Dear friends and partners, 

A little over a year ago, I began this newsletter quoting T.S. Eliot’s contemplation that “April is the cruelest month” as we settled into lockdowns and school closures. But it is Shakespeare I’ll turn to this year (I was an English teacher, after all), who wrote that “April, dressed in all his trim, hath put a spirit of youth in everything.” And what a fitting sentiment as we conclude our first week of in-person schooling at LA Unified—a week where not only kids but the adults on campuses could barely contain their excitement. 

Everyone from the District’s central office to school sites has been working tirelessly to prepare to welcome more of our students back and transition others to a new virtual routine in the coming weeks. The process of returning to campuses in a district as large and diverse as LA Unified is especially complex, and won’t be perfect. But for any obstacles that do emerge, I promise to tackle them with creative, student-centered solutions as we all navigate this transition together. 

While we began welcoming kids back to campus this week, the Board also passed a resolution I cosponsored to make universal preschool a reality for every 3-5 year old in Los Angeles by 2024, and approved a resolution I wrote to invest in more outdoor education opportunities for every LAUSD student, especially after a year of screen time and at-home learning. As we chart a new path forward from this crisis, we need to embrace innovative, integrated strategies to support the needs of our families. In addition to including more outdoor education and social-emotional support in our summer learning programs and beyond, I am also pushing for the District to provide a full-time, in-person learning option starting in the Fall.  

We still have a long road to recovery ahead of us, and the ride will almost certainly be bumpy at times. But our kids are nothing if not resilient, and if we can provide the right resources in the caring, safe environment they need to learn and grow, they won’t just recover from this crisis. They will thrive.  

Onward,