Dear Parents and Community,

We are a culturally diverse, large urban school district. Our school district prides itself on

its goal to reduce the achievement gaps between different socio-economic groups. As a result of

our efforts at minimizing the achievement gap, our district has been a five-time finalist for the

Broad Prize for Urban Education (Accolades, n.d., para. 2). One important theme that is

addressed within our school district is the theme of multicultural dimension. Multicultural

dimension is the idea that all students, regardless of their gender, ethnicity, socio-economic

status, culture or race, are provided the same opportunities in education to learn (Maloy, Verock-

O’Loughlin, Edwards & Woolf, 2016). Our school district values the cultural differences of all

our students and community.

For our district to establish a supportive culture, tools to collaborate are needed within our

district. One such way for our families to collaborate is to share ideas and information. Once a

month, our school district holds an English Learning Advisory Committee (ELAC) at each

school. Each school is represented by parents and volunteers from the community to discuss,

advise, and participate concerning programs and services that would be beneficial for English

Learners at each school site. We encourage families to become part of the school by

participating in school site council meetings and ELAC meetings.

One of the most important resources that a school and district can have are the parents. Our

school district believes that our parents are an integral part of our community. To involve and

engage parents, our school district provides activities and classes to further strengthen the

relationship of the district and community. In addition to involving the community, the district

provides many important articles and resources in the varying languages of our community. Due

to the large population of families that speak Spanish, Khmer and a variety of other languages,
the district provides many resources in the languages that are part of the community.

Furthermore, report cards and progress reports can be accessed in the parents’ language at any

time through the parent portal on the district’s website.

Integrating technology within our educational programs, has provided a variety of

opportunities for our students to be in a supportive, learning environment. Technology has

allowed us to be able to provide additional differentiation and support for our diverse learners.

Utilizing differentiated instruction to meet the needs of all students is what our district strives

for. Our district has implemented G Suite and Google classroom through each student’s portal to

give them access to a variety of tools. Included in these tools, students have free access to

download Microsoft Word from Office 365 from the student portal.

To embrace and understand the diversity of our students and to provide opportunities for

students to learn about different cultures, the district has adopted textbooks that value

multiculturalism. One such example is the Wonders reading program for elementary students

which has themes such as families and culture, which values the idea of diversity. In addition to

selecting a reading series that supports multiculturalism, the program offers a variety of tools to

support learning. There are differentiated reading resources for students who are English

language learners and students with learning disabilities. Furthermore, students can access this

material through their student portal, which includes the ability to read the material for those

students who need that extra support in accessing the material.

Our school provides additional services for students by providing tutoring for students who

need extra support, which is provided by teachers before or after school. In addition, our school

offers an afterschool program, ICES, for parents who work and need child care. It is provided at

no cost and also provides after school homework help for all students who attend. Students also
have access to the internet afterschool to complete homework or projects. Although we know

that not all students have access to technology at home, our local libraries do offer free access to

computers and the internet. In addition to access at libraries, local parks and YMCA also offer

free Wi-Fi for internet access.

Below are links that can help assist you in learning more about our districts’ resources in

technology, our programs, and our school.

http://www.lbschools.net/Departments/Curriculum/Technology/family_resources.cfm

http://www.lbschools.net/Departments/OMS/homework_helpline.cfm

http://www.lbschools.net/Departments/Success_Initiative/college_promise.cfm

http://joanganzcooneycenter.org/publication/family-time-with-apps/

http://www.lbschools.net/Departments/Parent_U/

http://www.lbpl.org

https://www.iceseducation.org/

http://bry-lbusd.ca.schoolloop.com/

Sincerely,

Lisa Cantwell

Bryant Elementary School

Long Beach Unified School District

 References:

Accolades. (n.d.) Long Beach Unified School District. Retrieved from

http://www.lbschools.net/District/accolades.cfm

Maloy, R., Verock-O’Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2016). Transforming learning

with new technologies. Boston, MA:Pearson. ISBN-13: 9780134020631