Two Fire Drills in One Day and Some Thoughts on Summer Homework 2014

Today the excessive humidity tripped our fire alarm system twice resulting in the entire school going outside for two fire drills within the course of twenty minutes.  The local fire department came to the school and determined that excessive humidity caused the alarm to sound.  A technician from our fire alarm company arrived an hour later and repaired the system so that we could return to our regular schedule and prevent this from happening again.

This Monday summer homework is due for students in grades 4-8.  Throughout the summer I received insightful feedback from families regarding what they found helpful about assignments and areas where we could improve in terms of the quality and quantity of the work.  This was our first year creating summer homework assignments.  We expect our students to excel at LCCS and we want their learning to continue throughout the summer.  It is critical that we create summer homework that is engaging for our students with clear directions and expectations for each assignment. 

As we begin to review the summer homework assignments that are coming in we will evaluate how many students actually completed their assignments and who struggled with understanding them.  After conducting this review we will turn our focus towards creating 2015 summer homework that is engaging, fairly simple to understand, and that results in a high level of student completion.  The feedback we received from families and students over the course of this summer will be invaluable as we begin crafting new summer homework assignments.

Thanks to all the students that completed 2014 summer homework and their families that supported them throughout this process. We will work diligently to further improve summer homework for next year.

Happy Labor Day and Welcome to the 2014-2015 School Year

September 1, 2014

On behalf of the entire team at LCCS, I want to welcome you to the 2014-2015 school year and wish each of you a happy new school year.  I hope that your summer was filled with family, friends, and fun.  In preparation for the coming school year our administrative and custodial teams have been cleaning and organizing for the coming school year and our faculty attended professional development workshops preparing for our students. 

We are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of our students on the first day of school which is on Wednesday, September 3^rd, 2014.  Our school hours are from 8:30-3:15.  Our doors open at 7:50 and students should arrive at school no later than 8:20.

 Please make sure to say your good byes to your child at home.  This will make it easier for you to part ways on the first day of school.  Don’t let your child fool you-it is harder for you than it will be for them!  Please do not accompany your child into his or her classroom.  This prolongs the good-bye process and makes it much more difficult for the class to begin their day.  Our teachers and teacher assistants are experts at making children feel welcome on the first day of school and every day throughout the year.

This year we are launching a number of new initiatives that will further enhance our students’ academic skills and their social emotional growth.  I plan to share more information about many of these programs  with all of you throughout the coming year.

·         We launched a new scheduling system that will allow students in our middle school to receive individual schedules so that they will no longer travel from class to class in fixed homeroom groups.

·         Our scheduling system is linked to an online grading system so that middle school parents can monitor their child’s academic progress on a regular basis.

·         A new school website will provide students and families with information about school events and greater accessibility to classroom materials on teacher websites.

·          In an effort to prepare our fifth graders for middle school they will now switch classes for all their academic subjects among the teachers on the fifth grade team.  Ms. Litman will teach math, Ms. Muse will teach English, and Mr. Rengifo will teach science and social studies.  The fifth grade remains part of the lower school as we view fifth grade as the bridge year between lower and middle school at LCCS.

·         Students in the middle school will now have Spanish four times a week in an effort to increase their overall foreign language skills.

·         An advanced math class will be offered for students in grades 5-8 that will cover the same material only at a more rapid pace.  Placement in this class is determined by student academic performance in previous math classes and their standardized test scores.

·         In grades 3, 5, and the middle school students will participate in the Touchstones Discussion Project program.  This is an international program where students explore important ethical or philosophical ideas in a discussion format based on writings from great thinkers and writers throughout history. 

I firmly believe that Learning Community Charter School is a family, we work together, we learn together, and we support one another.  I look forward to working and collaborating with each of your children (and you) in the coming school year.

Have a wonderful Labor Day and see you on September 3^rd.

Colin Hogan

Head of School