Superintendent Newsletter

This year, Blach and Egan kicked off the school year with their helpful start-of-the-year student bootcamp. Both Egan’s Viking Camp and Blach’s Falcon Camp are designed to help students transition smoothly into junior high life and culture, focusing on equipping students with the skills they need to thrive both academically and personally. Through a series of interactive workshops and hands-on activities, students explored key topics like self-advocacy, effective communication with teachers, and strategies for successful learning.

One of the highlights of the bootcamp was the emphasis on self-advocacy, where students learned the importance of speaking up for themselves and taking ownership of their educational journey. Teachers guided students on how to ask questions, seek help when needed, and actively engage in their own learning process. This focus on communication skills aimed to build confidence and ensure that every student feels comfortable and capable of reaching out to their teachers.

In addition to advocacy and communication, the bootcamp covered a range of other essential skills for junior high success. Sessions on time management, organization, and study techniques were designed to help students develop habits that will support their academic growth throughout their two years. The bootcamp was not only a valuable learning experience but also a fantastic way for students to build community and bond with their peers to start the school year on a positive note. By the end of the three days, students walked away with a toolkit of strategies to help them navigate junior high school with independence and confidence.

This month, we are officially launching our Los Altos School District Strategic Plan, which articulates our mission and methods to prepare all students for success. The Plan will guide our priorities of student learning, classroom instruction, family engagement, as well as the infrastructure needed to support our innovative educational priorities.

The last page of LASD’s strategic plan identifies the actions we will take during the 2024-25 school year to ensure that we are moving effectively and efficiently toward these priorities. They include, among other things, a focus on Deeper Learning in all classrooms, building on our previous successes to ensure a range of supports for all students, shared leadership, family involvement, strategic communication, facilities, and strategic budgeting.

The key component to success in our strategic priorities is connecting with each and every one of our students--and this work has already begun! Our teachers and staff have spent the first weeks of school building community in the classroom and across grade levels. They have also worked to get to know each student to understand their academic and social-emotional needs. This work sets the foundation for all of the learning and growth our students will accomplish this year.

When students feel that school is a place where they belong, and they are engaged in work that matters to them, they excel. In LASD, we work closely to provide the type of educational experience for students that lead to the outcomes we want for every one of our students: academic excellence, future readiness, hope, engagement, and belonging.

To read the 2024-29 Strategic Plan, please click here.

To launch the new school year, our teachers are taking a deep dive into our Strategic Plan and professional development around Deeper Learning.

You can anticipate that when you visit classrooms this year, you will see more and more evidence that LASD classrooms are places where students learn through inquiry--making meaning together around interesting and engaging questions; places where students have a voice--their interests, passions, identity matter and are reflected in the learning they do; places where learning is made public--students talk more than teachers to build up ideas together and they have many opportunities to share their work, product, process, and reflections on their own developments.

And finally, we expect you’ll see more evidence that LASD classrooms are places where students are engaging in tasks that require them to activate their ability to collaborate and communicate effectively, to create and think critically, and to exercise character and citizenship in and out of their classrooms.

We are so passionate about our students' learning journey that we have developed a podcast to shine a light on learning and instruction in our classrooms. It’s a wonderful deep dive into the work that your students are doing every day and how our amazing staff supports their learning.

Visit our website to learn more and check out our latest podcast.

Email: superintendent@lasdschools.org
Website: lasdschools.org
Location: 201 Covington Road, Los Altos, CA, USA
Phone: 650-947-1150