Lafayette Park Weekly Newsletter (updated 8/21/20)
IMPORTANT DATES
August 25 - LCS Finance Committee Meeting 7:00-9:00 (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84183579382) August 25 - Grab n Go Meal pick up at LFP 11:30-12:30 PLEASE PRE-ORDER (Pickup will be every Tuesday at this time) August 26 - Grab n Go Meal pick up at FFX 12:00-3:00 PLEASE PRE-ORDER (Pickup will be every Wednesday at this time) August 26 - Grab n Go Meal pick up at HGR 11:00-1:00 PLEASE PRE-ORDER (Pickup will be every Wednesday at this time) September 1 - LCS Board of Directors' Meeting 6:30-9 (meeting link will be shared) September 7 - Labor Day NO SCHOOL September 8 - Fairfax Back to School Night September 8 - Hollygrove Back to School Night September 9 - Selma Back to School Night September 10 - LFP Back to School Night
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LARCHMONT SCHOOL ONLINE CALENDAR
You can also subscribe to iCal HERE and have dates imported to your iCal. ALL DATES are available on LARCHMONT SCHOOL ONLINE CALENDAR
Dear LCS@LFP Families,
It was a wonderful first week of the school year! We had a 98% attendance rate this week.
We appreciate our students and families for:
Communicating Effectively through Google Meet, Zoom, phone calls, and emails with school.
Seeking to Understand all that is new in this distance learning program.
Demonstrating Mutual Respect by adhering to the online etiquette policies.
Taking Responsibility to arrive at your classes on time.
And Persevering through the many layers of tech platforms to locate your virtual classes.
Attendance Requirements during Distance Learning are as follows:
Larchmont encourages all students to attend school everyday both to ensure students are progressing academically and connecting socially and emotionally with their teacher and peers. This is vital for learning and growth. Attendance is compulsory for students ages 6-18 in California.
Students are expected to attend synchronously to the greatest extent possible.
If students are absent it’s essential that:
Parents email lfpattendance@larchmontcharter.org
Students email their teachers.
Students log into Google Classroom to access and complete their assignments. Students are responsible for completing all posted assignments even when they can’t join synchronously.
Students or Parents complete the asynchronous attendance certification form https://forms.gle/1LK66pWcDvjhbMmYA
The Asynchronous Attendance Certification Form needs to be completed anytime a student won’t be able to attend their synchronous class meeting though only one form per day needs to be completed.
If you forget to complete the form on the day of the absence, email the office within 3 days and include the following information so that they will not be counted absent: (a) the day the student worked asynchronously, and (b) the assigned work they did.
Student Materials Grab-n-Go: Our Student Materials Grab-n-Go will be held on the following days and times:
Monday, August 31st, 9:00am - 2:00pm
Tuesday, September 1st, 9:00am - 11:00am and 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Wednesday, September 2nd, 10:00am - 3:00pm
Thursday, September 3rd, 10:00am - 3:00pm
Friday, September 4th, 9:00am - 2:00pm
We ask that you remain in your car with masks on and follow the directions of our staff members and the signage in our side lot.
Wellness Hours
Each grade will have a dedicated Wellness Hour every week. This will be an opportunity for students to come meet with our counseling team, connect with peers, and discuss how they are doing and feeling. Students can think of the Wellness Hour as equivalent to academic office hours. Students can find out about counseling services offered in school or outside of the school community.
Recurring/On-Going Events
8th Grade Wellness Hour
Mondays 3:00pm-3:40pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89826266118?pwd=U085SlNscWsxdXMwbmh1cTd6a0kzQT09 Meeting ID: 898 2626 6118 Passcode: fZ1C9g
9th Grade Wellness Hour
Mondays 11:30am-12:10pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89184418284?pwd=ekFQTUE2YkxKK2NjS01XVzBidXp3Zz09 Meeting ID: 891 8441 8284 Passcode: Pp0YjP
10th Grade Wellness Hour
Tuesdays 11:30am-12:10pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89134640000?pwd=OVVpOHFkMGVnaFNFM1lCZFlkb2xaUT09 Meeting ID: 891 3464 0000 Passcode: zNqn2r
11th Grade Wellness Hour
Thursdays 11:30am-12:10pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84955127488?pwd=Um02VVU5ZWRENHFKRlVVbDJtcXIvZz09 Meeting ID: 849 5512 7488 Passcode: 4RAPPg
12th Grade Wellness Hour
Fridays 11:30am-12:10pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84812081414?pwd=RW9FY3l0WmUwVlJiRURHbTRvRG9IUT09 Meeting ID: 848 1208 1414 Passcode: c2av4N
Monday, August 24 - Friday, August 28
Vanessa Vazquez’s Zoom Room
Monday 8/24 - Friday 8/28, 8am-12pm https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85443139700?pwd=bzkyZHdZK3krRWlERkhQcDBHRmg0dz09 Meeting ID: 854 4313 9700 Passcode: qWYy3K
Edwin Co’s Zoom Room
Monday 8/24 - Friday 8/28, 8am-12pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86339977639?pwd=U1dLNlEwTGc5T2hlcEgxTGZ0a1RhZz09
Thank you for staying STRONG and FLEXIBLE!
Best regards,
Mike Kang Principal mike.kang@larchmoncharter.org
Lori Lausche Assistant Principal lori.lausche@larchmontcharter.org
Charlie Seo Assistant Principal charlie.seo@larchmontcharter.org
"The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team." --Phil Jackson
FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Welcome back, everyone!! It is so great to see familiar faces and to see students’, teachers’ and families’ faces lighting up to be back in school, even if it’s on a screen. We know this is a beginning of school like no other and will require flexibility, grit, and perseverance. Thank you for your patience and commitment. During our teacher institute this summer, we talked as a staff about our focus for the year – deepening our work on anti-bias and anti-racist education and institutional practices, on distance learning strategies and on community building and focusing on the whole child. You will be hearing more about this work as the year progresses. Some important things to know: 1) Your advocacy and voice makes a difference. While LAUSD did adopt their AB1505 policy, which is widely considered overreaching and hurtful to charters, they did it along narrow 4 v. 3 vote lines. Here’s a copy of the policy starting on p.9 https://boe.lausd.net/sites/default/files/08-11-20SpclBdOBMaterialsWithLinksPublic.pdf As a reminder, your voice in the November election at both the national level and the local school board races is critical. 2) Larchmont Charter's draft Distance Learning Policy based on the new laws governing it. Please read through this policy. I want to specifically draw your attention to: Attendance – Students are expected to attend synchronously (zoom) to the greatest extent possible. Teachers are taking attendance every day - including Wednesday - during any live/zoom session. Students are marked absent if they don’t attend the synchronous zooms. To receive credit for attending asynchronously (not live/zoom) students/parents must both:
Log into Seesaw (elementary level) or Google Classroom (grades 5-12) to access and complete assignments AND
Complete the Distance Learning Attendance Certification Form.
Notify your campus office as you normally would via email by 8:15am if your student cannot attend synchronously or asynchronously
3) Larchmont Charter's draft Learning Loss Mitigation Spending Plan. These are one-time funds all schools are being allocated to help address learning loss resulting from school closures during the pandemic. These funds can be used to extend the school day/year, to purchase technology or supplemental curriculum for students or staff, for intervention, for additional social and emotional/mental health supports for students and families. 4) Even with these additional funds, Larchmont still depends on your support to run our program. We won’t be able to have many of our traditional fundraisers so the emphasis will be on the Annual Giving Drive. More info will be coming soon on this important drive. Thank you in advance for stretching to give meaningfully to support us as we navigate the road ahead. 5) LAUSD news – CCSA is working on our behalf to get greater clarity on lots of issues relating to LAUSD: can charters be included in their testing and tracing initiative; how do LAUSD rules around special education testing and services impact charters; and how will co-located schools navigate operating and reopening. These are complex matters. So far, LAUSD is allowing their teachers to teach from their classrooms and co-located schools to do the same. They’re also making childcare for staff available to co-located charter staff for a fee and we have preliminary indications they’ll do the same for the testing initiative. We will share more info as we have it. Lastly, I want to thank all of you – our teachers for going above and beyond to learn to teach in this new way while juggling their own families, our families for being patient, supportive, positive partners in this work and our students who are resilient and ready to learn. Here’s to a great 2020-21! Warmly, Amy Let us know if you need help with food, etc – Please CLICK HERE to let us know if you need help (with technology/wifi/programs, food, housing, employment, etc. – we’ve learned of tons of resources and are happy to guide you and connect you). Help for our community – Thank you so much to all of you who stepped forward to help your fellow Larchmont families in need – collectively you donated so generously and we were able to distribute almost $10,000 in gift cards to LCS families. Thank you! Click here if you’d like to support this effort.
IMPORTANT CHANGES TO OUR LUNCH PROGRAM
For the safety of our families and staff and to eliminate as much food waste as possible, we are now asking families to PRE-ORDER lunches BY THE WEEK or MONTH. Please use the appropriate form below to PREORDER your student's lunches in advance. We will be charging each LCS student for lunch based on their lunch qualification (free, reduced, or full pay). If your financial situation has changed, you are encouraged to complete and submit an Application for Free and Reduced Lunch at any time during the school year. To complete a new application, please complete and sign the form, then email to student@larchmontcharter.org.
Please be sure to add adequate funds to your e~Funds account to pay for lunches ordered. LFP LUNCH PRE-ORDER FORM
2020-2021 REDUCED LUNCH PROGRAM APPLICATIONS
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 Attn: 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 contact your office manager.
NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH APPLICATION
COMPUTER CAMERA OPT-OUT DURING DISTANCE LEARNING
Larchmont Charter School is expecting all students to have the camera on your computer or device turned on while participating in synchronous (live) classes during distance learning. Active participation of the synchronous (live) classes is an essential component of Larchmont’s student engagement tracking and student/family support. If you DO NOT consent for your child to have the camera on the computer or device turned on during synchronous (live) classes, please click here.