Message from the Director
Hello everyone!
Thank you to all of our families who supported the Vision in Education Benefit Dinner on Friday, April 26th. Your support is appreciated!
Also, a HUGE thank you to our parents and staff who took time out of their weekend to booth at the California Poppy Festival. We had a great time!
Thank you to the parents who came to the iSupport Collab on Thursday, May 2nd. Your input is valid and needed to support the learners.
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.
The Backyard Bash is Coming!
Calling all entrepreneurs, artists, and performers! Join us for the 2019 Backyard Bash, Saturday, June 8th, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. This event includes iLEAD Lancaster, iLEAD Antelope Valley, iLEAD Exploration at Lancaster, Empower Generations, iLEAD Innovation Studios, and Little iLEADers. Hosted by iLEAD Antelope Valley, located at 2110 West Avenue K in Lancaster.
Sign up HERE to participate.
Questions? Contact one of our Event Coordinators:
iLEAD AV:Holly
iLEAD Lancaster: Ashleigh
Outreach Coordinator for all other schools or vendors: Kristan.
State Testing Info
Our State Testing began Monday, April 29th. Attendance and participation is critically important for our learning studio.
Please review the following:
Each spring, students in grades 3-8 and high school participate in the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP).
Testing will begin April 29 and go through May 23.
This year, your child will take the following test(s), depending on his or her grade level:
- Smarter Balanced Summative Assessment in English language arts/literacy (grades 3-8, and 11)
- Smarter Balanced Summative Assessment in mathematics
- (grades 3-8, and 11)
The Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments are online tests that measure what your child knows and is able to do. The tests include many different types of questions that allow learners to interact with the test questions. Results help identify gaps in knowledge or skills early on so your child can get the support he or she needs to be successful in school.
California is in the process of implementing the California Next Generation Science Standards. As part of that implementation, students in grades five, eight, and high school will try out a new test called the California Science Test, or CAST.
To learn more about either the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments or the CAST, click here to visit the California Department of Education Parent Guides to Understanding.
You can look at sample test questions on the practice tests, which can be found on the CAASPP Web Portal by clicking here.
iLEAD AV Saturday Academy & After School Tutoring
The next Saturday Academy is on May 11th from 8 a.m. to noon. Learners are welcome to attend for enrichment lessons and activities! Please sign up through your learner’s facilitator, contacting the office staff, or by checking in at the desk on Saturday morning. We are excited to provide an extra day of learning for our learners!
Habit 1: Be Proactive
This week the 7 Habits focus is Habit 1: Be Proactive
You have access to download the Leader in Me Parent’s Guide, which provides a host of ideas for supporting learners by using the 7 Habits at home. It’s an incredible, free resource that is available to parents.
Presentations of Learning
Ms. Ellington’s 3rd grade class became climatologists at their Presentation of Learning (POL). They showed how to provide a solution for current climate problems. Great job, 3rd grade!
Catching Character and the 7 Habits in Action
Several of the 7 Habits were demonstrated by Kalle Varney and Jason Gaglione during the Vision in Education Benefit Dinner. While serving as iLEAD AV ambassadors during the event, they were learners who modeled and embodied the 7 Habits.
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
May 2019
May 6th-11th: Staff appreciation week!
5/4, 5/11, 5/18/19: Saturday Academy 8am-12pm
May 27th: No School-Memorial Day
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 May 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!