Larchmont Fairfax Weekly Update | 10.24.20
IMPORTANT DATES
October 26 - Monday Morning Video Message | 8 am
October 27 - LOOP Meeting | 8:30 am | https://zoom.us/j/3568699887?pwd=SnhjRzZ6cW1BaTdabnM1Qmh6NXlBUT09
October 28 - School Sing | Instagram Live | 9:15 am
October 28 - Grab n Go Meals | 12 - 3 pm | FFX Campus
October 28 - NEWLY ADDED!! BAKE SALE!!! | 12- 3pm | FFX campus
October 29 - Prospective Parent Info Session | Signup - www.larchmontcharter.org
October 30 - FFX Halloween Community Group celebration | 9 am | Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6440852148?pwd=WUNOYmpFQjBqTUhvUnlMSFF6dGwrZz09
October 30 - NEWLY ADDED!!!!! LARCHMONT FFX TRUNK OR TREAT!
November 4 - NO SCHOOL (Staff Dvpt. Day)
November 11 - NO SCHOOL (Veteran's Day)
November 23-27 - NO SCHOOL (Thanksgiving Break)
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 Fairfax Families:
I hope this message finds you all well!
First, a huge congrats to teacher Katie (pictured left, bottom - 4th grade) on the exciting baby news revealed during School Sing! We look forward to welcoming another Larchmont wolf in mid-March!
On Friday, Andi and I presented our latest parent coffee about supporting students with the academics of distance learning, especially for the times when students get "stuck" with something they don't understand or with more challenging or new concepts. We wanted to share some tidbits of advice from our coffee with you here as we know this is a common situation with many young learners who are suddenly right next to parents while the teaching is happening. We're providing you with the deck here: DISTANCE LEARNING & ACADEMICS
First, we've found that it's very helpful to help students transition into learning mode in the morning since they're not actually leaving the house. A grounding conversation where you can provide some structure and routine to the day will help your child develop priorities and goals for the day. Thinking back to in-person school time, in the course of a regular school day at Larchmont, your son or daughter engages with other students or adults dozens if not hundreds of times. While some of these social interactions will be re-created on virtual platforms, others will not. Kids learn best when they have opportunities to process their learning with others and a grounding conversation can help address this. Ask questions like: What classes do you have today? Do you have any assessments? Any questions about Seesaw assignments? Do you have your learning kit?
Help your child OWN their own learning: We don't expect parents to become overnight teachers. Your job is really to provide lots of encouragement; give your child breaks when they're having difficulty; give them lots of "think time" and don't provide the answer right away - this builds confidence so your child can do their job as a learner.
How to help a child who is 'STUCK?" If teachers (or parents) are too quick to jump in when students are ‘stuck’, then they will not develop those key skills of problem-solving or resilience. It might seem counter-intuitive but allowing children to struggle is good for their self-esteem because the setbacks, mistakes, muddles and mishaps they encounter teach them how to be problem-solvers, creative, tenacious, innovative and resilient. It's important that we don't give students the impression that raising their hand and asking for help gets them off the hook from doing any thinking (if that were the case, why would they ever work independently?). Instead, we need to set the expectation that asking for help will require a little work on both of our parts. We don't want to leave students stuck, but we also don't want to provide too much help and minimize the cognitive demand of the task. SO, WHAT SHOULD WE DO? Ask questions. Listen. Ask more questions. It requires balance and a very intentional line of questioning. Here are some thoughts to help students get unstuck...
Get students talking. The more they talk about the problem, it's possible they may get themselves unstuck.
Find out what students do know or understand about the problem. Again, sometimes just talking about what they do know helps them get started on their own.
Ask students what specifically about the problem is causing them to be stuck. Is it the academic language? Is it the context they aren't familiar with? Is it the math content itself? This will require thinking on their part, but it will help you provide very targeted assistance.
CHECK OUT THE DECK ABOVE FOR EXACT PROMPTS YOU CAN USE WITH YOUR CHILD TO GET THEM "UNSTUCK!"
4 . Growth Mindset: If a child gets stuck and gives up (i.e. I can't do this! I don't know
how!), help elicit a growth mindset. Use words like "yet" and tell the child that "our
brains can grow"; emphasize and praise the process - "I like how you tried that
strategy and didn't give up!"; catch them being persistent and encourage a healthy
attitude towards challenges.
5. End of the day: Help your child process their learning for the day with questions like:
How far did you get in your tasks today? What did you discover? What was hard?
What do you still wonder about? What could we do to make tomorrow even better?
You all are doing an amazing job, as are your children, and we are so lucky to partner with such a great community on this most challenging of endeavors.
Don't forget to read all of the important announcement below, including great news about a Halloween community group on Zoom AND a TRUNK OR TREAT at the Fairfax campus! Finally, our pledge drive is coming to an end on Halloween! If you have yet to donate, we kindly ask for your support for whatever amount is manageable for your family. Everyone who donates before the deadline is entered into a raffle for Apple AirPods (one per campus) and a schoolwide raffle of an iPad! We thank you in advance for all that you do for our school!
With great appreciation,
Andi and MersedehÂ
LARCHMONT FAIRFAX TRUNK OR TREAT!!!
COMPLETE DETAILS COMING SOON!
Zoom classes will end a bit early this day to allow time for the Trunk or Treat. Teachers will share their exact schedules with you on their class websites.

LCS FAIRFAX BAKE SALE

Our Book Fair bake sale is on!  We know you’ve been practicing your baking skills, so now’s the time to share your breads, cakes and treats with our LCS.
Our bake sale will be this Wednesday, October 28, 2020 from 12-3 during lunch pickup. Â
SIGN UP HERE IF YOU'RE UP FOR SHARING YOUR DELICIOUS BAKED GOODS: https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/10C0945AAAE22A6F94-lcsbake
We will have volunteers available from 830-900 and 1130-1200 on Wednesday to receive everyone’s donations.
LCS FAIRFAX LOOP MEETING

Join us for our next Larchmont Organization of Parents (LOOP) meeting this Tuesday morning at 8:30 am! Parents will be discussing community building, pledge, school board elections, and much more! See you there! https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6440852148?pwd=WUNOYmpFQjBqTUhvUnlMSFF6dGwrZz09

FREE SCHOLARS CIRCLE TUTORING FROM LARCHMONT LFP CAMPUS
Scholar's Circle strives to lessen the financial burden on LCS families while providing students with resources to succeed. Larchmont students will receive a sense of safety, support, and build strong relationships from the comfort of their homes.
Detailed information about the Scholar's Circle program...
Our default schedule is on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4 - 5:30 PM.Â
Wednesdays are the only days dedicated to Math and Science. Thursdays are for English, Social Studies, and Foreign Language.
Here is the link to the To-Be-Tutored Sign Up Sheet
LARCHMONT TECH SUPPORT FOR YOUR FAMILY

We have an exciting development on the tech front!
Larchmont has contracted with a tech firm called TechaBee. We have hired this firm to help support families and teachers by answering your tech-related questions, supporting your technology, and managing your devices. TechaBee is here to help with tech issues regarding Chromebooks, Zoom, technology apps, and much more! We have taken this action to be as responsive as we can as a school to your tech needs during this distance learning period.Â
The help desk is available 8:00 am - 5:00 pm Monday through Friday. During COVID-19 families are also free to email the help desk at any time!Â
Email all requests to techabee@larchmontcharter.org, CC belinda@techabee.com & terence@larchmontcharter.org
This email address (techabee@larchmontcharter.org) forwards straight to the TechaBee help desk so we can more quickly resolve your tech issue. Please be sure to cc Belinda and Terence so we can keep track of your tech request.Â
VIRTUAL BOOK FAIR CONTINUES
Our virtual book fair is LIVE UNTIL Nov 1! It's a great way to get new books for your child and a portion of proceeds come back to Larchmont Charter School! Thanks for your support!
https://www.scholastic.com/bf/larchmontcharterwhollywood

LCS's Innovator Challenge Student Competition
Registration Link for interested students...
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfA2AL03hKrQ-rSIa4JADk1w07W_V4tbTTviu9roO909aOXfg/viewform


FFX 20-21 DIRECTORY
Our full Larchmont Fairfax 2020/21 Directory was shared in a previous weekly blast. You can also access the directory on our website. The directory is password protected - we will share that password in a separate/private email communication this week. Thank you.
HALLOWEEN AT LCS FAIRFAX

Join us on Zoom on 10/30 at 9 am for our whole school Halloween Community Group:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6440852148?pwd=WUNOYmpFQjBqTUhvUnlMSFF6dGwrZz09
FAIRFAX PHONE LINE
Our Fairfax phone line is currently down, but we're working hard with the phone company to resolve the issue. In the meantime, if you need to reach the office during the school day between the hours of 9 am - 3 pm, please call the following number for assistance: 213-505-4711. Thank you, and we apologize for the inconvenience.
OUTREACH & PROSPECTIVE PARENT TOURS

Our Virtual Tours have launched! Please spread the word!
We are looking for families that are willing to help us broaden the circle of Los Angeles families that know about our school. We would like to harness our diverse group of parents and their unique set of connections to help us! We are hosting several prospective parent tours over the next two months and it is a great opportunity for new families to learn about our school. Please feel free to share the flyer below about our upcoming tours with any other parent communities who have children that might want to learn more about our school and our upcoming lottery!
We have online info sessions scheduled from 9-10 am on the following dates:
Oct. 29, 2020
Nov. 12, 2020
Nov. 19, 2020
Jan. 28, 2021
Please pass along this sign-up link to all interested friends and family!
https://www.larchmontcharter.org/tour
FAIRFAX ATTENDANCE REMINDERS

Teachers will be taking attendance every day in their live Zoom classes. On Wednesdays, the completed independent work will indicate that your child is present asynchronously and your child will be marked present accordingly. If your child is going to be absent (both synchronously and asynchronously) for any reason, please email your teacher and ffxattendance@larchmontcharter.org.
To receive credit for attending asynchronously (not live/zoom) students/parents must both:
Log into Seesaw or view the teacher's assignments via their websites to access and complete assignments AND
Complete the Distance Learning Attendance Certification Form.Â
Please notify your teacher & email ffxattendance@larchmontcharter.org when you know your student cannot attend synchronously or asynchronously.Â
Questions about attendance? Â Email our office manager, Tess, at maritess.trillo@larchmontcharter.org.