LA ENTRADA TIMESOctober 2011

M O N T H L Y N E W S L E T T E R

Check out our new school website at -laentradahighschool.org While it is still a work in progress, we have added new information and more content is added daily.

La Entrada H igh School

Reminders

here are a few guidelines that La Entrada students need to follow when enrolled in concurrent classes:

Students are to be on the high school campus during their class time only. No student is allowed to be on campus before school, lunch, break, or after school.

Students who are taking concurrent classes are expected to follow the behavioral expectations and attendance requirements of that school. If unsure of school rules, students can pick up a handbook at the resident high school office.

La Entrada students must have a picture ID on them at all times. This is the best way to demonstrate to the campus supervisors that you are an independent study high school student taking one or two courses on that campus.

Students who need a picture ID should notify their supervising teacher at La Entrada High School. New ID’s are issued on orientation days for all students.

News

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Labs/Facetime

Thursday ClassesDon’t forget Thursday classes for science, language arts, or history students. Non attendance is considered truancy for these classes.

Parking

If you drive to La Entrada, be aware that starting in November La Entrada students must park in the first two rows of the parking lot only! If you do not have a parking pass see the secretary for one.

SeniorPictures

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Concurrent Class Expectations

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A New School Year at La Entrada Brings New Faces And New Opportunities

e are so excited with the opening of the 2011-2012 school

year! We are very fortunate that Sean Williams has joined our staff this year. Mr. Williams is a Google Certified Teacher and Google Apps trainer.

He also teaches prospective t e a c h e r s C o m p u t e r s i n Education and online graduate students at the University of Laverne as well as serving as a consultant and trainer for the Orange County Department of Education in CTAP, Google, and online learning. He has been working with students this year to revamp our school web site adding new technologies in a n e f f o r t t o m a x i m i z e communication to our parents and community members as well as transition La Entrada High School to a Google Apps for Education School. Our students have reported that it is “awesome working with such a talented technology instructor.”

In our effort to provide educational options to all students, La Entrada High School is expanding from last year’s online pilot program to this year offering every student the opportunity to take one or more online courses. As a

result, students can choose a hybrid model of textbook based courses and online courses or all textbook based courses. Students will continue to meet one on one with their academic teacher on a weekly basis. Bi-monthly direct instruction classes are again offered this year to students in all core courses. To meet the UC/CSU entrance requirements, students taking science will be attending bi-monthly labs.

Our students are busy working on the yearbook, planning their

Nat ional Honor Society community service activities and planning extra-c u r r i c u l u l a r activities for the student body. It is proving to be a very

outstanding year serving the needs of our students!

For the 2011/2012 school year, La Entrada is providing students on-line Algebra 1, Algebra 1A, Algebra 1B, Geometry, and Algebra II courses. Semester courses run sixteen weeks and are taken concurrently. This allows a longer period of time to master and retain the many concepts

required for each subject.

Furthermore, taking courses concurrently allow students to earn more overall credits each semester. To learn more regarding La Entrada’s on-line math program, please contact dsobschak@pylusd.org.

CCCapply.org is your online ga teway to the Ca l i fo rn ia Community Colleges. This is the application and information website for 112 California Community Colleges including Cypress, Fullerton, Golden West, Irvine, Orange Coast, Santa Ana, and Santiago Canyon. The c o l l e g e s a r e a c c e p t i n g applications now for the Spring 2012 term. In addition to the o n l i n e a p p l i c a t i o n , m o s t California Community Colleges request that you submit transcripts from any high schools or colleges you have previously attended. To obtain your La Entrada transcript, fill out the Transcript Request form at the front desk, and your transcript will be ready for pick up in 24 hours.

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Welcome Back Letter From Superintendent Dennis Smith

ear Families~Welcome to the 2011-2012 school year! I hope that your

children had a fun summer and that they are now enjoying another great year.

As students return to school, I would like to briefly update parents on a few items, starting with hearty congratulations to students, families, and staff.

Test Scores –California standards test scores (CSTs) arrived in mid-August, and I am pleased to report that PYLUSD scores surpassed state and county averages in all areas. In fact, the district-wide Academic Performance Index (API) is anticipated to reach an all-time high of 858! This is an 80-point increase in eight years. Way to go!

New Preppy K Program – Initially, the district’s goal was to have three “Preppy K” (preparatory kindergarten) classes in the district. The launch of the Preppy K program this year has been highly successful and as a result there will be nine Preppy K classes at seven school sites. This program has attracted great attention from parents of students who normally would have enrolled their children in private school as well as students from other districts.

Your interest made it asuccess!

Budget –California is back to yet another budget crisis with anticipated revenues again lower than projected. When the Governor and Legislature signed the budget, there was a stipulation for further cuts to education if revenues fell below $4 billion. Stay tuned.

Construction – Good news! Crews were busy at schools over the summer working on 24 projects at 16 schools. At Valencia, the portables at the front of the school are gone. A new two-story building is now on the campus and the school opened the year with a modernized office and a new entry/quad with additional shaded areas. These are a few of the many other improvements. Esperanza’s new administrative offices are also open and the band room is in the finishing stages. Kraemer students are enjoying their new high-tech library. Rio Vista and Van Buren schools each have a new permanent eight-classroom building that paved the way for removal of portables opening the black top area for children to enjoy more play space. El Camino’s long-awaited school-wide modernization is underway! The school will be in portable classrooms this year while construction is complete. View all of the

improvements on the district’s bond page at http://www.pylusd.org/bond/index.asp. Thank you for your Measure A bond support!

PYLUSD 2011-2012 Goals –In August, the Board of Education adopted the district-wide goals for the 2011-2012 school year. These “areas of emphasis” are further refinements which build on the great work already taking place and establish a unified direction for the entire school district. For example, one of the areas of emphasis that has been in place and continues to remain a focus is writing. Results are evident in state testing reports. Kudos from the Board on already achieving great strides! See the full report at http://www.pylusd.org/board/boardgoals.asp.

I am so encouraged by your dedication and achievements despite the many challenges facing our district. Families, students and staff never cease to amaze me! Throughout the year, I will continue to keep you apprised. For now, enjoy a great year and welcome back!

Sincerely,

Superintendent Dennis Smith, Ed.D.

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I d o n ' t k n o w w h a t y o u r d e s t i n y w i l l b e , b u t t h e o n e t h i n g I k n o w ; t h e o n l y o n e s a m o n g y o u w h o w i l l b e r e a l l y h a p p y a r e t h o s e w h o w i l l h a v e s o u g h t a n d f o u n d h o w t o s e r v e .

Albert Schweitzer

LA ENTRADAIndependent High School

Recipient Name

Community Service

All students are required to participate in 60 hours of community service with a non profit organization. Students should have the appropriate forms filled out and signed by a supervising representative of the organization and then bring the form to school to have it approved before starting community service hours. After approval, the student will receive a Community Service Tracking Log that will be used to log the hours of student participation. Both forms should then be submitted to the La Entrada office with appropriate signatures to receive credit.