Lea Express for Friday, September 13

Posted on October 22, 2019
Categories: Lea Express

 

SCHOOL EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

Community Use of the Playgrounds
The Lea School playground is often used after hours by community members.  Sometimes, items are left on the playground that may be dangerous or hazardous for our students.  If your child finds something that they think may be a problem, please let them know:

  • That they shouldn’t touch the item.
  • They should find an adult immediately and take the adult to the item so we can handle it appropriately.
  • They should tell you as well so that you can follow up with the school by calling the Main Office at (215)400-7660.

Thank you for helping us keep our students safe!

Lea Website & Calendar
We ask all Lea families to regularly check our school website for information about school programming, including the following resources:

Lea Community Calendar (https://tinyurl.com/lea-community-calendar): This public Google Calendar is a tool for sharing Lea’s schedule. It can be accessed via the school’s website (https://lea.philasd.org/).
Partner Programming: The “Partners” section of the school website (https://lea.philasd.org/partners/) contains information and resources about partner programming at Lea for all school stakeholders.

Dads Take Your Child to School Day: 9/17
We would like to invite all of our families, friends, and specifically Lea Dads, to our Dads Take Your Child To School Day event 0n Tuesday, September 17th from 7:45-8:45 am! We encourage all Lea Dads to take their children to school and stay for refreshments, a short discussion, and a short interactive activity in the Auditorium. The doors to the auditorium will open at 7:45 am, and the event will end by 8:45 am. All father figures are welcome including: fathers, stepfathers, brothers, uncles, grandfathers, godfathers, foster-fathers, role models, and superheroes.

What about moms, you ask? Although the event is centered on fathers, mothers and other family members are more than welcome to attend and participate. For more information, or if you plan on participating, volunteering as a greeter, or simply want to support this initiative, please contact Mr. Brown (215-400-7660, antbrown001@gmail.com).

High School Selection Process: 9/17, 9/20, & 9/23
On Friday, 9/20, our 8th graders will be attending the school district’s High School Fair during the school day. Field trip slips will be coming home soon, and must be returned to each 8th grader’s homeroom teacher ASAP.

Also, on two separate dates–Tuesday 9/17 at 4:30 pm and Monday 9/23 at 8:45 am–our school counselor, Mr. Hollenbach (jhollenbach@philasd.org) and Family & Community Engagement Liaison, Mr. Brown (antbrown001@gmail.com), will host a workshop for Grade 8 families with information about the high school selection process in the Lea Auditorium.

AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM INFORMATION

Afterschool Program Enrollment
This school year, Lea will have the following after-school program options for our families:

  1. Grades (K-4): Lea University-Assisted Community School (UACS)
    The UACS after-school program for students in Grades K-4 will start programming on Monday, 9/16. Families can contact the UACS Director, Arttia Watts, at 215-435-0314, lea-nettercenter@sas.upenn.edu, or visit her in Room L-4 for enrollment information.
  2. Grades (5-8): Lea University-Assisted Community School (UACS) Sports Program
    The UACS after-school program is also offering a sports-focused program for students in Grades 5-8. UACS will start programming on Monday, 9/16. Families can contact the UACS Director, Arttia Watts, at 215-435-0314, lea-nettercenter@sas.upenn.edu, or visit her in Room L-4 for enrollment information. Note: Grades 5-8 students must choose between the UACS Sports and PAEP STEAM programs–they CANNOT enroll in both programs.
  3. Grades (5-8): Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership (PAEP) STEAM Program
    The PAEP after-school program is a STEAM-focused program (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) for students in Grades 5-8. PAEP will start programming on Monday, 10/2. Enrollment packets for the PAEP after-school program will be made available starting the week of 9/16 in the Main Office. Note: Grades 5-8 students must choose between the PAEP STEAM and UACS Sports programs–they CANNOT enroll in both programs.
  4. Extracurricular Clubs
    After-school extracurricular clubs led by Lea teachers will start programming on Monday, 10/2. Enrollment packets for extracurricular clubs will be available for interested students starting Monday 9/16 from the teacher sponsors of each club.

FAMI-LEA INFORMATION

School Advisory Council (SAC)
The Lea SAC met for the first time this school year on Wednesday, 8/28, and our next SAC meeting is Wednesday 9/18 from 4:30-6:00 pm in the Lea Library. The SAC advocates for Lea to the District and community partners; helps identify solutions to issues affecting academic achievement, school climate, and family engagement; and provides input on discretionary spending and school-based policies. All Lea parents, guardians, and family members are welcome to attend SAC meetings!

2019-2020 SAC meeting dates: 2019: 9/18, 10/16, 11/13, 12/11 | 2020: 1/8, 2/12, 3/11, 4/1, 5/6, 6/3

Home & School Association (HSA)
On Tuesday, 9/17 from 3:30-4:30 pm in Room 106, the Home and School Association (HSA) will host their first monthly meeting of the school year. The HSA fosters open communication between the school and families in order to create an engaged and positive environment for students at school, at home, and in the community. Monthly HSA meetings will be held on the 3rd Tuesday of every month.

2019-2020 HSA meeting dates: 2019: 9/17, 10/15, 11/19, 12/17 | 2020: 1/21, 2/18, 3/17, 4/21, 5/19

Academic Parent Teacher Teams (APTT)
This school year, Lea will be continuing the Academic Parent Teacher Team (APTT) model for family and community engagement in Grades K-2! APTT (https://aptt.wested.org/) 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-2 will invite families to participate in three 75-minute group meetings and one 30-minute individual, family-child session during the school year.

The first of these APTT meetings for Grades K-2 will occur on Wednesday, 10/23 beginning at 4:00 pm. Childcare and snacks will be provided. More information is forthcoming, and we hope to see all of our Grades K-2 families on October 23rd!

Volunteering at Lea
If you are a parent, guardian, or family member of a Lea student and you wish to volunteer at the school (including chaperoning field trips), you are required to attend a mandatory Volunteer Orientation Training with our Family & Community Engagement Liaison, Mr. Brown (antbrown001@gmail.com) and Community Partnerships Coordinator, Mr. Rich (rjliuzzi@gse.upenn.edu). There is a Fall training on Friday, 9/27/19 from 1:00-3:00 pm at the school (location TBD), and a Spring training on Friday, 1/4/20. We hope to see you then!

Parenting Plus Café
On Friday, 10/4, we will be starting our Parenting Plus Café program, which is a free parent/guardian learning program and support group that includes parent learning (managing stress & anger, communication skills, discipline techniques, abuse/neglect, ages & stages of development, conflict resolution, parenting styles) and life skills training (nutrition, fire safety, and more). The Parenting Plus Café is 12 weeks long (Oct 2019 – Dec 2019), and meets every Friday morning in the Lea Library from 8:30 – 10:30 am. Please see the attached flyer for more details, and contact our Family and Community Engagement (FACE) Liaison, Mr. Brown (antbrown001@gmail.com), and/or the program facilitator, Ms. Denise (dalessan@devereux.org) with any questions.