Lea Express for Friday, October 5

Important Dates

Monday, October 8 – Student Council Information Session, 3:30 – 4:30 pm

Tuesday, October 9 – Family Workshop: High School Selection Process, 4:30 – 6:30 pm

Tuesday, October 16 – PSSA Awards Ceremony, 1:00 – 3:00 pm

Thursday, October 18 – Kindergarten Open House, 9:30-11:00 am

Wednesday, October 24 – Academic Parent Teacher Teams (APTT) Family Meetings (Grades K-3), 5:30 – 7:15 pm

Events, Activities, & Announcements

FAMILY WORKSHOP: THE HIGH SCHOOL SELECTION PROCESS

On Tuesday, October 9th, from 4:30-6:30 pm in the Lea school computer lab, our School Counselors and Family & Community Engagement (FACE) Liaison will host a workshop for Grade 8 families to provide information about supporting your child with the high school selection process. Dinner will be provided.

ACADEMIC PARENT TEACHER TEAMS (APTT)

This school year, Lea will be implementing the Academic Parent Teacher Team (APTT) model for family and community engagement in Grades K-3. APTT is a classroom-based, teacher-led, data-driven family engagement model focused on supporting children’s academic goals by linking home and school learning. Classroom teachers in grades K-3 will invite families to participate in three 75-minute group meetings and one 30-minute individual, family-child session annually.

The first of these APTT meetings for Grades K-3 will occur on Wednesday, October 24th beginning at 5:30 pm. Childcare will be provided and we will have dinner after the APTT session. More information is forthcoming, and we hope to see all of our Grades K-3 families on 10/24!

FIFTH ANNUAL MOCK INTERVIEWS

We are looking for volunteers for our Grade 8 Mock Interviews on Thursday, October 25th from 1:00-3:00 pm in the Lea Library! Our eighth grade students need practice and pointers from wonderful business professionals and community members like you! Sample questions will be provided to volunteers which will ignite great conversation and dialogue. This “trial run” helps our students prepare for their high school interviews. To RSVP, please email Ms. Radebaugh at kradebaugh@philasd.org by October 12th.

HOME AND SCHOOL ASSOCIATION MEETING (HSA)

HSA is excited to announce monthly “Dress Down for a Dollar” days! On one Friday of every month beginning Friday October 19th, students may dress out of uniform according to that month’s theme by bringing a dollar to school to donate to the Home and School Association. This month’s theme is “Dress Up Like an Adult” in honor of Student Council elections on the 19th. The HSA is also selling our “be-LEA-ve” t-shirts as a fundraiser. If you didn’t get one at Back to School Night, ask an HSA officer or email us at leahomeandschool@gmail.com. Baseball T’s are $15 and regular T’s are $10.

The next  monthly meeting of the Home and School Association (HSA) will be on Tuesday, October 23rd  at 3:30 pm in Room 106. In addition, please consider attending the monthly Philadelphia Board of Education meeting at 440 North Broad Street on Thursday, October 18th at 5:00 pm. Note: those who want to address the Board must register by 4:30 pm the day before the meeting (https://www.philasd.org/schoolboard/speaker-request-form/).

HSA meeting dates for 2018-2019: 10/23/18, 11/15/18, 12/20/18, 1/17/19, 2/21/19, 3/21/19, 4/11/19, 5/16/19

SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING (SAC)

The Lea SAC met on Wednesday, October 3rd in the Lea Library for our Annual Title 1 Parent meeting.  We reviewed the purposes of Title 1 Family Engagement funding and how we can use these funds to support parents and student learning.  We generated ideas including a grade parent system, more computers for families (there are 2 currently available in the FACE Office next to the Main Office on the 1st floor), learning materials for families, and possibly support for family events, like dinner.  We agreed to revisit these ideas throughout the year since the new structure allows us to get approval for spending these funds as the need arises. There was also a general discussion about the leveling process. Lea was going to lose 2.4 teaching positions and 3 paraprofessionals, but through various negotiations and shifting of our budgets, Principal Savage and the District were able to keep all our teachers while losing only 1 paraprofessional.  There is a joint SAC/HSA advocacy letter that was sent to the Board of Education, University of Pennsylvania, and our elected representatives.  The outcome of those efforts are several follow-up meetings with the Lea and Penn Alexander SAC groups, a request for a small group meeting with Penn representatives, and a broader action plan to continue to advocate that the District consider eliminating leveling by improving its data collection so that enrollment projections and teacher allocation could be more accurate for District and Principal planning.  The SAC is also working on building relationships with other family groups in our neighborhood, and the Harrington Elementary School SAC will join our next SAC meeting as they work towards a review of their school in the coming year. We hope to learn from our conversations with both Penn Alexander and Harrington school communities. The next SAC meeting will be November 14th from 4:30-6:00 pm in the Lea Library (please note that this is the second Wednesday of the month).

SAC meeting dates for 2018-2019: 11/14/18, 12/5/18, 1/9/19, 2/6/19, 3/6/19, 4/3/19, 5/8/19

Program Information

STUDENT COUNCIL

Student Council is a chance for Lea students in Grades 3-8 to serve their school by voicing their opinions, advocating for change, and contributing their time and effort to improve our school. Student Council applications are available from Mr. Rich’s bulletin board outside Room 125 (next to Visitors’ Entrance stairwell). Applications must be completed and returned to Mr. Rich’s mailbox in the Main Office by Friday, October 12th.

There will be a Student Council information session on Monday October 9th from 3:30-4:30 pm in the Lea Library, and Student Council Elections will be held during assemblies on Friday, October 19th, during which candidates will give speeches to their student peers who will cast their votes for Student Council Officers and Grade Representatives. And in honor of Student Council Election Day on October 19th, students can dress like adult since they’ll be engaged in voting!  Dress Up to Vote! Please bring a $1 donation for HSA.

Please contact Mr. Rich (rjliuzzi@gse.upenn.edu, Room 125) with any questions.

SPARK

The Spark Student Orientation for Grade 7 students that have enrolled in Spark will be held next Tuesday, October 9th, from 2:45 – 3:45 pm in the Lea Library. For additional information, please contact Lea’s Spark Program Fellow, Akua Maat, at  amaat@sparkprogram.org.

WRITE ON!

Write On is an after-school creative writing and literacy program for students in Grades 6, 7, and 8 at Lea sponsored by the Kelly Writers House on the University of Pennsylvania campus and the Lea After-School Program. Weekly Friday sessions from 3:15-5:45 pm partner Lea students with Penn student writing coaches to encourage self-expression and foster mentorship through creative writing. The enrollment deadline for Write On is Friday, October 12th, and the first day of programming is Friday, October 19th. Enrollment forms are located on Mr. Rich’s bulletin board (Room 125), and students must return completed forms to Mr. Rich’s mailbox in the Main Office.

KIDS WHO CODE

Lea’s Kids Who Code Club is an after-school club for Lea students interested in learning computer science in a collaborative, engaging, and intensive manner. The club will be led by Mr. Mazzeo, Lea’s technology teacher, supported by undergraduate student volunteers from the Penn School of Engineering & Applied Science, and run through the Lea After-School Program. Students will be assigned to either Group A (Tuesdays, 3:10 – 5:00 pm) or Group B (Thursdays, 3:10 – 5:00 pm) by Mr. Mazzeo and Ms. Arttia, the after-school program director. The enrollment deadline for Kids Who Code is Friday, October 12th, and the first days of programming are on Tuesday October 16th (Group A) and Thursday, October 18th (Group B). Enrollment forms are located on Mr. Rich’s bulletin board (Room 125), and students must return completed forms to Mr. Mazzeo or Mr. Rich’s mailbox in the Main Office.

LEA AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM ENROLLMENT

Open enrollment for the Lea After-School Program was closed effective September 11th, and enrollment of “returning” families (from last school-year and this past summer) ended on Friday, September 14th. Lea’s after-school program director, Ms. Arttia,  (lea-nettercenter@sas.upenn.edu), has started an enrollment wait-list for interested families.

Family Information

FAMILY CAFÉ

Our Family Café program is an opportunity for Lea families to come together to support one another. The Family  Café meets every Friday morning from 9:00-11:00 am in the Lea Library (with a continental breakfast included). Upon program completion in December, participants will receive a certificate of completion and a Walmart Gift Card. For additional information, please speak with our Family and Community Engagement (FACE) Liaison, Mr. Brown (antbrown001@gmail.com) or grab a flyer from the Partnerships Office bulletin board (next to Room 125 near the Visitors Entrance stairs).

ADULT ESOL CLASS

Starting October 2nd, Renewal Presbyterian Church (4633 Cedar Avenue) will be providing an adult ESOL class (English for Speakers of Other Languages). Classes are free, but your textbook costs $33. Free childcare will be provided by request. Registration is ongoing on Tuesdays between 7:00-9:00 pm at Renewal Church. If you have any questions, please call 484-441-3969 or email ESL@renewalwestphilly.org.

KINDERGARTEN OPEN HOUSE

Henry C. Lea Elementary is a Site Selection school. The site selection process allows K-12 students who currently do NOT live within the neighborhood to apply. We would like to welcome any and all potential students and their families to see our wonderful kindergarten program on Thursday, October 18, 2018 from 9:30-11:00 am. We will meet first in the auditorium, and then you will receive a tour of the kindergarten classrooms. If you have any questions or insights, please email Ms. Radebaugh at kradebaugh@philasd.org.

PENNSMILES DENTAL BUS

The PennSmiles Dental Bus from the Penn School of Dental Medicine provides complete dental care for every child at Lea who completes the PennSmiles permission form, which was sent home during the first week of school, and can be found in the Nurse’s Office across from the Main Office.

Parents/guardians must fill out, sign, and return the PennSmiles permission form to the Lea school nurse (Nurse Harrison) or the Main Office. Note: If you are not your child’s biological parent but have legal guardianship of your child, you must attach documentation proving your legal guardianship to your completed PennSmiles permission form!

VOLUNTEERING AT LEA

In order to volunteer in any capacity this year (including chaperoning field trips), parents/guardians and community members must attend a mandatory Volunteer Orientation Training at Lea with our Family and Community Engagement (FACE) Liaison, Mr. Brown. The first Volunteer Orientation Training was this past Friday, October 5th, and the next training will be Wednesday, November 7th, from 12:30-1:30 pm. Please RSVP with Mr. Brown (antbrown001@gmail.com) if you plan to attend.