ll have the opportunity to interact with iLEAD faculty, staff, and other families in our school community, and you’ll hear more about our exciting plans for our shared successful future.
Community Honoree: Raj Malhi, Lancaster City Councilmember
Staff Honoree: Margaret Wassner
Family Honoree: The Terrell Family
Click here to learn more about this year’s honorees and reserve your tickets!
Catching Character and the 7 Habits in Action
Last week, the 7 Habits focus was Habit 6: Synergize. A few weeks back, the iLEAD AV staff exhibited Habit 6 by planning an amazing Lottery and Open House Carnival! Our synergy created a lottery that highlighted our school and was fun for all! Our learners and parents enjoyed food from Izzy’s Taco House, face painting, a 3rd-grade bake sale, and the Reptacular Animals Petting Zoo.
6th Grade Project-Based Learning & POL
Driving Question: How can our study of ancient civilizations help us teach the importance of them within our community?
Curriculum Corner
Georgia Math
- To support the learners, we have adopted a new math curriculum! Click here to watch a short video about the Georgia Math strategies that are all aligned to the Common Core State Standards.
- There are many ideas and strategies to support our learners at home. GeorgiaStandards.Org allows parents easy access to information about the state’s standards, which are aligned to our California Common Core State Standards.
- This website also offers a variety of free resources to help you motivate and support your child’s curriculum at home while reinforcing the standards your child is working on in the classroom. Click here for more info.
Daily 5
- We are also fine-tuning our implementation of Daily 5 and the CAFE strategies. Read to Self and Read to Someone are strategies that learners can also do at home with you. Please encourage them to do so at least 20 minutes a day.
- We purchased a total of 1,300 narrative and informational texts so that each classroom received 100 new books for their libraries. This will support our implementation of Daily 5. Please continue to encourage your learners to Read to Self, Read to Someone, or Listen to Reading at home.
The Importance of Reading
Please take a moment to click here and review a great article on “How Reading 20 Minutes a Day Impacts your Child,” and join us as we continue our schoolwide reading initiative.
Educators have long said reading makes people smarter, and there’s research backing them up. A recent study conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics found reading to children of any age wakens a number of regions in the left part of the brain. The areas in the brain that become active involve understanding the meaning of words and concepts tied to memory.
Upcoming Events
April 2019
Friday 4/26: Vision in Education Benefit Dinner; Tickets are available here.
May 2019
Thursday, 5/2: iSupport Collab, 9-10 a.m. in Room 17
Our Goals
Our planning and preparation is consistent with our three Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) goals. I am looking forward to sharing how we are meeting each goal throughout the school year, and I have listed the goals below:
Goal 1: Provide optimal conditions of learning through providing basic services, implementation of California State Standards, and access to an academic and educational program.
Goal 2: Provide all learners with a rigorous, creative, and broad curriculum to maximize academic achievement and college and career readiness.
Goal 3: Generate active engagement between parents/families and the school, and connections with the community, to promote learner achievement and communication among all stakeholders.
Keeping the Valet Process Moving
Dear iLEAD AV families, thank you for your patience as we perfect our new valet procedure on 22nd Street West. The morning and afternoon process is going smoothly. With your support, each day became more efficient and every learner was directed to class or walked in by their parents or an iLEAD AV team member.
Thank you for your feedback on the new valet procedure. As a result, we were able to make a few changes to improve the process:
- In the mornings, the Valet gate now opens at 8 a.m.;
- Based on parent requests, in the afternoon the valet gate opens at 3:00 p.m.;
- Many of you requested the opportunity to walk on site to pick up your learners in the afternoon. To honor your request, we added to our process. Please park on 22nd Street West, walk on to the valet lot using the exit gate, and present your valet card. You will be able to walk to the classroom to pick up your learner/learners;
- Please remember the valet traffic flow pattern. There are no left turns to enter or exit the lot.
- To help us continue to be good neighbors, please do not block the driveways for Miller Elementary School or KinderCare on 22nd St. West. To assist us with that, our leadership and maintenance team has designed a new flow pattern to get more of our parents inside the valet area.
Pick-up is from 3:30-4 p.m. Learners who have not been retrieved by 4 p.m. will go to extended care and accounts will be billed at $3 per hour, per learner.
Additional Procedures
As promised at the end of last school year, we have created a solution for our parking dilemma. The owner of the shopping center asked all parents and staff to stop parking there and posted signs warning us that cars would be towed, so that is no longer an option.
I am happy to report we will begin using our lot on 22nd Street West for Valet before and after school. The lot is very large. As a result, we will no longer have Valet in front of the school.
To access the lot, please turn right on K-4 from 20th Street West. You will pass Miller Elementary School, drive right around the bend, and make a right into our lot. At the start of the day, your learner will be greeted and escorted onto campus. At the end of the day, your learner will be summoned and escorted to your car. Please be sure to post your Valet card on the dashboard daily. Once your learner is safely in your car, you will exit the lot and make a right, which will take you to Avenue K. We will have cones, signs, and iLEAD team members to support you and the learners.
In the mornings, the Valet lot will open at 8:00 a.m., and it will open at 3:00 p.m. for dismissal. If you are walking your learner to class in the morning, we will have a parking area in the lot just for you.
A Few Reminders…
Parent Square: Click the Apple or Android links to download the app to your smartphone for free and get instant alerts.
Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/parentsquare/id908126679?mt=8
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.parentsquare.psapp&hl=en
iSupport: Get involved and help make change! Join iLEAD’s version of PTA. We need you! Learn More
Lunch Program and April Menu
Please submit your Free/Reduced lunch application to the front office as soon as possible. Lunch balances must remain under $20 this school year. Please make payments in the front office. NO LUNCH on Fridays.
Meal Prices:
Breakfast: $ 1.60
Lunch: $2.95
Reduced prices:
Breakfast: 30 cents
Lunch: 40 cents
Healthy Food Policy
Learners will be more active and exerting much more energy outside. With that said they will need refreshing fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and as much water as possible. We’d like to share with you our health and wellness policy to reference and support you and your learners in making good food choices for nourishing the body and mind.
Please keep healthy choices in mind when packing snacks and lunches for school. Thank you for helping us support your learner!
What About Those Heelys?
We’ve seen an influx of Heelys on campus. Learners are zipping along the halls and on the playspaces. While we LOVE fun and seeing our learners enjoying themselves, we have to ask that they don’t use the wheels while at school. Please understand this is a safety concern for learners and staff. We want to prevent accidents and keep everyone safe. Heelys brand shoes can be worn; just please remove the wheels for school.
General safety guidelines also include no skateboards or bicycles being ridden on campus; they must be carried and walked. Thank you for your understanding and support!
