Los Encinos School

New month, new VV.
Lynn Nottage is an American playwright whose work often focuses on the experience of working-class people, particularly those who are Black. She has received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice: in 2009 for her play 'Ruined,' and in 2017 for her play 'Sweat.' (Source: Wikipedia)

The 4th graders just returned from their two-day overnight trip to Sacramento! They visited the capitol, panned for gold, explored the train museum, and walked through a real mine. "Awesome" was the catchword that was repeated often. Most important of all, they were their best selves! More photos to come in the Happenings newsletter on Sunday.

We celebrated ten terrific birthdays (May 10-23) at the assembly this morning with two spectacular sixth-grade hosts!

Fifth graders presented first, discussing how their study of change agents in social studies and the importance of being allies has translated into a STEM design project for issues they are passionate about (see photo for examples).

Second graders then shared the structures they've been learning about in our year of Exploring Diverse Systems & Structures, specifically those that relate to May's Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, such as the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, and the Emerald Buddha.

Two 4th grade writers for The Oak News then announced that the new issue will be distributed today. It's also available online: losencinosschool.org/oaknews

The chairs of Sports Day (Evan and Scott) then told us that this year's Sports Day will be on Tuesday, June 9th, and parent volunteers are needed. Look for the link in the email to sign up.

Lastly, Everest flew in to ask: "What's wrong with twin witches?" Answer: You can't tell which is which!

Have a great weekend, and we look forward to seeing all the incoming families tomorrow at our New Family Picnic!

We celebrated four fabulous birthdays at the assembly this morning with two tremendous sixth-grade hosts!

The 5th graders presented first. With May being designated "Jewish American Heritage Month," they described the importance of being allies to marginalized groups and shared the impact made by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel and his work with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The 2nd graders then discussed their food drive for the North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry, and how they got to help sort the food, make greeting cards to accompany it to those in need, and learn how the food gets distributed.

More 6th graders then described the music and podcast projects that they're planning to share at their Grandparents/Special Friends' Day, which is coming up the week of May 18th.

Everest then flew in and asked, "What did the ocean say to the beach?" One good guess was, "Hi, tide," but the answer Everest was looking for: "Nothing. It just waved." Have a wonderful weekend!

Wishing all of the mothers, grandmothers, and special women in our lives a very happy !

The month of May is both Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM) and Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AANHPIHM)!

While we honor and recognize people of all cultures all year, we are devoting time this month specifically to learn about key figures, movements, and historical events that demonstrate the contributions of people from these communities. Please look forward to student presentations at Friday morning assemblies.

The kindergarteners collect coins all year long which helps them learn counting and sorting. On top of that, Mrs. Vaisman invites Terry Lotka from LA Family Housing to meet the class and discuss wants vs. needs. The parents then take the kids, a list of needs, and the money (which totalled nearly $1000 this year!) on a shopping trip to buy the much-needed items. This morning, Adam from LAFH showed up with a truck and collected everything. Teamwork makes the dream work!

3rd graders were given an interesting math challenge today while introducing the metric system: Estimate the volume of water in milliliters (mL), from a paper Dixie cup to a 16oz. bottle. The volume of the water was matched only by the *volume* of their excited voices! (Spoiler: A Dixie cup holds about 125 mL.)