LASD Board Highlights

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If you missed either of the January Board meetings, you can view the video for January 10 here and January 24 here.

The Los Altos School District Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) includes initiatives to meet the district's goals to prepare students for high school and beyond by equipping them with the skills and mindsets needed to excel. These skills include the 6 Cs: collaboration, communication, character, creativity, critical thinking and citizenship.

LASD has implemented several initiatives in this school year to further this goal and hone these critical skills in all students. New initiatives include an 8th grade Biliteracy Award program, a refined computer science program, a district-wide integrated STEM program and a Reading Fellows program. In addition, LASD has begun to develop a Teacher Induction Program for beginning teachers, as well as artificial intelligence lessons for the computer science program.

We are excited about these new initiatives and are already implementing them in the classroom to great success. Please stay tuned for more updates and view the full presentation by checking out item H.2.

With the latest omicron surge, LASD continues to rigorously adhere to state and local guidelines to keep schools safe and open. Mirroring our surrounding community, cases in the district rose with the surge and are beginning to decline. Although many students and staff reported cases, we have not had any school-based outbreaks thanks to universal indoor masking, our daily symptom tracker, improved ventilation and hand hygiene protocols.

LASD has proudly partnered with local health agencies to provide on-site vaccination clinics for all those eligible for the vaccine and booster. We have hosted clinics at Almond, Santa Rita and Blach. At those three clinics, over 1,000 vaccines were administered.

The next vaccine clinic is at Blach today, February 3 from 3-7pm. The clinic will administer 1st and 2nd doses for individuals 5+ years old, and boosters for those who are 12+ years and old. No appointment is necessary.

In addition, per the California Department of Health and Santa Clara County Public Health Department, LASD will now implement a 5-day isolation policy following a COVID-19 infection. Individuals who provide proof of a negative test after Day 5 of symptom onset or collection of a positive test (whichever came first) may be able to return to school on Day 6 if they meet the below criteria:

1. The individual must be fever free without the use of medication for 24 hours or more.

2. The individual's symptoms must be improving.

3. The individual must provide proof of a negative COVID test taken on/after day 5 following either the symptom onset date or positive test collection date (whichever came first).

4. The individual must wear a well-fitting mask around others for a total of 10 days, especially in indoor settings. If it is not possible to wear a well-fitting mask at school, the individual will need to stay home until Day 11.

To return to school, the individual must complete the Return to School Form by 3pm the day prior to returning to school AND obtain written clearance from LASD.

The Board of Trustees updated its COVID Safe Schools Plan to reflect this new 5-day isolation protocol.

For more information, please check out item H.3. on the Jan 10 agenda and item H.1. on the January 24 agenda.

Assistant Superintendent Sandra McGonagle, presented an LCAP update--the first of a two-part series. The narrative style update provided information on the progress of our 2020-2024 LCAP goals and actions. There is a lot to say about the progress we’ve made this year! While many of the goals have already been achieved, some are still in progress.

LASD is in the process of adopting an NGSS aligned science curriculum and building social studies curriculum resources. A science pilot is in progress and the process to curate social studies resources is underway.

LASD has approved and is implementing a new mathematics curriculum, including teacher training and support through the implementation. We are in the first year of the TK-5 math adoption.

Teachers are focused on literacy and math intervention strategies to meet the needs of all students. Professional development has included English language acquisition to close the achievement gap.

LASD is providing additional, meaningful opportunities for parents to continue to engage in the education of their children. Our schools have a new Community Liaison who is working with families to ensure family access to engage in their students' education and academic success.

For more information, please view the presentation for Item H.3 on the January 24 agenda.

The next meeting of the Los Altos School District Board of Trustees will take place on Monday, February 7 at 7:00pm via Zoom. To attend the meeting please visit our Board web page and register for the meeting using the provided link. The link will be posted on Thursday at 5:00pm the week prior to each meeting.

If you would like to stay updated regarding upcoming Board meetings, please email mbirnie@lasdschools.org, providing your name, email address and a request to be added to the email list for Brown Act updates, including upcoming meetings and agendas.

Website: www.lasdschools.org
Location: 201 Covington Road
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LASDK8/