FALL NEWSLETTER: December 2019

What’s ROCKing at Eagle Rock Jr./Sr. HS?

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This newsletter summarizes some of the highlights from the 2019-20 school year that have been sent

via updates, weekly bulletins, Blackboard Connect, postal mail, social media, or Schoology.

Artwork created by Mr. McLaughlin’s students: "Max" Christopher Aguilar, Jeremy Alvarez, Alyssa McMillian, Andy Rivera, & Justin Pasco. This image was our 5th annual student art holiday card sent to

faculty, staff, and community members. Thank you to Mr. Laird and our Graphic Arts CTE team!

Respect our School & Community: How might we share our campus celebrations?

Not only do our Eagles shine in competition, 190 of our Fall Sport Athletes earned a 3.0 or higher

GPA! This type of data reflects collective accountability for time management, character development, and victory with honor!

We had 1,113 students with perfect attendance in September and attendance remained strong throughout the semester!

We celebrated 81 faculty and staff who met LAUSD’s 96% or better attendance goal with certificates and 4 lucky winners got STEAM gift certificates!

Congratulations to student Alan Cisneros and teacher Ms. Sara Ramos-Lopez for their Student and Teacher of the Month awards presented by CBS2/KCAL9, Rams, and LAUSD. Check out the link! https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/video/program/1187/4261814-lausd-student-teacher-of-the-month-sara-lopez-alan-cisneros/

FALL NEWSLETTER: December 2019

What’s ROCKing at Eagle Rock Jr./Sr. HS?

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Optimize Effort: How might we share data about our glows and grows?

Water Polo: Congratulations to Water Polo for finishing #4 in Division 2 for the State! It’s a historic

finish for the team! They finished the year higher in the Division than any other LAUSD school! Kudos

to Coach Alan!

Volleyball: Volleyball won Northern League Championship for the 11th consecutive time for girls with a

10-0 record. They capped their season with an Open Division Championship to finish first in the City!

Tennis: Coach Tim was named Coach of the Year and Wendy & Jade were All-City Co-Players of the

Year! Team, singles, and doubles advanced to the Open semi-finals! Seniors Portia,Jensel, and Lydia

pose after another victorious match! Girls tennis were Northern League Champs again! Kudos to

Coach Jacobson!

JV Football: JV Football was Northern League Champions for the sixth straight year! With QB Mojica’s

precision and experience and QB Delacruz’ speed and vision, the air attack was on point as Pasten and

Grappone snatched up the passes. Congrats to Coach Vergara for a 9-1 season!

Varsity Football: Varsity Football was Northern League Champions! They finished 3rd in the City as the

highest finishing non-charter school and as Division 1 semifinalists. Congratulations to the team and

Coach Moran…and we kept the Principal’s Trophy a third consecutive year.

Flag Football: Congratulations to our Eastern League Boys Champion Middle School Flag Football Team

and Playoff eligible girls team! Thank you BTB and AWFFK Coaches Abram, Kim, Luis and Coordinator

Leslie! Kudos to our All Star players Reilly and Douglas who will be heading with Mrs. Keipp to Orlando

with the LA Rams and BTB for the Pro Bowl and Flag Football Championships!

Swimming: Congratulations to Kailee who is heading to UC Davis for swim. Her records include 50 back City Champion, 100 free City Champion, and Olympics qualifier!

Cross Country: Girls Cross Country finished as Northern League Champions and 3rd in the City!

FALL NEWSLETTER: December 2019

What’s ROCKing at Eagle Rock Jr./Sr. HS?

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Miyamoto, Andrada, and Camacho ranked 8th, 10th, & 15th respectively. Congrats to Coach Martinez! James finished 2nd place in the City and signed at Brigham Young University to continue running! Teammate Nick finished 12th of 115 runners. Boys finished 5th overall!

Challenge Learning: What, why, and how are students learning on campus? How are students using the IB Design Cycle of investigating, planning, designing, and evaluating

Arts Update by Assistant Principal Cisneros

What an incredible first semester filled with the arts and nature at Eagle Rock Jr./Sr. HIgh School! In November, the Student Art Editorial (SAE), Future Farmers of America and the school choir joined together for a festive evening under the stars of spoken word poetry, song and music in the Horticulture Area. Thank you to Ms. Clark, Mr. Mailes, and Dr. Gindin for bringing this together! Ms. Silverman and the band held a “Concert in the Quad” in which was attended by many of our families, students, and alumni. We were graced with beautiful weather and music that made for the perfect afternoon! In December, Ms. Kissam’s drama classes put on a play “Romi & Jules” based upon the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet but with a non-hetero twist. Production and the cast did an amazing job of bringing this classic into the present.

Concert in the Quad Choir in Horticulture Theater in Rm 120

FALL NEWSLETTER: December 2019

What’s ROCKing at Eagle Rock Jr./Sr. HS?

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Attendance Updates written by Assistant Principal Rosamaria Figueroa-Calderon

It is very important that students attend school everyday. ERJSHS is working hard to improve student attendance. Our attendance rate is 96.5 % right now the district goals is 96% and last year our attendance rate was 96.6%. With the help of Ms. Busch-Arriata, PSA and parents we can get our attendance rate higher. Please ensure that students have doctor’s appointments early in the day or late in the afternoon so they are not absent the entire day.

Bell Schedule Updates by Principal Mylene Keipp

In December, LSLC voted that, “Based upon on student, parent and faculty input, the current schedule is optimal in meeting LCAP goals, SPSA, List IB, & WASC Report, & accountabilities.” They formed a task force/subcommittee to generate advocacy points expressing the savings and success presented in the existing bell schedule & IB program and advocacy plan for outreach prior mid-January. A letter was sent to Supt. Beutner for further advocacy entitled, ” High School International Baccalaureate Program Block Schedule Funding Issue: Adequate Support for Specific Effective School-Wide Programs: Mitigating Impacts of New Class Size Caps on Existing Commitments to Students and Teachers. ASB co-president Lani, Ms. Clark and ERHS students attended LAUSD’s Committee of the Whole on December 12, 2019, lauding the current bell schedule for all students.

Career Technical Education (CTE) Updates by Principal Keipp and Mr. Cohen

In the past year, our CTE students have competed in SkillsUSA winning 6th place in the state for Digital Cinema, and second place in the state for Graphic Art Sublimation. Engineering: Thank you to the plentiful donations of Legos and other building blocks for Mr. Tse’s classes! Students are busy planning their next creations to problem solve myriad situations using designs that utilize our 3D printers! Health Science & Medical Technology (Patient Care): Students recently went on a field trip to Fitness19 and had a range of guest speakers like Dr. Rion Zimmerman, the team chiropractor for the USA Women’s Soccer team, LA Galaxy’s Brandon McDaniel, the director of athletic performance for the Dodgers; and Marco Nunez, the former Head athletic trainer for the LA Lakers. Last year, Patient Care teacher Ms. Alpuerto took 50 people to a Lakers game! Horticulture: Our 8th grade Design class hosted Music in the Garden with our Choir and Video Production students. We showcased Seedlings, Slams, and Songs, another musical event.. If teachers and students need a space away from the traditional classroom, the Horticulture center has also been busy hosting an Eagle Scout project to build an outdoor classroom. Manufacturing & Product Development (Graphic Arts): With the guidance of Mr. Laird, Khanh produced teacher door signs with the alma maters. Adrian, Elijah, Ryan, and Khanh were part of a large group who printed new gray IB shirts for January 2020. Production & Managerial Arts (Video Production, Stage): Kudos to students from our 8th grade Video Production class who will be supporting the senior One Shot video on December 20! Thank you to our video production team that did a great job of filming the Alumni Sports Hall of Fame Reception!

FALL NEWSLETTER: December 2019

What’s ROCKing at Eagle Rock Jr./Sr. HS?

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Video Production at the ER Hall of Fame Reception before our Homecoming Game

Counseling Updates by Assistant Principal Tess Leonido

We currently have 79% of our 374 seniors on-track for graduation for the Class of 2020.. At the end of this school year, potentially 115 seniors (31% of the graduating class) will earn this distinction of the California State Seal of Biliteracy. This criteria established in legislation certifies attainment of a high level of proficiency in two or more languages. The Individualized Graduation Plan (IGP) is a plan for Culmination/Graduation and the goal is for each student to undergo an Individualized Graduation Plan (IGP) wherein the student’s counselor speaks to him/her regarding their progress and academic schedule to ensure they are on the right path for graduation. - Families should receive the Fall 2019 Report Cards by mail for their student(s) by the week of December 23rd. Parents can also access grades on Schoology via the Parent Portal: https://parentportalapp.lausd.net/parentaccess/

Construction Updates by Assistant Principal Christina M. Cisneros

This being my first year as an Assistant Principal at Eagle Rock Jr./Sr. High School, I was excited to hear that one of my responsibilities was to oversee the seismic retrofit construction of the Auditorium and South Gym. Every day we come closer to the completion of both projects! The Auditorium completion is expected in late February early March. The auditorium is receiving brand new auditorium chairs! We will be having a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Band Concert in March to commemorate the re-opening of our auditorium. The South Gym completion will be in late May/early June and will have new floors, graphic acoustic tile, and new bleachers and lockers! District personnel and Pinner Construction teams have worked collaboratively to ensure that Eagle Rock receives quality and safe projects.

FALL NEWSLETTER: December 2019

What’s ROCKing at Eagle Rock Jr./Sr. HS?

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Inclusion Updates by Assistant Principal Ms. Cisneros

Diversity is Our Strength! Being an all-inclusive campus means all students are provided opportunities to receive first good instruction in the general education setting as much as possible. Our campus is piloting our first year of co-teaching as a model for inclusion in many of the core classes for 7th and 8th graders. These classes have two teachers to support the needs of our diverse and special populations using tiered levels of support. Our first semester has not been without its own successes and challenges as we sow the seeds to grow our program. We are in the process of formalizing our Inclusion Plan that will support our efforts to expand our program to our 9th and 10th grade classes under the guidance of our Inclusion Steering Committee. Thank you to the following individuals of our teaching staff who have volunteered to join our Inclusion Steering Committee. International Baccalaureate MYP Updates written by IB Coordinator Mr. Joseph Cohen In the past 12 months we hosted four IB Open House tours showing our campus to many families creating a buzz around our program filling our permit quota the first week it opened. We have over 80 new students this year joining us on an IB permit. We would like to thank our families for joining us in our bimonthly IB parent committee meetings where parents get information and give feedback to guide our program. We have hosted three schools in LAUSD interested in the IB program including Fairfax High School, Cleveland High School, and Holmes Middle School. Thank you to our teachers for showcasing what an IB world school looks like. We also sent 31 teachers to IB training growing our capacity and understanding of IB ideology and pedagogy. We are grateful to the schoolwide personal project mentors who have been meeting with our tenth-grade students. The personal projects for last year can be found in the online exhibition at www.tinyurl.com.erhspersonalproject.

International Baccalaureate DP Updates by IB Coordinator Mr. John Malmed This past July, 21 more Eagle Rock students earned the International Baccalaureate Diploma bringing the number of successful Diploma earners, since the inception of our programme four years ago, to 99 students. Our current cohorts include 48 juniors and 48 seniors for a total of 96 diploma candidates. As of December 2019, most of our senior cohort has successfully submitted, as a required part of the required core, their Extended Essay, a 4,000-word college-level, expository research paper based on an individually selected IBDP subject. Topics range from the economic effects of hypoxia on shrimp populations in the Gulf of Mexico to the role of the femme fatale in the French New Wave and Film Noir cinematic genres. Students are also engaged in a myriad of Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) activities, the extracurricular component of the program and an ongoing endeavor since junior year. They are developing their Visual Arts exhibitions for March 2020. They are completing their Historical Investigations, Chemistry Explorations, Physics Explorations, Math Explorations, Math Projects, and Language and Literature Written Tasks and Further Oral Activities. Each of these internally and externally assessed assignments contribute significantly to final examination scores that will not only earn our students ample college credit but are their initial encounters with authentic college level work.

FALL NEWSLETTER: December 2019

What’s ROCKing at Eagle Rock Jr./Sr. HS?

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Magnet Update by Magnet Coordinator Mr. Drew Lord This fall semester the Gifted, Highly Gifted, High Ability Magnet Program hosted Open House events in October and early November to help prospective Magnet parents and students better understand what makes our Magnet Program so unique. Over 450 people attended the events from 162 different public, charter and private schools. This year the ERJSHS Magnet Program has welcomed two teachers to our magnet faculty. Mrs. Brenda Malec is our newest magnet science teacher and is currently teaching a host of magnet classes. Mrs. Malec is an alumnus and also the co-sponsor of the Senior Class. Mrs. Tennille Miller is our newest Language and Literature teacher and teaches Magnet AP English Language to our juniors and College and Career to a cohort of 10th graders. The Eagle Rock Magnet Advisory Committee (ERMAC) conducted its Direct Appeal fundraising campaign in October and November. Our goal was to raise funds for field trips, curricular needs, technology upgrades, and IB training. Field trips supported by these funds include Shakespearience, Renaissance Faire, and The Japanese American National Museum to name a few. Funds have also gone to the Model United Nations club for competitions and materials for Engineering classes. If you are interested in donating please make your check out to the ERHS Magnet Trust and drop it off in the Magnet Office. We appreciate your support!

Middle School Updates by Middle School College & Career Coach Mr. Benjamin Elizondo During the 2019-2020 fall semester, teachers, coordinators and administrators have conducted school-wide classroom observations. The purpose of the observations was to gather data regarding instructional strategies & practices, as well as to reinvent and refine instructional delivery. These observations provided teachers opportunities to receive constructive feedback. For the observers, it was an opportunity to witness the innovative lessons occurring on campus and learn from peers. Middle School College and Career Coach continues to provide support, guidance, and intervention to support student needs. With the support of the teachers, counselors, administrators, and parents, student intervention continues to thrive. To ensure that students have the means to be successful, intervention contracts are created by students, student grades are reviewed, counselors and parents are contacted, classroom visitations are conducted, and if necessary, parent conferences are held.

Targeted Student Population (TSP) Updates written by TSP Coordinator Ms. Janice Lopez

For the 2018-2019 school year, ERJSHS met the District Central’s target of reclassifying 22% of the school’s English Learner (EL) population. ERJSHS exceeded the district’s expectations by reclassifying 33% of the students. Our EL population has dropped from 5% to 3% of the overall student population, of which approximately 30% are students with disabilities, which dropped from last year’s 50%. Several parent, student, and teacher trainings have been provided at ERJSHS and will continue throughout the school year. Students had an opportunity to look at their data, discuss goals, and next steps. ERJSHS aims to reclassify as many students as possible. The school is on its way to meet the district reclassification goal of 22%

FALL NEWSLETTER: December 2019

What’s ROCKing at Eagle Rock Jr./Sr. HS?

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Kindness Matters-What might be some of the work that you are doing to

make our school, community, and world a better place for you and others?

Our school sent letters of appreciation to Superintendent Beutner for funding our $200,000 A

World Fit for Kids high school afterschool program, School Occupancy Unit (SOTU) for

$476K for new tables and chairs for 54 classrooms (https://www.erscream.com/post/tables-

and-chairs) and Baby2Baby/Clippers/Kawhi Leonard for over 2,000 backpacks!

We are also thankful to our PTSA for starting the year with fantastic Arts fundraiser that

donated almost $25,000 to support our California Exemplary Arts program! The funds were

intended for our Auditorium and marquee…but those were paid by LAUSD and a $25,000

donation by one of our alumni families! The arts money will now pay for arts trainings and

festivals! Select Theater and US History students will be able to attend Hamilton in the

Spring!

Thanks to our Cheer, Spirit Squad, and Band for participating in two NELA parades:

Veteran’s Day and Christmas Parade. Thank you to Dr. Gindin, Ms. Silverman, Ms. Smith,

and parents for their weekend time. We appreciate the bus provided by CD 14! Shown in the

photo below is our administrative team donning shirts that say, “In a world where you can be

anything, be kind.” Thank you for a great Fall!