Running head: EMAIL COMMUNICATION LETTER ASSIGNMENT 1

Email Communication Letter Assignment

Pia L. Bowes

Grand Canyon University: TEC 520

Dr. Ann Minckler

11/1/17
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Email Communication Letter Assignment

` It is important to communicate with families about their children’s instruction and

developments at the school-wide level. This email communication letter is written from an early

childhood school standpoint, as that is where I am currently located.

Email Communication Letter

As an early childhood center, whose student population mostly consists of students with

special needs, we are acutely aware of the diverse needs of students. Each classroom has at least

two or three non-native English speaking families, so we are also aware of the diverse cultures in

our building; however, we have very little in the way of supporting families. It should be noted

that my school has only been open for three years and I am the building technology coordinator

and liaison. I am writing this letter as if we will have more support for English Language Learner

families than interpreters at meetings, this school year.

Email Communication Letter

November 1, 2017

Dear Kenmoor Early Childhood Center Families,

As part of the education that students receive at Kenmoor Early Childhood Center, we support the
needs of diverse learners in our school community. We also include multicultural education, which
consists of five dimensions: content knowledge, knowledge construction, prejudice reduction, equity
pedagogy, and empowering school cultural, that create the framework to promote equal educational
opportunities for all students of different minorities, genders, disabilities, social classes, and religions
(Merlin, 2017).

As a way to increase the sense of community between students, Kenmoor will begin implementing
technology integrated instruction and collaboration tools to improve connections between the different
cultures of the students that we serve. Students will have the opportunities to increase their global
awareness by learning about different cultures, from around the world, through guided lessons on
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district approved blogs, web pages, and when appropriate, social networking sites. Students, again with
adult guidance, will also have access to a translation apps, video chat apps, and other applications to
support clear communication between themselves and students from different cultures. Within each
learning environment, interactive whiteboards or Smart Boards have recently been installed. This
additional technology resource will provide improved instruction by creating opportunities to access
different modes of learning topics. Also providing opportunities to improve citizenship skills, Smart
Boards allow more access to the curriculum materials for students with diverse needs. As Kenmoor Early
Childhood Center is committed to safe and responsible use of technology, as students will participate in
a technology instruction to improve digital citizenship skills.

This will support a positive school culture by providing the opportunity to communicate internationally
with individuals of different cultures and backgrounds. Students may have “a day in the life of” lessons
or “important events” lessons to build a foundation for deeper understanding of the similarities
between themselves and others. To further the home and school connection, you may be invited to
present or contribute to a website or blog about your culture, though this participation is completely
optional.

Kenmoor Early Childhood Center is currently in the process of locating support for families of various
cultures, but parents are welcome to become community partners or sponsors to school-wide events
and student needs. We will continue to support parents with translation services for meetings and to
address concerns. The Prince George’s County Public School’s website has multiple resources to support
families, from support for new parents and guardians to specific events and even apps to track your
child’s academic, behavioral, and developmental growth to and even Spanish and French translations for
the page. For family support services in early childhood education, family literacy, assistance in getting
enrolled in English classes, and assistance in obtaining child medical and dental care, the Judith P. Hoyer
Family Learning Center is an excellent resource.

Kenmoor Early Childhood Center will also be offering access to building Wi-Fi and media center
resources for technology support. The hours of availability will be from 10:00AM to 3:00PM on Monday,
Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Please remember to properly complete sign in procedures when
entering the school building, before going to the media center. Parent tutoring or workshops for
technology support and communication tools will also be offered, so please sign up if you are interested
in attending.

We look forward to continuing to build a caring and respectful community of diverse learners and
families. For questions or concerns please contact Pia Bowes at pia.bowes@pgcps.org.

Sincerely,

Pia L. Bowes
Kenmoor Early Childhood Center
Technology Coordinator
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For further Reading:

Multiculturalism’s Five Dimensions

Technology Literacy Standards in Maryland

Technology Instruction Standards

Prince George’s County Public Schools Family Institute

Conclusion

After looking at everything available, it seems that resources to support the welfare and

literacy of families are in place, but not technology or diversity. Hopefully, multicultural

education can be a school-wide and more of a county-wide focus in future school years.
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References

Banks, J. A. (1998, September). Multiculturalism’s Five Dimensions. NEA Today Online.

Retrieved from

https://www.learner.org/workshops/socialstudies/pdf/session3/3.Multiculturalism.pdf

International Society for Technology in Education. (2017). ISTE standards. Retrieved from

http://www.iste.org/standards/what-are-the-iste-standards

Merlin, C. (2017). School Counselors and Multicultural Education: Applying the Five

Dimensions. Journal Of School Counseling, 15(6).

Maryland State Department of Education. (2007). Technology Literacy Standards for Students.

Retrieved from

http://mdk12.msde.maryland.gov/instruction/curriculum/technology_literacy/vsc_technol

ogy_literacy_standards.pdf

Prince George’s County Public Schools. (2017). Family Institute. Retrieved from

http://pgcpsfamily.org/