LASD Board Highlights

Para traducir, haga clic en el enlace "Ver en el navegador", luego haga clic en el enlace Traducir al final del boletín.

要进行翻译，请单击“在浏览器中查看”链接，然后单击新闻稿末尾的翻译链接

Чтобы перевести, нажмите ссылку «Просмотреть в браузере», затем нажмите ссылку «Перевести» в конце бюллетеня.

翻訳するには、「ブラウザで表示」リンクをクリックしてから、ニュースレターの最後にある翻訳リンクをクリックしてください

You can find a full video of the October 3rd meeting here and the November 7th special board meeting here and the November 7th regular board meeting here.

This year is the first of the Transitional Kindergarten (TK) expansion in the Los Altos School District and public school districts across the State of California. The TK expansion is happening over a four year period, beginning this year, so that by the 2026 school year all 4-year-olds will be eligible for TK.

TK is the first year of a two-year Kindergarten experience and serves as a bridge between preschool and Kindergarten. The LASD vision for TK is to lay a strong foundation for social-emotional well-being and academic success for all eligible students by providing high-quality learning and play experiences. These experiences are grounded in the key skills for lifelong learning: Character, Citizenship, Collaboration, Communication, Creativity and Critical Thinking.

LASD's TK students receive high quality education in early literacy, writing and math. Our TK students also participate in Living Classroom's hands-on science lessons, Art Docents, Starting Arts, computer science, PE, library, and STEM.

In the upcoming 2023-24 school year, all Transitional Kindergarten students will be guaranteed a spot in an after school program and those who are eligible will participate for free.

To learn more, check out item H.1. on our agenda online and visit our Transitional Kindergarten page. To register your child for TK next year, click here.

The Los Altos School District is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in education. This fall, all of our teachers participated in a professional learning seminar called "A World of Difference" with the Anti-Defamation League with the goals to

• Build community
• Examine identity
• Examine and challenge bias
• Focus on actions staff can take to make our campuses safe, equitable and inclusive

In addition, LASD has been building its Social Studies Resource Hub to support culturally relevant educational resources for all teachers, including educational plans and primary sources. Our teachers will participate in two half-day Social Studies-focused sessions this year, and will receive ongoing support between sessions to help with implementation.

LASD is implementing a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion survey for staff to help inform ongoing professional development in this essential component of classroom instruction.

For more information, please check out item H.2. on our agenda online.

The LASD Board met for a special Study Session on November 7 to resume discussions regarding long term facilities for our schools and for Bullis Charter School (BCS). Since Bullis Charter School was approved by the Santa Clara County Board of Education in 2003, LASD has been required to provide facilities for BCS students who live within LASD's boundaries. BCS is currently located on the Egan and Blach campuses.

After many challenging years of school site sharing, the LASD Board began engaging in a community process to determine a long term solution to house BCS in 2019. A neutral, third-party community engagement consultant conducted workshops and charettes with diverse participation from approximately 1,000 LASD parents, BCS parents and community members who generated 55 facilities scenarios for the Board to consider.

The Board's last meeting regarding the long term facilities plan occurred in February 2020 and subsequently, the Board paused their meetings due to the coronavirus pandemic. In February 2020, the Board had chosen six facilities scenarios for further study based on community support, as well as the Board's Guiding Principles for a longterm facilities solution.

At the Study Session, the Board reviewed the six scenarios and requested further information to continue their evaluative process, including demographic, financial and long term enrollment information. The Board also discussed the desire to move to a 6th-8th grade middle school model at its current junior high campuses.

The Board will continue this discussion at its December 12 meeting and will keep the community updated and engaged on this important issue.

For more information on the study session, visit our agenda online.

For historical background on the community engagement process, click here.

For more information regarding facilities for BCS, click here.

Gardner Bullis 6th grade students and teachers delivered a powerful presentation on their innovative strategies to discuss and reflect on their reading. Students shared how they created organization templates to help them evaluate the overall theme of the books they read together. Students worked in groups using the templates to think deeply about their reading and its meaning. Students also shared their incredible illustrations they created to show their learning in a fun, engaging project. You can view a video of this wonderful presentation here. Great job Gardner Bullis 6th grade classes!

LASD is proud of the work of our teachers and students to achieve the highest standards. Despite the pandemic, we are thrilled that our students have exhibited little to no learning loss in English Language Arts (ELA), mathematics and science. Results from the 2021-22 school year on-par with the 2018-19 school year--the year prior to the coronavirus pandemic. In 2018-19 87.44% of our students met or exceeded the ELA standard compared with 85.68% in the 2021-22 school year. We see a similar trend in mathematics, with 85.04% meeting or exceeding state standards in 2018-19 compared with 84.25% in the 2021-22 school year. LASD students also excelled in science, with 87.44% meeting or exceeding state standards in 2018-19 compared with 85.68% in 2021-22.

LASD continues to focus on every child's success--challenging those students who exceed grade-level standards and providing extra support to those who have fallen behind. For more information, please review item I.1. on the agenda online.

To align with California State Standards for Health Education, the LASD Board adopted a new Health Curriculum. Two committees of parents, teachers and administrators–the LASD Wellness Committee and Curriculum Council–reviewed curriculum and chose a program to pilot in several 5th and 7th grade classrooms. After receiving input from the parents of students in those pilot classrooms, the Wellness Committee and Curriculum Council recommended moving forward with the new curriculum adoption.

The Board voted unanimously to approve the Puberty Talk curriculum for 5th grade students and Teen Talk Middle School for our 7th grade students. Per California State Law, all parents will be notified of the applicable instruction 14 days prior to instruction. Parents may opt their child out of instruction.

For more information, please check out item I.2. on our agenda online.

Our next meeting of the Board of Trustees is on Tuesday, December 12 at 7:00pm. Los Altos School District Board of Trustees meetings are open to the public at 201 Covington Road, Los Altos in our Board Room. To attend meetings remotely, please visit our Board web page and use the provided zoom link. Please note: public comment can only be provided in person at the Board meeting or via email at trustees@lasdschoos.org, but cannot be made online.

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/