WRITTEN BY: ZACHARY BUENAVENTURA
Did you know that there is a way that you can have a voice in most of the rules or policies at VAAS? VAAS is a school that provides its students with a safe space to express their intellectual skills and creative talents. It's a community that fosters personal growth and teaches students how to integrate everyday life into their studies. At VAAS, there are many ways to express your own voice and concerns about school issues and contribute to the community. One of those ways is through the monthly school ESBM meetings. VAAS is able to “operate under the school plan developed and approved by both the Board of Education and UTLA through the Public School Choice 2.0 program” (Valley Academy of arts and sciences, https://www.thevalleyacademy.net) “As part of this plan, it was established that VAAS would be governed according to an Expanded School-Based Management Model,'' (Valley Academy of arts and sciences, https://www.thevalleyacademy.net) meaning that VAAS is able to work in a community wherein we are all allowed to have a say in how this school is operated. ESBM allows all teachers, parents, staff and students to help contribute to make the school more engaging and overall a better space for education Every second Tuesday of the month (unless there are conflicts in schedules that cause a change in the second Tuesday Schedule) from 4:15 pm to 5:15 pm the ESBM meeting is held and is open for anyone to attend, even students. The great thing about this meeting is that if any member of the school community has an issue or concern. They can address it during the meeting and it will be discussed in search of a resolution. Firstly, you would send the agenda of your idea that you would like to present during the meeting to Ms Hanock. Then you would work your way from there leading to your presentation at the meeting. An example of this is when the school first opened, Mr. Harris says “students were not allowed to wear hats.” However this topic was brought up during the meeting and the issue was later resolved. Now students are able to freely wear hats on campus. The ESBM meeting is a wonderful opportunity for students to express their voice about the school on a more in depth level that can cause positive change. We are the only school within LAUSD that is part of this ESBM plan and “Ultimately, the school plan guides all decision-making and programs.” (Valley Academy of arts and sciences, https://www.thevalleyacademy.net) This meeting is open to all, whether to just attend and listen to or to bring up a topic that you are passionate about and to reach a level of consensus with the members of the ESBM group. Comments are closed.
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EditorZachary Buenaventura Author
Yuliana Altamirano CategoriesArchives
June 2023
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