Dear Birmingham Parents and Guardians,

I'm thrilled to welcome you back to another school year at Birmingham Community Charter High School. As we embark on the 24-25 school year together, I wanted to take a moment to share some important information and updates.

New Policies: As you know two new policies were passed by the Birmingham School Board over the summer: Dress Code and Attendance Policy.

• Dress Code and Attendance Policy: Please see previous Parent Square postings regarding details of the two policies.

Reminders:

• Food Delivery to Birmingham is Prohibited:

• Every Birmingham student has access to both a free breakfast and a free lunch every day regardless of income status.

• In addition to the cafeteria lines in the covered cafeteria area and the pick up zone inside the covered cafeteria area there are 5 additional stations around campus to get lunch and/or snacks: end of J Building, end of C Building, end of E Building, outside of Counseling Center (quad side), and behind H Building (facing the quad).

• It should take 5-10 minutes in line to get lunch.

• Students can also bring their own lunch; however, they cannot have food delivered to Birmingham.

• Please do not have food delivered to your student on campus and strongly discourage them from ordering the service.

• Students are not allowed to pick up food deliveries at the gate, we will not hold/store the food for students; and campus security is not authorized to accept food from delivery drivers/services.

• Early Arrival: We've noticed that tardies have increased in the past couple of days during the first period of the day.

• Please do your best to drop off your student at least 20 minutes before the 8:30 bell or strongly encourage your student to leave early enough to walk, drive, or bus to school with plenty of time to spare.

• When fewer students and parents arrive within 10 minutes of the bell, the drop off is safer and less stressful for everyone.

Other Initiatives/Changes To Be Aware Of:

• Consolidation of Coffee with the Principal and PTSA: This year, knowing how challenging it can be for parents to attend meetings, we have decided to consolidate evening Coffee with the Principal Zoom meetings with PTSA meetings

• The first Coffee with the Principal will take place at 9:00 am in the MPR on Tuesday, August 20th

• The August 20 evening Coffee with the Principal session will take place concurrently with the PTSA meeting at 7:00 pm in the MPR.

• Dinner will be provided.

• We will take feedback at the meeting to determine the time and format of future meetings.

• New Principal's Student Advisory Committee: This year I will begin a Student Advisory Committee that I will meet with once a month to ensure I'm getting feedback from the general student population on what's working at Birmingham and what areas we need to improve.

• My goal is to select a couple of students from each grade level and those from a variety of programs with varied experiences.

• Implementation of Illustrative Math curriculum in Algebra I and Geometry: After a long process researching 7 different math curricula, we adopted and are now implementing Illustrative Math using the Imagine Learning platform.

• This program was chosen for its close alignment to the Smarter Balanced Math Assessment, for it's focus on helping students understand the practical application of math concepts, it's resources and flexibility to support diverse learners, and it's focus on mathematical practices encouraging students to develop problem-solving skills, reasoning abilities, and mathematical thinking.

• We're confident that with this high-quality curriculum implemented by caring, supportive, and committed teachers, students' math performance will continue to improve at Birmingham.

• Academy Period: Please be advised that the Grade Level Academy Period will not be implemented this year.

• We will look for opportunities during the instructional day to continue to support social emotional learning and academic habits of mind.

• Senior college application support will occur during Social Studies and English courses during the first semester.

Important Dates to Remember:

• Back-to-School Night: Thursday, September 19 (5:00-8:00)

• School Calendar: https://www.birminghamcharter.com/staff-link/events-calendar

Staying Connected:

We encourage you to stay involved in your child's education by attending school events, volunteering, and communicating regularly with your child's teachers. Please download and sign up to use our parent communication system: Parent Square for the latest news, announcements, and resources.

• https://www.parentsquare.com/schools/3646/feeds

Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to a successful and rewarding year together!

Mr. Bennett, Principal

Seniors are off to a great start this new school year!

I am excited to announce that we recognized 426 Seniors who were recognized for their excellent achievement as they ended their Junior year. On August 21st these students will receive their Honor Roll Certificates during their period 7 class. Students that are receiving an Honor Roll Certificate, will also be receiving a pin. These pins symbolize high academic achievement here at Birmingham and students have the ability to collect one each semester if they receive a GPA of a 3.0 or higher. Students will then have the privilege to wear them on their stole the day for their graduation. Keep up the AWESOME work Seniors!

Our first Class of 2025 Student Senate meeting will be held on Monday, August 26th during lunch in room E26. We have a lot to plan, discuss, design and simply enjoy all that it entails this final high school year! ALL Seniors are welcome to join! We are currently working on planning our first Senior event, SENIOR SunRISE, which will take place on Friday, September 20th from 6:00 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. This is a yearly traditional event in which Seniors come together before school to enjoy their class festivities as the sun rises.

Senior Portraits! If you have not done so already, please schedule your Senior Portraits with White Studios ASAP! You may set up an appointment at either the North Hollywood or Northridge locations. See flyers below.

Visit White Studios NO LATER than September 1st.

IMPORTANT: There is at least a 2 week advance wait time, so YOU MUST BOOK 2 WEEKS before your desired date.

Have a wonderful first month of school!

-Ms. Franco

12th Grade Coordinator

The 12th Grade Team

Mr. Elmore - 12th Grade Administrative

Director Ms. Franco - 12th Grade Coordinator

Dr. Garnish - 12th Grade Dean

Mrs. Brown - Counselor (A-F)

Mrs. Perez - Counselor (G-N) Mrs. Palacios - Counselor (O-Z)

Mr. Ermoian - Psychiatric Social Worker

Ms. Sedani - 12th Grade Administrative Assistant

Mrs. Mirazakhanian - 12th Grade Clerk

We're thrilled to welcome back our Sophomores for the new school year 2024-20245! It's fantastic to see them off to a great start for the 2024-2025 school year.

I'm delighted to share that our first Class of 2027 Student Senate meeting took place on Monday, August 19, during lunch. We've got a lot of exciting plans, discussions, and fun activities lined up! All Sophomores are encouraged to join us every Monday in F-39 at 11:40 am.

For our Spring 2024 Honor Roll Students, we will be recognizing achievers with Silver, Gold, and Platinum honors. We'll be celebrating 178 students for Silver (3.0-3.59), 130 students for Gold (3.6-3.99), and 74 students for Platinum (4.0-above). The recognition will be for students with a Spring GPA of 3.0 and above. Each student will receive a certificate and pin based on their GPA.

The first student progress report for this school year will be submitted on September 11th, and progress reports will be sent home with your student on September 16th.

Club Rush is scheduled for September 13th in the Quad at Lunch. The Class of 2027 Student Senate will be promoting the Sophomore Senate, along with other amazing clubs on campus.

This is the perfect opportunity for students to explore the wide range of clubs available on campus. Back to School Night is set for Thursday, September 19th from 5-8 p.m. We encourage you to visit our Sophomore booth and meet our dedicated sophomore grade-level team. Our team includes Administrator Director Tadeo Climaco, Grade Level Coordinator Amanda Fitzpatrick, Counselors Lisa Gazarian (A-F), Lilian Galvez (G-N), Stephanie Scherrer (O-Z), PSW Monica Montoya, and Dean Nick Halic. Please be aware that we will have a minimum day on Friday, September 20th.

Looking ahead to October, it's going to be an exciting month! We have our Homecoming Spirit Week from 10/15 to 10/18, leading up to the homecoming game on 10/18. As the Class of 2027, we'll have our float before the Varsity game. Additionally, our Homecoming Dance is scheduled for 10/13 from 6-10 pm, and tickets will be available for purchase in the student store. Stay tuned for the announcement of the theme! Here's to a fantastic month of August and more exciting things to come next month.

Amanda Fitzpatrick

10th Grade Level Coordinator

Class of 2027 Student Senate Advisor

Birmingham Community Charter High School

Welcome to our Class of 2028 students and families! We are so happy to have you as part of our Birmingham community.

Events and Updates

This year is off to a great start. One of the ways we welcomed our freshmen was Freshman Orientation. Many of our 9th grade students attended our Orientation, during which they were introduced to our campus as well as their peers, teachers, and our Link Crew upperclassmen. Keep an eye out for other back to school activities like the Welcome Back dance on August 24th and Back-to-School Night will be held on Thursday, September 19.

Back to School Night is an important part of your child's time here at Birmingham! Please come meet your child’s teachers and see all that our amazing school has to offer. Parent involvement is key to your child's success and the parent-school partnership is just as important, if not more, during a child’s high school years.

Club Rush will take place on Friday, September 13, at lunch. The Class of 2028 Student Senate is meeting every Monday in room F41, and we would love to welcome more members. If your child is interested in planning events for the 9th grade class, tell them to check it out! Clubs are a great way to meet new people, enhance leadership skills, and boost college applications.

ATTENDANCE MATTERS

Attendance is essential to academic success! Please check the parent square update from Mr. Climaco to review attendance procedures and contact Ms. Venegas to address your student's absence. It is important that we partner together to make sure our students are always at school except for valid reasons as established by the State of California Education Code and Birmingham’s Attendance Policy.

You can contact Ms. Venegas if you need to clear your child's absence at (818) 758-4481. You can also contact Ms. Aparicio (Attendance Counselor) at ​(818) 758-4402 if you ​need any support with attendance issues.

9th Grade Tips for Success

Here are some key tools to help you stay up to date on your student's education

1. Using Aeries

2. Having access to Parent Square

3. Accessing Google Classroom

4. Checking the teacher's syllabus for their contact information

Remember that you used Aeries to do data confirmation, and Aeries is one of the best ways to stay up to date with your child's education. You can use it to check grades and attendance.

We thank you for your support and excitement as the Class of 2028 begins their freshman year, and we look forward to a wonderful year with you!

Leila Haghi

9th Grade Coordinator

The 9th Grade Team

Edwin Avarca: 9th Grade Administrative Director

Leila Haghi: 9th Grade Coordinator

Oversees and is in charge of all of 9th grade Coordinates/supports students and staff

Hiyas Mutia, Sabrina Marquez, Cindy Martinez, & Brooke Lopez

9th Grade Counselors & PSW

Supports students academically and emotionally

Melissa Reisbord: 9th Grade Dean

Rebecca Venegas: 9th Grade Dean 9th Grade Office Clerk

Addresses discipline and behavior matters Leads on attendance/communication

Primary parent contact- (818) 758-4481

If you suspect your child has a disability and needs additional supports and services, please reach out to your child's counselor or contact the Special Education office at

818-758-6532 or SPEDOffice@birminghamcharter.com.