Welcome Letter
August 1, 2024
Dear Parents/Guardians,
Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year!
After a year of centennial celebrations, Carpenter now begins its second century as a beacon of excellence in public education in Los Angeles. While we are extremely proud of our past successes, we are also very motivated as a school community to continually look for ways that we can improve the school experience for our students. This year, we plan to introduce a new flexible learning space that we believe will benefit multiple grade levels and subject areas. We are also delighted to introduce a highly skilled and experienced teacher to our fifth-grade team. Our entire staff is eager to welcome everyone back to a new year full of learning and growth.
In this new school year, we will carry on with our school-wide, established innovative programs: Write…From the Beginning, Engineering is Elementary, Lego Robotics & MindUP. You can expect to learn more about how these programs are being implemented in your child’s grade level at Back to School Night. With the support of our teaching staff, Carpenter’s Governance Council, Parents for Carpenter (PFC), PTA and the hard work of our amazing parents and guardians, we all can look forward to the following exciting additions:
- A new LAUSD policy that prohibits the delivery of external food/beverages to the school during instructional time by parents or food-delivery applications in order to reduce disruptions to the school environment and the safety and well-being of students and employees
- A refresh of our school’s closed circuit security T.V. system
- Additional TK classroom teacher funded by our Governance Council (14th consecutive year)
- Three full-time Resource Teachers (special education)
- A continued commitment between Carpenter’s administration and our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Justice Committee to explicitly fight racism in all aspects of school life at Carpenter
- Year 2 of our after school Black Student Union where students can build relationships and create an additional support network
- Continuation of our Cell Phone/Smartwatch/Digital Device Policy that requires ALL devices (including wearables) to be stored and powered off during the instructional day
- Be advised that LAUSD is expected to unveil a district-wide cell phone policy in January 2025 for all schools
- A recommended school community expectation that each family volunteer (1) hour a month during the school year
- Full-time librarian (9th consecutive year)
- Full implementation of the Engineering is Elementary program in grades K-5
- A new practice location for our VEX IQ Competition Team, (after school robotics program for grades 4-5)
- Year 2 of a partnership with Youth Services and the STAR program to offer a free TK-5 after school program
- The continuation of our highly popular 180∘Place - a safe, supervised playground area for students with injuries and/or students in need of assistance with interpersonal relationships
- Full implementation of LAUSD’s Restorative Justice practices to promote and strengthen positive school culture
- Two outdoor, filtered water fountains with bottle-refilling stations (6 total on campus)
Another exciting change to our school this year is the arrival of a new staff member who is very eager to become an active member of our community. I am thrilled to introduce the following individual who is joining our staff this year.
Teacher
- Kathleen Kim – Ms. Kim has 17 years of teaching experience. She taught for 14 years at Warner ES in West Los Angeles and the last 3 years for LAUSD’s City of Angels Virtual Academy. At Warner, she taught kindergarten for six years and third grade for eight years. She has been the designated EL teacher for her grade level, a grade level rep, and the co-chair of the school's hospitality committee. At City of Angels, she taught sixth grade for the past few years. She has extensive experience working with EL, special education, and GATE students. In addition, she is very skilled at using small group instruction to meet the needs of her students. Ms. Kim places an emphasis on collaboration and teamwork and strives to cultivate a safe environment where her students feel a strong sense of Her middle school experience and knowledge of what is expected at the next level will be a tremendous asset to our fifth grade team. She looks forward to being an active member of our staff and building new relationships in our school community.
Thank you all for choosing Carpenter for your child’s elementary school. I hope that each of you will consider ways that you can participate to enhance your child’s experience and contribute to our school’s success. My staff and I are dedicated to working alongside all members of our school community to ensure that Carpenter Community Charter remains a source of pride for the Studio City community and a leader amongst elementary schools in Los Angeles and nationwide.
Principal
