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Important Events/Dates
Important Events/Dates

·         Monday, August 10, 2020: 4th – 8th grade Distribution of Devices and Materials

·         Tuesday, August 11, 2020: K- 3rd grade Distribution of Devices and Materials

·         Wednesday, August 12, 2020: Distribution of Devices and Materials (All Grades)

·         Wednesday, August 12, 2020: Kindergarten Orientation

·         Thursday, August 13, 2020: First Day of School- Distance Learning

·         Thursday, August 27th - Back to School Night (Virtual)

Mr. Espindola
Principal's Message

Bienvenidos Jefferson Parents,

I hope you and your family had a safe and healthy summer as we navigate this pandemic. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we are constantly adapting and adjusting to the changes in our environment during the last few months. I appreciate our students, parents, and Jefferson staff for their flexibility and resilience during these trying times.  

This school year we have made changes to our Jefferson staff. Oscar Tafolla is our new Learning Director and Roxana Rodriguez is our new 5th grade teacher. Last year, Ms. Rodriguez did her student teaching at Jefferson. Please extend a warm welcome to Mr. Tafolla and Ms. Rodriguez as they begin their new positions. Both of them bring a wealth of knowledge to our program! 

As you know, we are starting the school year with distance learning. This year distance learning will look very different and I am confident that we will provide a high quality distance learning program to all our students that aligns with our school’s vision and goals.  

We all look forward to the time when students and teachers are back together in the classrooms. In the meantime, know that the Jefferson staff is working hard to plan and deliver a high quality distance learning program.

If you have questions regarding distance learning, materials, supplies, technology, etc., please contact your child’s teacher or the school office.

On behalf of the Jefferson teachers and staff, welcome back!   

Sincerely,

Mr. Espindola

Principal

Learn from Home Resources
Learn from Home Resources

Learn from Home Resources are posted on our HESD website and copies are available in front of our school office. You will notice that resources are organized by grade level spans: TK-2nd, 3rd-5th, and 6th-8th. Please check out the resources to support continued learning for your child!
Thank you for your support!

https://www.hanfordesd.org/

Jefferson Teacher Featured
Jefferson Teacher Featured

Mr. Padilla is featured in the December 2019/January 2020 issue of California Educator magazine. CTA's Institute for Teaching funded a grant of nearly $20,000 for Mr. Padillo to create portable science labs on wheels. Equipped with microsopes and other eqiupment, the portable labs are used in Mr. Padilla's sports science elective.  View full article here. 

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Deborah Arnold
Jefferson Charter receives $40k in grants
Deborah Arnold

Christmas came early for the teachers and students at Jefferson Academy Charter School.

Three teachers at Jefferson applied for the Educator and Impact grants with the California Teachers Association: Institute For Teachers and will use the funding for various activities involving science, literature and language.

Teachers Josefa Bustos Pelayo, Deborah Arnold and Juan Padilla received the grants.

“It takes a lot of time and effort to go through the grant process,” Bustos Pelayo said.

The grant money will be used to pay for three programs: Si se Puede! Book Club, Creating Bilingual Scientists Through Science Olympiad and Portable Science Labs.

The Institute For Teachers, a nonprofit group with the California Teachers Association, funds projects that advance the education of students. For the 2018-2019 school year, a total of $600,808 was awarded to 52 projects.

Arnold said the school's Olympiad team, which competes in science events, often wins the regional competition but does not perform as well when they go to the state competition. She said this is caused by the team's lack of resources.

“At the competitions at the state-level, they are exposed to labs they wouldn’t be able to do here without the proper resources,” Arnold said.

Padilla said that in science classes the resources the school has is manageable to teach but that they could be much better.

“This grant is our opportunity to kind of level the playing field,” Arnold said. “The students have done so much but they could do so much more.”

Bustos Pelayo said that having the Si se Puede! Book Club was previously just a dream. She said that before the grant there was not enough money to buy extra books to further students reading skills.

Now with the book club, Bustos Pelayo plans to expand a multicultural environment through reading and discussion.

Students are to read nine books about various topics and community activists in history – such as Dolores Huerta, Cesar Chavez and Mahatma Gahndi - in the club.

The students in the club are also planning to go on a trip to California State University, Fresno’s Library, Laureate Lab and Arne Nixon Center to learn more about poetry and other careers possible that are related to literature.

Arnold and Padilla said that with the funds they will be able to purchase high-tech equipment to help students learn better and in different ways.

“Students will be able to do more lab experiments with real-life applications,” Padilla said.

Bustos Pelayo said the projects are to be continued in years to come.

California Teachers Association President Eric Heins said that the grant money is similar to seed money to start the projects. He said that many previously funded projects have gone on and grown with further funding from various school districts and other means.

The committees of former grant recipients pick projects that demonstrate the goal of teachers doing something innovative to further the education of students.

This grant is available to all teachers who are members of the California Teachers Association.