haga clic aquí para leer la carta del principal en el español

September, 2009

Dear Parents,

This start to the school year has been the very best that I have ever experienced! Sunnycrest staff, students and parents have all been warm and welcoming. I appreciate how each and every parent is genuinely concerned about their child's education. With this kind of attitude, we can do anything we set our minds to. In case you have missed some of the changes that have taken place, I will give you a brief recap of what is currently going on at Sunnycrest. First, we have gone to the regular district calendar this year. Second, we are changing our reading program from the Success for All model to the district five component reading model. This will allow more time for your child's teacher to read one on one and in small groups with students. Third, we are still researching a possible Dual Language program at Sunnycrest where half of the instruction would be in English while the other half would be in Spanish.Dual Language has proven powerful for both our Spanish and English speaking students. And lastly, we are scheduled to start construction on a new building this coming summer! It just does not get any more exciting than this!

With all of these changes, it will be extremely important to keep our lines of communication open with the school, community and families of Sunnycrest. I will attend each and every PTA meeting where I will give an update on the current happenings. I will also attend monthly Latino group meetings where I meet with our largest population. There will be an interpreter present for translations. I will send out a monthly newsletter in English and in Spanish with information about the transitions taking place later in the year, I will also start a monthly doughnut and coffee hour that will happen every month where we will have the opportunity to have a face to face question and answer session with each other. Only with these open lines of communication, can we ensure that we have accurate information about the future of our wonderful school and community.

I would now like to take a moment to talk about academics at Sunnycrest. For the first time, we did not make the annual yearly progress benchmark that is set by the state and federal government. We had low scores with our English Language Learner, Hispanic and low income populations on last year's WASL test. We fell short in both reading and math. This is unacceptable for me, and we are doing everything in our power to help each and every child succeed. One thing that you will be receiving from your child is a questionnaire asking what we can do better as a school to better serve you and your child. It will come home with your child and I ask that you fill it out and send it back as soon as possible.We have a lot of work to do and there is one thing I am certain of - we can't do this without your help and support! We need you to team up with us to ensure success for every child that attends our school.

I thank you in advance for your support this year! With change comes great opportunity and I look forward to making the most of this year!

Mr. Baca, Principal