April Parent Newsletter 2024

As we approach the spring of the year, please keep in mind we will have more children walking to and from school. Please abide the traffic flow and laws for student drop-off and student-pickup. The attention to these details is for the safety of our children that attend Gascon Elementary School.

I also want to thank our parents that attended their child’s Parent-Teacher Conferences in March. These conferences gave the teachers and parents an opportunity to work alongside one another as partners to help children grow academically and socially. This was truly an opportunity to celebrate successes!

As a reminder, Monday, April 1st until Monday, April 8th is our Spring Break, student will return Tuesday, April 9th. When we return, our 5th grade students will be taking their Promotion and Panoramic Pictures. Later in the month, we also have the 4th annual Discover MUSD event which is a district wide event that is open to all families. The event will take place on Saturday, April 27th at Montebello High School. Please stay tuned for more information as we complete this great school year!

As always, thank you all for your continued support and GOOOOOO TIGERS!!!!!

Autism Acceptance Month: April 1 - April 30

Spring Break: April 1 - April 8 - No School

Fire Drill: April 9

Spring Panorama Survey: April 10 - April 24

Coffee with the Principal: April 10 @ 8:15a.m.

SBAC ELA Testing: April 15 - April 19 (3rd - 5th)

5th Grade Promotion/Panorama Picture Day: April 15 (Order Link)

ELAC Meeting: April 17

Hearing and Screening: April 18 (Kinder, 2nd, 5th)

School Beautification Day: April 20

School Site Council Meeting: April 23

PTO Association Meeting: April 25

SBAC Math Testing: April 22 - April 26

Discover MUSD District Wide Event: April 27 @ MHS 8:00am.-1:00p.m.

SBAC Science Test: April 29 - May 3 (5th Grade Only)

On Wednesday March 6th, Gascon had it's school Science Fair. Students from grades K-5 presented their projects. Students in each classroom spent several weeks working largely independently at home on their long term Science or Engineering Fair projects. The assignment encouraged students to think like scientists by designing an experiment that solved a hypothesis of their choice. We were extremely proud of our students.

The MUSD Science and Engineering Fair was held on March 7th at the Applied Technology Center. The fair showcased MUSD's future scientists and engineers in an annual competition of projects designed, developed and displayed by students from across the district. This year, Gascon Elementary entered four projects into the competion.

• Engineering: Kindergarten - Camila Beltra, Angel Manzo, and Kendra Quiroa Avendano for Popsicle Stick Catapult
• Science : 2nd Grade - Esmeralda Cepeda - Sierra for How Clouds Form
• Science: 3rd Grade - Johany Olmos Sierra for The Earth is Sick
• Engineering: 3rd Grade - Anna Leyva for Potato Clock

During the week of March 4-8, we recognized Read Across America Week. We used this time to encouraged our students to pick up a book and dive into the world of imagination and knowledge. While Read Across America began as a celebration of the birthday and books of Dr. Suess, it has evolved to include a wide variety of authors whose books serve to inform and inspire readers across the country and from all cultural backgrounds. On the first day of Read Across America week, we gave each student a set of books to keep for themselves. These books were donated by Access Books, which is a non-profit providing quality literacy experiences for underserved students and communities.

On Friday, March 8th we held our Annual Guest Reader Day during Read Across America Week. We were fortunate enough to have over 40 volunteers come in to read to our students. Volunteers were encouraged to bring their favorite book in either English or Spanish. Reading to children brings enjoyment to both the readers and the students, and reinforces the idea that reading is fun for everyone.

On Friday, March 8th we held our Book Character Parade. Students and staff were encouraged to dress up as their favorite book character for the parade. In addition, students and staff were asked to bring the book that contains the character they are representing. Prizes were awarded for participation.

Attention ALL 5th grade families: 5th grade students will have a panoramic picture taken of the entire grade level on Monday, April 15. If you would like to purchase one of these pictures you can use the order form in the office, or go to www.shopstudio1.com (Online Order Code: J839)

We will begin the mandated 3rd, 4th & 5th grade SBAC testing towards the end of April. As your student’s first teacher, you are a critical part of their education. It is important to remember that your student’s strengths, abilities and potential cannot be measured by a single test score. Each student grows at different rates both physically and academically. State tests help gauge how your student is growing in the knowledge and skills outlined in the Common Core State Standards. State test results, when combined with other information (i.e., report card grades, teacher feedback, classroom performance and local tests) can help you and the teacher understand where your student is making progress and where they may need extra support. There is a great resource for families on the state department website with information on how to help your child be prepared for the state test.

https://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/

Parents who spend a lot of time on their devices distress their children and reduce their resilience. Children are closely attuned to their parents' attention. They depend on that attention for their survival, but also for their social and emotional development. Several recent research studies show the damage parents can do when they distracted and less responsive because they are attending to their smartphones. -adapted from 'Psychology Today'

The City of Commerce Public Library wants to invite adults and parents to attend ESL conversation classes called Cafecito and Conversations. These classes are being held in two different locations: Veterans Library on Tuesdays at 1:30 pm and the City of Commerce Public Library in the READs Center on Wednesdays at 10:30 am. In these classes, you will have discussions over coffee after reading articles from easy-reader newspapers. The purpose of this is to encourage participants to talk about current events and build confidence in practicing English in a safe setting. These classes will be held for 6 weeks. Adults can attend the class times that best fit their schedule, and if they would like they can attend both times being offered.

The following websites offer free resources for parent and family engagement. Included are both online resources for parents and families. Many of these resources are available in English and Spanish and some are available in other languages.

Wonderopolis

Wonderopolis is a place where natural curiosity and imagination lead to exploration and discovery in learners of all ages. Each day, we pose an intriguing question—the Wonder of the Day®—and explore it in a variety of ways.

Storyline Online – Screen Actors Guild

The SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s children’s literacy website, Storyline Online, streams

imaginatively produced videos featuring celebrated actors.

Read.gov – The Library of Congress

The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress invites people of all ages to discover the

fascinating people, places and events that await you whenever you read. Books online.

Curiosity Machine

Build hands-on engineering design challenges, through building, you learn not only how

something works, but why it works. Helping children to succeed by being curious, creative, and

Persistent.

En Camino

A comprehensive toolkit of educational resources that support Spanish-speaking families'

aspirations for education.

At Joseph Gascon Elementary, we teach the AVID strategies in all of our third, fourth and fifth grade classes. By teaching academic language, responsible behavior and higher-level thinking at a young age, we are helping our students develop and solidify the academic habits they will need to be successful in middle school, high school, college and beyond. On Mondays we hang our college flags outside every classroom and throuhout the year, students create projects around different college campuses. Our goal is to provide an academic foundation the students will need to be on a path for college and career success.

District Wide Strategy for the Month of April is One Pager

One-pagers are a creative tool, designed after AVID, that you can use for almost everything. One-pagers simply invite students to gather together what's most important on a single page, using words, doodles, pictures, and symbols.

“The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice.” - Peggy O’mara

Dear Families/Caregivers,

One of the best ways to instill love and support to our students is by being intentional about calling out their strengths. We do this through affirmations. Our school is focusing heavily on affirmations and would like for you to join us. As you observe or hear about your students behavior or as you hear how they present themselves, point out everything that you like! Not only does it reinforce that specific behavior but it also names a certain character trait or family value that you wish to pass on or develop. The more that your affirmation can carry a specific emotion or character trait, the stronger it will be. Below are some examples:

• It makes me proud when I see how helpful you are to your younger siblings.
• I really like how responsible you are with how you manage your time and I feel that will be a great skill for your future.
• I enjoy seeing how much you’ve grown as a student/athlete, I know it was a lot of hard work but you did it!

Our Kindergarten Art Club meets once per week and is one where our students share a love of art, self-expression, and a passion for creating their own personal style. Students are exposed to various mediums and engage in different art projects on a weekly basis.

Our 1st grade cooking club has been going strong since January. This clubs meets once per week where students can share thier favorite meals and enjoy the activity of cooking together. They learn how to be helful when cooking at home and get the chance to eat their delicious food once they are done.

Our 1st Grade Art Club meets once per week and is one where our young artists explore various techniques, brush up their skills, and connect with fellow students. This clubs allows our students to embrace their creative side. From developing important motor skills to growing in confidence, they find that art has an amazing mental, academic, social, and emotional impact on them.

Our Reading Club encourages our students to discover great books, share new stories, and explore important topics. The club meets weekly and allows students to read a variety of books through different genres. When students meet, they engage in open discussions which inspire great conversations.

Joseph A. Gascón Elementary is honored to celebrate students who were nominated for either the PBIS Award or the Tiger PAW Award.

Students who received the PBIS award were nominated because they displayed excellent citizenship and followed our ROAR initiatives.

Students who were nominated for the Tiger PAW award demonstrated high academic achievements and are our Students of the Month. This does not happen without the support and guidance of excellent parents, teachers, and friends!

Thank you everyone!

Action Youth America (AYA), formerly known as ICES Education has been serving California families for over 30 years, providing top quality service in academics, sports, and other areas of education. Our programs are built upon the foundation of excellence and time-tested methods that have allowed us to be one of the leading providers of before and after-school programs in the United States.

The AYA program is academically driven as we understand the need for providing complementary academic support to the instructional day in order for students to meet their full potential. Our academic coordinator Stefanie is responsible for assuring optimal academic alignment to school and district needs. The AYA staff is formally trained on Common Core learning expectations and write, or can assist in writing a curriculum around the principles of Common Core. Additionally, the AYA staff works with interventions, state testing prep camps, and modeling/training.

ELO Link: https://sites.google.com/montebello.k12.ca.us/eloafterschool/home

ELO Application Link: rb.gy/g4h8n

The Montebello Unified School District is providing advanced technology and increased access to learning opportunities for the District’s learning community. The District has installed an intra-net “MUSD-Net” providing networked computing with an Internet gateway.

MUSD Vision Statement

Empowering Students to Achieve Academic Excellence as Model Citizens.

Joseph A. Gascon Mission Statement

The learning community of Joseph A. Gascon Elementary is committed to cultivate excellence in Language Arts, Mathematics, English Language Development, Science and Physical Education. We emphasize on opportunities for all stakeholders to be critical thinkers, communicators, creators, and technology integrators. We are committed to providing a safe, stimulating and caring learning environment. Our goal is produce self-motivated, ethical, and successful individuals that can compete and succeed in a global setting.

Address: 630 South Leonard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90022

Office: (323 )721-2025 Fax: (323) 887-3034

Office Hours: 7:30am - 3:00pm