Fairfax Weekly Update
Updated: Jul 22, 2020
IMPORTANT DATES
June 12 - Last Day Of School
August 19, Wednesday - First Day of the 2020-21 School Year
You can also subscribe to iCal HERE and have dates imported to your iCal. ALL DATES are available on LARCHMONT SCHOOL ONLINE CALENDAR
FROM YOUR SCHOOL LEADER
Dear Larchmont FFX Families, The moment you've all been waiting for - our last weekly update for the 2019/20 school year! It was truly a week (and year!!) to remember. What a whirlwind it's been. On Wednesday, we held our car parade for our fourth grade students. Though it was a big departure from our usual Moving Up ceremony, in some ways, I think it might have been even more memorable. Cars overflowing with balloons and decorations; staff in the parking lot holding signs and cheering the grads on with music as the backdrop - a true celebration of a great five years at Larchmont Fairfax. Our fourth grade students also gave our campus a legacy gift - an actual star in the solar system that they named "LCS Forever." We'll look up to the skies and enjoy that gift forever! We wish our fourth graders all the best and look forward to following all of their successes with great joy! The rest of the week included end of year Zoom parties, our final School Sing replete with several guests, loads of live enrichment classes, and summer send-offs from teachers and friends alike. Yesterday evening was our high school graduation ceremony which included the first group of students from our Fairfax campus to graduate! It was certainly an emotional week after a tumultuous and challenging year. As our school year draws to an end (and because this is our last e-blast for this year), the teachers, staff and I want to wish you all a most enjoyable (and well deserved!) summer! We know you were always your child's first teacher, but you all really transformed into teachers once again during distance learning. Thank you for all of your hard work and your support, not to mention the beautiful end of year notes, cards, and gifts. Your kind words are so appreciated - I know I'll be adding all of the cards to my collection from over the years. We are all grateful to work in a such a wonderful community and we wish for much smoother times for everyone moving forward. We would also like to share our thanks and appreciation for all that you do for Larchmont, for without your unending support and contributions, Larchmont Fairfax would not be a fraction of what it is today. While we celebrate the many milestones of this year, we look forward to a much calmer 2020-21 school year! I'm sure you're all ready for a break from school, but I will be keeping in touch over the summer with updates about our reopening plans as soon as they are solidified. Please read Amy's message down below for further information in that regard. THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL FOR THE 2020/21 SCHOOL YEAR IS WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19th. HAVE A HEALTHY & WONDERFUL SUMMER! Larchmont Proud! - Mersedeh, Andi, & The LCS Faculty/Staff
FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Hi All,
I’m writing you one last message for the 2019-20 school year. This has been a year like no other and we know next year will also look different. I want to thank everyone in our community for pulling together to get through a trying time as only the Larchmont community could – well-practiced in collaboration, communication, creativity, generosity and a commitment to diversity and social justice. These traits have served us well in this time and will continue to do so in the times ahead.
I want to really thank all of you for not missing a beat and despite coping with the scare of this pandemic, you turned on a dime to be there for our students and families. Thank you for being flexible and creative and for modeling for everyone what it means to persevere. It’s been inspiring. I also want to thank our community (students, staff and parents) for stepping forward with ideas for us to deepen our anti-bias work as a school--we will look to implement many of these in the coming year.
It’s been so heartwarming to see all the end of year step up, moving up, sashing, promotion and graduation virtual ceremonies across all the campuses.
As we wrap up this year and head into summer, I know there is much anxiety about what next year will look like. We’re collaborating with lots of other charters and monitoring what districts and private schools alike are planning. I appreciate our staff and families taking the recent surveys to weigh in with your thinking. From the surveys, it’s clear our staff has many creative ideas about how to proceed along with concerns both on the health and safety front and regarding how the hybrid model would work. A small percentage of families need or prefer continuing full distance learning while the vast majority of families prefer to return to campus as soon and as much as possible. Your questions, concerns and suggestions will inform planning. We will ensure that any plan prioritizes the health and safety of staff and students above all else and that plans are designed with community input and to be sustainable for everyone. We’ll be reaching out with opportunities to join planning sessions to weigh in as specifics are getting further developed over the summer.
We do sense there’s broad consensus at LAUSD and area charters forming around plans very similar to what we’ve shared as our tentative plan. This includes having a full distance learning track for the small number of families not comfortable returning yet, then one cohort attending campus Monday and Tuesday and another Thursday and Friday. Students would be learning remotely the rest of the time and Wednesday would be the day for cleaning, teacher prep, planning and meetings and extra support for high need students.
There are lots of details to work out but we’re not alone and we’ll be hard at work over the summer prepping for the fall. Our prediction at this point is that we’ll open with the hybrid model on 8/19 and a full distance learning option available for those needing/preferring that. We’ll reach out over the summer with both opportunities to weigh in along the way and updates. I will also keep you all up to date on budget developments as things still seem in flux at the state (and possibly federal) level.
Lastly, for our TK-8 families, I wanted to apologize for the Moby Max rollout. The intention was simply to ensure everyone had access to just right level work over the summer to help prevent learning loss. It was not to create additional work and it is not being used as a way to evaluate or grade anyone. I apologize for any challenges with it or confusion about the purpose. Thank you for your patience.
Thank you so much for all you do and have a wonderful summer.
Warmly,
Amy Held
FAIRFAX FACULTY & STAFF
We wanted to share some great news for the 2020-21 school year regarding faculty and staff for the Larchmont Fairfax campus. With the exception of our resource teacher, Juliet Leman, who is shifting to our Selma campus, ALL of our Larchmont Fairfax faculty and staff are returning for the 2020-21 school year! Best of luck to Juliet at LCS Selma!
We are thrilled to have such a high retention rate at our campus. As you might imagine, high teacher retention with such a strong faculty promotes higher student achievement results and more robust school community/culture. We're excited for what the future holds and look forward to even more refinements for a great school year ahead with our Fairfax team!
SUMMER LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
All teachers have provided you with a summer reading list for your child's grade. Studies show that maintaining summer reading helps to drastically reduce any regression in overall academic skills, and of course reading is just fun! We encourage you to use the list as a guide, but please adjust according to your child's reading level as needed.
You should have all received our messages about the recommended Moby Max summer curriculum program as well. Our hope is that once students have finished the assessments, they will begin to work on the lessons that are assigned to them for about 15 min/day. It's a helpful program because it specifically finds each child's learning gaps and then assigns targeted lessons to fill those gaps, so it's very individualized. Should you have any questions about the program, please feel free to reach out to us at any time.
2019/20 YEARBOOKS
Yearbooks will be distributed next year as soon as we are able to resume in-person instruction. If you haven't purchased your yearbook, the link is still live.
Purchase your Fairfax Yearbook.
Please note that we are no longer taking yearbook dedications. Thank you.
SUMMER MAILER
In late June/early July you'll receive a packet in the mail with everything you'll need to know for a smooth start for the coming school year. We'll include information about reopening plans, our after school program, the lunch program, the school calendar and daily schedule with drop off and pick up times, and much more. Please be on the lookout for the packet and please review the information carefully so you don't miss any changes for next year.
CLASS PLACEMENTS
Classroom placements for the 2020/21 school year for first and third graders will be sent via email after our teachers return from summer break towards the middle of August.
Please note that should we move forward with a hybrid model of attending school (M,T & Th,Fri), we will also be sharing cohort information. We will place siblings in the same cohort.
LIBRARY BOOKS
Because we were unable to collect library books at the end of this year as we normally would, we will be collecting them when school resumes. Please keep the book with you over the summer in a safe place for return to school in the Fall. Thank you.
2020-21 NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH APPLICATION
We are getting ready for the 2020-21 school year and are asking everyone to PLEASE complete the new 2020-21 Lunch Application and email a SIGNED COPY back to student@larchmontcharter.org or you can mail it to:
Larchmont Charter School 2020-21 Lunch Application
444 N Larchmont Blvd Ste 207
Los Angeles, CA 90004.
REMEMBER, you need to complete a new lunch application every year. Even if you feel that you may not qualify, you never know! The full price of each meal is $5.10. BUT if you qualify, you could pay $0.40 a meal for reduced price or FREE. Completing and qualifying for the Free and Reduced Lunch Program can also help with after school care pricing, and with fee waivers for college applications and for SAT and AP exams. If you have any questions, please let us know.
2020-21 Lunch Application