I hope the Longfellow community enjoyed a wonderful spring break. Our Parent- Teacher Conferences will be this week and we look forward to a great turnout and the opportunity to strengthen communication with parents. As we resume classes on April 5, parents should also be aware of the annual STAR testing that is on the horizon. We all have worked hard to increase academic achievement at Longfellow for all students throughout the 2009-2010 school year, and soon our students will have the opportunity to do their best on the State tests in order to show what they have learned. We will try to motivate them to do their best on these high-stakes tests, and when the testing is over, we will invite parents to help us to plan ways to celebrate their effort and their achievement. Let’s celebrate their learning and let them know how proud we are of their work this year! We can make the testing a positive experience by talking to students about this wonderful opportunity to do their best. We can be enthusiastic about letting them help us to plan classroom parties or an ice cream social or whatever would be a fun way for our community to celebrate all the learning this year!

On another note, I would like for parents to be aware of the Longfellow Middle School Tours we are offering every Friday at 9:30 AM and at 2:30 PM. Parents have the opportunity to visit 6th, 7th, and 8th grade classrooms to observe the teaching and learning process and to see student’s work, projects, and a variety of activities. We would also like to highlight the interdisciplinary work students do, and the emphasis in our middle school on becoming proficient or advanced in technology, based on the National Technology Standards. We are also proud of the fact that, for the first time this year, the 8th grade students will take the National Spanish Examinations, which we hope will lead up to offering the Advanced Placement Exams in Spanish Language in the future, so our students can leave Longfellow with college credits in Spanish.

At Longfellow we are fortunate to have very strong parental support. Our parents enrich our school in many ways. We will, therefore, look forward to having all of our parents come to our Open House on May 26 in the evening, when we plan to showcase the work of all students this year. We will also have the Art Corps Exhibit that evening, so it should be a wonderful community event and another opportunity to celebrate learning. More information will be coming in May about the Longfellow Open House and, of course, about the Multicultural Festival!

Please stay in touch with our staff as we partner with parents in a collaborative effort to give the best to the students of Longfellow Spanish Immersion School.

Sincerely,
Cynthia Arce, Principal