February Highlights
TLC students and families have been busy with a number of events and field trips over the last few months!
- Congratulations to all the students who participated in the annual Spelling-Bee at the end of December. We couldn't BEE more proud!
- TLC students dove into the wonders of our ocean planet during a trip to the Birch Aquarium.
- Students took another visit to the Linda Vista Innovation Center. It was a day for exploring, creating, and learning through hands-on interactive experiences.
- High School Students had a magical time at the Winter Formal, which had a "Once Upon a Time" theme.
Reading Is Fundamental Book Fairs
Last month, TLC hosted a book fair at each site. As part of these events, EVERY student was able to select three brand new books to take home and keep. This was made possible by a grant from Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), the nation’s leading children’s literacy nonprofit. In addition to sharing pictures of the day, below we have linked some reading resources from RIF to keep spreading the love of literacy.
Reading Resources
The following is taken from our partners at Reading is Fundamental, the nation's leading literacy nonprofit.
Social-Emotional Learning related reading
Visit this online destination to discover stories, activities, and resources to help children develop their understanding of themselves and the world while having fun and building their literacy skills, too!
See, Think, Wonder Graphic Organizers
The See, Think, Wonder thinking routine is a strategy students can use to deepen their observation and understanding skills. Use this graphic organizer to support your students with this thinking routine as they explore different texts.
A Recommended Title - Perfectly Norman
Norman had always been perfectly normal, until one day when he grows a pair of wings! Can he summon the courage to be himself? While we all might feel afraid about standing out, Perfectly Norman, written and Illustrated by Tom Percival, shows that there's nothing better than celebrating what makes you unique!
Social-Emotional Learning
TLC teachers incorporate social-emotional learning (SEL) into classroom activities as part of every Hybrid Program class day. To support families in incorporating SEL into homeschool days, we are sharing this resource from the organizers of SEL Day, "a global, grassroots campaign for social-emotional learning to support children’s academic recovery, mental health, and well-being."
TLC's own SEL team will be organizing our celebrations for SEL Day, on March 3. In the meantime, this toolkit provides a number of great prompts to help families explore SEL at home.
As defined in the toolkit, these are some of the defined SEL skills that we help students develop:
- Self-Awareness—My recognition of who I am, what I need and how I feel relative to the world around me.
- Self-Management—My ability to manage my emotions and behaviors, to complete a task or succeed in a challenging situation.
- Social Awareness—My demonstration of consideration for others and a desire to positively contribute to my community.
- Relationship Skills—My ability to use positive communication and social skills to interact effectively with others.
- Decision Making—My approach to problem solving that involves learning from others, from past experiences and using my values to guide my action and accepting responsibility for my decisions.
These SEL skills are valuable for students and adults of all ages to continue to work on and develop. Stay tuned for more information about SEL Day and ways to celebrate.
Our New La Mesa Site
Last month we shared a few highlights from the Ribbon Cutting and Open House event that was held to unveil our new La Mesa school site.
We had a great time marking the occasion and celebrating with families, students, staff, and community stakeholders. Activities included games for students, tours for families and visitors, and of course cutting the ribbon to "officially" open the new facility!
In addition to being a beautiful and safe space for learning, our new facility features include:
- Expanded staircase access and lifts for each building
- Upgraded HVAC systems
- Exterior gate for safety
- Completely new interior for all buildings
- New flagpole and signage
- Fiber optic and high speed data infrastructure with upgraded wifi access points
- Refill water stations
- Community garden (future addition)
Our new campus would not have been possible without strong support from all corners of the community. We're grateful to Turner Impact Capital, Bycor General Contractors, and Ethos Three Architecture, for creating such a beautiful facility.
And we were honored to be joined by Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe, La Mesa Vice Mayor Patricia Dillard, and the office of Assemblymember Dr. LaShae Sharp-Collins, as well as representatives from the CA Charter Schools Association, the La Mesa Kiwanis, and the Girard Foundation at our ribbon cutting and open house event.
We can’t wait to see this campus continue to come to life and serve even more students!
Heart Health
February is heart health month, a time dedicated to raising awareness about potential heart health risks as well as spreading information about how to keep your heart healthy. While heart disease primarily affects adults, it is important for all ages to take proactive steps to maintain heart health.
The following comes from The American Heart Association, who suggest a few tips for helping keep kids heart-healthy:
- Schedule family time for physical activity. Weather permitting, go outdoors for a walk, a hike or even just some backyard games. Indoor activities can actually incorporate active screentime, like playing a dance-off or interactive sports video game.
- Plan a weekly menu and prep your meals. Encourage kids to help with meal planning and even grocery shopping. Make sure you have on hand foods they will eat that are also healthy for them. Taking the time to prepare for the week ahead �� even cutting up fruits and veggies for healthy snacks – can help improve overall diets.
- Simplify your family’s schedule. In today’s society we’re expected to do it all. But this type of non-stop lifestyle isn’t sustainable or healthy. Try prioritizing your activities and see what you can do without so you’ll have more time for the things that matter. You can also work on ways to manage stress.
- Set a regular bed time – and wake-up time. Develop bedtime routines to wind down after a busy day. While it may be unrealistic to expect older kids to turn in early, have them to turn off their phones and other devices prior to bedtime. Encourage them to develop their own rituals for a good night’s sleep – and trying to catch up on the weekends doesn’t count.
- Live by example. Be a role model for healthy behaviors. It doesn’t mean you have to change-up everything at once, set goals and take baby steps. Teaching your kids about heart health now will help them live longer, healthier lives for their own future.
As our friends at Healthy Monday said,
This February, remember to give your heart some extra love.
Tip of the Month: Safe Driving in the Rain
While rain is a welcome visitor to our region, it is important to keep in mind how to drive safely when it is raining. *For those of us with a valid driver's license.
The City of San Jose put out the following helpful reminders of how to safely drive in wet conditions:
- Make sure your car is in good working order. Before you hit the road, inspect your windshield wipers, headlights, tail-lights, turn signals, tire pressure, and tire treads (balding tires can adversely affect traction). Do this each time you plan on driving in the rain.
- Plan your route. Check local road and traffic conditions. If possible, stay put during hazardous weather and wait until weather conditions improve.
- Turn on your headlights. Headlights not only help increase visibility in bad weather, but they’re also required by law.
- Give extra room to other vehicles. Wet roads can affect your braking distance.
- Slow down. Hydroplaning, which is when your vehicle slides uncontrollably on a wet surface, most often occurs when a vehicle is driving too fast in wet conditions.
- Avoid sudden movements. Gentle steering, braking and accelerating are best on wet roads.
- Never use cruise control in wet conditions. Cruise control can interfere with your vehicle’s ability to decelerate while hydroplaning.
- Avoid standing water on roadways. Driving through standing water can cause hydroplaning. If water is covering the markings on the road, it’s too deep to drive on—turn around and find another route.
- If your car begins to hydroplane, stay calm. Avoid slamming your brakes, gently ease off the gas, and continue to steer in the direction that your car is headed until your vehicle gains traction again. If your car has anti-lock brakes, you may brake normally.
- Pull over if you have to. If you can’t see cars in front of you, or you’re having a hard time controlling your vehicle, pull over and wait for the weather to improve if you can safely do so.
Safety Drills Recap
At the end of last month our Chula Vista site held a fire drill in 3.2 minutes with 372 participants. This month, our San Diego site held a fire drill in 4 minutes with 127 participants. Meanwhile our La Mesa site conducted a lockdown drill with 322 participants.
Once Upon A Time Quiz
Staff at TLC Chula Vista are creating a bulletin board at their school site with their childhood photos. Below are snapshots of some of the Chula Vista staff when they were young -- can you guess who is who? (answers are provided at the end of the newsletter).
STAR Student Recognitions
February: Humor
TLC recognizes STAR students each month based on a determined character trait. February's character trait is Humor. Students are nominated by their Educational Partners and School Site Administrators. Congratulations to this month's STAR students!
Keoni Adlerz
Luke Baker
Gus Bogdon
Christopher Buchwald
Adam Carrillo
Elena Contreras
Caleb Del Toro
Abraham Descans
Theo Doyle
Aaron Duran
Malachi Echeverri
Logan Funches
Ellie Guevara
Dean Jaskiw
Lance Martin
Kip Rapoport
ElRod Rodriguez
Oliver Salazar
Lincoln Shook
Sebastian Stenton
Omar Viilegas Contreras
Madilyn Webb
This month's staff recognitions for Humor are:
Dallon Beachem
Michael Brady
Andy Cardona
Allie Gooding
Jenna Hochstadt
Xander Johnson
Paulo LaTorre
Aleena Stuber
Angie Wilson
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!
Spread the word
Do you know a student or family who you think would love TLC? If so, you can let them know our 2025-26 registration is approaching so now is a great time to learn about our school.
If you know someone who might be interested in our school, you can:
1. Direct them to our website
2. Send them our latest blog post
3. Send them this video to learn more.