TLC Charter Chatter

News, Information, and Updates for Primary, Discovery, and Millennium Charter Schools

A Message from our CEO, Carolyn Woods

Hello TLC Families!                             

This week was National School Choice Week. I would like to take the time to thank you for choosing the Tracy Learning Center. We remain committed to providing an educational experience like no other. Where else will you find a classroom full of 66 engaged kindergartners happily participating in centers led by an amazing team of teachers?! Or a cohort of 8th graders attending a math class at the high school level? Or high school students graduating with their AA degree before graduating from high school?! Here at TLC we pride ourselves in our out-of-the box, innovative ways and we have the most dedicated staff who are here for your students 205 days of the year! Thank you for choosing us and for your continued support!  

LAST CHANCE to purchase Daddy Daughter pictures will be January 31st, 2023. Press on the link below to view and make your purchase: https://cristinaperezphotography.pixieset.com/mhsathleticsfatherdaughterdance/ Password: Dance22 Purchase the photos you would like directly from the gallery. The price for each image is $10.   Cristina also added a coupon code of $5.00 off when you purchase 3 or more digital images. Print options are available if you prefer prints over digital.

NOTE:  IMPORTANT CALENDAR CHANGE:

The April early release day has been changed to Friday, April 28, 2023. Friday, April 21, 2023, will be a regular release day, with regular dismissal times. 

Take a look inside classrooms By School- Upcoming Dates, Reminders, Announcements, and More!

PCS (Primary K-4)  –   PCS Charter Chatter

DCS (Discovery 5-8)    –              DCS Charter Chatter

MHS (Millennium 9-12)     –      MHS Charter Chatter

Lunch  Menu     –    Lunch Menus 2023

Need Before or After School Care? Use the QR codes below to find out more about Champions!

Special Education 

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a law that is meant to protect all the identifiable information about students in records that are kept by the school. It also provides that right that only parents have access to this confidential information. Learn more about FERPA through this video provided by the US Department of Education: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhlDkS8hvMU&t=9s

If you have any questions feel free to contact the special education department. 

Renu Singh 

rsingh@tracylc.net 

(209) 290-0511 

Director Special Education

TLC Charter Chatter

News, Information, and Updates for Primary, Discovery, and Millennium Charter Schools

A Message from our CEO, Carolyn Woods

Hello TLC Families!

Well, it looks like we have weathered the storms and are looking forward to sunny but cool days in the future! Although it is not easy to stay indoors for the whole day, I am proud of the way our staff and students have handled the weeks of rainy day schedules and lack of outdoor play time. Way to hang in there and power through!

AUDITION NOTICE

Auditions for the Wizard of OZ will be on three days at the end of the month.  The auditions are open for students from 3rd grade to 12th grade.  Please see the date and times for your school below and plan on attending!  

For the audition, prepare a Broadway-style song to perform acapella during the audition.  

Primary Students 

(3rd and 4th grade)

Wednesday, January 25th from 4:30 – 6:00 pm in M202

Discovery Students

(5th thru 8th grade)

Thursday, January 26th from 4:30 – 6:00 pm in M202

Millennium High Students

(9th thru 12th grade)

Friday, January 27th from 4:30 – 6:00 pm in M202

Good Luck and I can’t wait to see all the talent from our fantastic students!

-Mr. Snyder

NOTE:  IMPORTANT CALENDAR CHANGE:

The April early release day has been changed to Friday, April 28, 2023. Friday, April 21, 2023, will be a regular release day, with regular dismissal times. 

Take a look inside classrooms By School- Upcoming Dates, Reminders, Announcements, and More!

PCS (Primary K-4)  –   PCS Charter Chatter

DCS (Discovery 5-8)    –              DCS Charter Chatter

MHS (Millennium 9-12)     –      MHS Charter Chatter

Lunch  Menu     –    Lunch Menus 2023

Need Before or After School Care? Use the QR codes below to find out more about Champions!

Special Education 

El Dorado Charter SELPA’s Community Advisory Committee (CAC)  is a group formed to advise the Charter SELPA about the Special Education Local Plan, annual priorities, parent education, and other special education related activities. The CAC is designed to be a dynamic collaborative partnership of educators, parents, and community members. The CAC holds three business meetings annually to address topics of interest to families of children with disabilities and gather information to advise our Special Education Local Plan. The 2nd CAC meeting for this school year is scheduled for January 24th starting at 4pm. 

Click on the link to access the Zoom link: https://charterselpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Charter-CAC-Flyer-2022.pdf 

If you have any questions feel free to contact the special education department. 

Renu Singh 

rsingh@tracylc.net 

(209) 290-0511 

Director Special Education 

AUDITION NOTICE

Auditions for the Wizard of OZ will be on three days at the end of the month.  The auditions are open for students from 3rd grade to 12th grade.  Please see the date and times for your school below and plan on attending!  

For the audition, prepare a Broadway-style song to perform acapella during the audition.  

Primary Students 

(3rd and 4th grade)

Wednesday, January 25th from 4:30 – 6:00 pm in M202

Discovery Students

(5th thru 8th grade)

Thursday, January 26th from 4:30 – 6:00 pm in M202

Millennium High Students

(9th thru 12th grade)

Friday, January 27th from 4:30 – 6:00 pm in M202

Good Luck and I can’t wait to see all the talent from our fantastic students!

-Mr. Snyder

TLC Charter Chatter

News, Information, and Updates for Primary, Discovery, and Millennium Charter Schools

A Message from our CEO, Carolyn Woods

Hello TLC Families!

After my message last week regarding chronic absenteeism, we saw a marked improvement in attendance across all three schools. THANK YOU for making attendance at school a priority! Keep it up:) 

Thank you to all who attended MHS Parent Information Night. We had a full house!  There are just a few spots left at Millennium for incoming freshmen. Spread the word to anyone you know who may be interested- but hurry, the spots will fill up fast.  

Enjoy the 3-day weekend!

NOTE:  IMPORTANT CALENDAR CHANGE:

The April early release day has been changed to Friday, April 28, 2023. Friday, April 21, 2023, will be a regular release day, with regular dismissal times. 

Take a look inside classrooms By School- Upcoming Dates, Reminders, Announcements, and More!

PCS (Primary K-4)  –   PCS Charter Chatter

DCS (Discovery 5-8)    –              DCS Charter Chatter

MHS (Millennium 9-12)     –      MHS Charter Chatter

Lunch  Menu     –    Lunch Menus 2023

Need Before or After School Care? Use the QR codes below to find out more about Champions!

Special Education 

Social media allows adolescents to create online identities, communicate with others, and build social networks. These networks can provide teens with valuable support, especially helping those who experience exclusion or have disabilities or chronic illnesses. However, social media use can also negatively affect teens, by distracting them, disrupting their sleep, and exposing them to bullying, rumor spreading, unrealistic views of other people’s lives, and peer pressure. Furthermore, multiple studies have observed links between high social media use and depression or anxiety symptoms.

Check out the following links to learn more: 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/03/health/social-media-brain-adolescents.html

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/tween-and-teen-health/in-depth/teens-and-social-media-use/art-20474437

If you have any questions feel free to contact the special education department. 

Renu Singh 

rsingh@tracylc.net 

(209) 290-0511 

Director Special Education

TLC Charter Chatter

News, Information, and Updates for Primary, Discovery, and Millennium Charter Schools

A Message from our CEO, Carolyn Woods

Happy 2023 TLC Families!   

Staff and students returned to school with renewed enthusiasm and energy, ready to take on the rest of the school year! The new year provides the perfect opportunity for us to focus on a new goal for this school year- ATTENDANCE! I have addressed this before, but I feel the need to revisit our policies once again. 

As stated in each school’s student handbook:

If a student misses more than 7 days of personal, unexcused, or suspension time (any combination) they will be asked to enroll at another school and their spot will be given to a student on the waitlist. In addition, sick days cannot be attached to personal days prior to or following personal days. All dates missed will then be considered personal.

When a student misses more than 3 consecutive days it is required to have a doctor’s note upon their return to excuse these absences. Absences that are not properly cleared by the parent or guardian within three days of the absence will be reported as unexcused. After a student reaches 10 sick/illness days during a school year a medical excuse must be provided for all illness related absences.

CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM: A “chronic absentee” has been defined in E C Section 60901(c)(1) as “a pupil who is absent on 10 percent or more of the school days in the school year when the total number of days a pupil is absent is divided by the total number of days the pupil is enrolled.” During the regular school year (August to June),

 If a student is absent 18 days during the school year for any reason, they are considered a chronic absentee. 

Students with significant absences, tardies or excessive early pick-ups for any reasons may be placed on an attendance contract or asked to withdraw at the CEO’s discretion. 

We are required to report attendance to the state for all students in all of the Tracy Learning Center schools. This data is tracked very carefully by state officials and is reported annually on the California School Dashboard under the category of “Chronic Absenteeism.” 

It is important to note that the grace allowed by the state during the COVID pandemic is no longer in place- attendance at school is critical and schools are once again being held accountable with regards to student attendance. 

Attendance is very important to us. Letters will be sent home to  students who are in danger of being considered chronically absent and follow up meetings may be held.

To put this in perspective, take a look at our data, as reported on the dashboard:

Chronic absenteeism percentage by school (high school data is not reported)

PCS: In 2019,  4.5% of students were chronically absent . . . in  2022, that number jumped to  21.2%

DCS: In 2019, 1.6% of students were chronically absent  . . .  2022, that number increased to 16.8%

As state superintendent of public instruction, Tony Thurmond states, “Absenteeism has been serious during the pandemic and beyond and has taken a great toll on many students. As we move on from the pandemic, we continue to see an increase in chronic absenteeism in California and across the nation. We will continue to work with districts to find solutions to counter chronic absenteeism.”

TLC can and will do better!!! 

Take a look inside classrooms By School- Upcoming Dates, Reminders, Announcements and More!

PCS (Primary K-4)  –   PCS Charter Chatter

DCS (Discovery 5-8)    –              DCS Charter Chatter

MHS (Millennium 9-12)     –      MHS Charter Chatter

Lunch  Menu     –    Lunch Menus 2023

Need Before or After School Care? Use the QR codes below to find out more about Champions!

Special Education

Social media allows adolescents to create online identities, communicate with others, and build social networks. These networks can provide teens with valuable support, especially helping those who experience exclusion or have disabilities or chronic illnesses. However, social media use can also negatively affect teens, by distracting them, disrupting their sleep, and exposing them to bullying, rumor spreading, unrealistic views of other people’s lives, and peer pressure. Furthermore, multiple studies have observed links between high levels of social media use and depression or anxiety symptoms.

Check out the following links to learn more: 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/03/health/social-media-brain-adolescents.html

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/tween-and-teen-health/in-depth/teens-and-social-media-use/art-20474437

If you have any questions feel free to contact the special education department. 

Renu Singh 

rsingh@tracylc.net 

(209) 290-0511 

Director Special Education 

Hello TLC Families,

We wanted to make sure everyone is aware that TLC has taken extra steps on our campus to prepare for the coming storms.  We do not know what these next weather systems will bring in terms of rain and wind but our staff has been working hard to be ready for any scenario.

We are fortunate to have our new buildings that are leak-free and equipped with all the safety systems needed in case of power outages.  Battery back-ups on all our classroom and bathroom lighting ensure we still have light during an outage.

Our office phone, internet and emergency system are all on a battery backup system so we will still have communications during a power outage.  The front office staff are also linked with our school telephone system via an app so we can continue to contact parents if needed.

Our custodial staff are patrolling the campus to check for any hazards such as downed trees or equipment.   We have also planned alternative carline routes in the event of local flooding.  Thank you George and his team!

In the event that we have to close the campus, you will receive a phone call and text via our mass communications system.  We contact all parents with the information you provided in our AERIES student information system.  We will also post and announcements on the charter chatter as well as facebook and twitter pages.

We hope everyone stays safe over the coming days.  What a way to start 2023!