Santee Falcons SOAR! Principal's Update
February 22, 2020
Principal Ansley's Weekly Message
Dear Santee Family,

“Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it." Marian Wright Edelman

Marian Wright Edelman is the founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund. She dedicated her entire professional life defending disadvantaged Americans and fighting for children's rights. The quote above is inspirational to me because I believe that education is one of the greatest change agents and our mission as educators is to serve the community and make the world a little better.

Our profession as educators comes with many challenges and at times those challenges can feel overwhelming but the rewards that come from our work are tremendous. Our rewards come in many different forms. It could be the moment that a student understands a concept and gives them confidence to continue to learn that subject area. It could be that our motivation supported that student through school and you get to witness them on graduation day receiving their diploma. Or even as great as the mentoring you provided or the instruction you gave them ignited their passion to pursue their highest dreams and once they achieved those dreams they then reciprocated by helping others achieve theirs.

Our work makes a great impact in the communities we serve and sometimes in the world. So when you are feeling defeated or exhausted remember that you made a difference!

Working Together, All Santee Falcons Will Soar !

If anyone has any questions, please do not hesitate to call our main office or email Principal Susana Ansley-Gutierrez at susana.gutierrez@lausd.net.
A) Santee Successes

1)   Congratulations to our boys' basketball team for advancing to third round of play-offs. They will be playing Arleta High School tonight, Saturday, February 22, 2020 at 7:00pm. Come out and support if you can.

2) We had a successful period by period where we got to focus our attention on attendance and its relation to school culture!

3) Our awesome band performed for the LAUSD 5K this morning! Way to represent our Falcon pride!

4) Our Local District Administrator over Instruction and his team visited math classes this Friday and they were impressed by the instruction they saw and how well our teachers are doing with our new implementation of Illustrative Math. During all of the math observations on Friday, we saw 100% student engagement!

5). Admin Team updated the Santee Falcon Website Calendar with up to date PD dates and events. Please Click Here to see the Up to Date Santee Falcon Calendar

See electronic version of the Mission and Vision Poster. 
B) Santee Hard Truths

  • With our Innovation Grant ending this school year and with our low ECAST projection, we are looking at about 3 million dollars less to budget for the 2020-2021 school year. Our school will need to make some very difficult decisions in the next two weeks.
  • Air Conditioning is taking longer to switch on which is causing some discomfort in some classes. We have asked for HVAC to check the system. We hope that it will be fixed by next week.
Band Performance for LAUSD 5k
Santee Activities this week
Santee Learning this week

Santee SRLA
Santee Basketball Play-offs Round 2
Santee Updates
A ) Black Heritage Month Assembly:
Our assembly will be on Friday, February 28, 2020. If you have not RSVP'd, please do ASAP, space is limited!

B) Sports:
Our Baseball team and Softball Team both had their first scrimmage games this week. Great start to this season!


Sports Schedule:
Boys' Tennis on 2/24/20 at 2:30 away at Gardena
Softball on 02/24/20 at 2:30 home against RFK
Boys' Volleyball on 2/26/20 at home against Legacy
Softball on 2/26/20 at 2:00 at home against Roybal
Softball on 02/27/20 at 2:30 at Marquez
Track Meet on 02/28/20 at 2:30 at home

C) College Center 
The Class of 2021 will take the SAT on March 4, 2020.
Juniors will test in the gym and a few other class locations.
School will be on a regular bell schedule.
Pre-Registration will occur on Tuesday, February 25, 2020.
Students will be summoned to the library to complete their documents.
Thank you for supporting our College Going efforts!

D) SSC Meeting on Monday, February 24, 2020. It will be a very important meeting where we will finalize the Title One budget and SPSA.

E) Budget Update: We sent an email to all staff to inform them of where we currently are in budget planning. To summarize-The SSC met and reviewed SPSA goals and analyzed data, all stakeholders were given opportunities to complete a needs assessment survey, the budget team came together and developed a budget plan to present to SSC. SSC is meeting this Monday to finalize the budget plan and SPSA, we will then attend our budget meeting with the district to finalize. We will continue to update all stakeholders as we move through the process. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

F) March 13 , we are having a Santee Career Fair and would like to ask if anyone knows of anyone who is interested in speaking about their career on this day. If they are, please see Dr. Chang or Ms. Malinda from CIS. 

G) The  Read Across America Planning Meeting #6  will take place Wednesday after-school in the Library. The Read Across America team will continue meeting each Wednesday after school in the Library until Read Across America Day on Friday, March 6, 2020.  

H) Spring Programming One-on-One
Starting this week,  February 10-March 13 , we will begin our one-on-one meetings with all of our Falcons. This visit will include a classroom presentation that includes A-G requirements, required credits for each grade level, and courses to be ready for college and career. After the presentation, each counselor will sit down one-on-one with each student and guide them down their path for graduation and beyond. Thank you to the English and History department for allowing counselors to come and program our Falcons. 
 
I) Master Schedule Team Interest Form
We are looking to building our Master Schedule Team for 2020-2021 school year. On Thursday, February 20, Master Schedule Team Interest Forms will be available in the Counseling office. If you would like to apply to be on the team, you can obtain a form from Ms. Angie or Mr. Martinez in the Counseling office. Thank you.     


J) After-School Tutoring  is available in the Library and student cafeteria daily from 3pm-5pm.

K) Teacher Preference Sheets 2020-2021
In your boxes are the teacher preference sheets for 2020-2021 school year. Please fill out both sides of the paper and turn into Dr. Chang by Monday, February 24. Thank you. 

L) Cell Phone Policy:
Our school wide cell phone policy is up and running. Thank you for making sure that our new policy has been implemented in the classrooms. This week we had parents conduct a walk through of classes and they noted that they see a significant decrease in cellphone usage in the classrooms. Great job Falcons! If you are in need of assistance or flyers, please let let Ms. Garrett know and she will assist you. If you still have any questions or concerns, please see Ms. Garrett.  We need to continue to let students know what the policy is and that the policy will be in full effect starting the first day of second semester. Reminder that the new policy prohibits cell phone use in the classroom.  
Santee Staff Information

A) Access Resources from the Santee Falcon Teacher Google Classroom Use your single sign-on to access.

B) All staff information is provided in the staff handbook.

C) TEXT-A-TIP -  Remind your students about the TEXT-A-TIP program at Santee! The TEXT-A-TIP phone number is 213.805.7627 or 213.805.SOAR.

D) Parking:   
Please remember to park in your assigned parking space. If you need a parking pass please see the main office because we will be enforcing parking next week. School Police will be helping with enforcing this.

As a reminder, there is no parking on campus. This includes the blacktop and the LA Gate entrance between the softball and Gym areas. The entrance is a fire lane and in case of an emergency, the ambulance and Fire Truck will be unable to get onto campus.
 
Please remember to park in your assigned parking space. There is no parking in any red zones or two away zones. If you need a parking pass please see the main office because we will be enforcing parking. School Police will be helping with enforcing this.
 
The underground tandem spots have been assigned or are reserved for B&G workers, cafeteria and Frida. Please do not park in these spaces. We will be starting to cite and tow cars away at your expense.

There is no parking on campus when the campus is CLOSED . If you park on campus when the campus is closed to attend a field trip or professional development, notify your administrator and plant manager to ensure that your car is not CITED.

E) Air Conditioner

The air conditioners are working overtime. Please make sure that you close your windows and doors so that it remains cool in your room and to ensure that the AC does not stop working. 

F) Facilities

If you lose your keys, please notify Ms. Ruiz as soon as possible. 

If you need furniture in your classroom, please email our plant manager. 

G) Field Trips

Field trips will only be considered for approval if paperwork is submitted at  least 30 days  ahead of time. Field trips not on the pre-approved list nor overnight trips will not be considered for approval if paperwork is not submitted at least  45 days  in advance. As a reminder, field trips occurring during instructional time must be related to the curriculum and standards in your class. 

H) Restorative Justice:

Teachers, please let Ms. Farris know if you would like to have the student RJ ambassadors help facilitate circles in your 8th period and core classes. Contact Ms. Farris for more information.

I) Keys-  You are responsible for keys checked out to you. If you lose your keys, immediately notify Ms. Ruiz. Taking care of your keys is vital for maintaining safety on campus.

During the school year, the academic side of campus closes at 5:00 p.m. All students on the academic side of campus must exit before 5:00 p.m. 

J) Remind Emergency Tree
Falcons, please sign up to our Santee Emergency Communication Emergency Phone Tree. It is a one-way communication method where you will receive updates in case of an emergency.   https://www.remind.com/join/7chkge?utm_medium=android

K) Breakfast in the Classroom (BIC) 

All BIC items need to be returned to the Cafeteria by 8:30 a.m. Also, BIC items should not be left in your classroom after BIC.

L) Activities
If you are planning an activity, make sure that you fill out an Activity Sheet found on the Santee Falcons website at least three weeks in advance. Aside from calendar clearance, you must also obtain signatures for the areas you are planning to use. As a reminder, our instructional programs take precedence over extracurricular activities and not all activities will be approved.

M) Visitor Policy

1. Visitors on campus require the approval of an administrator. If a staff member is requesting a visitor, please notify the Principal 48 hours in advance. This includes, but is not limited to, guest speakers.

2. Visitors must sign-in in the main office and visibly wear a “yellow pass” obtained from the office.

3. School volunteers do not require daily approval. However, all must sign in at the parent center before going to classrooms. School volunteers must also have a current TB test on file. 

4. Conferences with parents are not to take place when class is in session.

N) Text-a-Tip is for  emergency purposes . Adults should not be using text-a-tip to report other school related issues or concerns. Please use the appropriate online forms for any maintenance issues, supply requests or other concerns.
Santee Shout Outs
Please email susana.gutierrez@lausd.net a brief positive or inspiring message to a Santee Falcon Staff Member to include in this email.

Shout out to all the  Counselors  for continuing with one-on-one programming! 

Shout out to all  Teachers  for having another successful Homeroom Day!

Shout out to  Ms. Rodriguez  for putting together all the personalized PSAT materials to pass out to Class of 2022 and class of 2023 students.

Shout out to our custodial team who built and installed our new bleachers next to the softball and baseball fields. 

Shout out to Ms. Megan Miller, Ms. Acosta, and Mr. Henry for their support during the Focus IAB testing. 

Shout out to Mr. Keys for supporting the 9th grade students. 

Shout out to Ms. Tizon, Ms. Guzman, Ms. D. Johnson, Ms. Damian, and Ms. Gabriel for opening up their classrooms to demonstrate the illustrative mathematics instructional strategies! 

Shout out to  Ms. Wu  for keeping Read Across America Day planning on-track and ready for a great event on Friday, March 6!

Shout out to  Ms. Cano, Mr. Aghevli, Mr. Ascencio, Ms. Acosta, Ms. Miller, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Bosley, and Mr. Henry  for assuring that ELA IABs moved forward this week despite a few unexpected obstacles.  

Shout out to all  Counselors  for planning last week's Homeroom Activities, and to  Ms. Felix  for taking lead in planning the Period by Period presentations. 

Shout out to  Ms. Valles, Mr. Rodriguez, Ms. Vasquez, and all teachers who proctored ELPAC Speaking Tests  during their conference periods. If you have been trained, PLEASE communicate with Ms. Valles so that we may put you to work (and pay you!) during your conference period to continue our progress through the ELPAC test.  

Shout out to Mr. Molina, Mr. Muskrath, Ms. Garret, Ms. Calderon and Ms. Castellon for your support with building the budget plan.
Upcoming Events


  • 2/24/2020- SSC Meeting/Softball Game/ Boys' Tennis Game

  • 2/25/2020- PD Tuesday/ Shortened Day Schedule

  • 2/26/2020- Arts Lead Seminar/ Nutrition Class/ Softball Game @ home

  • 2/27/2020- Softball and Boys' Volleyball Game

  • 2/28/2020- Black Heritage Month Assembly/Parent Workshop (Restorative Justice)

  • 2/29/2020- Parent College

  • 3/02/2020- SSC Meeting
Continue to keep students engaged from bell to bell with technology; work with your peers to improve your instruction and lesson plans based on common assessment data; and always stay professional with all Santee stake holders.  By keeping students focused and engaged with relevant lessons, planned essential questions that promote collaboration-creativity-critical thinking-communication, and using academic language every day in your classroom we will ensure our Falcons SOAR by better preparing them for their future. 

Santee Education Complex
Check out our website: http://www.santeefalcons.org/
Working Together, ALL Santee Falcons Will SOAR! 
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