PARENTS/COMMUNITY
LEARN/School Site Council
LEARN is a reform effort aimed at promoting self-governance of individual schools within the Los Angeles Unified School District. Clover has been a LEARN school since 1995. The Clover LEARN Council is responsible for all decisions relating to education and finance at the school. It is composed of parents, teachers and other staff, each of whom is elected by their peers to serve a two-year term. The LEARN Council has subcommittees which recommend and carry out specific aspects of school reform and improvement. These groups are Curriculum, Technology, Professional Development, Parent Involvement and Communication, Pupil Support and Budget. Parents may volunteer to participate in most of these subcommittees.
PTA
The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is part of a national organization that supports public schools. The PTA raises funds by collecting membership fees from families and friends of students. These funds are used to support programs at Clover, to fund district-wide social services and to contribute to the national PTA organization. Funds sent to the local and state level support dental and health clinics for children in need, as well as a food bank. However, the PTA is primarily responsible for support of the school through activities other than fund-raising, such as assistance with earthquake preparedness, coordination of room parents, help in the classroom, etc.
Booster Club
The Clover Avenue Booster Club is an independent, non-profit organization, which raises money to support our school. These funds are used primarily to pay for enrichment programs designed to improve student outcome. For many years, the Los Angeles Unified School District has not had enough money to fully fund such enrichment programs. Clover’s Booster Club raises money to make up this shortfall. It is composed of parents like you who volunteer their time to assist the school. Each year, parents work in conjunction with school administrators to decide how best to spend the monies that are raised. In the past we have funded creation of the computer lab and on-going improvements to it; assemblies; school beautification; music instruction; and other important school expenses. Clover’s Booster Club also pays for two field trips each year for all classes. One of the main goals of the Booster Club is to provide comparable benefits to all children in the school, and this especially holds true for the field trips. Each grade level decides on the trips, and all children from each grade go on the same trip. We applaud the teachers for working together so well in order to provide the same experience to all the children at their grade level. It is thanks to our parent participation and donations that these trips are possible for our children.
PTA/Booster Club Unity
One of the best parts of our school is the parent involvement. Our large parent group is very strong and we are extremely proud of our accomplishments over the years. Each year more and more parents join in our efforts to support all the needs of our school. The PTA and the Booster Club support Clover’s large parent group. Clover has both a Booster Club and a PTA because funds raised by the Booster Club can be kept entirely by our school, whereas a percentage of funds raised by the PTA must be shared with local and national organizations. Meetings of the Booster Club and PTA are held concurrently. A few years ago, we actually tried to create a new name to represent the unification of our two groups, but we decided that we’d just be known as “PTA/Booster”. Why do we have two separate entities? Here’s a bit of history. The National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) was founded in the early 1900’s, and Clover’s PTA has been around since Clover was built in 1954. Clover’s Booster Club is an infant compared to the PTA, having been formed in 1994. Many schools around the country formed Booster Clubs in the last decade in order to raise money that would stay in their local school; 20% of all funds raised by a local PTA must go to the regional headquarters, to benefit the welfare of all children in the United States. That’s why the Clover Booster Club was founded, and that is its main function – to raise money for supplemental educational, science, art and other programs that are no longer funded by the State of California. Other schools have simply done away with their PTAs. However, Clover’s parent and staff leaders are committed to maintaining a PTA in order to help support families in need in Los Angeles and throughout the USA. The leaders at Clover have always worked hand in hand - PTA is our educational arm and the Booster Club is our financial arm. Many PTA functions are vehicles for communication and education, such as the Cloverleaf, the Room Parents, the supplemental P.E. Program, the Art Program, and the different language-based community meetings. Most Booster Club activities are fundraisers. Together, the teachers, staff and parents are able to identify the needs at Clover and to provide funds to meet those needs.
ELAC
ELAC = English Language Acquisition varies from year to year. Please contact the school for more information