The Official Newsletter of Local District West Westside Stories Building Capacity, Cultivating School Cultures and Eliminating Inequities October 2020 Greetings LD West Family! In This Issue: We made it to the 10th week of school...TOGETHER. Since the start of the school closures in March, we knew we had many challenges • Get to know LD West’s ahead of us: device distribution, getting hotspots to families, virtual Communities of Schools culminations and graduations, starting a new school year completely Administrators Paul virtual and meeting new teachers. We overcame...TOGETHER. As we Hirsh and Autri Streeck face a new challenge of reopening safely for our families and staff, I • Senior Highlights Resources for Families am confident we will get through this together as well. Our district has done some • Meet our new Student monumental and historical things such as one to one and virtual tutoring, COVID testing Board Member sites at each Community of schools, and continuity of teaching and learning in the midst • E-Choices Information of a pandemic. As we plan for a hybrid return under the guidance of LA County Health • Technology officials and the state, I am excited to continue to build on the momentum of virtual Troubleshooting Tips learning and what we have learned from our resilient teachers and students. It is my • Book of the Month pleasure to serve as your Local District Superintendent and be a part of this amazing • Hall of Fame Athletics journey. Click here to watch ABC7’story on Dr. Brown! Inductees • Kinder Corner Dr. Adaina Brown, • Teacher Feature Local District West Superintendent Want to ask Dr. Brown a question? Follow us on social media and use the hashtag #AskDrBrown Free COVID-19 Testing for All Students Click on image for flyers WESTSIDE STORIES OCTOBER 2020 Local District West Community of Schools Administrators Spotlight I grew up in Los Angeles and attended Paul Hirsch Westwood ES and Emerson Jr High. I’m both a Community of Schools Administrator Bruin (undergrad UCLA) and a Trojan (grad Fairfax Community of Schools school USC). I love Los Angeles! I began my career in education teaching social studies at Le Conte Middle School and Helen Bernstein High School. I served as Principal of the STEM Academy at Bernstein for eight years where we were able to create gold-certified Linked Learning career pathways in Medicine & Engineering. Recently I have been given the honor of serving as the Fairfax Community of Schools Administrator. This work is personal for me, because I’ve lived in the Fairfax District for over a decade and I feel deeply 3rd Street Elementary connected to this community. I believe in the power of positive school culture, because Burroughs Middle School when students and staff feel cared for and safe their potential is unlocked. I am grateful Fairfax High School to serve the Fairfax Community of Schools and I am determined to support its growth Hancock Park Elementary and celebrate its achievements. LACES Laurel Cinematic Arts and What’s the best part of your job? Creative Technologies Magnet My favorite part of the job is identifying existing best practices and sharing them with neighboring schools. Melrose Elementary Math Science and Technology Magnet What’s your Favorite Movie? Marvin Avenue Elementary I have lots of favorite movies, but one of them is The Princess Bride. and Language Magnet Mid-City’s Prescott School What’s the first concert you attended? The first concert I attended was RUN DMC at the Palladium in 1986 of Enriched Sciences Rosewood STEM Magnet What is something you want to change? Urban Planning and Urban Design One thing I want to change is the achievement gap between student groups. Saturn Street Elementary & Arts Media Magnet What’s your favorite food? My favorite food is Sushi. It’s actually sort of a problem I have. Can’t get enough. West Hollywood CDS West Hollywood Elementary Whitman Continuation High Laurel Early Education Center Marvin Early Education Center H..E..E..T COMMUNIITY OF SCHOOLS CRENSHAW//DORSEY COMPLEX Learn about the Historic HEET Community of Schools initiatives where we focus on humanizing education for equitable transformation. THURSDAY, O CTO BER 29, 20 20 6 P.M . HTTPS:/ / BIT.LY/ 2SPHDQ 3 STUDEN T RECRUITM EN T FAIR 2 WESTSIDE STORIES OCTOBER 2020 Local District West Community of Schools Administrators Spotlight I am a Los Angeles native, raised in an Autri Streeck unincorporated neighborhood that borders Community of Schools Administrator Compton and Watts. I graduated from Hamilton Community of Schools Centennial High School, in Compton Unified. After completing my first degree at UC Santa Barbara, I moved back to Los Angeles and began my career, as a fifth-grade teacher, at 96th Street Elementary School. During the past 20 years, I have served in public schools in Los Angeles and Austin as a teacher and principal. I have spent the past eight years in Local District West, supporting school communities all over the city as a director. This school year, Baldwin Hills Elementary Pilot & I am both proud and humbled by the Gifted Magnet opportunity to serve as the Community of Canfield Elementary Schools Administrator for the Hamilton Carthay School Community of Schools. Environmental Studies Magnet Castle Heights Elementary I deeply enjoy the work that I do in LAUSD. For me, teaching and learning will always be Charnock Road Elementary the most important business of schools. Effectively leading my current network of Cheviot Hills Continuation High principals, through our district’s pivot to distance learning, is my most recent challenge Clover Avenue Elementary and passion. As we struggle with some of the creative challenges of virtual schooling, I am Crescent Heights Social Justice and proud of the tremendous effort and dedication of all involved. S.T.E.A.M. Magnet Elementary Hamilton High School What’s the best part of your job? Marlton School The best part of my job is helping principals problem solve. Overland Elementary School for Advanced What’s your Favorite Movie? Studies Watching movies is one of my favorite activities so there are many movies that I love and Palms Elementary my favorite changes often. Palms Middle School Shenandoah St. Elementary What’s the first concert you attended? Crescent Heights The first concert I attended was a Jackson Five concert at the Dodger Stadium. Early Education Center What is something you want to change? Shenandoah I want to change how we teach reading and science in our schools. Early Education Center What’s your favorite food? Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream. STUDEN T Sou t h M id-Cit y Com m UN I T Y of Sch ools FIND RECRUITM EN T YOURFAIR EXPLORE WEST ALL L.A. PROGRAM STORY OPTIONS WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY Programs Include Dual Language Health Music Computer Technical Education STEM Magnet Coding, Cyber Security Boys Academy Schools of Advanced Studies W EDN ESDAY, Business Span Schools JO IN US! N O V EM BER 4, 5 P.M . Gaming College Dual Enrollment (High School Programs) HTTP:/ / BIT.LY/ W ESTLACO SRECRUITM EN TFAIR HTTP:/ / BIT.LY/ SO UTHM IDCO S10 1520 3 WESTSIDE STORIES OCTOBER 2020 Introducing Student Board Member Kamarie Brown (Crenshaw High School STEMM Magnet) My name is Kamarie Brown, I’m 17 years old and a senior at Crenshaw High School. I was born and raised in South Los Angeles, the oldest daughter in a home to eight family elders and young children. I’m the daycare for the young and the night nurse to the old. I’m the one who cooks, cleans, and pays the bills. I learned to help my grandma file for unemployment, housing and food stamps before I learned how to drive. But that’s only a part of who I am. I’m nominated for Class President, and rank number one in my senior class with a 4.4 GPA. Since freshman year, I’ve been a student leader at Community Coalition where I organize hundreds of South Central students to formulate and implement policy changes that progress us towards an education system that champions racial justice and equity. Through this work, I’ve been invited to speak with Black Lives Matter leaders, March for Our Lives, to the L.A. Unified Board Members, and California Governor Gavin Newsom. This activism led me to pursue a position on the school board and I am honored to say that I am the first Black young woman chosen as a LA Unified Student Board Member. Together we can create a better future for our schools. The non-profit organization called Community Coalition, or as many say “CoCo”, has been home to me for about four years. In 2017, I joined as a reserved, timid freshman with a lot to say but no background knowledge in support of what I say. In 2021, I’ll be moving on from Community Coalition as a strong and competent senior. With a passion for advocating for the voiceless, organizing, and cultivating power within myself and other youth, I became a stellar student leader in Community Coalition’s Youth Organizing committee, South Central Youth Empowered through Action. I’ve worked with my peers to develop leadership skills, taught political education classes during the summer, outreached to my peers at school, consistently led workshops every Thursday on campus and collected surveys. I have also knocked on doors in my community regarding new initiatives taking place. Knowing that there is always room for improvement, community building is very significant to me; this is the reason why I continue community engagement, youth leadership development, and overall being an advocate and voice for all people.