Upcoming Events
Monday, Jan. 21: MLK Day observed (No School)
Friday, Feb. 8: Winter Production & Silent Auction, 6:30-8 p.m., AV Church, 3830 West Ave. L8 in Lancaster
Message from the Director
Thank you for joining us on Thursday, January 17, for the first iSupport Parent Collaborative Breakfast. Your contribution has a positive impact on all of the learners.
Our parents requested resources to support their learners at home in preparation for the state testing in April and May. Click here for practice and training tests learners can do at home.
Thank you for participating in the MLK Day of Service on Saturday, January 19, here at iLEAD AV. Thank you to our maintenance team (Jaime Cruz, Mike Montes, and Jedidiah Nootenboom) for leading us in school beautification efforts. We painted, raked leaves, and cleaned our school.
AV Athletics
We are so proud of our iLEAD Antelope Valley flag football team. Our flag football season is complete, and we came in 2nd place!
Our basketball season starts in February. Boys and girls, 5th through 7th grade, are signing up for teams now.
Parent Resource
This week’s Character Lab focus is Grit, and our 7 Habits focus is Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind. Click here to read the Psychology Today article, “12 Ways to Raise a Competent, Confident Child with Grit.”
Winter Production
Save the date for the iLEAD Antelope Valley Winter Production & Silent Auction, coming up Friday, February 8th, from 6:30-8 p.m. Our learners and facilitators are preparing for their performances. You won’t want to miss it! Doors open at 6 p.m.
Location: AV Church, 3830 West Ave L8 in Lancaster.
Presale tickets: $5 per person sold in the front office
Tickets at door: $8 per person
Performing learners are free.
You won’t want to miss this event!
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.
Catching Character and the 7 Habits in Action
Last week, the Character Lab focus was Curiosity, and the 7 Habits focus was Habit 1: Be Proactive. Kenneth Scott is a 4th-grade learner in Mr. Bogdan’s class who exhibited curiosity and Habit 1. When Mr. Bogdan was facilitating the Multiplication Facts Practice, Kenneth suggested that Mr. Bogdan give the facts out of order to make it even more challenging! Mr. Bogdan took his suggestion and continued the Multiplication Facts Practice presenting problems in random order. It made the practice session more rigorous, and all of the learners benefitted as a result of his proactive request.
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.
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.
Valet 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 January 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
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!