I hope 2021 proves to be a better year than 2020. Please know that we are here with hearts and minds open to help and support in any way we can.

Surveys: First, I'd like to extend my personal appreciation to all the students and parents who have completed the surveys that we've sent out. We've received 2300 responses to the student resiliency survey and hope to get the last few hundred soon. We recently contracted another social worker to increase our capacity to respond to student needs during this extremely difficult time. Yvonne Castillo-Urbina has joined our team and looks forward to connecting with all members of the BCCHS community. Please note that if you are aware of your student struggling with mental health, please don't wait for us to reach out. Let us know as soon as possible by contacting your student's counselor or one of our school psychiatric social workers (PSW).

The Parent Survey, which was sent out on Tuesday, will provide us with comprehensive information about what we are doing well and which areas we need to improve. Your feedback deepens our parent-school relationship, strengthens our community as a whole, and provides us with the data necessary to calibrate our services to better meet the needs of you and our students. The due date is February 19th, but we are requesting that you complete the survey as soon as possible. Parents who complete the survey will be entered into a drawing for gift cards (including a recently donated $150 gift card) and Birmingham merchandise.

COVID-19 and Return to School Status: After the huge winter wave of COVID infections, the number of daily infections and infection rate has gone down significantly. The two metrics to look at for school opening is the 7-day infection rate and 7-day number of new infections. We will remain in purple tier (campus closed for in person instruction) until the 7-day adjusted new case rate is at or below 7 cases per 100,000 and the 7-day average positivity rate is at or below 8%. As of February 3rd, the numbers are as follows:

• 38.7 cases per 100,000 (target is at or below 7 cases)
• 11.3% positivity rate (target is at or below 8%)

We have about 10 million people in L.A. county, so when looking at daily new cases, we should be looking for the number to get to 700 new daily cases per day with a positivity rate of 8% or less. We were not able to meet this metric during semester 1, but we remain hopeful that with vaccine distribution we will hit the mark during semester 2. While still in purple tier, we are allowed to resume conditioning and on-campus instructional support of high need student groups. We will begin to reinstate these activities in the next two weeks if the infection rate continues to go down.

Athletics are still being limited by the county. When they clear us, we can begin to support sports programs that CIF has authorized to compete while in the purple tier. The only season 1 sport that can compete in the purple tier is Cross Country. Please see the attached CIF Los Angeles City Section season schedule and tier rating for sports.

I know how frustrating it is for parents to not have their students in school. I have 2 high school students of my own at home as do many of our teachers and support staff, so we share the frustration and anxiety that has become so common over the past year. Please continue to work with us to make the best of a difficult situation with the focus being on supporting student success.

Senior Recognition: In addition to return to campus, the question I get asked the most is about graduation and senior activities. I am happy to share that our senior committee has begun to plan our first activity that will take place on March 18th. Students will be encouraged to drive to campus to pick up a BCCHS Class of 21 lawn sign. More details will be available as we approach March. Other activities are in the works as well.

Because we want to encourage as many staff members as possible to participate, the senior recognition activity will be in place of the March 18th Open House. Parents and teachers may connect at any time to discuss the progress of students through email or Parent Square. If you are struggling to get in contact with a BCCHS staff member, please let me know, and I will facilitate the contact.

Intervention/Advisory Classes: Although there are so many students performing well during Distance Learning, we know there are also students (more than we'd like) struggling to pass classes. To provide a stronger support system for these struggling students, some were programmed into a small support cohort class with no more than 12 students. These classes have been implemented in every grade level to assist those students who despite their best effort, continue to struggle with on-line learning.

Coffee with the Principal: Finally, if you'd like to hear from me directly, my next Virtual Coffee with the Principal will take place on Monday, February 22nd. I really appreciate hearing from you directly, so I hope you will have a chance to attend one of the sessions on the 22nd. Reminders and Zoom links will be sent as we approach the day.

Please know our students are in the forefront of my mind every day. We have an incredibly hard-working team passionate about supporting the success of our students. Their success is our success. We will never waiver in our commitment to continually improve BCCHS programs, systems, and opportunities to help bring out the best in every BCCHS student.

Thank you for all you do. Your contributions as a member of the BCCHS family are appreciated!

Ari Bennett, BCCHS Principal

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BCCHS Parents,

Your voice matters. Please let your voice be heard. We need your input in helping become even better and more responsive to the needs of you and our students.

Please use the link below or the attached QR codes to complete the survey and tell a friend.

Spanish: https://forms.gle/EWZrmYmkaCJFWzj67
English: https://forms.gle/UMiSX5VnUNYR6ju68

Seniors- Save the date. March 18th, from 6-8pm, we will be holding an event for you on campus. Details to follow next month.

We would like to give a huge congratulations to our seniors and their success with their semester grades.

259 seniors on our Platinum List. 4.0 and above

119 seniors on our Gold List. 3.99-3.50

100 seniors on our Silver List. 3.49-3.0

Welcome to a new semester!

We are so proud of you and the work you accomplished last semester! This is not an ideal situation, and you have stepped up and done what you needed to work towards your future. This is shown by the hundreds of 11th Grade students who made it on the Honor Roll Lists and the Most Improved list. Congratulations!!!

This semester is fresh, and there is still time to turn around any mistakes you have made thus far. If you and your family are experiencing difficulties, please continue to contact the school so we can offer support! Ms. Hinojosa-Riusech, Ms. Fuentes, and the 11th grade teachers are here to work with you and support you. If you ever have questions or concerns, please reach out and know we will do our best to support you. There is now tutoring offered in all subject areas, so please attend if you ever have questions about work!

In the next few weeks Ms. Hinojosa-Riusech and Ms. Fuentes will be reaching out to you to review your Lexile score from Achieve 3000. You Lexile test is important as it is a strong indicator of college and career readiness. The Lexile score you working towards at 11th is an 1185. We know that with continued practice your growth will improve to this level!

We all know that distance learning is not ideal, and presents many challenges. But even under these circumstances, our 10th graders shine. We would like to proudly recognize our 500+ Sophomores that received an A, B or C average on their final fall semester report card, including 156 who earned a GPA of 4.0 (or higher). This is truly a remarkable achievement for these students!! Amazing job Sophomores!

We are also aware that during this time, more students than usual struggled to get passing grades. Through surveying our student-body, we saw that many had difficulties with motivation, focus and time management, in addition to technical issues. We understand and we here to support you.

The beginning of a new semester is an opportunity for everyone to start over with a fresh slate, an open mind and ready to achieve. We encourage our students to do their best, reach out to their teachers for help and attend tutoring if need be. One positive we have noticed is more student engagement on Zoom. We want you to be successful this spring semester and we know our sophomores can do it.

As we reach out to our students, we would really like to emphasize the importance of communication. We encourage students to email us anytime with questions/concerns or just to have a conversation about the day. Our teachers always enjoy hearing from students. We are also putting in an extra effort to make our virtual classrooms a welcoming place, so all of our students will feel a sense of community.

We look forward to the time when we are able to be back in the classroom, teaching and learning face-to-face.

The 9th Grade Academy is committed to supporting our students both academically and emotionally during this trying time. We understand that staying motivated while studying from home is difficult, and we are doing our best to ensure that students remain focused on their goals.

We have established systems of intervention, prevention, and recognition designed to maintain an ongoing culture of perseverance and growth.

Students who are struggling -- with poor attendance, lack of engagement, low scores, and/or emotional difficulties -- are being contacted by their teachers, counselors, coordinator, and administrator, all of whom are working hard to inspire development and dedication, as well as foster resilience through effective coping strategies. Many of our students have been taken on by faculty members as "adoptees," and are engaging in weekly meetings with a caring adult on campus. Additionally, a large number of our 9th graders have been enrolled in our new Seminar 9 class, which focuses on building important skills, such as organization and stress management, and builds a stronger connection between the student and the community.

Our 9th grade teachers have also been committed to incorporating Social Emotional Learning (SEL) lessons into their daily instruction. Your child should expect a "check-in" in at least one class each day, allowing the teacher to gage how his/her students are feeling and further build a relationship with them.

Moreover, we are making a diligent effort to recognize both achievement and improvement in both Grade Point Average (GPA) and attendance. Honor Roll and Most Improved student lists are being publicized via ParentSquare, the BCCHS website, and in our classes, and letters have been mailed home congratulating students on their achievements and improvements during the fall semester.

Finally, we are working on implementing cross-curricular initiatives designed to increase both literacy and numeracy across all subject areas.

We understand that many of our families are facing various formidable challenges. Please know that we are thinking of you, and we are here for you.

With tremendous love and respect,

The 9th Grade Academy

Happy New Year from PBIS!

The PBIS team at Birmingham is looking forward to a great new semester. We will be focusing on specific goals each month that incorporate our schoolwide expectations REACH. A unified approach will help to support our students' learning by ensuring that they have the tools that they need to be most successful. We are so proud of our students as they continue to work hard and strive in our virtual classrooms!

Hey Parents and Students!! Are you tired of all the things that are happening around us that we can 't control? Let' s change things up then, let' s make this year one where we take charge and focus on what we CAN control, setting GOALS. Goals give us a sense of hope and provide a roadmap for us. The really cool thing is that goals don 't need to be difficult or take a really long time to reach.

Did you know it takes 21 days to kick a habit? Let' s take the next 21 days to focus on making changes in our lives that help us have success. There are so many ways to do this. We can start by creating some good habits.

For students...habits can be to ATTEND school, STUDY more, DO an assignment early, TALK to a teacher or an adult, or GO to tutoring.

For parents...STOP and talk to your child, ASK for help, SHOW gratitude, or LEARN something new!

We must start somewhere. Let' s take charge of 2021 and work towards creating healthy habits that contribute to our goals. Remember that goals give us meaning and purpose, confidence, and enthusiasm. Attached you will find two worksheets to help get you started. Come on now, what are you waiting for? Let' s start making changes today.

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Maya L. Holden, PPS, MS, CWA

Pupil Service and Attendance Counselor

Birmingham Community Charter High School

m.holden@birminghamcharter.com

Google Number: 747-300-5558

MEND's Hope and Care team delivers essentials such as food and PPE kits to individuals/households who are in isolation or quarantine due to COVID. All services are free of charge as long as the family lives within the cities listed.

They are currently delivering disinfecting supplies, hand sanitizer, fresh produce, canned goods, and sometimes eggs, milk, and meat. When calling families need to leave their name and phone number and someone will return their call within 24 hours.

They also have a Food Distribution Center Tuesday and Friday 9am-11am located at 10641 N. San Fernando Road, Pacoima CA 91331.

https://mendpoverty.org/

The next round of 2020−21 P-EBT benefits are anticipated to be distributed beginning mid-March 2021 through mid-June 2021. The benefits are for October 2020- June 2021 and will also include any missed August and September 2020 benefits that were not received.

Families that require assistance with existing P-EBT cards can call the P-EBT Customer Service Center at 877-328-9677.

If your address has changed please make sure to update it with your grade level office.

For further questions, please contact Evelyn Garcia at (818) 305- 6411.