MEMBERS OF THE BOARD

STEVEN ZIMMER, PRESIDENT

MONICA GARCIA
DR. GEORGE J. MCKENNA III
MNICA RATLIFF
DR. REF RODRIGUEZ
SCOTT M. SCHMERELSON
DR. RICHARD A. VLADOVIC

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES

333 South Beaudry Avenue, 24th Floor

Los Angeles, California 90017
Telephone: (213) 241-7000 Fax: (213) 241-8442

MICHELLE KING
Superintendent of Schools

May 20, 2016

Dear Broadway Elementary School Parents,
I appreciate your continued support for public education and your strong advocacy for the Mandarin
Foreign Language Immersion (MI) program at Broadway Elementary School and throughout the
Venice Family of Schools.
Principal Wang, teachers, parents and District staff have worked closely over the years to create a K-12
pipeline for immersion programs in the Venice Family of Schools, including opening an MI Program at
Mark Twain Middle School for the 2016-2017 school year. Our collective goal is to prepare students to
become bilingual, bicultural, and biliterate in Mandarin or Spanish to better prepare them for college
and beyond.
We value the input and concerns you have provided about these essential programs, including the view
that there are imbalanced resources at Broadway. In response, an additional teaching position will be
allocated to support the MI program at Broadway in 2016-2017. In addition, one of the school set
asides can be allocated for a potential third kinder MI classroom if it is the desire of Principal Wang
and Broadway stakeholders. A third MI kindergarten classroom would be outside of the preferred
instructional model; however, we want to be responsive to families who have requested more
classroom space to accommodate additional students who want to attend Broadway.
The Local District West team and Human Resources Division will continue to support the expansion of
MI programs by helping Principal Wang identify qualified Mandarin teacher candidates. I support
Superintendent Cheryl Hildreth and Principal Wang as they continue to work with the Broadway
community to reestablish a sense of trust and strengthen the Districts partnership with stakeholders.
Thank you, again, for sharing your concerns and working collaboratively to ensure the success of every
student.
Sincerely,

Michelle King
Superintendent of Schools
c: Steve Zimmer, LAUSD Board President
Cheryl Hildreth, Local District West Superintendent