La Mesa Update

As many of you may have heard, the first few weeks of school have been a big adjustment for students as they return to in person learning. Unfortunately, like many schools across the country, some of our students have resorted to getting physical as they adjust to being in large social situations. This has been difficult on both students and staff. Some parents and students have expressed concerns about campus safety.

I want to assure you that we are committed to helping students solve their conflicts appropriately. There are consequences for fighting. These can include suspension, police involvement, and even arrests. Part of the process includes peer mediation and other restorative practices. Most students have responded positively to these interventions.

While not trying to minimize the impact of these occurrences, it is important to remind everyone that most students are doing great. In fact, only 4% of students (38 to be exact) have been involved in physical conflicts. We have 1,034 students as of today. That means that 96% of our students are getting along well and interacting with others positively. I do not want us to lose sight of this. Nor do I believe 4% of the students should define our school culture.

Please talk with your child about your expectations for their behavior at school. Remind them to not run towards fights. It can make a difficult situation more challenging. Remind them that the adults are here to support them in working through conflicts. And never assume we know about something. Always reach out to give us a heads up if there is a situation that needs our attention.

And if you have a question, please ask us before posing the question or concern on social media. Communication is key to having a safe school.

Sincerely,

Michele Krantz, principal

When planning to pick your child up, please be mindful that it is very difficult to summons your child during the lunch break.

Please plan to pick up your child before or after. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays lunch is from 12:43 - 1:18pm. On Wednesdays lunch is from 12:00 to 12:35. We appreciate your support.

As you are likely aware, La Mesa is home to some very special students. Some of these students have Autism. They can be sensitive to sounds. We need your help in helping to start their day off positive by not honking horns around the school. This is a great opportunity to help out some of our Lobos.

Due to the number of students placed in quarantine since August 10th, the District is providing a minimum day on October 29th to be designated as teacher work time for the purpose of completing any documentation associated with the short term independent study agreements.

Students will be released at 12:45pm. Grab and go lunch will be available at dismissal.

Our first episode of La Mesa Live aired this past Friday. You can watch it by clicking THIS LINK. Congratulations to Ms. Love and the whole La Mesa Live crew.

We are preparing for a cold winter season by launching our Coat Drive. Please see the attached flyer below for more information.

We also have our Lobo Food Pantry open for all students to "shop." All the items in the Pantry are free and are donated by you, our amazing Lobo families, faculty, and community members. Students can come into the HOWL Hut in room 513 to pick up any food. If you would like to donate, please have your student drop off the items in room 420 to Mr. Gonzalez.

As always thank you for helping us put kids first!

Parents and students, we need your voice! Join La Mesa’s Site Council, and help the principal, teachers, and parents make decisions about our school. We’ll discuss the goals and budget for our Title I funds, and we’ll monitor the success of the programs that we implement. If you’d like to be considered to become a member of La Mesa’s Site Council, contact Principal Michele Krantz at mkrantz@hartdistrict.org or 661-250-0022.

We really appreciate the donations received for our HOWL Store. It is so fun to see students picking up items they have earned.

If you can support our program please consider choosing items off of our Amazon Wish List. We also need gift cards in smaller denominations to local places such as Star Bucks, McDonalds, Menchies, Chipotle, etc. If you have larger items, we love those too as we raffle them off.

We thank you so much for your ongoing support of La Mesa!

Please note that on Wednesdays, students are released at 2:05pm. Teachers and staff will participate in professional development and collaboration meetings.

Please use this opportunity to recognize La Mesa staff members that have made a difference for you or your child by clicking HERE to fill out a message.

Monday, October 4th - Fall Break NO School

Friday, October 15th - End of Quarter 1 grading period

Friday, October 29th - Minimum Day, Students Released at 12:45

Thursday, November 11th - No School- Veterans' Day

William S. Hart District Calendar 2021-22

Email: mkrantz@hartdistrict.org
Website: www.lamesajuniorhigh.org
Location: 26623 May Way, Santa Clarita, CA, USA
Phone: (661)250-0022
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaMesaJHS/?ref=bookmarks
Twitter: @lamesajhs

Non-Discrimination Policy

The William S. Hart Union High School District prohibits unlawful discrimination against and/or harassment of any student, employee or job applicant on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, ethnicity, national origin, immigration status, ancestry, religion, age, marital status, pregnancy, parental status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, military or veteran status, political affiliation, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, sexual orientation, or any other basis prohibited by state and federal nondiscrimination laws respectively at any District site and/or activity. All inquiries regarding discrimination, civil rights, and/or Title IX should be directed to the Director of Human Resources and Equity Services, William S. Hart Union High School District, 21380 Centre Pointe Pkwy, Santa Clarita, CA 91350, or by phone (661) 259-0033, ext. 316, or by email: UCP@hartdistrict.org