Ludlow Taylor Community Newsletter

We had a great Back to School Night last week. We heard from school administration, school leadership members, and - most importantly - from our amazing teachers. I hope you got a little experience of the learning and day to day experiences your students will have this year.

If you want to review the slides that were presented, you can look at them here.

On Tuesday morning, we had a visit from Deputy Chancellor Bey, Chief Jackson, and all of the elementary school Instructional Superintendents for their first school visit this year. We had 9 instructional superintendents, central office staff, and the Ludlow Taylor instructional leadership team meet to discuss our goals and our focus for the year. We are focused on our special education services for all students who receive specialized services, our math instruction and growth, and the social and emotional well being of all our students. During the walk-through, all team members visited 3 classrooms to observe early literacy instruction as well as math instruction. It was a great opportunity to show the incredible work we do here at Ludlow and for senior leadership to know how they can support instruction at Ludlow Taylor.

Arrival

• We just wanted to make sure we are all working together at these important transitions during the school day. We currently have 512 students enrolled at Ludlow Taylor. All breakfast (and lunches) are free this year. Breakfast is available for students between 8:15am and 8:35am. This time is intended for students who will eat breakfast.
• The school day starts at 8:40am - students are picked up from the cafeteria. If you are not planning to eat breakfast at school, students should be dropped off between 8:30am and 8:45am.
• After 8:45am, students are considered late. Students need time to adjust to the school day, connect with peers, and learn their daily expectations. On-time arrival each day is key to a successful school year!
• In PK, this is the same. We open the doors at 8:15am so students may eat breakfast. If you do not need breakfast, or want the day's breakfast option, drop off should be between 8:30am and 8:40am. All teachers are engaged in planning between 8:10am and 8:40am. During this time, teams are planning, professional development with outside partners is happening, and teachers are prepping their rooms for the day. This is contractual time for all teachers in DC Public Schools.

• We begin dismissing students in PK and Kindergarten at 3:15pm at the G Street door. This can be a busy time and place. Please be patient with us as we ensure all students are safe.
• All students in grades 1-5 will be dismissed from our playground beginning at 3:18pm. Our 2nd and 3rd grade students are coming from specials and they need some transition time.
• Please come on to the playground, meet the teacher, and ensure your teacher knows you have picked up your student. This is a matter of a safe dismissal and ensuring students are going with their appropriate adult.

• If there is a change to your dismissal routine on a given day, please reach out to your classroom teacher and the front office by 12:30pm. After that time, we will do our best to support the change in the dismissal plan. Without prior notice, students will follow their routines plans.
• Between 2:30-3:15pm, many students are in transition and an early dismissal without prior notice is disruptive to learning. This is also another transitional time of day and it can be challenging to locate students throughout the building.
• All students are engaged in learning up to 3:15pm each day. If a students routinely leaves early, they are missing key information.

We are working hard each day to make sure your students have the best experience possible! We hope to work in collaboration to make this year successful.

If you are are wondering who you can reach out to about questions or concerns, We hope this guide helps:

• Penelope Miller, principal - penelope.miller@k12.dc.gov
• Sandy Watson, assistant principal - questions about special education - sandy.watson@k12.dc.gov
• Brittney Thompson, registrar - registration questions - brittney.cloyd@k12.dc.gov
• Dayonna Braddy, clerk - attendance - dayonna.braddy@k12.dc.gov
• Kayla Reid, Restorative Justice Coordinator - school wide discipline, restorative practices - kayla.reid@k12.dc.gov
• Kevin Stafford, school social worker - student wellness supports and solutions - kevin.stafford@k12.dc.gov

Dear Parent(s)/Caregiver(s),

In 2018 the District of Columbia signed into law the 2018 School Safety Omnibus Amendment Act which requires that DC schools address and prevent child sexual abuse. In efforts to fulfill the prevention component of the mandate, schools have adopted curriculums for students to accomplish this goal. Ludlow Taylor Elementary has chosen to participate in the Healthy Relationships Project (HRP) evaluation study being conducted by Northeastern University. HRP is a health-based, developmentally appropriate, trauma-informed child sexual abuse prevention curriculum for children in grades Pre-K to 5th grade. This curriculum was developed by Prevent Child Abuse Vermont and has been implemented in 29 states and the District of Columbia for over 30 years.

The HRP curriculum will be taught in Fall 2024. The topics that will be covered in the Care for Kids curricula (grades PreK-2nd) are “Asking for Help”, “Feelings”, “Bodies”, “Babies”, and “Asking for Permission”. The topics that will be covered in the We Care Elementary curricula (grades 3rd – 5th) are “Relationships”, “Bodies & Body Language”, “Coping/Empathy”, and “Adult Support Resources/Asking for Help”. HRP is not a curriculum about sexual education; instead, it is a curriculum that helps children build skills to identify feelings that make them safe or unsafe, identify boundaries, use anatomically correct terms, and identify safe adults.

As a Parent/Guardian/Caregiver:

· You will be invited to attend workshops on topics relating to the prevention of child sexual abuse during the semester.

· You will be asked to participate in periodic online surveys about your knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding child sexual abuse prevention.

· A small number of caregivers from each school will be invited to participate in a one-on-one virtual interview with a researcher from the evaluation team to share your thoughts and experiences.

You will be invited to attend a Caregiver Orientation and Caregiver Workshops on the Healthy Relationships Project on Tuesday, September 24, 2024 at 6pm. The meeting will be held virtually. More information about this event will be communicated via the PTO list serve and via email.

If you have questions about the curriculum or specific lessons, please feel free to contact Kevin Stafford at Kevin.Stafford@k12.dc.gov for more information. Also, please contact Kevin Stafford if you wish to seek learning accommodations for your child/children or if you would not like your child/children to participate during the scheduled time of the project implementation.

Respectfully,

Kevin Stafford