Will Rogers Roundup

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Dear Will Rogers Parents and Guardians,

Thank you, WRLC community, for an amazing show of support at our Ribbon Cutting Ceremony! We are so grateful for our Superintendent, Board of Education, and community members who joined us in celebration. The heartfelt stories shared—about teachers, staff, and the impact WRLC has had on children’s lives—remind us that each day here is truly a gift. WRLC is more than a school; it’s a community we are proud to be part of.

READ-A-THON begins Tomorrow! From Sept 15–26, our students will be reading, logging minutes, and raising funds to support our school. Families can help by cheering on their readers, sharing the fundraiser, and aiming for fun prizes, like a mini reading buddy, a book-themed lunch with me, and the Golden Book Traveling Trophy. Don’t miss Bedtime Stories & Pajamas Night on Tuesday, Sept 16, 6–7 pm in the Cafetoria a cozy family event with stories. Let’s make this Read-a-Thon a fun celebration of reading together! Learn more and register here: https://www.willrogerspta.com/readathon.

With appreciation and excitement,

Ms. Lila Daruty

Principal, Will Rogers Learning Community
ldaruty@smmusd.org

Mon. 9/15 -9/26 Read-a-thon! PTA Fundraiser begins!

Tues. 9/16 Read-a-Thon Bedtime Stories & Pajamas Night in the cafeteria@ 6:00 p.m.

Wed. 9/17 (ALL) 4th and 5th grade Peacemakers Training 1:30-3:00 p.m.

Wed. 9/17 PTA Executive Board Meeting @ 6:00 p.m. on zoom

Thurs. 9/18 School Site Council Mtg. @ 3:10 p.m. via zoom

Fri. 9/19 Monthly Peacemaker Meeting @ 9:00 a.m. in the cafeteria

Mon. 9/22 PTA Room Rep Meeting @ 6:00 p.n. via zoom Meeting ID: 895 9030 0836

Mon. 9/22 SMMUSD-Parent Project Series Begins 6:30–9 p.m @ Michelle and Barack Obama Center for Inquiry and Exploration in Santa Monica. (See flyer below)

Tues. 9/23 NO SCHOOL- Local Holiday

Fri. 9/26 RODEO Family Dance @6:00 p.m. in the cafeteria

Sat. 9/27 Regenerative Farm Family Farming Day @ 10-1

Mon. 9/29 Monday Meet-Ups with the Principal ( in front of school) @ 8:30 a.m.

Mon. 9/29 Fifth Grade Parent Committee Meeting @6:00 p.m. via zoom

Tues. 9/30 Prospective Parent School Tour @ 9:00 a.m.

SMMUSD Calendar 2025-26

WRLC PTA Calendar 2025-26

SEEKING TWO NEW PARENT MEMBERS!

The School Site Council (Site Governance Committee) meets at least 8 times a year (meetings are Thursdays 3:15-5:00 p.m. via zoom to:

• To develop, approve, and annually review a school plan, to be known as the School Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA).

• To plan, monitor and evaluate the school-based activities and expenditures for Consolidated Application Programs, including Federal, State and local funds.

• To follow the requirements of the Greene Act.

• To carry out all the other duties and responsibilities assigned to it in the Educational Code of the State of California.

The SSC is composed of elected members: staff (principal, teachers, classified staff) and parents/legal guardians, PTA board member of children currently enrolled at Rogers who are not employed by the school district. All members are elected for a two year term.

Learn more on our website HERE.

APPLICATION Please email to Principal Daruty @ldaruty@smmusd.org

If you would be interested in joining and need more information, please reach out to Principal Daruty. I will notify you when your nomination has been received.

Have you done your AERIES student data validation this year? If no, log in now to complete.

https://santamonicamalibu.aeries.net/Student/LoginParent.aspx

Data Validation Flyer - English

Data Validation - Spanish

• Score reports for CAASPP, ELPAC and Star Renaissance are available to parents in the Aeries Parent Portal. Hard copy score reports are no longer mailed home. These videos help explain to students & parents/ guardians on how to access their portals. Student Portal and Parent Portal.

• This guide with help parents ocate their Test Scores and State Test Scores Reports: Parent Portal: Test Scores [Aeries]-attachment.

https://www.barksdalestorefront.com/store/event_login/

WEDNESDAY 10/15 Make-up Picture Day

Every Late Start Friday, we gather together as a school community to end the week with connection, and celebration! Right after arrival, we head to the track and field for a school-wide gathering. Friday assemblies are a time for us to connect as one WRLC community—students, staff, and families alike. Grown-ups are always welcome to join us!

During our assemblies, we:

• Sing and dance together with performances from our students

• Hear updates from student leadership groups like the Peacemakers and Student Council

• Invite the community to upcoming events

• Celebrate student success and growth

• Recognize our IB Learner Profile winners, students who are showing the values and character traits we strive to embody at WRLC

Hope to see you there!

From Sept 15–26, our students will be reading, logging minutes, and raising funds to support

our school. Families can help by cheering on their readers, sharing the fundraiser, and aiming

for fun prizes, like a mini reading buddy, a book-themed lunch with me, and the Golden Book

Traveling Trophy.

Don’t miss Bedtime Stories & Pajamas Night on Tuesday, Sept 16, 6–7 pm in the Cafetorium a

cozy family event with stories. Let’s make this Read-a-Thon a fun celebration of reading

together!

Learn more and register here: https://www.willrogerspta.com/readathon

A Literacy Night! Tuesday, Sep 16, 6-7 PM in the Cafetorium. Students are invited to wear their favorite pajamas, listen to bedtime stories read by teachers, and share books with friends. Plus, minutes read during the event count toward your Read-a-Thon totals! Don't miss this cozy and fun way to celebrate reading together! See you there!

https://smmk12.zoom.us/j/7406000734?omn=83623103442

The IB Learner Profiles are the qualities we strive for all students to develop. For the month of September, our focus is on being principled. We are principled when we act with integrity and honesty. Principled people treat others with justice, respect, dignity, and fairness. They take responsibility for their actions and understand how their choices impact others.

At home, you can support this trait by having conversations with your child. You can also model principled behavior by showing your child how you handle mistakes, keep promises, or speak up when something isn’t right. Recognizing and praising principled behavior when you see it at home goes a long way in helping kids internalize this value.

Looking for books that showcase principled characters? Here are a few great stories to explore together—all available in our school library:

• Otto Runs for President by Rosemary Wells

• Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen

• One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia by Miranda Paul

• One by Kathryn Otoshi

• Farmer Duck by Martin Waddell

• Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett

Every Friday this month we will reflect on what it looked and sounded like to be principled. Students will honored at our assemblies. Thank you for partnering with us in building a strong community of principled learners!

Our STEM Lab is the center for hands-on learning and creativity — and we need your help to keep it clean and ready for inquiry! We are looking for parent volunteers to assist with a quick cleanup and organization at the end of the school day. Even 15-20 minutes makes a big difference.

If you’re interested in helping, please contact Courtney Hayes at chayes@smmusd.org.

On behalf of the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation, WRLC was once again awarded a $10,000 grant from Sprouts. These funds will directly support our Regenerative Farm Teaching Program, which officially launches in late September. We are deeply grateful to Sprouts and our community partners for helping us grow authentic, hands-on learning opportunities for our students.

Since 2015, the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation has championed school-based gardening and cooking programs, recognizing the positive impact growing, tasting and preparing fresh fruits and vegetables has in shaping a child’s long-term preferences for healthy eating. The Sprouting School Gardens Grant brings hands-on learning and nutrition education to life by supporting school garden program.

EXTRA special THANK YOU to 1st Grader Emma, her older brother Ethan (former WRLC student and current JAMS student) and their mother Yesenia (Sprouts employee) for joining us and representing the WRLC community!

Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District invites parents and caregivers of teens (ages 12+) to join Parent Project, a free 10-week program designed to provide practical tools for managing challenging behaviors and strengthening family relationships. Sessions are held Mondays from 6:30–9 p.m., beginning Sept. 22, 2025, at the Michelle and Barack Obama Center for Inquiry and Exploration in Santa Monica. The program is offered in English and Spanish, with free dinner provided each week and free child care available for children ages 3–12. An orientation will be held Monday, Sept. 15, 2025, at 6 p.m. at the same location. Register by Oct. 1, 2025.

Sign up today: https://bit.ly/ParentProjectFall2025.

Arrival to school: Gates open at 8:10 a.m.

• TK/Kinder use the designated TK/K gate off of 14th street. Students and families may play, and wait for pick-up from their teachers on the (old) TK/K yard. @ 8:25 teachers will meet and walk students and accompanying grown-ups to the new early learning building.
• 1st - 5th may use either the front gate on 14th street or the pedestrian gate on 16th street. Students and families should proceed to their classrooms.

Dismissal from school: (All teachers will escort students to these areas)

• TK/Kinder meet your children at the designated TK/K gate (adjacent to the old TK/ K yard) on 14th street.
  
• 1st - 2nd meet your children the TK/K gate (adjacent to the old TK/ K yard) on 14th street
• 3rd should be picked-up from the front gate on 14th street.
• 4th and 5th should be picked up from gate on 16th street.

REMINDER: Parent parking can be found on the neighborhood streets. Be sure to read the street signs! Please do not park in the staff parking lots or block driveways of our neighbors. We will continue to offer a valet on 14th street in front of the school.

• At WRLC, we make every effort to avoid interrupting instructional time and therefore do not allow cellphones and other electronics to be used during the instructional day. Students are not permitted to wear smartwatches or Gizmos in the classrooms. If your child wears a smartwatch, or has a smartphone, please remind them they are to be kept in their backpack turned off or on school-mode during the school day. We encourage parents to support us by leaving these items at home.
• Students are never permitted to use cell phones on campus. In the event of an emergency, the administration carry radios, teachers have cellphones and there is a school phone in every learning space. Under the advisement of our SMPD school resource officers, individual student cellphone use can actually hinder the delivery of important messaging necessary in a true emergency.
• Other personal electronics from home, such as Nintendo Switches, iPads, Kindles etc. are not permitted on campus. If a student uses their cell phone during school hours, it will be confiscated and held until the end of the school day and must be picked up by a parent. In no event or circumstance, will the district or its staff be held responsible or liable for the loss, theft, or damage to any such device.
• Please help us ensure that our students have an electronics free learning zone at school.

September is Attendance Awareness Month, recognizing that regular school attendance is essential to student achievement.

Attendance is an essential component to a student’s academic success. Often, the number of days that students are absent accumulate without parents realizing how many days have been missed.

As part of our district wide Attendance Recovery Day, on September 19th, SMMUSD counseling interns will be making phone calls home to parents whose children had chronic attendance issues last year and so far this year in fall 2025. These phone calls are intended to provide support and resources to help improve school attendance.

• School materials including books, homework, projects, etc.
• Re-fillable water bottle ( We have several refilling stations on campus)
• A morning snack
• Lunch is available to all students free of charge. You may also pack a lunch from home.
• Sunscreen (put on prior to arriving at school)
• Hat
• Layers of clothing (sweatshirt, windbreaker, etc.) Keep an eye on the weather.
• A growth mindset for a successful day!

Breakfast and lunch are free for all students! Make a plan with your child each week about the days they will be eating food prepared at school or bringing lunch from home.

https://www.smmusd.org/domain/476

We encourage you to pack a snack for your children for morning recess.

Please send your child to school with a re-fillable water bottle! We have water stations located throughout campus.

Join the Will Rogers PTA for $10 to support activities and events that enrich your student's education and strengthen our school community.

https://jointotem.com/ca/santa-monica/will-rogers-elementary-pta

As an International Baccalaureate Programme School, we believe there is a broad range of capacities and responsibilities that go beyond academic success. We make a commitment to help all members of the school community learn to respect themselves, others and the world around them. We do this through the development of students according to the IB learner profile. The profile aims to develop learners who are:

Inquirers

Knowledgeable

Thinkers

Communicators

Principled

Open-minded

Caring

Risk-takers

Balanced

Reflective

The IB Mission Statement

The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

We encourage all families to submit the Free and Reduced Meals application by Friday, October 4. Although California provides free meals for all students, this application is crucial for determining eligibility for additional programs and resources, including Title 1 school designations for the 2026-27 school year. The state uses this form to assess which families qualify for benefits beyond free meals, so widespread participation is essential. To support this effort, please share the application link with your families and distribute the flier through your school's communication channels.

Application Link: https://bit.ly/MealApplications-SMMUSD

Email: ldaruty@smmusd.org
Website: https://www.smmusd.org/rogers
Location: 2401 14th Street, Santa Monica, CA, 90406
Phone: 310-452-2364