November Business: Behavior & Beautification

Good Evening Community Families,

I cannot believe how quickly this year is moving along! There are three short weeks before Thanksgiving break. Despite having to postpone the Parade of Masks (now known as Fall Harvest Festival),  it was nice to see the kids show off their cute Halloween costumes at Friday's parade! Photos will be posted next week on communitymagnet.org website's Gallery page. If you have pictures you'd like to add, please send them to my email!  And thank you for coming through with the last minute plans for the parade. I apologize for the last minute plans, but the kids had a great time!

Behavior Expectations
If you were able to attend last Friday's Morning Assembly, you heard of our plans to better manage recess and lunch behavior. We are finding that students need to practice being safer, more responsible, and more respectful during lunch and recess.

These are the student behavior expectations for recess and lunch. All students need to . . .

• Clean up their area and the area around them before lining up after lunch.
• Wait for the okay from a Supervision aide before getting up to throw away trash and lining up.
• Wait for the Supervision aide to walk the lines up to the yard or to the library.
• Not play on the lower yard unsupervised.
• Walk on the ramps to and from the upper yard, never run.
• Walk to their play area on the upper yard.
• Stop playing and walk to their lines when the bell rings after recess. If they have a ball, they need to walk it to the ball box or to the office.
• Stand quietly in line and wait to be dismissed to class.
• Wait for a supervision aide to walk their line to the lower yard.
• Use respectful words and actions to solve problems with schoolmates. Find a Supervision aide or other adult on the upper yard if they still need help.

If you have received a (or several) phone call(s) regarding your child's behavior, one big way you can help at home is to discuss/role play with your child(ren) how to use respectful words and actions to handle conflicts with their peers. I'm attaching this Second Step sample lesson that gives you an idea of how to lead the discussion or role play with your child. Second Step is a research-based social-emotional program used in many LAUSD classrooms.  Just practicing with your child (role playing or discussing solutions, appropriate words, actions) this one skill with different scenarios for several weeks would really go a long with behavior on the yard and improving your child's peer relationships. Based on the parent survey of Workshop topics, parents are interested in learning more about Positive Behavior Strategies and Helping Children Increase Self-Esteem. Those topics will be coming up soon. 

RULER

As teachers continue to learn and explore the use of technology in the classroom, our attention turns to RULER. Phyllis is taking the lead with the school-wide implementation of this social-emotional program. The first phase of RULER was for each classroom to develop a Classroom Charter:

 The teachers led the students in developing a list describing how they would like to feel at school and in their classrooms. Then they came up with the conditions that would help make them feel that way. For example, in Room 24 students chose calm as a way they'd like to feel in the classroom. A condition they need in order to feel calm is to have a peaceful classroom so everyone can work. Then, all the students signed the charter to show their agreement to follow the charter. Right now, students and teachers are using the charters and referring to them when there is a conflict in the classroom or on the yard. At the November 22nd Tea Time with Toni, Phyllis will be talking with parents about how to create a family charter and how to support the classroom charters at home. The next phase of RULER, is the Mood Meter, which will be introduced to teachers at professional development before we go out for winter break.

Community Beautification Day and Town Hall Meeting
Community Beautification Day is coming soon! This is your chance to show how much you care for your school! We are asking for volunteers to come out and help fix up, clean up, and spruce up our campus to make it BEAUTIFUL! From 8am-12pm we would love to have ALL HANDS ON DECK!

Ana Park, head of the CFF Gardening Committee, has agreed to lead volunteers in gardening that day. There is a LOT to be done!

We also need a leader and volunteers to take on cleaning around campus which will include cleaning the contact paper off of a few lunch tables, a shed full of PE equipment cleaned, organized, and moved to a shed on the lower yard; the large mirror in the auditorium cleaned; a few boxes moved from the office to outside sheds, and to clean and organize the CFF shed.

And, we need a team leader and volunteers to repair several wooden planters on the lower yard and dismantle 2-3 sheds on the upper yard.

Finally, some teachers have prepared classroom wish lists of things they'd like done in and around their classrooms. We'll need a few volunteers from each classroom to handle that. 

We'll break for lunch from 12-1pm before our Town Hall Meeting from 1-2pm in the auditorium.

Please sign up here to volunteer for this all important event!

The 2019-2020 School Experience Survey (SES) 

The 2019-2020 School Experience Survey (SES) will be mailed home on Monday. Each family will only receive one SES, even if you have more than one child at CMCS. It is very important that you take the time to complete and return the School Experience Survey. Parents answer questions about our school's academics and school climate. Your anonymous responses help CMCS staff learn our areas of strength and where we need to grow. Thank you for your feedback!

Enrichment Classes in PrimeTime Sports?
PrimeTime Sports may be adding enrichment classes in January! Quite a few of our very own CMCS teachers have expressed interest in teaching the enrichment classes themselves!! The idea for this venture is in the wee beginning stages, so there are no answers to your questions yet. We just need your input right now. Would you be interested in having your K-5 child participate in after-school enrichment classes at CMCS??  If so, shoot me an email (trk2932@lausd.net) describing the types of enrichment classes you'd like PrimeTime to provide. Don't forget to include your child's grade level.

*Currently, Primetime students participate in enrichment activities such as sports, art academy, and craft corner, and our younger students are enjoying those activities. However, our older students are beginning to leave the program. PrimeTime wants to keep all students engaged, which is why we're asking what enrichment classes interest the CMCS community!

November Calendar

• Monday, November 4 - Community Council Meeting, 2:45, Library
• Tuesday, November 5 - Magnet Tour, 8:30, Auditorium
• Thursday, November 7- Field Trips: Kinder to Star Eco Station/4th Grade to Natural History Museum
• Friday, November 8 - Morning Assembly:  Book Fair Introduction
• Monday, November 11 - Veterans Day - School Closed
• November 12 - November 22 - Parent Conferences and Book Fair
• November 13-14 - Minimum Days, 12:45 dismissals
• November 15 - Parent Workshop: Dyslexia Awareness, Bronda Everett Eagans, APEIS, 8:30
• Saturday, November 16 - Community Beautification Day - 8am-1pm                                                                                             - Town Hall Meeting, 1-2pm
• Thursday, November 21 - Safety Drill                                                                                                                                              - Above & Beyond Club, 11:30          
• Friday, November 22 - Tea Time with Phyllis: RULER, 8:30                                                                                           - Fall Harvest Festival, 12:30-2:15
• November 25-29 - Thanksgiving Break
• December 2 - School Resumes                                                                                                                      

That's all for now. Enjoy your week!

Best,

Toni