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Our 2020-2021 school year is off to a great start! The past two weeks have been quite busy as we settle into the new school year.
Virtual back to school nights are happening all around the district, and our back-to-school social media campaign, #SCUSDfirstday, had a lot of engagement. I loved seeing our community connecting and sharing in the first-day excitement.
Gratitude and Kudos
I also want to express my sincere gratitude to our staff for your efforts to support the planning for reopening of schools. Since school started, I’ve had the opportunity to visit several sites and want to extend my thanks and appreciation.
- Shout out to 2nd-grade teacher Sarah Jane Carter at Ponderosa for her creative virtual classroom.
- Kudos to the New Valley team for the work that they have done to focus on parent and student engagement.
- Kudos to our Health and Wellness department who, over the summer, updated the Health and Wellness website.
- Gratitude goes out to our associations for stepping up to help staff who are affected by the fires. Thank you to AFT, CSEA, SCUMA, and UTSC.
Update on Reopening
Read on below for an update on our reopening plan, including a Safety Plan which goes to our Board of Trustees for approval in September, the re-forming of a Superintendent’s Advisory Committee on Reopening, an upcoming survey to guide us as we continue planning, and details about Governor Newsom’s most recent announcement on California’s reopening plan.
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2020 Cover My Job Winners
66 staff entered their names into this year's "Cover My Job" raffle. Each year, Superintendent Kemp gives two raffle winners a day off and she substitutes for them. This allows her to better understand, connect to, and support the unique role of every employee. Last year, she was a preschool paraeducator and a kindergarten teacher for a day. This year's winners are:
Dace Krilova, Food Services Assistant
Christine Salloom, Secondary Science Teacher on Special Assignment
We look forward to sharing Dr. Kemp's experience covering their jobs during the school year. Congratulations, Dace and Christine!
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2020 Most Spirited School is Central Park
Thank you to everyone who shared your back-to-school photos and videos with us using #SCUSDfirstday and #SCUSDproud. Bowers, Bracher, Hughes, and Ponderosa all made the Top 5 list, but this year's "Most Spirited School" award goes to Central Park Elementary School for their unique and creative video welcoming their students back to school. Watch their video below to see the Central Park Chameleons' spin on the Full House intro song. You can also view some photo highlights shared by our students and families during the first week of school on our Flickr page.
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Distance Learning Resources
Our teams are here to support you. Please use the links below to find out more information about specific areas or email communications@scusd.net with general questions:
*Note: There are changes to our meal services as of the week beginning August 30, 2020. The weekly Monday meal pick up will be transitioning to Fridays to align with school material packet pick up days. There are also new locations being added. Read the details on our Meal Services webpage.
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Virtual Classes for Parents and Families
Join us at one of our upcoming online classes designed to help families with the transition to distance learning. More details and sign-up links will be posted on our website homepage calendar soon!
- September 8, 2020 | 6 p.m. | Coping with Stress During the Pandemic
- September 15, 2020 | 6 p.m. | Family Healthy Tips During COVID-19 Pandemic
- September 16, 2020 | 6 p.m. | Google Classroom 101 (English)
- September 16, 2020 | 6 p.m. | Nutrition Class on Meal Planning (English)
- September 17, 2020 | 6 p.m. | Google Classroom 101 (Spanish)
- September 23, 2020 | 6 p.m. | How to keep your preschooler happy, stimulated, and developing social skills during the pandemic?
- September 23, 2020 | 6 p.m. | Nutrition Class on Meal Planning (Spanish)
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Staff Professional Development
The first districtwide monthly professional learning sessions for the 2020-2021 school year will take place on the afternoons of September 15 and 17. Staff will have the opportunity to participate in professional development that is relationship-based, empowering, and grounded in social and emotional learning.
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Bowers, Braly, Haman, Hughes, Laurelwood, and Pomeroy elementary school sessions will be held from 2:00-3:00 p.m.
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Bracher, Briarwood, Central Park, Don Callejon, Mayne, Millikin, Montague, Ponderosa, Scott Lane, Sutter, Washington, and Westwood elementary school sessions will be held from 2:15-3:15 p.m.
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Middle and high school sessions will be held from 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Additional information, including agendas and Zoom meeting links will be shared with staff next month through a direct email.
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FERPA:
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
We have gotten some inquiries from families about the federal privacy act and how it applies to distance learning. Click on "Learn More" below for:
- FERPA Definition
- FERPA and Virtual (Distance) Learning
- Frequently Asked Questions
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September is Attendance Awareness Month
Chronic absence can lead to students not reading proficiently by third grade, course failure in middle school, and dropout in high school.
We are committed to our students attending classes every day so that we can support them in reaching their full potential in life and career after graduation. We monitor attendance and engagement of students and reach out to families to offer support and work together to eliminate barriers to each student's success.
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Update on Reopening
As you know, in July, our Board of Trustees voted for all schools to remain in distance learning for at least the first trimester (elementary) and semester (middle and high).
In September:
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A Superintendent’s Advisory Committee composed of approximately 50 staff, students, families, and community members will re-form to review our Safety Plan and assess our ability and process to move from Phase 1 (Distance Learning) to Phase 2 (Hybrid Learning) of our Reopening Plan. When the district transitions, families who do not want their children to return to campuses will have a distance learning option.
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A Safety Plan will go to the Board of Trustees for discussion and approval. All members of the community will have the opportunity to view the presentation and provide comment through the September board meetings.
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A survey will be sent out to our entire community in order to understand current perspectives and feedback on transitioning between phases.
Through all of this, we will continue to monitor and comply with state and county orders, plans, and guidelines, including Governor Newsom’s August 28 announcement of a slower and more gradual state reopening plan which could slow our own reopening to in-person learning.
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In an effort to keep the community up-to-date and informed of actions by the Board of Trustees, we share Board Briefs. Please visit our Agenda Online page to view the current and all previous board agendas.
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Bond Construction Update
Construction continues throughout the district as public works projects were permitted to safely continue under the recent public health orders. In many instances, we have been able to accelerate our schedules without students on campus, but changing conditions may alter our timelines.
Visit the district website to learn more about the many exciting school improvements underway including:
- Peterson Middle School Locker Building and Pool Replacement
- Patrick Henry / Laurelwood Relocation & Reconstruction Program
- Santa Clara and Wilcox High School Synthetic Turf Fields
- Elementary School Play and Shade Structures
- Three New Schools at Agnews
- Perimeter Fencing at Schools
- Fiscal Stewardship
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Stories from Across the District
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Schools Recognized for Outstanding Contribution of Support and Care During COVID-19 (full article)
“Your heroic efforts to provide support of all kinds to California’s students, families, and communities did not go unnoticed,” said the California PBIS Coalition (CPC) in an email announcement.
This month, many schools across California were recognized by the CPC for their outstanding contribution of support and care during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting disruptions to schools. Here are the schools in our district that were acknowledged:
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Community Building Exhibition for Art-Lovers of All Ages (full article)
Millikin Elementary Basics+ 3rd grader Kavya Dukka recently created an innovative community-building Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM) project for art-lovers of all ages.
After being away from her friends and teachers for so long due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kavya decided that an online art exhibition would be a great way to celebrate everyone's creativity together. Based on that need to connect, the Kards4ACause Art Expo: Connect through Art exhibition was born.
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