October 3, 2013 1:41 PM "Garcia Lara, Carlos" <laprncarlosgarcialara@gmail.com> To: Jonathan Sison <jms5829@lausd.net>, Yolanda Rangel <yrang1@lausd.net>, "darnise.williams@lausd.

net" <darnise.williams@lausd.net>, LD5 SUPT <roberto.a.martinez@lausd.net>, Janet Montoya <janet.montoya@lausd.net> Cc: "mhc5976@lausd.net Canafax" <mhc5976@lausd.net>, "msn0954@lausd.net Naponelli" <msn0954@lausd.net>, Luis Garcia <lgg7720@lausd.net>, Ramses Martinez <rxm2154@lausd.net> social justice continues to thrive at Dr. Maya Angelou Community High School

Hello everyone, I wanted to share with all of you some of the wonderful projects that are in the works at our school campus. Although we recently encountered a glitch with our Ipad deployment, there are still a lot of wonderful and positive initiatives taking place at Dr. Maya Angelou Community High Schools. As you may recall, last year, with the full support of Dr. Jonathan Sison, I was able to successfully complete my Administrative Masters and credential program. With his Mentorship and his support, I was able to qualify for a grant that has been in the work since the beginning of last year. This grant has helped cover costs for many activities and efforts our colleagues at Global Issues Academy performed last year to help with our disciplinary and attendance issues. Through this mentoring support structure our collective efforts were able to provide, our student discipline certainly improved and our academic achievement score spiked 60+ points! This year, with the support of both principals, I have been working to build school culture and spirit by working with both art teachers and our science teacher/design team member to not only design Social Justice murals but art that will also play a key part in establishing identity and culture at our new campus. We are also using the grant monies to offset costs for the environmental club, which has submitted a proposal to construct raised gardens around our campus. These organic initiatives will not only provide campus beautification benefits but will also contribute to our student meeting the SERVICE LEARNING graduation requirement. I am also extremely honored to be working with FPAs special education coordinator to increase attendance with our Special Education student population. We are working collectively with the principals and Dean to set up a positive behavior support structure that is proactive instead of reactive. With our higher than average Special Education population, we must certainly anticipate behavior issues but it behooves us to also plan and discuss ways that can and will definitely support the academic and behavioral needs of this At-risk student population. I am excited and hopeful for our students and staff because I have yet to encounter any resistance to social justice initiatives and felt compelled to share this with you. I certainly hope this email finds all of you well and that you dont mind me including you in the great works that continue to take place at Dr. Maya Angelou Community High Schools.

Sincerely,

Carlos Garcia-Lara Resource Specialist / TGDC Lead teacher Dr. Maya Angelou Community High School Global Issues Academy 300 E. 53rd Street Los Angeles, CA 90007 323-313-5257