Greetings La Mesa TK and Kindergarten Families,
We are thrilled to welcome you to the La Mesa Community! Currently, we have 2 TK classes and 4 Kindergarten classes scheduled for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year.
At La Mesa, class configurations (or class lists) are thoughtfully created by the staff. When preparing classroom placements, our faculty carefully considers the match of student and teacher, the blend of students within a room, and the balance of both classes academically, socially, culturally, and by gender. Special considerations must also be made for the placement of English Language Learners and students with special needs. As a staff, it is our responsibility to create the best learning situation for all of our children.
Traditionally, it is most challenging to create equitable learning groups for TK and K because we are creating classes with limited information. In other grade levels, we typically have more data and information to guide the rostering process. We have built relationships with the students and we are able to more successfully create equitable learning groups. We have a clear sense of student strengths and needs, both academic and social-emotional, and we can make thoughtful pairings with classroom teachers. Too often, when we welcome our youngest learners onsite, we are typically creating classes with limited data sources like gender and date of birth. This can lead to imbalanced classes.
We are proud to announce that in preparation for the upcoming school year, La Mesa Staff partnered with 6 elementary schools in MPUSD to create a responsive approach to solve this challenge! In an effort to create optimal learning environments, the beginning of the school year for our TK and K students will be different from traditional school experiences. Here are some of the key shifts and ways we will get to know your student and your family to create the best classroom placement for their unique needs:
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All TK and K students and families invited to a “Meet and Greet” event at the school; prior to the first day of school
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TK and K students will receive a preliminary homeroom classroom for the first 2 weeks of school and a permanent classroom afterwards.
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TK and K students will dismiss at 12:50pm for the 8 days of school.
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Students will begin and end every school day with the same preliminary teacher.
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Parents will drop off and pick up their child in the same preliminary classroom for the first 2 weeks.
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TK and K staff will schedule and facilitate meetings with every TK/K family to get to know more about your student’s strengths, interests, school history, and any other information that you think will be helpful for us to know.
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TK and K students will begin their permanent class placement on Monday, 8/19/24.
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Event |
Date |
Purpose |
|
TK/K Meet and Greet |
July 30 3:30- 4:30 pm |
This event is the first opportunity to meet the principal and assistant principal, office staff, TK and K teachers. Teachers and staff will have multiple meaningful opportunities to connect with parents at the start of the year to support a smooth transition. Families will also Sign up for Parent Interviews. Preliminary Class lists will be provided. Students will report to this Homeroom class for the first 2 weeks of school. |
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First Day of School MPUSD |
Aug 7 8:00 am |
First day of School for all students. Parents may walk their students to class! |
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TK/K Family Orientation |
Aug 7 8:10 am |
Welcome all TK and Kindergarten families with a 30 minute Orientation. Meet the Principal and Assistant Principal in the MUR |
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Observational Period for all TK/K Classes 12:50pm Dismissal for all TK/K students |
Aug 7 - Aug 16 |
The first two weeks of school will be an Observational Period. School hours for our TK and K students will be from: 8:00-12:50 pm. Students will report to their homeroom class every day and families will pick up from the same homeroom class every day. This Observational Period will provide developmentally appropriate tasks for students to engage in and demonstrate abilities, gifts, strengths, and experiences. Additional staff (Psychologists, Speech Therapists, Academic Coaches, Mental Health Therapists, Family Service Specialists, Early Learning Assistants, etc.) will support the collection of anecdotal records during this time. Class Rostering will be flexible throughout the Observational Period to allow students to acclimate to the new educational setting. Students will be given the opportunity to work with a variety of students and teachers. |
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Family Partnership |
Ongoing |
The TK and Kinder Teachers will meet with every family during the first 2 weeks of school. Parent partnership and involvement is key throughout this process. |
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Permanent Rostering |
August 19 |
All student data and information will be considered prior to formal assignment, including but not limited to; developmental stages, experiences, strengths, friendships, learning styles, student-teacher pairings, student-student pairings, supports needed. Students will be formally rostered on Monday, August 19. |
At La Mesa, we are proud to offer an equitable and responsive approach to a predictable challenge and we also understand that this approach will be new for many families. We are happy to meet with families to discuss questions and concerns. Thank you for your continued support and partnership.
Please mark your calendars for July 30 from 3:30pm-4:30pm for our Meet and Greet. More details to come soon.
Take Care,
Julie Alderete
Principal
[email protected]