Superintendent Newsletter
December 2021
Have a Wonderful Winter Break!
As we prepare for the holiday season, we want to celebrate this milestone with our families. The LASD team knows this has been a year like no other, as we hope to overcome the greatest challenges of the pandemic in the New Year.
I hope you enjoy this holiday break with your families and we look forward to welcoming you and your students back to school in the New Year!
Virtual Kindergarten and New Family Info Night
Do you have an incoming Transitional Kindergarten or Kindergarten student? Or, do you have friends, family or neighbors who have an incoming LASD student at any grade level?
If so, please join us or pass on the information about our upcoming Virtual Kindergarten and New Family Information Night!
What: Join Superintendent Jeffrey Baier and Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Sandra McGonagle for a short presentation about our schools, our rigorous academic programs and our strong, engaged school communities. There will be plenty of time for Questions and Answers, too!
When: Wednesday, December 15 at 7:00pm
Where: Via Zoom, Please Register Here
Registration is open for the 2022-23 school year! Click here to register or for more information. Visit our Media Gallery for informative videos about our schools, programs and staff.
Please Join Our LASD Wellness Committee
The Los Altos School District Wellness Committee (WC) comprises district administrators, school administrators, teachers, parents, and school nurses. The WC studies important wellness topics and issues for our schools, making recommendations to the School Board.
LASD is seeking new volunteers to join the team! In coming months, the WC will evaluate new comprehensive sexuality curriculum options to be compliant with California’s California Healthy Youth Act, also known as AB 329.
Members of the WC are expected to attend 5-6 meetings over the next several months. Please email Erin Green, Director of Student and Staff Services, at egreen@lasdschools.org, if you are interested.
A description of the upcoming curriculum study is outlined below.
Tuesday, January 11, 3:30-5pm online
The WC will study AB 329, The California Healthy Youth Act, as well as existing curriculum options that comply with AB 329.
Tuesday, February 1 and February 15th 3:30-5pm online
The WC will participate in two in-depth reviews of available curriculum options and evaluate each against an established criteria.
Tuesday, March 29 3:30-5pm online
WC will discuss the reviewed curriculum options and recommend one curriculum to pilot for 5th grade and 7th grade students in Spring 2022.
September/October (one meeting), Date TBD
The WC and CC will analyze feedback from the curriculum pilot and provide a report to the LASD School Board, with the possibility of a recommendation to adopt the new curriculum.
For more information or to volunteer, please contact Erin Green, Director of Student and Staff Services, at egreen@lasdschools.org.
Thank you for volunteering!
MVLA Parent Education Speaker Series
Join us for an evening with Jessica Lahey - Teacher, New York Times best-selling author, and columnist
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The Addiction Inoculation: Raising Healthy Kids In A Culture Of Dependence
Thursday, January 13, 2022 - 7:00 - 9:00pm | Live Online
Jessica Lahey was born into a family with a long history of alcoholism and drug abuse. Despite her desire to thwart her genetic legacy, she became an alcoholic and didn’t find her way out until her early forties. Jessica has worked as a teacher in substance abuse programs for teens, and was determined to inoculate her two adolescent sons against their most dangerous inheritance. All children, regardless of their genetics, are at some risk for substance abuse. According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, teen drug addiction is the nation’s largest preventable and costly health problem. Despite the existence of proven preventive strategies, nine out of ten adults with substance use disorder report they began drinking and taking drugs before age eighteen.
In this supportive, life-saving resource, Jessica helps parents and educators understand the roots of substance abuse and identify who is most at risk for addiction, and offers practical steps for prevention.
The Addiction Inoculation is an empathetic, accessible resource for anyone who plays a vital role in children’s lives—parents, teachers, coaches, or pediatricians—to help them raise kids who will grow up healthy, happy, and addiction-free.
Audience: Parents of elementary, middle school and high school students
Register: Register for this free event
Books: Purchase through Books, Inc.
About the Speaker
Jessica Lahey is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed and The Addiction Inoculation: Raising Healthy Kids in a Culture of Dependence. Over twenty years, Jess has taught every grade from sixth to twelfth in both public and private schools, and spent five years teaching in a drug and alcohol rehab for adolescents in Vermont, and serves as a prevention and recovery coach at Sana at Stowe, a medical detox and recovery center in Stowe, Vermont. She writes about education, parenting, and child welfare for The Washington Post, The Atlantic, is a book critic for Air Mail, and her biweekly column “The Parent Teacher Conference” ran for three years at the New York Times. She designed and wrote the educational curriculum for Amazon Kids’ award-winning animated series The Stinky and Dirty Show, and was a 2019 Pushcart Prize nominee for her Creative Nonfiction magazine essay, “I’ve Taught Monsters.” Jess holds the dubious honor of having written an article that was later adapted as a writing prompt for the 2018 SAT. She co-hosts the #AmWriting podcast with bestselling authors KJ Dell’Antonia and Sarina Bowen, and lives in Vermont with her husband, two sons, and a lot of dogs.
Los Altos School District
Website: lasdschools.org
Location: 201 Covington Road, Los Altos, CA, USA
Phone: 650-947-1150
