Principal’s Report to the LSC – 1/8

Purpose

To provide updates at Kelvyn Park School from Instruction, Culture & Climate, Parents & Community, and Operations lenses to provide the LSC with a holistic understanding of the organizational improvement efforts.

Instruction

• A Scope & Sequence analysis was conducted for English, Science, Social Studies, and Math for grades 7th through 12th grades. The purpose is to understand how a student’s skills are intentionally built during their career at KP from the time they enter the school to graduation. The Instructional Leadership Team, a collection of the Department Chairs in the school, will conduct their own analysis to determine their takeaways and next steps for their teams to better structure their team’s coursework to optimize learning for KP’s students. 
• KP was invited to submit a Final Proposal for the Fine & Performing Arts Magnet Cluster School program. We were chosen because of our written application to articulate the school’s need for the program, the larger, surrounding Regional need for such a program, and how our school’s trajectory aligns with the program. Given the school’s rich history of success in the arts, our CoRE Values, and the program’s emphasis on the integration of arts in curriculum and the community, this is an outstanding fit. The Fine & Performing Arts Program Overview is included in your LSC packet. If we are accepted, the school stands to receive: An additional art teacher, Additional visual and performing arts supplies, Implemementation funding, Professional Development for the Lead Teachers of the program to strengthen the implementation and develop their leadership, Professional Development for all teachers in Arts Education, and Facility upgrades to dedicated arts classrooms (based on need). The next steps for this application are for a site visit from CPS Officials overseeing the selection of schools, and a final proposal submitted by the school due 2/7/2020. A final decision will come in April 2020. 
• Vacancies: 
  • Diverse Learners teacher, Joshua Torres, started on 1/2/20. He is teaching English courses and potentially Social Studies at the semester. 
  • A decision on the Assistant Principal vacancy has been delayed. The community will know the decision at the beginning of 2020. 

Culture & Climate: 

• Since November 8th, the staff have been working to answer the question “Why are you at KP?” and formulating our school’s core values. After months of work, here is the latest: 
  • CoRE Values Statement: Through community, we build relationships to empower students; when students are empowered, they become an essential part of a growing and nurturing community. 
  • CoRE Values: 
    • Community – We—current and former students, parents, staff, and partners— collectively support individual and communal growth toward continuous improvement. 
    • Relationships – We embrace our individual and collective diversity to learn more about ourselves and about others through nurturing connections. 
    • Empowerment – We enrich every individual with social, emotional, and intellectual skills to successfully navigate the world beyond the Kelvyn Park Hermosa community and, in turn, invest new achievements to ensure the prosperity of future generations. 
  • These CoRE Values will help shape major decisions for the school to establish an identity and a strong, unified culture for parents, students, and staff. 
• Vacancies: 
  • Security Officer Jose Lopez resumed work on 12/20/19. We are up to four security officers from three. 
  • The fifth security officer’s start date is still pending her onboarding. She is taking care of some personal issues before she gets fully staffed with CPS. 
  • An offer has been made for the Student Advocate position, and the candidate is in her final stages of staffing. Pending these final processes, she will be working at KP full time in the next few weeks. 
• The school is now partnered with Umoja, who are going to work with the school’s teachers and discipline team to integrate Restorative Justice practices that help foster student social and emotional learning growth and development. In addition to direct coaching and professional development, Umoja will redesign Room 101 to become a Peace Room where restorative conferences and conversations can take place in a calming environment. 

Parents & Community: 

• January Parent & Community Events: 
  • Parent Leadership Workshop by community organization COFI > Thursdays from 9am to 12pm in the Library or Parent Office (Room 103) beginning 1/9. 
  • Café con El Director > Friday, 1/17 @9am in the Library 
  • Parent Workshop for students with Special Needs > Saturday, 1/18 @9am in the Library. Coordinated and organized by the KP PAC. 
  • Alumni versus Students Basketball Tournament Fundraiser > Saturday, 1/18 (time TBD) in the gyms pending LSC approval. 
  • Tentative Parent Workshop on Financial Literacy > either 1/22 or 1/23 from 5pm-6pm in the Library. 
• Contracted with In the Light Studios (ILS) to help redesign our school’s logo and website to help unify and effectively communicate out to parents, community members, and prospective students and their families about the great things happening at KP. Their creation are informed by the school’s CoRE Values (see above). ILS have developed three rounds of logo drafts and have begun taking photographs as content development for the website. Their deadline is the end of January 2020 to have a website launched, while adding content until the end of the year.