Community is key
Our community consists not only of our students and teachers. Equally important are student's family, other school staff, and the community where our school is located. We strongly believe, and commit to, a high degree of community involvement to create an excellent school climate and an environment where all feel welcome and that leads to consistent, high student achievement. We call this our CEL, or Community Enhanced Learning. Unlike the past, and unlike any program at any other school in the district, this is a school wide parent involvement program.
We organize our family in the traditional way, by grade levels and classrooms, but that does not tell you how we run our school and our programs. For that we have several organizations, each with their own area of responsibility. Some are mandated by California state law, and others are part of the design of our own community. We strive to keep our overall organization simple, transparent, efficient and open to parents, teachers and staff alike to contribute.
Principal
Our principal is not only the leader of the school and school staff, but also participates in many of the organizations listed below.
School Advisory Board
Our main organization is the School Advisory Board. This board consists of 10 individuals: the principal, the members of the School Site Council (SSC), a non-teacher staff member, and a representative from the Parent Teacher Association (PTA). Overall that makes for 5 school staff and 5 parents. The School Advisory Board generally meets once a month and creates the high-level and long-term goals and planning for the school's CEL program. Involvement of SSC and PTA in this board ensures that the needs and ideas of all important constituencies are represented and that little duplicate work is done across all these organizations.
The members of the School Advisory Board, with the exception of the principal, are all elected. SSC members are elected separately (by law), but are included. Teachers are elected by other teachers, PTA officials are elected as well. The board will appoint suitable volunteers to manage more down to earth and practical responsibilities, such as finance/treasurer, volunteer coordination, communications, etc.
School Site Council
The School Site Council (SSC) is an organization mandated by California education code, section 52012 (sidebar). At Monta Loma Elementary the SSC has 8 positions: principal, 3 teachers, and 4 parents. This composition provides the required parity.
PTA
PTA description here