Letter from the President

Written By Susana Benavidez

You voted us in on November 4th, now what? These past two weeks have been a whirlwind as we work to onboard the new board and process the legal transition from the previous board.

Communication and Transparency

We value communication and transparency, here’s what we’ve done so far to accomplish that:

FOC <> Clifford Leadership Meetings

We want to ensure that we hear the priorities from those who know the needs of our community best and in return share the concerns and praise that you have shared with us.  We are grateful for the wonderful addition of Principal Montoya and Magnet Coordinator Ms. Cheng; they have quickly proven their commitment to the success of Clifford.

  • Odyssey of the Mind:

    • Both Ms. Cheng and I went through the coach training and are working hard to launch outreach and student signups. This is a complete volunteer unpaid program. We are very grateful to Ms. Cheng for ensuring continuity of the program.

  • Makerspace:

    • Principal Montoya and Ms. Cheng are on board and you can expect some fun new experiences for our children and volunteer opportunities to come your way soon!

  • Attendance

    • Principal Montoya delivered a powerful presentation on the critical need to increase our attendance rate. Any absences, including excused absences, cost the school money. If your student is not physically in their seat at Clifford that day, we lose money. We have launched attendance incentives including weekly popcorn and monthly celebrations to the classes with the highest attendance! You can find principal Montoya’s attendance presentation here.

Expanding the Board and Increasing Volunteer Opportunities

In addition to the elected positions we have expanded the board to include the following appointed positions: Marketing Chair, Volunteer Coordinators, School Board Liaison, and Communications Chair.

Monthly Newsletter

We hope you enjoyed our inaugural newsletter! If you have not joined the parent directory, please contact friendsofcliffordelem@gmail.com We plan to share updates, provide sponsorship opportunities, and create opportunities for our students to get involved.

Website

Friends of Clifford has launched our new website friendsofclifford.org where you can find volunteer opportunities, upcoming events, and join the parent directory.  This is the place to stay in the know!

Our Marketing Chair Claire Armstrong has quickly worked on our branding, getting a newsletter set up, creating FOC’s first website, and getting our marketing materials in order.  I can’t think of a more natural fit than Claire’s experience and commitment!  

Volunteer Coordinators

We love our children and we love our teachers.  Our volunteer coordinators are working hard to ensure that we coordinate keeping the Panda Store stocked, ensuring the teachers lounge is stocked with their favorite snacks, recruiting classroom parents, ensuring we have weekly and monthly attendance incentives, working to create a robust volunteer directory, and more! Thank you Xochitl Padilla, Jessica Goldberg, and Franz Galvez! Interested in donating items to the Panda Store?  Please be on the lookout for a sign-up genius link with items we need.

School Board Liaison

We all experienced the uncertainty in the beginning of the year from losing both our principal and magnet coordinator. Thank you to all the parents that emailed the school board to demand answers and progress. Carlos Aguilar went above and beyond in organizing parents and ultimately serving on the hiring committee. Carlos is dedicated to being in the know for school district resources, workshops, and trainings. We are grateful to have him join the board as our School Board Liaison.

Playdates and WhatsApp

Our Communications Chair Kency Galvez has worked hard to foster a social community on WhatsApp as the monthly playdates.  Kency took the initiative and while these are not hosted by FOC, we hope you see why she’s a natural fit to serve as Communications Chair.  Our next playdate is December 1st.

2024 HALL-O-STEAM and 2025 Spring Into STEAM

We worked together and made Hall-O-Steam a smashing success! Every student had the opportunity to work on STEAM projects put together by parent and teacher volunteers. You can expect a similar event for the 2025 Spring into STEAM event. If you are interested in volunteering, donating, or just curious make sure you join the parent directory and fill out the volunteer interest form!

Fundraisers

We hope you are able to purchase a ticket to our Panda Pilates at WundaBar Los Feliz fundraiser! Book your spot before it sells out (three remaining spots) at $50 per ticket. Can’t make it? You can still donate as we fundraise to fund our attendance incentives. We will be forming a fundraising committee and are actively looking for parents to get involved!

Closing Remarks
We wish you a restful holiday week. In this time of gratitude and reflection, we feel inspired for what we have achieved as a community and all the successes to come.

Warm regards,

Susana Benavidez

FOC Board President

Susana Benavidez