Dear Palisades Charter High School Community Members,

Welcome to the 2009-2010 school year and thank you for choosing Palisades Charter High School! This year we welcome our returning Interim Principal, Marcia Haskin, our new Director of Instruction, Richard Thomas, and our very own Russ Howard who is shifting from his role as Dean to Director of Student Activities, Athletics and Discipline. We are excited to have these talented administrators on board and look forward to a great year ahead.

Pali is one of the highest performing high schools in Los Angeles. Thanks to the hard work of our students and staff, our academic performance index (API) score has increased more than 60 points since going charter and we exceed the statewide target for all schools. Pali offers a rich curriculum, a large selection of extracurricular activities and a number of great resources. There is a niche for everyone at Pali and there is no excuse for any student to fail. Pali’s success is due both to our great community of students, the talent and dedication of our staff, and the involvement of our parents.

To this end the partnership between home and school is essential. With more than $1 million in cuts from the State to Pali’s operating budget, now more than ever we need your support to ensure we are able to maintain and grow our educational program. As current parents at the school, your support of the new Annual Giving appeal that will be launched this fall will be key to its success. All monies raised through our Annual Fund will go directly to the school, and be used to counteract cuts and protect and grow the instructional program for students.

In light of the current budget challenges, your support is more important than ever – it is critical to continuing to offer the program you’ve chosen for your children. This year, we need all families to make a meaningful contribution that will be utilized to supplement the general fund not only to support sports, drama, clubs, and activities but also to maintain lower class sizes and continue to innovate to best serve students.

In order to ensure your child's success at Pali please read through the parent student handbook together and keep it on hand as a reference for any questions about Pali. It was compiled by Pali staff and parents and is an invaluable resource about essential policies, procedures, information about Pali's staff, course offerings, graduation requirements, programs, etc. In addition to the handbook, our website palihigh.org and our outgoing telephone message (310) 230-6623 are great sources of information about upcoming school events. You will receive progress reports every five weeks from school as well as Teleparent/ConnectEd phone messages about how your student is performing. I would also recommend consulting the TeacherWeb links that many of our teachers maintain (accessible via palihigh.org) that list assignments and in some cases grades.

There are also numerous ways to get involved and support your child including joining the Parent Advisory Council, the PTSA, the Booster Club or any of our governing committees. As an independent charter school all stakeholders have a voice in decision making so we invite you to participate. We want your family to have a great experience at Pali. Please feel free to contact me or any member of the administrative team with any comments or concerns. Go Dolphins!

Sincerely,

Amy Dresser Held

Executive Director