Bell High School

Greetings Bell HS Family,

I hope this message finds you and your family in great health and sound in mind.

It’s been nearly a year since we began teaching online, and nothing is more important to the families we serve than having their children return to school in the safest way possible.

BeginningMonday, March 1, 2021 Bell High School will resume the same in-person services we were providing in schools prior to December 10. This includes re-opening the schools office from 8 am to 3:30 pm. To help prepare for in-person services, all administrators and support staff, such as School Administrative Assistants and Plant Managers, will return to the campus on March 1st.

On Thursday, March 4th teachers will have the option of holding virtual sessions from their classroom, although instruction for students will continue to be online only. Sports conditioning for athletes will also resume outdoors for small, consistent cohorts of student athletes.

All of these efforts involving students, teachers, staff and coaches at schools will be conducted according to the highest level of health practices, including wearing protective masks, social distancing, cleaning and sanitizing school sites and COVID testing of all participating students and staff. Los Angeles Unified continues to operate COVID testing centers, and parents and employees may schedule an appointment at http://dailypass.lausd.net.

Students, staff and visitors to schools will also have access to the Daily Pass, which is a simple digital tool anyone can use. Once individuals answer daily health screening questions and commit to healthy practices, they will receive a Daily Pass QR code to enter. This will help all at a school get into the building quickly and safely by avoiding crowds at the entrance and we’ll know the status of everyone in the building. There will also be staff at the entrance to help and anyone lacking a phone or computer will be guided through the process in person.

The Daily Pass will be available to all Los Angeles Unified employees, students 13 years and older, family members and school visitors via their computer, tablet or any mobile device. Since all students have been provided with computers and internet access, families may use these to access the Daily Pass from home.

While school campuses have been closed, we have been hard at work getting them ready for students to return. Los Angeles Unified has done everything the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say need to be done to create the safest possible school environment. We have gone beyond these guidelines by putting in place the most comprehensive school-based testing program for COVID-19 in the nation. And, Los Angeles Unified continues to advocate for COVID vaccinations for all school staff.

For more information, please call the main office at (323) 832-4700. Thank you for your patience and support.

In conclusion, I will continue to reiterate, If we are to return to any model of face to face learning, EVERYONE must do their part by wearing a mask, practice social distancing, wash your hands, Covid test and remain home. We Can Get Through This!

In Partnership,

Rafael L. Balderas, Principal

For our upcoming Teacher-Parent Conferences, we will be requiring students with 3 or more D’s and F’s to attend parent conferences. Our teachers will be reaching out to you and schedule a date and time. Our office will also be calling parents to confirm your attendance. Conferences have been scheduled after school from 4:00 pm to 6:00pm, starting the week of March 22, each department will have a designated day for parent conferences:

· Monday March 22: Math and ROP

· Tuesday March 23: English and VPA

· Wednesday March 24: Science and World Languages

· Thursday March 25: Social Studies, SPED and PE

All teachers will be reaching out to students and parents to schedule a parent conference via zoom.

For more information please call the main office at (323) 832-4702 or 4704.

Calling All Bell HS Students, if you need to catch up on classes this Spring please email Mr. Gomez, Intervention Counselor at jrg3922@lausd.net.

Or you may sign-up to take class on the following link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdTPlkp8sKtMeyv6W_aN68e32ksO5jkQImQHENlS3m9nFssRw/viewform

Please be informed that the upcoming budget improves funding from last year’s allocations, although due to a projected higher cost of staff coupled with a focus on mitigating the pandemic learning loss we will redirect costs for the coming school year. Due to this, our priorities will continue to meet the demands of our most challenging subgroups to bridge the learning and digital divide. First and foremost, we will need to allocate resources to target the instructional needs of our English Learners and Student with Disabilities. Nevertheless, continued efforts in the four cores English, Math, Science, and Social Studies will continue with a laser like focus. These core areas are the corner stone of higher learning and thus should not be compromised. To maximize our resources the majority of the funding will be used to support the core program to keep class size and counselor ratios to a minimum, along with targeted school mental health services. It is the intent that next years budget will serve the students’ best instructional and emotional needs. Please find below a two-year comparison of the preliminary Federal and State Categorical budgets for the 2021-22 school year:

PROGRAM 2021-22

Title 1 (7S046) = $1,694,740

Title 1 Parent Involvement (7E046) = $23,100

Targeted Student Population (TSP) = $1,939,714

In the upcoming weeks we have scheduled budgetary informational meetings with our School Site Council to ensure that our budget is transparent. In summary, please be assured that all instructional materials, including student textbooks and personnel with a direct impact on student achievement will continue for the following school year. Our goal for the upcoming school year is to mitigate the learning loss to all of our students.

Saturday, February 27, 2021 Bell HS and all High Schools in the Community will be hosting a Financial Aide FAFSA Workshop to ALL Seniors. Please join us to get help on navigating the FAFSA to receive money for college. Remember we do NOT want to leave money on the table!

Saturday - 9:00 am to 1:00 pm

Please Log Into our Zoom Meeting:

Meeting ID: 841 7811 3927

Password: 758954

Attention ALL Seniors, from our College Counselor Mr. Marquez, we have schedule College Application support with our TELACU Talent Search, UCLA EAOP and ETS team every Tuesday and Thursday from 11:30 am to 1 pm by logging onto the following Meeting ID: 841 8564 889 Passcode: COLLEGE. Or you may visit the College Center for a drop-in every Wednesday from 3 to 4 pm by logging onto the following meeting ID: 827 4332 5772.

Please note there a very important due dates:

• FASFA should be completed by March 2, 2021
• California Dream Act Applications are due March 2, 2021

For additional information please email Mr. Marquez at fxm94721@lausd.net or please visit our Bell High Schol Virtual College Center at: https://bit.ly/BellCollegeCenter

LAUSD has embarked on an ambitious plan to Covid test our staff, students and families. The test is free to all members of the school community. In an effort to help keep our communities and schools safe, we ask for members of our learning community to register and make an appointment at https://achieve.lausd.net/covidtestingappt

As a reminder our Testing Center for all Bell HS students and families is located at Maywood Academy HS at 6125 Pine Avenue, Maywood CA. Please make an appointment prior to your arrival.

Shout out to everyone for this week of teaching and learning! As a reminder, attendance is MANDATORY, based on the following schoology & zoom logon analytics we have for the following week:

Week of February 22 to 26, 2021

Students Virtual Attendance = 2,314 out of 2,378 students for a 97%

Weekly Log-on Grade Leaders (schoology & zoom)

Grade 12 – 97.6% / Grade 11 – 94.9% / Grade 10 – 95.9% / Grade 9 – 95.2%

Congratulation Class of 2021 “Seniors” Grade 12 You Are Still on Top!

We know from the data that students and families continue to feel isolated and alone, the Los Angeles Unified Launched Mental Health Hotline To Help Students and Families. Please have them call (213) 241-3840 – Please be mindful our students and parents world has been turned upside down and we need to make sure students have the support they need. In the event that you need immediate emergency assistance, please call 911.

If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, please call either of the following phone numbers for mental health support:

1. LAUSD Mental Health Hotline (213) 241-3840 M-F 6am-6pm
   
2. LA County Department of Mental Health (800) 854-7771
   
3. Didi Hirsch Suicide Prevention Hotline (877) 727-4747 (24 hours)
   
4. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800) 273-TALK (8255) (24 hours)
   
5. Bell High School Confidential Text Tip Line (323) 989-3750 (24 hours)
   

For immediate contact with the Bell High School’s Social, Emotional and Mental Health Team, please communicate with one of the following SEL Team Members:

• Sara Soto, PSW – sara.soto@lausd.net
  
• Keilah Gomez, Psychologist - keilah.gomez1@lausd.net
  
• Julia Carrera, Psychologist - julia.carrera@lausd.net
  
• Marissa Franco, PSA - marisa.franco@lausd.net
  

As a reminder please follow our regular Tuesday to Friday bell schedule, see schedule below:

As a reminder to our families and community members our Bell HS Grab & Go Food Distribution Center continues to serve meals everyday from Monday to Friday from 7 to 10 am! Please drive up on Pine Ave. and NO ID is required. Our motto will always be “No Family Will GO Hungry”.

For the latest information please follow your Academy on Twitter Social Media:

ALPHA Academy @BHS_ALPHA

Bell High School @bellhighschool

AVID Academy @BHSAVID_familia

Global Studies Academy @BHSGlobalStudy

MTCA Academy @bhs_mtca

STEM Magnet @BHSGiftedMagnet

Email: Bell-SH@lausd.net
Website: www.bellhs.org
Location: 4328 Bell Avenue, Bell, CA, USA
Phone: (323) 832-4700
Twitter: @bellhighschool