Dear Walgrove Families and Staff,
Happy Day-After-the-Last-Day-of-School!
What a year it has been!
Thank you so incredibly much for your partnership as we worked together to enrich our children's lives!
Thank you, teachers, for always giving 150%. Your passion and dedication are world class. Our students are well-rounded scholars and compassionate collaborators in large part because of the example you set and the hard work you do day in and day out and day in and day out and day in and day out. When students see how much you give, they admire you beyond words and want to one day walk in your shoes.
Thank you, staff, for also going above and beyond to support colleagues and students in so many sundry ways. Your selflessness is palpable and visible in the smiles and hugs the students bestow upon you and us. You love our students as if they were your own, and it shows.
Thank you, parent volunteers, for holding down jobs AND coming to support at school in such a variety of ways, whether that be all day every day, helping with anything and everything, or stopping by for a few hours whenever you can to help with lunch duty and PE and vocal coaching and storytime and painting and set-building and Frozen Fridays and special events and so much more! We are deeply enriched with nearly 90 registered parent volunteers that add so much positive energy.
Here are are few recent photos (not representative of the year's worth of awesomeness that is captured in our amazing yearbook (thank you, Jill Cannon and Yearbook Team!) and the hearts of us all:
Regarding our attendance awards and attendance in general: THANK YOU, parents, SO MUCH, for honoring our repeated requests to improve attendance. We moved from 50% Chronically Absent to 30% Chronically Absent. Indeed, attendance is SO IMPORTANT. A teacher can't teach an empty seat (as they say) and friends miss friends when they aren't here!
Regarding the Lost and Found, we will wash and donate what remains at the end of next week. So, Thursday, June 20 is the last time to come and collect items. Please do not take what is not yours. Please let us donate the leftover items to a local non-profit. I would like to avoid conflict, "Hey, that's my sweatshirt!" "No, it's mine..." It is also important to distribute and discard of items in very particular ways so as to not appear (or be) improper. Thank you for your understanding.
A few announcements:
CAASPP SCORES
Our prelimary state assessment results are in, and they are stellar.
> 50% of students tested met or exceeded grade level standards in English Language Arts
> 48% of students tested met or exceeded grade level standards in math
> 41% of all students tested have an IEP
SAS DESIGNATION
On June 7, 2024, we were notified that we are officially a School for Advanced Studies. Next year, we will be in E-Choices so that parents from other LAUSD schools may choose to apply to have their children attend Walgrove for our unique offerings that support the scholarship and social emotional learning of Gifted learners. We will afterward reapply for redesignation every five years.
What this also means is that the District GATE Office evaluated the evidence we submitted and visited our school. They saw and felt how much we have to offer neurodivergent learners. All 15 of our teachers participated in over 20 hours of GATE-specific training and will participate in at least 16 hours each year as we move forward to ensure that we provide the same great service to students year after year.
Finally, I would like to acknolwedge and honor our departing teacher Ms. Lynn Webster who has made the difficult decision to leave Walgrove and move out of state. We thank Ms. Webster for her 17 years of service here at Walgrove where she wore many hats, supporting students, families, and colleagues in numerous ways. During my tenure here at Walgrove, Ms. Webster has been the Assessment Coordinator, guiding colleagues and students through the very laborious processes of state testing.
Thank you, Ms. Webster, for all you have given to students and staff. We will miss you!
LET'S HAVE A GREAT SUMMER, WALGROVE!
