News From Laguna

By Brooke Williams Principal

Greetings from sunny Laguna Elementary School! We have been in session since August in a variety of ways. All of our students have either been in person or online since the start of the pandemic. We couldn’t be prouder of our Laguna teachers, staff, students, and families for all of their hard work, patience, help, and support this year. All of our students have worked hard to stay on task, wear their masks, social distance, wash their hands, and help keep others safe.

Though it has been a trying year, exciting things are still happening at Laguna! Our office recently underwent a makeover, we had a virtual Spirit Assembly, and celebrated Spirit Week.

At Laguna, we love calling ourselves “one big happy family!” And, our families’ participation is still very important to us, even during this pandemic. So, we’ve had to be extra creative with how we involved our families in the classroom this year. Many teachers have invited their parents to read “virtually” to their classes on Microsoft Teams or Zoom. We’ve also installed high-tech cameras in each classroom to film certain lessons to make them accessible to all students. This has also made it possible for families to attend holiday parties on a virtual basis.

Most exciting news of all is that we are already well underway in our three-year accreditation process to become an official STEAM School. As you know, STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, The Arts, and Mathematics. STEAM is an inquiry-based method of teaching and learning. All of our teachers have been going through extensive training in order to become a STEAM School. Being a STEAM School means that we encourage children to learn through the process of asking questions, working together, and problem solving.

Many traditional schools simply teach students to find an answer, but at Laguna, we go one step further. We encourage students’ curiosity! We want students to ask who, what, when, where, and why. We really focus on the why. And, rather than just asking our students what they want to be when they grow up, we ask them what problem they want to solve! Their answers are always aweinspiring! We want our students to have real-life problem-solving skills, while still learning how to read, write, and solve math problems.

We’ll continue to keep you notified of all the great things going on at Laguna. In the meantime, thank you for your continued support of your neighborhood school. We have really appreciated all of your support and help over the years and this year has given us an even deeper appreciation for our wonderful community. Signing off from Laguna, where our Eagles soar high no matter what!