September Highlights
- We hope everyone had a great summer and is settling into the 2024-25 school year. Whether you are enrolled in the Homeschool Program or you come to onsite classes as part of the Hybrid Program, it has been great to see and connect with so many new and returning TLC community members. We will use this monthly newsletter space to highlight student work, success stories, community updates, and more. We look forward to a great year together.
- This month TLC families got to experience life like the old miners, panning for gold at The Eagle Mining Co. in Julian. Guests were treated to enlightening tours that preserve the tools, machinery, knowledge, and history of the early Californians. Attendees even got to see the old milling and extraction processes and have a simulated Boothill!
- Also in Julian, TLC families experienced a number of educational activities at Fort Cross, including adobe brick making, gold panning and sluicing, music, rope making, visits from reptiles, and more!
Social-Emotional Learning
Social-Emotional Learning
Each month, you will see regular updates, tips, and information focused on Social-Emotional Learning in this newsletter. For those of you who are new to this term, it refers to the following, as defined by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning:
Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) helps children and adults develop the skills we need for every area of life, from academics and careers to healthy relationships and overall well-being skills like managing our emotions, communicating effectively, setting and achieving goals, and making good choices.
When SEL is incorporated into schools and classrooms it has been found to increase students' academic achievement, social connections, behavior, self-esteem, and more. In addition, it has a positive effect on both students' and adults' attitudes, outlooks, and well-being. There are MANY reasons to make space for this each month, both in the newsletter and in our individual lives.
SEL Activity Idea
One exercise you can start doing regularly at school or home is “Rose, Bud & Thorn.”
This prompt asks students and adults to identify something in their day or week that went well or was a highlight (their rose), something they are working on or looking forward to (their bud), and a challenge they are experiencing (their thorn).
Regularly reflecting on success, challenges, and opportunities through this exercise helps learners of all ages build the skills of gratitude, honest sharing, and self-awareness – all great SEL tools!
To incorporate this into your family or classroom, you can follow the below steps, as suggested by Panorama Education:
- Choose a schedule or frequency for repeating the activity (e.g. daily or weekly at dinner time or during a family meeting).
- Prompt students to reflect on a “rose,” “bud,” and “thorn” for either the day, the last week, or the month.
- Explain what these three terms are referring to and model the protocol by sharing your own personal examples.
This is a simple SEL practice that you can start today!
Student Spotlights
This month's first student spotlight features recent TLC graduate Maisie Kallner, who started at UC Riverside this Fall. At the end of last year, Maisie was awarded a MacBook Pro, a monitor, and a college swag bag to help her with her time in college. This was made possible by TLC Counselor, Samantha Peterson, and a generous anonymous donor. Maisie was chosen for this gift because of her exceptional qualities, including her resilience, growth mindset, and determination to pursue higher education. She consistently demonstrated a strong work ethic, set high expectations for herself, and served as a role model for her peers. During her time at TLC, Maisie was also known for her kindness in helping others, and being a truly outstanding student. We are excited to support her as she embarks on her journey at UC Riverside!
This month's next student spotlight features TLC La Mesa senior, Aleena Pintor, who recently became involved in the FBI Teen Academy. Aleena was first exposed to the teen academy after attending an event over the summer. As part of this event, held at a federal office in Sorrento Valley, Aleena met other students and heard multiple presentations that broke down the different FBI fields. Aleena described the benefit of this experience and her ongoing involvement as follows:
"There were many hands-on activities, and I liked the fingerprinting and shoe-casting in forensics. The presenters and employees were very inviting and didn't make me feel too shy to ask them questions. It's a great way to expose yourself to their career paths, especially if you're unsure about what you want to do. I enjoyed it and wanted to do more, so I volunteered at their FBI booth on National Night Out. It helped me further connect with those I met and allowed me to share my experience with others."
Soaring to New Heights
TLC Chula Vista senior, Anastasia Johnson, recently took hands on learning to a new level when she co-piloted a plane!
Accompanied by her father, Anastasia piloted the plane under her dad’s instruction. For part of the flight, however, the controls were entirely in her hands. She remained calm and steady despite observing that, “turbulence in a smaller airplane is a lot scarier.”
Anastasia became interested in flying because she saw how much her dad liked it. She hopes to follow in his footsteps and one day get her pilot’s license.
What she likes most about flying is that,
“It’s cool that everything else seems so small when you’re up in the air.”
We’re excited to see Anastasia continue to soar to new heights.
Welcome Back
This year's Welcome Back event got the year off to a great start with a number of fun activities in and around Belmont Park, including a plunge pool, splash pad, sand castle building, and mini-golf. Families, students, and staff enjoyed the festivities while re-connecting after the summer. We can't wait to offer more special events and field trips to our families throughout the year to keep the connections going.
Testing Overview
With the school year officially underway, students and parents alike may be thinking about the testing that lies ahead of them this year.
In addition to the assignments and assessments administered directly by your grade level teachers, TLC runs a series of district-wide tests throughout the year. Each set of tests serves a specific purpose and we will do our best to ensure that tests are spaced out as much as possible. We wanted to provide some insight about why we administer these different assessments so you can feel confident that testing, and the data it provides, helps us to serve your students.
The primary tests administered:
NWEA
- K-12 students test 2-3 times per year
- Used to measure growth in reading and math
i-Ready
- K-8 Hybrid students test 2-3 times per year
- Used to measure growth in math
- MyPath is created from student performance to support learning
CAASPP
- California’s assessment of student performance, required by the state as part of funding as a public school
- Students in grades 3-8, plus students in grade 11, take this test at the end of the year
- Summative assessment
- Measures proficiency in grade level standards
Why these tests are important:
- Tests such as NWEA and i-Ready, which are used to measure growth, offer us data that help to guide instruction and better serve students with support that is targeted directly to their needs.
- Results from these tests are always shared with the student and parent and can be used to set goals for the year.
- Collective student growth results that are captured through tests such as NWEA help TLC to provide an alternative assessment for accountability during our charter renewal process.
- Results from the CAASPP tests measure how well TLC students are meeting proficiency in grade level standards and ensure that we are effectively serving our students.
A Good Start to the Day -- and School Year
Most of us are familiar with the saying that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Various health trends and headlines have raised doubts about this assumption in recent years, however ongoing research confirms the importance of breakfast -- especially for students. Continue reading to find out why it is so important for students to eat this first meal of the day.
Free Breakfast Available at TLC
TLC offers FREE breakfast to all students at each of our school sites. Breakfast is distributed from 15-30 minutes before onsite classes begin. Homeschool Program students can take advantage of free breakfasts by contacting the following team members:
- Chula Vista: Cathy Kniss, ckniss@learningchoice.org
- La Mesa: DJ Fackrell, dj.fackrell@learningchoice.org
- San Diego: Carli Anderson, carli.anderson@learningchoice.org
Benefits of Eating Breakfast for Students
The following article is taken from Healthy Living and is authored by Lindsay Boyers
You've probably heard the adage "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" a million times before; but it turns out that it may be true, especially when it comes to students. Eating a healthy breakfast before starting the school day is linked to improved concentration, better test scores, increased energy, a higher intake of vitamins and minerals, and even a healthier body weight. Breakfast is especially important for young students whose brains use up about half of the body's energy.
Improved Concentration: Students who eat a healthy breakfast tend to have better concentration than students who skip breakfast altogether. When the day starts with breakfast, students can focus on the task at hand better and become less distracted by outside influences and other students. They're also able to understand what's being taught more easily and retain that new information better than students who are hungry because they've skipped breakfast.
Better Test Scores: Students who eat breakfast before starting their school day don't just concentrate better, they tend to score better on academic tests in math, reading, and science. According to a study published in the Journal of Economics, students in schools that offered free breakfasts before class scored about 25 percent higher on math, reading and science tests. Researchers believe that this is because the breakfast provides the energy necessary to increase cognitive, or thinking, speed and problem-solving skills.
Increased Energy: When you sleep, you're technically fasting, since you're going without food. Because of this, your blood sugar starts to drop overnight. When you wake up and eat breakfast, it provides the glucose your body needs for energy to get through the day. When students wake up after an overnight fast and go to school without eating breakfast, they start the day with low blood sugar that just keeps getting lower. This can leave them feeling slow and sluggish and make it more difficult to get through the day, or at least their morning classes. On the other hand, eating a healthy breakfast before school raises blood sugar to a healthy level and provides the necessary energy that students need to perform well in class until lunchtime.
Beyond Academics: It's not just about test scores and concentration, though. Eating breakfast can help students meet their daily nutrient needs more easily. According to a report published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, children who regularly eat breakfast take in approximately 20 to 60 percent more iron, B vitamins and vitamin D than children who skip breakfast. Breakfast eaters also tend to take in more daily fiber and lower total fat and dietary cholesterol.
Regularly eating breakfast is also associated with a healthier body mass index, or BMI, and a decreased likelihood of obesity. Research shows that students who regularly eat breakfast have an easier time maintaining a healthy body weight than students who are regular breakfast skippers.
Tip of the Month: Having a Family Emergency Plan
The start of the school year is a great time to revisit, or perhaps visit for the first time, other ways we can prepare for a successful year. One important topic for all families to discuss is their family emergency plan.
This means a family’s plan for how to handle an emergency, including where they will meet, how they will communicate, and anything else that needs to be considered, such as medical needs.
The Ready Campaign lays out what steps to discuss and includes a template where you can plug in your family’s emergency plan information.
TLC consistently practices a number of different types of safety drills so we can ensure students and staff are prepared for emergencies if they happen during school hours. We’ll use this space to update families about what we covered each month.
Safety Drills Recap
This month, our Chula Vista site successfully completed an earthquake drill and evacuation within 10 minutes that included 385 students and staff.
Our La Mesa site completed two fire drills in under 5 minutes with 198 and 176 students and staff participating. They also completed an earthquake drill with 247 participants.
The San Diego site also had their first drill of the year this month, a lockdown drill in which 109 students participated. The drill was completed and the campus checked in 3 minutes and 22 seconds. A great start to the year!
STAR Student Recognitions
September: Respect
TLC recognizes STAR students each month based on a determined character trait. September's character trait is Respect. Students are nominated by their Educational Partners and School Site Administrators. Congratulations to this month's STAR students!
Elianna Alvarez
Boris Andronov
Magnus Burns
Kiefer Burns
Toby Carlton
Jakob Carrillo
Daisy Cole
Avila Goldkamp
Madelynn Gray
Josalyn Hough
Sophia Hyde
Aliah Jaff
Ricky Marcoux
Kamilla Murphy
Jenessa Nealey
Jessica Pyzel
Zoe Salazar
Ryan Stewart
Christopher Stewart
Lacy Tuilesu
Danira Valdez
Matthew Viramontes
This month's staff recognitions for Respect are:
Angelique Bailey
Alex Browne
Brontee Cintron
Joe Cunningham
Kacie Desmond
Julianna Hunter
Carmen Salgado
Ways To Support
In addition to being a valued member of TLC, there are various ways you can support our school. We'll try to highlight different avenues each month so that you can find a way that feels best for you. And if your support is simply being a member of our community, we're glad you're here!
Nominate an Outstanding Teacher
This month's way to support TLC is to nominate an outstanding teacher. San Diego County Credit Union put together this opportunity for students and families to recognize the classroom heroes that are our teachers. Winning teachers will receive a $250 gift card for their classroom. Take a moment to celebrate your classroom hero today!