Under California's local control funding scheme, all school districts are required to complete a Local Control & Accountability Plan (LCAP) that represents their spending plans on services for students including identified sub groups of students.  Each district must engage and involve its constituents (stakeholders) in the development of its LCAP and make a copy of the plan available to the public for review and comment.  The LCAP must be adopted by the district's Board of Trustees following a public hearing at the same meeting it adopts its 2019-2020 budget.

The draft LCAP is available for review here and public comment can be provided here.

35th Annual Margaret Thompson Historical Essay Contest

2019 Theme:  "Inspired by Juana!"

The Los Altos Historical Commission and the Los Altos History Museum are co-sponsoring the 35th annual Margaret Thompson Historical Essay Contest, open to third- through sixth-graders who live in the area and/or attend local schools.

The current exhibit at the Los Altos History Museum is "Inspired by Juana: La Dona de la Frontera (the Lady of the Frontier)". This exhibit tells the story of Juana Briones, a dynamic 19th century woman who owned several businesses, many parcels of land, and was a talented businesswoman. She was also a traditional healer and an advocate for the rights of her family and friends in what is now Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Palo Alto, San Jose and San Francisco. The story of Juana Briones is a tale of a resilient spirit, an inventive imagination, and business know-how - the hallmarks for Silicon Valley.

Visit the "Inspired by Juana" exhibit at the Los Altos History Museum or research on your own about the life of this important local historical figure. Think about Juana as a businessperson, a healer (herbalist), and an advocate for her personal rights, as well as those of her large family. Consider how Juana was able to have a relationship with people of all groups and nationalities, different religions, and customs.

The deadline to submit essays is March 8. Public school students should submit their entries to Los Altos School District teachers. For the detailed essay prompt, click here. For the essay rubric, click here. For the cover sheet, click here.

For more information, visit losaltoshistory.org.

Please Share Your Thoughts with ThoughtExchange     

As you may know, the Los Altos School District is on the cusp of obtaining a new school site to help relieve school overcrowding. Due to a unique partnership with the City of Mountain View to obtain a site, the Board of Trustees is seeking community perspectives regarding the plan for the school.

LASD is launching an online community forum called ThoughtExchange to understand your perspectives.  We ask parents, staff and community members to participate.  You will receive an emailed invitation to join the conversation, or you may sign up now by clicking here.

ThoughtExchange uses open-ended questions to gather a broad range of perspectives and we invite your participation.  It is only by understanding all perspectives that we can best serve the needs of our students and community.
 
A little bit about the process:

• It is a three-step process. Stakeholders begin by sharing their thoughts. Then they review and star (or rate) the thoughts of others.  Finally, stakeholders have an opportunity to discover the top trending thoughts among current participants.  You may re-enter the ThoughtExchange at any time to continue to add, rate or discover newly contributed thoughts.
• The process is confidential. The names and email addresses of participants will never be publicly associated with a thought or response.

 
Visit the ThoughtExchange website or email support@thoughtexchange.com for more information.  
Learn more about our progress in obtaining a new school site here.
 
Thank you for supporting our Los Altos School District students.

Help Shape the Future of Our Local Schools  

The Los Altos School District seeks volunteers for an 8-member Site Advisory Task Force to inform the design of a new 10th school site. Click here for a full description of the Site Advisory Task Force.

Student enrollment including Bullis Charter School exceeds 5,000 students, a level last reached in the 1970s, when we had 12 school sites rather than 9. Future enrollment is projected to rise, with an anticipated five-digit increase in homes in the next 10 years.

For the best solution to school overcrowding, we need your help to continue student success.

34th Annual Margaret Thompson Historical Essay Contest

2018 Theme:  "Spread Your Wings and Fly!"

The Los Altos Historical Commission and the Los Altos History Museum are co-sponsoring the 34th annual Margaret Thompson Historical Essay Contest, open to third- through sixth-graders who live in the area and/or attend local schools.

The current exhibit at The Los Altos History Museum is "Instinct Extinct: The Great Pacific Flyway." This exhibit is a multi-disciplinary art installation that explores and celebrates the biology, beauty, and bounty of the Pacific Flyway. The Pacific Flyway is a major north-south path for migratory birds in America, extending from Alaska to South America. Every year, migratory birds travel some or all of this distance both in spring and in fall, following food sources, heading to breeding grounds, or traveling to places where they can spend the winter. These migratory birds have the ability to soar and swoop through the sky and with their keen eyesight are able to locate food, locate places for their nests, and protect themselves from danger.

The deadline to submit essays is March 2. Public school students should submit their entries to Los Altos School District teachers. For the detailed essay prompt, click here. For the essay rubric, click here. For the cover sheet, click here.

For more information, visit losaltoshistory.org.

STEM Career Day Events at Egan and Blach

LASD & LAEF are excited to kick off the 2nd STEM Career Day Events at Egan and Blach Jr. High Schools this spring. STEM pervades every part of our life and STEM education creates critical thinkers, increases science literacy, and enables the next generation of innovators. We believe that exposing our students to different aspects and careers in the STEM fields inspire and spark a passion for learning.

We are looking for parents, grandparents or anyone in our community who would like to share their knowledge. If you are interested in presenting at Egan on March 19 and/or Blach on March 20, please contact Karen Wilson, STEM Coordinator at kwilson@lasdschools.org or Anjana Nagarajan-Butaney, LAEF Board member at anjana.nagarajan1@gmail.com

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on November 13^th, 2017, or as soon thereafter as practicable, at a regularly scheduled public meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Los Altos School District which will be held at the District Office, located at 201 Covington Road, Los Altos, CA 94024, the Board will consider entering into an energy services agreement for the installation of certain energy savings measures on the property of the District. At said meeting, the Board will hold a public hearing on and consider a resolution to adopt findings required by Government Code section 4217.12 regarding anticipated energy cost savings and other benefits the District may receive if the Board decides to enter into the energy services agreement.  The resolution, agreement and supporting documents will be included with the Board’s regular public agenda for the November 13^th, 2017 meeting. 

The district is installing solar shade structures at each of its schools.  The structures will be installed in school parking lots, except for Oak School where the structures will be installed on the play area blacktop.  Installing the solar structures will enable us to save hundreds of thousands of dollars each year and reduce our carbon footprint, equivalent to 3.5 million pounds of CO2 annually.

Construction will begin October 23 and continue through December.  Construction fencing is scheduled to be installed on October 23 and all work and materials will be contained within the fenced area. Traffic and parking will be impacted on and around the school sites and the District during construction.  We are working with police and traffic control departments to mitigate the impacts on the school neighborhoods.

Please check our Solar Project 2017 page on our website for updated communications and information.