This year I've had the tremendous honor of working with the fantastic folks over at Eagle Rock Junior Senior High School, up in Eagle Rock (just east of LA). Fate brought me to them as a WASC Visiting Committee Member, but little did I know how that experience would basically change my life.

Long (loooooooong) story short, I had the incredible privilege of sharing my ERJSHS experiences with my Roadrunner crew. A boatload of miscommunication and logistical kinks later worked out to allow me to bring Camron, Juliana, Bravo, Momberg, Danial, Jared, Marci (the GOAT!), Heather, Jessica, Alex Gonzalez, Kate, and VERY especially Mr. B up to Eagle Rock. As a 7-12 IB school running an eight period block schedule, I wanted the SHS team to authentically see things for themselves and have the opportunities to interact with the ERJSHS staff and students.

Here are their stories. {cue Law & Order music}

ERJSHS Visit: Marci Channels

ERJSHS Visit: Alex Bravo, Alex Gonzalez, Juliana Morgan

ERJSHS Visit: Camron Conners, Jared Mendez, Julie Momberg, Danial Putros

ERJSHS Visit: Jessica Aguirre, Ed Bustamante, Heather LaBare, Kate Tran (recording TBA)

My deepest gratitude and eternal appreciation go to ERJSHS Principal Mr. Derek Steinorth, AP Tess Leonido, ELA Teacher Scott Martin-Rowe, and most importantly Magnet Coordinator Joe Cohen. Thank you, as well as the rest of my new ERJSHS family, for your hospitality and generosity!!

Starting today. EVERY Tuesday. By the flagpole. COME OUT AND SUPPORT!!!

There's so much going on with our school now that the year has started -- and I feel like I'm practically smack dab in the middle of it all! Like... literally!!

PSAT. Done, done, and done. PHEW. We learned from our mistakes last year, which helped tremendously, but it doesn't feel like anyone else did, lol. However, things seemed to have gone off without a hitch, so yay team!

FPM. This is definitely one acronym that, if you don't work in the American K-12 public school system, you likely haven't a clue what it means. Federal Program Monitoring is like a Title I audit, and many compare it to the WASC process. Thankfully since we've already been there AND done that, I definitely know what we need to do in order to get this done well. So, there's that.

Lastly, moving out of the Library. That's right! I'm finally breaking free of the mold that defined my early years as an Instructional Coach. I'm happily passing on my Chromebook expertise and knowledge down to our resident Chromebook princess, Ms. Alyssa, and she's gonna do great at it all!!

I swear I had something a lot more substantive to share here, but that could have also potentially just been in my head haha. Until next month!!!

Today I'm covering the Chromebooks in the Library for Alyssa, and, in preparation for the daunting daily task of signing students in during both lunches, I just had a thought:

We have been attempting to encourage students visiting the Library to produce their student ID cards; we can see their full name/picture, and it's just easier to scan for quick entry.

As you can imagine, many students DO NOT carry/have their IDs. The general response can be summarized as "I don't need my ID for anything, so why bother?"

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!! After photo makeups this Friday, STAFF will be required to have their IDs on them. Students absolutely should as well!!! If you haven't already begun using TRACK cards to incentivize your students, this would be a great way to start :)

As hot [weather] summer once again comes to a close, we are ~moments~ away from yet another school year! I hope everyone had a fantastic and relaxing break.

I've revamped my teacher webpage to reflect a collection of links to various resources to hopefully get everyone's fall semester up and running shortly. Highlights include:

• Aeries tips to get started (under Roadrunner Nation Tech Support)
• District-supported Digital Resources (under Technology Resources for Teachers and Staff)
• Online textbook access by core subject area (see link)
• A wide range of online content (videos, quizzes, etc) for you to use during Tutorial, if you're interested!

Let me know if there is any additional content you would like for me to feature or highlight -- these pages will be updated regularly throughout the year :)

Here's to an awesome start of the 24-25 school year!!!