From La Entrada PTA

THE BUS STOP

When The Bus Breaks Down or Has an Accident

The safety of students who ride the bus to school is always our first priority, and our regular training always focuses on student safety and good driving habits. But sometimes the unexpected happens, as it did last Tuesday afternoon at 3:15 when Bus 4 was involved in a very minor traffic accident. Two things happen when a school bus accident occurs: 1) the CHP is involved to enforce the law; and 2) the Transportation Team has district policy in place to insure that students ultimately arrive home safely.

Regarding parent notification, at the present time we do not have a bus-specific method of blasting SMS or email messages to the parents. We have this capability for all-district and all-school, for use in the event of a major emergency, and we are currently looking into ways to do the same for specific buses. Our current practice is to notify the District Office and both School Sites so that they have information to share with parents who call. On Tuesday, most parents were notified within the hour, but after they had heard from their children by cell phone.

For any accident involving a school bus with passengers, the CHP must be contacted. The driver's first action is to assess any injuries that may have occurred and to handle those appropriately. Bus drivers have regular training in first-aid, and the buses are all equipped with fully stocked first aid kits. Bus drivers will call 911 directly or the District Office via their radios to dispatch emergency medical personnel if needed. The law allows us to move the bus from the scene of the accident, if possible, to a safe place, but the bus may not leave until the CHP arrives and processes the accident report. All passengers must remain on the bus until the CHP releases them. As part of their accident report, the location of each passenger is documented a seating chart of the bus, including their first and last name and their date of birth.

As passengers are cleared by the CHP, our district policies govern how students are released. On a regular school day students will be released only at their normal bus stop, unless we have a note from their parent/legal guardian giving permission for us to do otherwise. This policy is also how we handle the release of students after a school bus accident, or a bus breakdown for mechanical reasons. Any students whose parent/guardian is on-site waiting for them will be released to their parent. Students who do not have a parent waiting for them will be kept on the bus and taken home either by the bus involved in the accident, or another bus that will be dispatched to collect them. They will be dropped at their normal bus stops. We will not release students to parents of their friends, or neighbors who are willing to take them home, without being given permission from their parents to do so. That means we must speak directly to you in order to release your child to someone else. That conversation can occur in several ways--you can speak to staff at the school site, to someone at the district office, to the bus driver, or to me directly. We will be responsible for your child's safety until they are dropped at their regular bus stop, or released to you or someone you have authorized to take them.

We appreciate that any accident involving the school bus creates high levels of stress for everyone. And we are working on better ways to communicate with you in real time when something like this happens. But at these stressful times we are carefully implementing thoughtful policies and laws, all of which are designed to keep your children safe. On August 20th of this year we had our annual in-service training on policies and procedure in the event of a school bus accident, conducted by our local CHP School Bus Coordinator. Our radios are checked daily to insure that drivers always have clear connections to the District Office, and all first aid kits are checked, and inspected by the CHP, annually. We take this seriously, and appreciate your patience and support when the unexpected happens.

Joyce Massaro
Transportation Supervisor, 650-854-6311 x30

The La Entrada Student Council is sponsoring a school-wide "Magazine Sale" which will occur from September 7th through October 5th. To begin the drive, there will be two motivational assemblies with important information including the La Entrada guidelines for selling magazines and CD's. When selling or renewing magazines, students will be asked to contact only people they know. Examples may be relatives, a family's pediatrician, dentist, or co-workers. We invite parents of La Entrada students to attend one of our assemblies on Tuesday, September 7th, either at 10:00 for grades six, seven and eight or 11:00 for grades four and five.
This is the one and only fundraiser our student body sponsors during the school year. Proceeds make many student centered activities possible. These include: assemblies, dances, fourth through sixth grade socials, spirit competitions, noontime activities, intramurals, Olympics, Inflatable Day, Raging Waters, graduation, and more. We thank you in advance for your support.
In the past some families have chosen to help the fundraising through private donations. We definitely appreciate and understand this. We would like you to know that if you choose this option, your student will be able to participate in the rubber duck distributions and school-wide magazine activities. Another option you may want to consider is donating magazines and/or CD's to your teacher's classroom, the library, other staff members, or a charity of your choice such as a retirement home or a children's hospital. Participating in this way will also allow your student to earn many or all of the other incentives offered.
We look forward to working with you and ask that you review the magazine packet when it comes home on September 7th. Should you have any questions, please contact Tanya Rianda at trianda@llesd.org or 650-854-3962 ext. 124.

Gratefully,
Will R. , Student Body President
Tanya Rianda, Student Activities Director
Larry Thomas, Principal

Communication is the Key

A new feature in the Leopard Spot will be regular department updates from the faculty and staff here at La Entrada. This is the first update, highlighting our fine 6th Grade English Department program.

The introduction to the sixth grade English-Language Arts Standards states, "The ability to communicate well - to read, write, listen, and speak - runs to the core of human experience." We support this belief 100%, for both our students and for ourselves. Thanks to a common prep period, 6th grade English teachers meet as a team once a week. We discuss unit plans, lesson particulars, and student work. We share ideas, examine curriculum, and create common tools like writing rubrics. Additionally, ALL English teachers, grades 4-8, meet once a month so we can have across-the-grade-level common understandings. This process is further enhanced by our school-wide writing prompts, given three times a year. Did you know that children at La Entrada have a hard-copy writing portfolio with all their writing prompts from 4th grade on? Ask to see your child's sometime; it is a real pleasure to see tangible evidence of growth in writing strategies and language.

Our 6th grade classrooms are hubs of learning. Every day, students read, write, listen, and speak. We are reading the first of our Core books, Something Upstairs. Our year-long poetry study will start next week. We will be writing literary responses, writing to prompts, writing about what we are studying in Social Studies, and writing for the fun of it. We are having students listen to fine literature and each other. And finally, we are having the students speak. They will deliver narrative, informative, and persuasive presentations, as well as recite poetry and act in plays. It all adds up to one fantastic program, based on the rigorous standards set forth by the State of California. If you would like to learn more about our English-Language Arts Standards, go to http://www.cde.ca.gov.

Nancy Olson, Wally Powell, and Tanya Rianda
6th grade Core Teachers