Principal's Message - February 2008
OPEN ENROLLMENT
It’s already the time of year to be thinking about enrollment for next
year. Although I have addressed this in the last two Principal’s Weekly
Newsletters I want to be sure you are aware that it is coming up.
Generally, students are expected to attend school in the attendance area
where their parents reside. However, as a Torrance resident, you have an
opportunity to choose OPEN ENROLLMENT where you would like your
children to attend school within the District for the 2008/2009 school
year, as space is available. A notification letter will be
sent home to all parents to inform you of the district process.
Applications are available at Arlington through the month of February and
the first two weeks of March.
District Open Enrollment period will be held for six weeks.
Applications may be turned in to the Child Welfare and Attendance Office
during the following dates:
Monday - Friday, 2/1 - 2/29: 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Monday - Friday, 3/3 - 3/14: 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Saturday, 3/15: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon.
Parents need to return their applications directly to the Child
Welfare and Attendance Office in person during this period.
BUDGET CRISIS
Torrance Unified School District will be facing many budget cuts next year
due to the State of California Governor’s budget cuts. At the Board of
Education meeting Tuesday night, January 22, Dr. Don Stabler, Deputy
Superintendent Administrative Services, announced that Torrance Unified
School District will have to make $7.4 million in cuts from the 2008-2009
school year General Fund budget with an additional $1.3 million from the
Special Education Department and categorical funding.
It was also stated that this means fifty to seventy teachers as well as
administrators and classified staff will be laid off. We have been told
that this will not affect the 20:1 ratio in grades kindergarten through
third grade. However, an additional three to four students will be
enrolled in every fourth through 12th grade class.
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES
We continue to have effective, productive PLC’s each Wednesday. Our
leadership team which consists of grade level teacher representatives, a
special education teacher and the administrator on Wednesday mornings
before school to discuss the progress of PLC’s and the direction our
professional teams wish to explore. There are four questions that drive
the work of a PLC: What is it we want our students to learn? How will we
know if each student has learned it? How will we respond when some
students do not learn it? How can we extend and enrich the learning for
all students who have demonstrated proficiency?
Anne Jolly, director for Professional Learning Teams at SERVE, the
Southeastern Education Research and Development Laboratory, states:
“The term “Professional Learning Community” more or less defines itself.
It’s a community of professionals who engage in regular, collaborative
learning. School faculties have always been communities of
professionals....but not necessarily professional learning communities.
Typically, school meetings focus on administrative issues, grade level
issues, and departmental issues. Those meetings are necessary, but they
are not professional learning community meetings. The focus for PLCs is on
the word “learning”. Specifically, what PLC’s bring to mind are
communities of educators who work together on an ongoing basis to learn
more about teaching and improving student learning. Keep in mind that
these communities are not just groups—they are teams of interdependent
adults who support one another.”
Our first Wednesday PLC consisted of teams selecting from a menu of
choices. Among the topics discussed were: “Building the Collaborative
Culture of a Professional Learning Community”, the creation of team norms,
completion of a survey “Critical Issues for Team Consideration”, creation
of SMART goals based on school-wide and grade level assessment
(standardized and formative). Additionally teams discussed calendaring of
future topics for PLC.
Our second meeting on January 16, Mr. Mark Scott, from the Southwest
SELPA (Special Education Local Plan Area) spoke to the staff about
Nonviolent Crisis Prevention Training. He provided information about tips
for Crisis Prevention and setting up a school team.
This past Wednesday PLC teams met in grade levels to peruse three
proposed science textbook editions for the upcoming district-wide
adoption. Grade levels determined the extent to which each series
effectively dealt with one specific grade level science content standard.
Teachers predetermined which content standard they were going to focus on
while looking at all three series. Teachers collaborated about the
effectiveness, and strengths of the books and which would be more
appropriate at their level.
Faculty Meetings continue to be held, however, they remain slotted for
after school hours. Every other Wednesday teachers meet after PLC time for
staff meetings.
If you have any questions in regards to Open Enrollment, the Budget
Crisis or PLC’s please feel free to call the office at (310) 533-4510 and
ask to speak to me.
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