La Cañada Unified and teachers union celebrate ‘inspiring’ school year
La Cañada Unified School officials received a poignant reminder Tuesday of the connection between successful schools and a happy, supported teaching staff when members of the La Cañada Teachers Assn. joined board members in recognizing several recent achievements.
In an unusual outpouring of support and appreciation, La Cañada Unified teachers showed up at Tuesday’s LCUSD school board meeting with signs of thanks to share their gratitude for what they called an “inspiring” school year so far.
The demonstration came halfway into a school year that followed intense and, at times, negative negotiations between the district and teachers union over salaries and other issues. Leslie Baldwin, an eighth-grade English teacher at La Cañada High School 7/8, shared her experience at a recent meeting of the district’s curriculum council.
“It really stood in stark contrast to the strained and contentious discord of last year. It was, quite frankly, inspiring,” Baldwin recalled, thanking LCUSD Supt. Wendy Sinnette for her leadership through difficult times. “It does take a village to turn a corner.”
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Speaking in a comment to board members about a successful new school year, LCTA President Many Redfern expressed her appreciation to the district and Sinnette.
“Thank you for pushing all of us to be our best, and to stay focused on our students … and the work that we do,” Redfern said to a tearful Sinnette. “Your generosity, your grace, your kindness and your leadership are truly one of a kind.”
Those in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting also took a moment to applaud other school-related accomplishments brought to light in recent days.
LCUSD Board President Dan Jeffries announced a recently released survey of the 100 top-rated elementary schools throughout Greater Los Angeles for 2017 — put out by Pittsburgh-based school analytics website k12.niche.com — that ranked Palm Crest Elementary the No. 1 school for academics, teaching and cultural diversity.
Second on the list was La Cañada’s Paradise Canyon Elementary, Jeffries said, while La Cañada Elementary School ranked seventh among the top 100. The rankings, according to the website, were the result of survey data taken across a broad group of stakeholders.
“They looked at ranking factors, including state test scores, student-teacher ratios, student diversity, teacher quality, grade scoring and the overall quality of the school districts,” the board president said. “Kudos to our elementary schools.”
Later in Tuesday’s meeting Sinnette announced La Cañada High School 7/8 also recently received an important mark of distinction when it was named a “California School to Watch” by the California League of Middle Schools.
Each year, the program identifies middle schools that are academically excellent, developmentally responsive, socially equitable and structured for success. LCHS 7/8 was redesignated as a model middle school after being awarded the honor in 2014.
“For them, this is the highest honor. It’s equivalent to California’s Gold Ribbon School (award),” Sinnette said of the middle school prize, adding that school officials will be presented with an award in Sacramento on Feb. 23.
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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com
Twitter: @SaraCardine
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