We hope you and your families all had a wonderful holiday break. Some updates:

(Slight) Name Change:
New year, new name! Our Board recently voted to amend the name of our school slightly, based on the input of several different charter school operators around the nation. We are now officially known as Citizens of the World Charter Hollywood: A Public School. The short versions of CWC or Citizens of the World remain the same. We've been advised that the clear identification of CWC as a public school will assist immensely in our outreach.

Parent Information Sessions:
PLEASE NOTE THE DATE CHANGES FROM WHAT WAS PREVIOUSLY LISTED ON OUR WEBSITE! The following are the NEW dates and details about our upcoming sessions:

If you have previously attended one of our sessions and are interested in helping us with outreach, especially if you speak a Spanish, Korean, Armenian or Thai, please contact our Outreach Coordinators, Samantha Karim (kingsamantha@yahoo.co.uk) or Beth McNamara (bethmemail@yahoo.com) to offer assistance. We will be hosting a number of events at local preschools, day care centers, parks, churches, etc. in the coming weeks.

Translation:
In our December newsletter, I requested assistance with translation of our website and some other materials. We still need help! We especially are interested in finding volunteers - perhaps even people you know who'd be willing to donate a few hours to us to help improve educational opportunities for our community? - for the following languages:

• Korean
• Armenian
• Thai

If you, or someone you know, is able to help us out, please have them contact our parent volunteer, Sandra Ponce, at sponce7552@yahoo.com or 562.225.7040.

New Board Member:
We are delighted to welcome another highly experienced charter expert to our incredible team, Amy Dresser Held. Ms. Dresser Held is the Executive Director of Palisades Charter High School, responsible for overseeing more than 200 staff and a school which enrolls approximately 2,760 students. In her capacity as Executive Director, Ms. Dresser Held oversees academics, finance (a $22 million annual budget), facilities, technology, labor relations, legal, marketing and communications. Prior to joining Pali High in 2006, Ms. Dresser Held worked for several years at the Los Angeles Unified School District on the staff of then-School Board President Caprice Young, then as a Special Assistant to Senior Deputy Superintendent Maria Ott, and most recently as Director of Policy and Communications with then-LAUSD School Board President Marlene Canter. Ms. Dresser Held began her career as a Teach for America corps member, teaching a bilingual fifth grade class in Phoenix, followed by positions with Kaplan Score Education Center and a Coro Public Affairs Fellowship in Los Angeles. Ms. Dresser Held received her B.S. in Humanities in International Affairs - School of Foreign Service from Georgetown University, cum laude.

We're On Facebook:
If you're a Facebook member, join our group, Citizens of the World Charter School Hollywood: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=159926639445 We'll continue to post updates about our progress there.

Other Updates:
Things continue to progress very well for CWC and we are excited about all we've accomplished so far. We will update you all soon about both our Principal and Facilities search, as we know these two factors will have a big impact on your choice of CWC as the best school for your child(ren). We promise that you have this important information and the opportunity to meet our Principal well before the admissions lottery (which will likely be in March, pending charter approval!).

Please continue to tell your friends about CWC and refer them to our website: citizensoftheworld.org. We hope to see you at one of our upcoming Parent Info Sessions. Thanks again for your interest in CWC!

- Tara Kelly, Executive Director

Note: You receive these emails from us either because you signed up on our website or you signed one of our support forms. If you do NOT wish to receive these emails anymore, please email: info@citizensoftheworld.org and ask us to remove you from our email list. Thanks!