Santee Falcons SOAR! Principal's Update
December 15, 2019
Principal Ansley's Weekly Message
Dear Santee Family,

"It is impossible to live without failing at something unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all. In which case, you fail by default." J.K. Rowling

As we go into the last week of the semester and our finals week, I want to remind everyone to encourage our students to finish the semester strong and do their very best. We want our students to have a growth mindset and understand that sometimes we will make errors and things won't go our way but they need to keep trying, keep studying, take the challenge and eventually they will succeed.

It's also important to remind ourselves as educators that test scores just tell us where students currently are in their proficiency, not where they could end up. Let's look at all of these measures as a way to inform our instruction and use them to move forward and target our plans to meet the needs of our students.

Lastly, I want to wish everyone an amazing winter break. Please take time for self care, enjoy your families and unplug. I want to wish everyone Happy Holidays and an amazing New Year. Thank you for all that you do for our Falcons!
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) One of our amazing Falcons Wendy Cruz-Bahena was admitted early into Dartmouth as a Sociology Major!

2) The State Dashboard for 2019 has posted and we have shown an increase in graduation and college and career readiness! Way to go Falcons!

3) Congratulations to the winners of this weeks donuts challenge for excellent attendance!  
Dr. Cataldo
Coach Tee
Ms. Alviar
Ms. D. Johnson

Great job to our gift card winners!  
Joan Bravo (11)
Williams De La O (9)
Lesly Flores (12)
Dulce Rayon (10)

4) On Tuesday, December 10, 2019 we conducted our Parent Classroom Walk Throughs in our Science Department.  During the Classroom Walk Throughs, parents had the opportunity to observe four Science classes and looked for evidence of 3C1: Standards Based Learning Activities, SOAR Board, and a student Ambassador. A big thank you to Mr. Beach, Ms. Hernandez, Ms. Chan and Ms. Gubatanga for welcoming parents into their classrooms.

5) We had a great show of Santee AP Students who attended the UCLA Center X Advanced Placement Readiness (APR) program on the campus of UCLA on Saturday December 14, 2019.

6) We celebrated our students who completed a Harvard Extension Poetry course. They were among the most successful in this National Pilot course where students took a Harvard online course on American Poetry!

7). 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

  • Our November student attendance dropped over 5%. It is crucial that we encourage students to attend everyday until the end. We must come together as a community and find solutions to increase our student attendance!

  • The State Dashboard for 2019 is now up and the data shows that we still have a lot to do to support our EL students and our students with disabilities to close the achievement gap.
Santee Staff Holiday Party
Santee Clothes Donation and Give Away
Santee Literacy Night

Harvard Extension Poetry National Pilot
Santee Winter Concert 2019
Santee Updates
A ) Finals Schedule
Next week, we will be on Finals Schedule starting Monday, December 16: Periods 1, 3, and 5. Tuesday, December 17 will be periods 2, 4, and 6. On Wednesday and Thursday we will be on a regular day schedule and Friday, December 20, it will be a minimum day and students will be released at at 12:37PM.

B) Monday, December 16 is the 75th Day of School ! Attendance traditionally goes down in the few days AFTER Final Exams .  Please make lesson plans and activities for the 3 days AFTER Final Exams that will keep students at school and engaged. 

C) Grade Submission and Check out Process
Grades will be due on Thursday, December 19 at 3pm. Final check will be on Friday, December 20.  

D) There will be a GATE Parent Meeting at 9AM on Wednesday, December 18 in the Parent Center.

E) APEX Winter Credit Recovery 
During Winter Break, school will be open for students to work on their APEX course. School will be opened on Monday-Wednesday January 6-8 from 8:00-1:00pm.


F) Our school-wide cell phone policy is ready to roll out on January 13,2019. Everyone should have presented the information to their homerooms this week. If you still have any questions or concerns, please see Ms. Garrett.  Posters will be placed around campus during the break to prepare for the roll out.  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.   

G) ELA teachers in the 10th and 12th grade will be administering the Tobacco Student Use Survey to their students after Final Exams. This survey is a condition of LAUSD and Santee receiving funds to educate and prevent teen usage of tobacco and marijuana.

H) Teachers : Please read the email sent with all of the semester end logistics and winter calendar.


I) Buy Back PD : On January 10, 2019 we are hosting a buy back day paid at X-time on Cultually Responisve Teaching. We hope to see everyone at our professional development.

J) Long Form Essay Grading- History Department
On January 6, 7, 8 from 8am-2pm, we will be having long form essay grading in the library. Please see Ms. Glick Neagle to sign up and get further information.  

K) PSW Announcements:

A reminder that NO email referrals should be sent to the PSWs. We can not send confidential information via email. Please complete a referral form and place it in their boxes. They will response in a timely manner.

Our Grief Group began on 11/14 with 8 students and our Weber group began on 11/18 with 7 students.

L) Office Hours:

Office Hours have begun. Please notify your students of the day and hour that you will be available. Tutor X time will be compensated 1 hour a week per teacher. Door sheets are done and will be posted this week. Lastly, if you have chosen lunch time, please still adhere to the objective of office hours which is to support any Falcon with academic support and to answer any questions they may have. All teachers who offer office hours are to turn in their office hours at the end of each month.

M) After-School Tutoring  is available in the Library daily from 3pm-5pm from now until Thanksgiving vacation for students seeking help with college applications, and seeking to raise grades from the 15-week to the 20-week mark. The after-school tutoring program will likely continue after Thanksgiving vacation and until the holiday season, budgets pending.

N) City Year Tutoring
City Year tutoring has begun in the student cafeteria from 3pm-5pm. Please encourage students to attend tutoring for extra help. Any student may attend.
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. 

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 Ms. Aguilar, substitute teacher, for her outstanding work over the last 30 days covering one of our Spanish classrooms. Thank you!!!

Shout out to Mr. Chow, Ms. Felix, Ms. Herrera and Ms. Bermudez for their participation in our Family Action Team Meeting for the month of December.

Shout out to  Ms. Brooks and Mr. Vasquez for facilitating the Parent Workshop on the topic of the IEP Process and IEP Parental Rights.

Shout out to Mr. Sonmezay, Ms. Chavez, Father Kraft and Mr. Muskrath for supporting our students that need to finish APEX.

Shout out to Mr Manriquez, Mr. Plata , and all the student artists who performed in Santee's Winter Recital. The Band, Jazz Band, and Overtones sound better than ever.

Shout out to ILT for a semester of service and dedication. We look forward to seeing you again over holiday vacation.

Shout out to Ms. Flores and the whole team for keeping our school clean and safe!

Shout out to the front office staff for serving our community!

Shout out to Mrs. Sanchez for years of dedicated service to our entire school community!

Shout out to Ms. Rodriguez, Mr. Garcia, Ms. Wu, Mrs. Glick-Neagle and Mr. Ramirez for supporting our AP program and for planning and prepapring for our upcoming exams.

Shout out to o ur EL team f or another week of tutoring success!

Shout out to City Year, Communities and Schools, and World Fit for Kids for a successful Literacy Night!

Shout out to Mrs. Gonzalez for your dedication to our students with IEP's and the instructional program.

Shout out to Ms. Ordonez for stepping up and filling the position of Intervention Support Coordinator for our students with disabilities and for going the extra mile to improve our IEP meetings!
Upcoming Events



  • 12/16/2019- 75th Day of School/ Finals/Chat with the Principal

  • 12/17/2019- Finals

  • 12/18/2019- GATE Parent Meeting

  • 12/19/2019- Parent Volunteer Meeting

  • 12/20/2019- Final Grades Due/ Last Day of 1st Semester/ Minimum Day

  • 12/21-1/12- Winter Break/ No School

  • 1/6-1/8/2019- APEX Credit Recovery Classes/ Long Form Writing Calibration and Scoring

  • 1/08/2019- Optional PLC Day

  • 1/09/2019- Partnership For Los Angeles School Winter Institute

  • 1/10/2019- Santee Buy Back Day
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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