November 2019
At Laurel, we have so many things to be thankful for. Our students are raising funds through the Turkey Drive for the month of November. Because of our community’s generous contributions, we were able to extend the gift of giving and share 25 Thanksgiving meals with Laurel families. What a great way to teach our students about giving, compassion and gratitude, skills we focus on and teach to our students through the Laurel Vision. This event along with the recent catalog fundraiser that brought close to $11,000 in proceeds are great examples of the wonderful community we work in.
Our goal this year is to improve our attendance rate to 90% of students who attend school regularly. Our attendance campaign has generated a lot of excitement in the school. Many classrooms have celebrated meeting attendance goals by having class parties wearing “crazy hair and socks.” The whole school will be wearing pajamas on Tuesday, November 26 to celebrate an attendance rate of above 90% from October 15-November 15. This incentive was voted on by students from a list of incentives they generated. This is another way we give students voice in their community and celebrate the success of their efforts.
At Laurel, we make a concerted effort to keep the Laurel vision alive to the fullest extent. November/December focus of our vision has been on “each student is actively engaged.” We teach students that each of them is important, and every student deserves an equitable learning opportunity. It is especially essential to our staff to see each student achieving to his/her full potential, no matter who they are or where they come from. To that end, and to support each and every child to actively engage, teachers are using PLC time to analyze actionable data to provide strategic, high leverage instruction, intervention, and extension through thoughtfully developed lesson plans and instructional groupings.
Our teachers are going to spend the morning of December 6th professional development day participating in a training to deepen their understanding of social emotional learning and ways they can implement lessons in the classroom to support those skills. They will also collaborate to devise plans for individual students who need extra intervention and support in the general education classroom. We appreciate your continued support at home to help us reach and teach every student.
Our family at Laurel wishes your family and loved ones a very happy Thanksgiving. We are thankful for your partnership and hope that we continue to work together to support our community.
Warmest Regards,
Nadira Rizkallah
