21st Century Learning & Strategic Planning Initiatives

What students learn and how they learn it are critically important - for expanding the ways children think and what they are able to do;  for encouraging children's natural curiosity; for keeping children interested in learning in school; and for preparing our children to live healthy, productive and meaningful lives beyond school.   This will be the focus of our first Speaker Series presentation on Tuesday, September 13, 2011, in the evening at Cano Hall.   Dr. Ira Lit, Associate Professor, Director of Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP) Elementary, will discuss ways that K-8 educators can and are re-imagining teaching and creating the sorts of learning environments that our children need to thrive in the 21st century.  Please mark your calendar and plan to attend this kick-off event.  The 21st Century Learning Speaker Series program taking place this fall will provide an opportunity for parents to become involved in thinking about the future of education as we begin to develop a new Strategic Plan for the District.

In addition to attending Dr. Lit's presentation,  we encourage parents to join the Strategic Planning Committee ("SPC") in reading The Global Achievement Gap, by Tony Wagner, who writes about "why even our best schools don't teach the new survival skills our children need and what we can do about it."  The book is available at local bookstores, or through Amazon at:  http://www.amazon.com/Global-Achievement-Gap-Survival-Need--/dp/0465002307/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1313514728&sr=1-1.  This book will form the basis for many of the SPC's discussions.  And in October, the Governing Board will hold a special "study session" to discuss the book's ideas and themes with the parents, staff and administration.  Please read the book and plan to join in the discussion so that you can be knowledgeable about, and participate in, the Strategic Planning process.

Also mark your calendar for a Strategic Planning Parent Forum on Monday, September 26th from 7 to 9 pm.  This Forum will provide parents an opportunity to provide input to the Strategic Planning team about their hopes and wishes for the future of education in our District.  Note too that the Strategic Planning Committee membership includes several District parents:  Todd Alamin, Lori Brockman, Larry Kelmar, Leslie King, Rita Popat, Christy Story, and Diana Sunshine.  In addition, Governing Board members Maria Doktorczyk and Ann Jaquith, also District parents, are members of the Strategic Planning Committee. You should feel free to contact any of these parent representatives to share your input as the Strategic Planning process moves forward this fall.    

For more information about the Strategic Planning process, see our District web page:

 http://www.llesd.k12.ca.us/StrategicPlanning.html.