Happy New Year! I hope you were able to relax a bit this holiday season and that the students enjoyed their much-deserved break from school. I was able to see some of my family members, and I read some great books, too!

As we come to the end of 2021, we reflect on a year of new beginnings, uncertainty, change, and for some of us, loss. Throughout the year, we practiced patience, flexibility, and strength. 2022 will bring some changes in safety protocols that may not seem easy at first, but we have weathered things before as a school community, and we can continue to do so to give our students and staff the safest return to school that is possible.

January has always been a special month - ask any educator. It is the time of year in the school calendar when students discover that they have all of the tools they need in place to take off with their learning. Our staff will be with them every step of the way to support, push, guide, and nurture them.

Please read on to learn a little about what took place in December and what to look forward to in January.

Sincerely,

Emily

P.S. Updates as of January 5, 2022, are included in this newsletter.

Superintendent Sinnette sent an email on 12.29.21 with some important updates to keep our students safe:

• Required indoor and outdoor masking for all students and staff (except while eating);
• Required staff masking upgrades (surgical grade or KN95; cloth masks alone would not be sufficient);
• Recommended student masking upgrades (surgical grade or KN95 recommended);
• More comprehensive Covid-19 testing regimens on campuses throughout the surge.

The change students will notice the most is masking outdoors except when eating. Masking at recess up until this point was an option, but now our staff will ensure that students wear their masks at all times, unless they are eating or drinking.

While vaccinations continue to be recommended as the best defense for the Omicron variant, we are not mandating vaccinations at this time. However, we are asking families to share proof of vaccination status if a child is vaccinated. More details on how to do this will come shortly.

Updated Information as of Jan. 5:

Based on the direction given by the LCUSD Governing Board this morning, all students must test for COVID-19 with either a PCR or Antigen test prior to returning to school.

• If your child(ren) participated in regular PCR testing through the district on January 3-4, they do NOT have to retest.

• If your child(ren) tested prior to January 3rd, regardless of the test result, they MUST test again.

• If your child(ren) tested positive with either a PCR or Antigen test for COVID-19 and completed an isolation period prior to January 3rd, they MUST test again with an Antigen test.

Our regular shipment of PCR tests has not been delivered as of today. However, the District has acquired Antigen tests that may be administered at home for any student or staff member that has not yet tested. The Antigen tests are ONLY for those students/staff who did NOT test on January 3rd or January 4th. They will be distributed to families Wednesday, January 5th from 12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Families will need to pick up the Antigen tests at their individual child’s home school. For example, if you have one child at the high school and one child at Palm Crest, you will need to go to both schools to pick up a test for each child. Only one test per student will be distributed and we will track who has been given an Antigen test.

If your child's Antigen test shows a positive result, please email the site Health Clerk and include the Principal and Nurse Katrina Metz in the email. Please see the emails below. We appreciate your cooperation as we work to keep our schools open and our community safe.

Sincerely,
The COVID Compliance Team

LCE:
Amy Erickson: aerickson@lcusd.net
Emily Blaney: eblaney@lcusd.net
Katrina Metz: kmetz@lcusd.net

The recent tragedy in Oxford, Michigan, where four students were killed and seven injured, caused many of us to think about our safety measures on campus. I wanted to list a few of the safety measures that we currently have in place:

• LCE is fenced, and our gates are locked when students are on campus.

• We have staff members present when the gates are unlocked at drop-off and pick-up.

• We have security cameras at access points.

• We practice safety drills each month, including lockdown drills.

• Our staff uses an app called Catapult. Catapult allows us to send a message via text and email about any type of threat. For example, we used it on the first day of school when there was a bear in the neighborhood. Staff members use the app to account for themselves and for their students. The staff members on the site safety team monitor the app to find out who is accounted for. We also can update the staff through the app.

• Our district leadership team and counseling team recently received training on consistent Threat Assessment practices.

• We continue to offer Social-Emotional support for our students and families.

Please reach out to me if you have any questions about our safety measures.

LCE held its annual Spelling Bee outdoors on December 10. All fourth, fifth, and sixth graders attended, and the winners of the classroom spelling bees in those grade levels participated. The spellers were amazing! Congratulations to the following students who will represent LCE at the LCUSD District Spelling Bee on January 26:

• Eugenia Kang, 1st place

• Owen Kim, 2nd place

• Nane Gharibian

• Alexandra Lowry

• Clara Lee

Emily Blaney, Principal

Website: lcelions.net
Location: 4540 Encinas Drive, La Cañada Flintridge, CA, USA
Phone: 8189528350
Twitter: @lcelions