Kentwood Elementary School Newsletter

Jean Pennicooke, Principal Christine Ferreira, Assistant Principal Lori Counihan, PTO President There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in. Graham Greene

A Message From The Principal

Congratulations to our 2011 Eddy Teacher of the Year, Alesia Pride.We applaud M AY 2 0 1 1 you for your hard work and dedication to the Kentwood community! Congratulations to Lily May Goldman and Sallina Yehdego 23 Asian/Pacific Islander Heritage for being selected by their teachers for the 25th Sen Month and museum ate District Student Honors 25 Preview for Silent Auction @ Luncheon on May 21, 2011, to recognize their outstand biddingforgood.com/kentwood ing academic achievement. 26-27 2011-12 PTO Board Elections Kudos to this years phenomenal PTO Board, Lori 27 Silent Auction starts Counihan, Dawn Everard, 30 NO SCHOOL Memorial Day Brandi Foy, Nicole Smith, Lorelei Sun, Celeste Yamashita, June and teachers, Chris Buckly and Kit Hulit. They have 11 Family Fun Day worked so very hard and 11 Talent Show have done an amazing job this year in helping Kentwood to 11 Silent Auction continues shine. They have been instru13-17 Student Appreciation Week mental in bringing new ideas and events to Kentwood and 14 Ice Cream Social have raised the bar for fund20-24 FREE (discarded) books raising and enhancement of our annual activities. Library Thanks to our wonderful 24 Last day of school PTO and parent volunteers for a fantastic Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week. We felt very special, pampered, and appreciated. Our sincere gratitude goes out to all our Volunteers who have participated either on the front lines or behind the scenes for various events, and also as helping hands to our teachers and staff. We are not Kentwood without you! You are the best human capital that invests in our students. You are dearly valued and cherished. It truly takes a village. We gratefully acknowledge our Governance/SSC and ELAC members for meeting monthly and making the hard yet sound decisions that benefit our students. Please take to time to personally thank: Cleto Augusto, Dean Blagg, Colette Boston, Mary Brown, Roberta Guarnieri, Joel Kellum, Debbie Kolts, Lisa Kravetz, Denise Sample, Robert Warsaw as well as ex-officio members Rebecca Bernal and Jeanie Bussiere (Governance/SSC); and Luisa Azcunaga, Vidalina Martinez, and Alesia Pride and ex-officio members Maria Acjuc, Vicki Escamilla, Maria Pena, Patricia Soza and Norma Sanchez (ELAC). Asian Pacific Heritage Month will be celebrated during May 31 June 3, with our annual museum set up in the library. If you have any artifacts, pictures, or costumes to loan, please see Susan Dicks, Susan Kim, or Lucy Knight. As you can see, it takes a village. We cannot operate without you. Each person makes a difference. Thanks for another wonderful and successful year at Kentwood! Mrs. Jean Pennicooke

School Calendar

SAVE THE DATE!

Kentwood Family Fun Day

Come celebrate Kentwoods first annual Family Fun Day on Saturday, June 11th from 11:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Enjoy fun games and crafts, fabulous food, music and more! Shop at the Silent Auction and see our students shine at the Bring It On Talent Show. Admission is free, with ticket sales for food and activities. All proceeds to benefit Kentwoods art education programs. Volunteers needed, so e-mail May Chao at may_d_chao@yahoo.com, if you can help out. Also, dont forget to shop Kentwoods online auction at biddingforgood.com/Kent-

wood. There are over 100 fantastic items open for bids beginning May 27th and open for preview May 25th. There will be many local items as well as theme parks, museums, tickets to shows (even Live with Jimmy Kimmel)!! Please spread the word to your family and friends. Theres something for everyone and all proceeds will go to Kentwood of course!

p. 310.670.8977 f. 310.670.6957 www.kentwoodes.org

8401 Emerson Ave., Westchester, CA 90045

Kentwood Elementary School Newsletter

This and That
Permit Students Remember that the deadline to turn in your permit application is June 1, 2011. New forms went home and they need to be signed
by the home school principal, which is new this year. Your child will not be placed in a classroom for the 2011-2012 school year until the completed permit is returned to the office.

Have You Moved?

Test scores, lunch applications and news about the 2011-2012 school year will be mailed to the address that you put on your emergency card. If your address has changed please bring a copy of your current gas or electric bill and we will change it.

Lost and Found

If you have lost any personal items, you can look in the Kentwood Lost and Found located in the hallway between Room 5 and the Girls Restroom. All items will be donated to charity at the end of the school year.

Special Education at Kentwood

The mission statement of our school district states that, The teachers, administrators, and staff of the Los Angeles Unified School District believe in the equal growth and dignity of all students and are committed to educate all students to their maximum potential. This core principal is the foundation of what we do, and is reflected in the Kentwood Vision we recite each morning, particularly is the lines, to respect and appreciate each other as we are and to bring out the strengths in each and every one of us. One of the ways in which we demonstrate that commitment is through special education services. Special education is a program designed to meet the unique educational needs of children with disabilities who meet eligibility criteria under the law. The Division of Special Education provides a range of programs and services to meet the needs of eligible students. Each eligible student has an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that outlines that students strengths, needs and goals and then specifies the services and accommodations that are needed to assist that student in accessing the curriculum so that those goals can be achieved. Each IEP is developed by a team that includes the students parents, general education and special education teachers, service providers, and an administrator. It is a collaborative process designed to ensure that the program developed truly reflects the needs of the child. The Federal law known as IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) that governs special education has as one of its core principles the concept of Least Restrictive Environment. This means that to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities are educated with children who are not disabled. To clarify this concept, special education is not a place. It is a program. Some students with IEPs spend all or nearly all their time in general education classes. Some students may be assigned to a special day program where they can receive more intensive support. No

matter what the placement, all students programs include as much time as is appropriate to their needs in the general education setting. At Kentwood, special education services are provided by our resource specialist, Carolyn Hansen, who offers support to students who are assigned to general education classes through consultation, collaboration and direct instruction, and by our special day program teachers, Lisa Kravetz and Kit Hulit. Services are also provided by specialists in the areas of occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, physical therapy, adaptive physical education, and counseling.

While the word disability is used in the law, we strive to always focus on students strengths and abilities. There are many successful adults who required special education support due to learning differences. Special education is merely one of many tools we use to ensure that all students are educated to their maximum potential. If you have questions about special education services in LAUSD, visit the Division of Special Education website at http:// sped.lausd.net/index.html, or just ask one of the special education teachers here at Kentwood! Kathleen Hulit

Kentwood Elementary School Newsletter

This has been a successful March also meant more beau- Read Around The Library. In reading books until they comyear for our library. In the fall tiful books for the library. Be- February, students who partic- pleted their passports. I think the Adopt-A-Book program tween the two fairs over 100 ipated were issued passports that the students enjoyed visitadded over 90 new books to books were added to the col- that guided them to different ing sections that they may have sections of the library. The not thought to go to on their our collection thanks to the lection. In addition, this year the li- students then checked one own. This grant also allowed generous support of parents, teachers and staff. Look for brary was awarded a $2,500 book from each of the seven me to purchase 130 books Adopt-A-Book again in the grant from the Nestle Coop- designated areas and started from Perma-Bound Books to fall. The 2011/2012 school eration in cooperation with reading. Once they completed add to the library collection. year will mark the 19th year Wonder of Reading. This grant the book and returned it to of the program at Kentwood. allowed me to create a reading the library they had their passThe book fairs in October and program for grades 2-5 called ports stamped and continued Congratulations to the following students who completed their passports. Grade 2 Leah Abitante Gracie Ayala Tiffany Brown Alexander Everard Julia Grommes Zoe Lindsay Sophia Matthews Langston Metoyer Joseph Mikhail Justine Semien Owen Stodder Tyler Tortstenson Sofia Vitale Kevin Ajcuc Saule Baipsys Myles Brame Kelly Carignan Angelique Dropsy Christian Gharibeh Monique Gonzalez Alitzel Gonzalez-Cortes Maya Hernandez David Hughes Jacob Korban Kevin Lopez Denise Martinez Annika Nelson Shivay Singh Tiffany Sun Rhyan Thomas Olivia Williams Fardin Zaman Farhan Zaman Grade 3 Rashad Britt Jamai Brown Alessandro Caso Jazmin Choyce Suey Diep Rayna Irving Brian Kolts Madeleine Nolan Shanti ONeil Arlee Roberts Jessica Sample Islay Talbot Samantha Wang Mackenzie Wilson Zubaidah Al-Saudi Daniel Azcunaga Sydney Chen Lemony David Mya Edwards Christopher Gomez Luke Hakanan Elon Morris Anthony Sanchez Grade 4 Camryn Butze Moncia Carrera Isabelle Cogis Crystal Mendoza Katie Sanchez Yasra Al-Saudi Lane Butler Michael Morales Armina Qurbanzadeh Ashley Ragland Kai Robinson Gunner Rogers Merricks Semien Sarah Steingold Joseph Stodder Grade 5 Hamazah Al-Saudi Alana Carbo Jordan Cobb Ashley Forge Aaron Gardiner Lily Goldman Amber Greene Mauricio Marroquin Alexa Orozco Monserrat Pena Mariah Carey Ramos Adriana Arroyo Soraya Campbell Cecilia Carrera Kai Enciso-Girhan Eden Lula Brianna Morales Hannah Nolan Mia Parker Sara Yanke Sallina Yehdego

Library Update

Library Announcements May 23-27 Last week for students to check out books from the library. May 30- June 3 All student books due to the library. Please help your child to remember to return their books. June 20-24 Look for a table outside the library. This table will have discarded books that are FREE. Bring a bag or box and load up on books for summer reading. SUMMER READING Look for flyers coming home for some great summer reading programs. The public library offers summer reading programs along with games and crafts at your local public library. Barnes & Noble offers a terrific summer reading program where you can earn a free book once a reading journal is completed and a chance to enter a drawing for a Nook Color e-reader. Thank you Kentwood family for your support of the Wonder of Reading library. Have a beautiful summer break. Laurie ONeill Kentwood Library Aide