CDA Community,

We will use this platform to house communications since March 10, 2020, when the Covid-19 / coronavirus health crisis started to affect our day-to-day operations. Make sure to check the district’s website for more up-to-date information. If you are not receiving their communications by phone or email, please email me so that we can check your contact information in our student data system.

Stay well and together we will get through this crisis. Thanks.

Andrew Jenkins, Principal
[email protected]

Email Sent on August 23, 2020

Dear CDA Families,

Congratulations! We did it. For the first time ever, we successfully navigated a remote start to the school year. We have our entire team to thank: parents, teachers, support staff, and students. We are so grateful for everyone’s efforts to support and engage our students. I was able to see all of our classes during their teacher meet and greets and will begin visiting our virtual classrooms throughout these next few weeks. It was also heartening to see so many families at our device and materials checkouts, and we were thrilled to see such a tremendous turnout at our first ever CDA Wheel and Wave with Principal Jenkins. We will continue this tradition for the rest of our students and their families, grades 1-5, schedules below. We will also continue Storytime with Principal Jenkins, weekly, and our weekly assembly on Mondays will start this week. We are trying to provide as many opportunities as possible to connect with our community so that we can strengthen and bolster it during the pandemic. Feel free to join us as you are able. We know how busy everyone is. The most important connection are the ones between students and teachers, and we are proud to report that 97% of our students were connected on Schoology in some form or fashion this past week. Kudos to everyone for making education a priority. Below are the week’s updates. Feel free to email as always with questions. Questions around your child’s classroom should first be directed to his/her teacher.

  1. Every Monday, 09:00 AM, we will hold a weekly assembly for all students and their families. The format for our assembly will evolve, but our goal is to use it as an opportunity to highlight the work of our students and to make announcements of upcoming events and school-related news. The assembly will in webinar format, so please do not expect to see everyone’s faces, as we can in our usual Zoom format. We will do our best to include voices and faces, though! On weeks when we have a Monday holiday, announcements will be shared via the Sunday update. Finally, since our webinar capacity is 500 participants, we ask that families with multiple children use a single log in, parents included. Invite was emailed. It will work for assemblies in August. Thanks.
  2. Our first ever CDA Wheel and Wave was a huge success! We hosted this past Friday our transitional kindergarten and kindergarten families, and our Booster Club board came out to sell CDA t-shirts and hats. Thanks so much for supporting us as we look for ways to connect in person. Below is the schedule for the rest of our grades. If you could space it out so that families whose children’s last names start with A-L come in the first half hour and the rest come during the second half hour, that may help with crowd control. Please wear your mask and keep your distance. The events are also on our website’s calendar. See you in front of our school!
  3. This Thursday, August 27th, we will host our annual Back to School night, virtual style. I will be speaking at 5:00 PM, invite below, and our grades 3-5 teachers will send you invites for their 30-minute presentation at 5:15 PM and our TK through second grade teachers will present at 5:45 PM, invites shared by teachers. We are excited to share our plans with you and hear your input. Since we will be having our Back to School night this week, I will hold my first Coffee and Tea with the Principal on September 2nd, invite emailed. Thanks.
  4. We are excited to announce our first ever virtual Scholastic Book Fair, flyer linked on our website. As we encourage the lifelong love of reading in our students, please take time to select from award-winning and high-interest titles. All profits support our robust collection in our school library, which we will soon be making available for checkout. Stay tuned! Thanks.
  5. Before (4:30 PM; Grades 1-5) and after (6:15 PM; TK/K) our Back to School night meeting, Ms. Fielding (TK Teacher), who serves as our in-class coordinator for English learner programs, will be hosting the Master Plan Program Options meetings for families of current and potential students who are learning English as a second language. Please join her for the meetings to learn more about how we support students who are learning English as a second language. Invites emailed.
  6. We will continue with our weekly Storytime with Principal Jenkins. Students in TK through grade 2 can join me on Tuesdays at 1:45 PM and students in grades 3-5 can join me on Thursdays at the same time. In the upper grades, we will continue to read from Fish in a Tree. (The week of August 31st, grades 3-5 will meet on Wednesday, September 2nd, instead of the 3rd.) Invites were emailed. Thanks.
  7. Our yearbook committee has arranged a pick-up date for families who have not picked up yearbook PLUS they have extra yearbooks they are selling from the 2019/2020 school year. Yearbooks and CDA merchandise (masks, t-shirts, water bottle, and more!) will be on sale outside of the school entrance from 2:00 – 4:00 PM on Wednesday, August 26th and on Thursday, August 27th from 2:00 – 3:00 PM.
  8. If you are interested in serving as a room parent for your class, please contact our room parent coordinators at [email protected]. Room parents serve as a liaison between the teacher, parents, Booster Club, and class, provide ongoing communication, collect and manage class funds, and organize and arrange volunteers for various fundraising events. They will receive emails from their coordinators to inform and remind them of important tasks. Thanks.
  9. Superintendent Beutner announced on Monday, August 17th during his weekly address to the community that LAUSD is launching a COVID-19 Testing and Tracing Program for students and staff.  This program will provide regular COVID-19 testing and contact tracing to school staff, students and their families. As part of this plan, research will commence to study the impact and effects of reopening and this data will be available to the general public. The testing and contact tracing program and its corresponding research are a groundbreaking collaboration between LA Unified and leading scientists from the UCLA, Stanford, and Johns Hopkins University, Microsoft, testing experts, and healthcare companies Anthem Blue Cross and Health Net. In order to provide as much information and answer as many questions as possible about the COVID testing and tracing program, the Office of Communications has created a site, linked, that features an informative page on the testing plan with a FAQ. I encourage you to check here for his weekly updates.
  10. Finally, I have linked some troubleshooting guides as we work out the kinks in our remote connections.

Thanks again for all that you do. I look forward to seeing you virtually and in front of our school for a Wheel and Wave! Stay well.

Meetings

Topic: CDA Morning Assembly
When: Aug 24, 2020 09:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Topic: Principal Jenkins Back to School Address
Time: Aug 27, 2020 05:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Topic: Master Plan Program Options Meeting for Grades 1 – 5
Time: Aug 27, 2020 04:45 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Topic: Master Plan Program Options Meeting for Grades TK/K
Time: Aug 27, 2020 06:15 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Topic: Principal Jenkins Story Time: TK-2
Time: Aug 25, 2020 01:45 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Topic: Storytime with Principal Jenkins: Grades 3-5
Time: Aug 27, 2020 01:45 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Topic: Coffee and Tea with the Principal
Time: Sep 2, 2020 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

CDA Wheel and Wave Schedule (3:15 – 4:15 PM)

Grade 1:               Tuesday, August 25th
Grade 2:               Tuesday, August 27th
Grade 3:               Tuesday, September 1st
Grade 4:               Tuesday, September 8th
Grade 5:               Tuesday, September 10th

Troubleshooting Guides

Zoom & Safari Troubleshooting Job Aide
Troubleshooting Tips

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