SBUSD ANNUA L NEWSPAPER • 2017 - 201 8
BOARD OF TRUSTEES Dear SBUSD parents, guardians, and community members, South Bay Union Governance Team Standing: Superintendent Katie McNamara, Board President Melanie Ellsworth, Trustee Barbara ElliottSanders, and Trustee Cheryl Quiñones Seated: Board Clerk Elvia Aguilar and Board Vice President Chris Brown
TABLE OF CONTENTS Bayside STEAM Academy News......................................................3 Berry News...........................................................................................4 Central News.......................................................................................5 Emory News.........................................................................................6 Imperial Beach Charter News...........................................................7 Mendoza News....................................................................................8 Nestor Language Academy Charter News.....................................9 Nicoloff News....................................................................................10 Oneonta News..................................................................................11 Pence News.......................................................................................12 Sunnyslope News..............................................................................13 VIP Village News................................................................................14 SBUSD News.....................................................................................15 SCHOOL DIRECTORY Education Center 601 Elm Avenue Imperial Beach, CA 91932 (619) 628-1600 Supt., Katie McNamara www.sbusd.org
Imperial Beach Charter 650 Imperial Beach Blvd. Imperial Beach, CA 91932 (619) 628-5600 Principal, Melissa Griffith Asst. Principal, Veronica Reyes
Nicoloff School 1777 Howard Avenue San Ysidro, CA 92173 (619) 428-7000 Principal Rigo Lara Asst. Principal, Estela Corrales
Bayside STEAM Academy 490 Emory Street Imperial Beach, CA 91932 (619) 628-2500 Principal, Kevin Coordt
Imperial Beach Charter, West 525 Third Street Imperial Beach, CA 91932 (619) 628-8900 Director, Michelle Syverson
Oneonta School 1311 Tenth Street Imperial Beach, CA 91932 (619) 628-8600 Principal, Marla Fernandez
Berry School 2001 Rimbey Avenue San Diego, CA 92154 (619) 628-3500 Principal, Gil Luna
Mendoza School 2050 Coronado Avenue San Diego, CA 92154 (619) 424-0100 Principal, Jil Palmer Asst. Principal, Clinton Anderson
Pence School 877 Via Tonga Court San Diego, CA 92154 (619) 662-8100 Principal, Robert Daily
Central School 1290 Ebony Avenue Imperial Beach, CA 91932 (619) 628-5000 Principal, Cori Herbst-Loehr Emory School 1915 Coronado Avenue San Diego, CA 92154 (619) 628-5300 Principal, Jennifer Grondek
Nestor Language Academy Charter 1455 Hollister Street San Diego, CA 92154 (619) 628-0900 Principal, Guadalupe Avilez Asst. Principal, Beatriz Carlos
Sunnyslope School 2500 Elm Avenue San Diego, CA 92154 (619) 628-8800 Principal, Cynthia Smith-Ough VIP Village (Preschool) 1001 Fern Avenue Imperial Beach, CA 91932 (619) 628-8690 Director, David Sheppard
As we conclude the 2017-2018 school year and reflect on all we have accomplished, I am incredibly proud of our students, families, and staff. We continue to focus on the goals detailed in our Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) and, this year, we concentrated on: • All students reading at grade-level by the third grade. • Fostering innovation. • Updates to our Local Control and Accountability Plan. All Students Reading at Grade-level by the Third Grade To accomplish our reading goal, students have to fall in love with reading and become avid and skilled readers, writers, and inquirers. In the last year, we have added 265,902 books to classrooms and school libraries to ensure that students have multiple choices in genre and topic. In February, the Board of Trustees approved the adoption of a comprehensive English Language Arts package, including core curriculum and instructional materials for students and teachers. The new materials complement the work that our teachers have been doing, will add more books in classrooms, and will enable us to continue our focus on literacy. In October 2016, we formalized our partnership with Columbia University’s Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP), one of the most renowned training centers for teachers and administrators. Since then, more than 200 teachers have voluntarily participated in professional learning focused on the Workshop model and the implementation of the TCRWP Units of Study as the primary resource for instructional materials. The Workshop training gives teachers a clear path for using performance assessments and learning progressions to accelerate progress and for providing literacy-rich content-area instruction. We are thrilled that five of our schools – Berry, Emory, Mendoza, Nicoloff and Sunnyslope - have been named Affiliate Schools, which includes collaborative onsite trainings with staff developers from Teachers College. Since implementing diagnostic reading assessments in 2016, we have seen significant progress in student reading ability, stamina, and comprehension. This year, our teachers conducted three assessments, which included teachers sitting side-by-side with students to determine their reading progress. Our instructional team used the data from prior assessments to target areas of need and specialized instruction for groups of students. We are proud that all of our schools continue to display growth in the number of students meeting or exceeding benchmark. Fostering Innovation Preparing students for future education and careers requires 21st Century skills, including critical thinking, collaboration, digital literacy, and creativity. South Bay continues to support the growth of these skills by fostering innovation. • Currently, every student in grades 3-8 has a Chromebook to use in their classroom and K-2 classrooms have Chromebook sets for 2:1 student use. This year, we piloted a school-tohome Chromebook program in various grade levels at three schools. We surveyed teachers, parents, and students about the program outcomes to determine usage patterns, technology access, and challenges in using the device at home, among other information. Of the nearly 300 responses received, we learned that 78.2% of families have Internet access at home (but do not have a device) and 81.8% of parents loved having a District provided device at home. In response to the overwhelming positive feedback from the pilot survey, South Bay will launch a District-wide school-to-home Chromebook program for all students in grades 4-6 in the 2018-2019 school year. We are thrilled to provide this opportunity for students to continue studying, researching, and working on projects at home. • We continue to update classrooms and campus environments with innovative furniture, creative spaces with flexible seating, maker spaces, and collaboration areas. • We worked with the University of San Diego and the Future Ready Taskforce to create a collaborative vision and mission related to technology integration and personalized learning. The resulting Learner Profile complements our LCAP and details what we want students to know and be able to do when they complete their journey in South Bay. • We hosted the District’s second Innovation Expo in April. The event featured student and adult speakers, discovery stations, and student projects. • Students at Imperial Beach Charter and Emory Schools experienced Augmented Reality, interacting with Ancient Roman tools, dinosaurs, and natural phenomena (earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.). Google’s Augmented Reality program, Expeditions, allowed students to see history and nature on an unparalleled level. CONTINUED ON PAGE 15
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Kevin Coordt, Principal
We are focused on disrupting traditional educational programs, pathways, and routines, disrupting traditional learning spaces and creating curiosity and wonder outside the walls of school, disrupting the traditional tools to measure student success. Someone once said, “The future is here, it’s just not evenly distributed.” Our mission is to close both the opportunity and achievement gap for our scholars. Our audacious goal is to end generational poverty.
A YEAR IN REVIEW We are all about loving the challenges that we meet each day, loving the process of continuous improvement, loving the difficult spaces where we stretch ourselves to be our best, and most of all, loving our students.
How are we going to doing all this? We are giving all teachers and students a choice on which STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) electives they want during Exploration Time. We are focusing on student strengths and personalizing their learning. We do this by asking students, “What problem do you want to solve?” We guarantee every student will have nine weeks of Computer Science class every year they attend Bayside. Students are continually creating, working together, solving relevant prob-
BAYSIDE STEAM ACADEMY NEWS
lems, and prototyping in engineering class, girls SciTech class, video production class, science lab, and art studio. Students are developing valuable collaboration skills, creativity, and most of all, grit. We believe students need to feel so comfortable at school that they take risks and fail forward. We also believe they need to have time in the “arena” where they are presenting or competing, becoming vulnerable, and making their learning public. This happens throughout the year, but most noticeably at the annual San Diego Regional SeaPerch Submersible Completion and the annual Robotics Competition. Bayside students have won the Completion for the past two years. As a result, our reading scores have improved 100% over the past two years, office referrals for disruptions are down, and enrollment is increasing. Thank you to the entire Bayside community for a great year!
South Bay Union School District NEWS | 3
BERRY NEWS
Gil Luna, Principal
A YEAR IN REVIEW Our highest instructional priority this year was to develop our students’ reading and writing skills through a balanced literacy approach. We continued to strive towards our goal that every student must be reading at grade level by the third grade.
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Currently, all Berry teachers have been trained and are implementing the Teachers College Units of Study in Reading and Writing. In addition, our site was named an Affiliate School with Teachers College for reading. To support our instructional priority in literacy, we committed to creating a robust and diverse campus library and to expanding the libraries in every classroom. Students had the opportunity to read books at their reading and interest levels. Additionally, we provided collaboration time for our Professional Learning Communities (PLC). Our PLCs planned lessons through the Units of Study that ensured every student is met at their learning stage and challenged to make significant growth in all academic areas. In order to promote a nurturing and supportive culture, we continued our implementation of the Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS) system. Our focus was to support students with initial interventions that included weekly lessons to share expectations. Every week at Berry started with a meeting on the playground to announce the focus for the week
and detail behavior expectations. We offered additional interventions when more support was needed to address specific behavior concerns. Teachers met with our School Psychologist to develop plans specific to each student. Finally, we implemented higher supports for very specific students. We also integrated Social Thinking curriculum from Michelle WintersGarcia to help students understand their own thinking and how it affected others. It was a great year at Berry!
Cori Herbst-Loehr, Principal
A YEAR IN REVIEW Central Scholars are SMART!
At Central, we expect our scholars to be Safe, Motivated, Artistic, Respectful and Trustworthy (SMART). Each Monday, during our school-wide Community Meeting, we celebrate our achievements and shout out our SMART teachers, scholars and staff. Our SMART tenets promote the ideals of PBIS, but also build on the District’s focus of positive proactive learning environments where strong relationships are developed and connections are created. Scholars (including the adults) can earn SMART referrals any time for demonstrating behaviors aligned to our shared beliefs. Each week, a group of referrals is randomly selected and our community recognizes the student or staff member. Classrooms also work as cohesive communities to earn Ride the Wave awards. Once a classroom has achieved 20 awards, the classroom representative spins the “prize wheel” earn-
ing an incentive for their collaborative work. Incentives were chosen by students at the start of the year and include lunch with the Principal, popcorn parties, free choice time, and extra recess. Finally, each week, teachers select a Sea Lion Scholar. On Friday during lunch, selected Scholars eat on the Principal’s patio, make art for the collaborative installation, and enjoy a special treat! Mrs. Loehr says this about the Scholars Lunch, “Lunch on Friday is my most favorite time of the week. I have the opportunity to sit down to eat, make art, and spend quality time with our scholars. Above all, I value the relationships that have developed during the time spent listening and learning from our most valuable community members.” Student, Parent and Community Engagement is the Key to Success!
Central’s focus on parent, student and community engagement shines through in our increased daily student attendance, growing participation of families, and in the increasing number of community partnerships. Each trimester we celebrate those scholars who have top notch attendance and continue our push towards increasing the number of students who are here on time each and every day. Central has shown a huge growth in attendance and we are proud of our efforts to partner with families. This year, our attendance secretary, Sophia Soriano, and Principal, Cori Herbst-Loehr, met individually with over 100 families to discuss ways that Central could help. To date, we have purchased alarm clocks, partnered families in walking to and from school together, and supported efforts to enroll our students in after care programs. Our School Nurse, Lisa Nelson, and School Psychologist, Teresa Garcia, have also assisted with our attendance initiative by working with students who may have chronic health issues and those who struggle with school anxiety. Final-
CENTRAL NEWS
ly, and most importantly, our families have made attendance a priority and we are so grateful for their support in helping us strive toward meeting our goal. We have also seen an exciting increase in the level of parent engagement. Parent Volunteer Coordinator, Marisol Casillas, says, “There has been a lot of effort this year to engage our community. The recruitment of volunteers to support in specifics ways like distribution of supplies, laminating and planning, has brought in several new faces. Our volunteers are more comfortable being on campus than ever before; we’ve improved our parent volunteer facilities, communication has been a focus and we’re offering consistent parent workshops. With our increased number of parent volunteers I have had more time to connect with our larger community. For example, the library, local businesses and connecting with the District’s Reach Out to Families Center has improved the overall outcome of my work and has allowed me to serve our community in better ways.” As we head into the 2018-19 school year, we know that the number of engaged families will continue to climb and we are excited that there are also two new partnerships coming to Central Elementary. Job Corps volunteers will be joining us next year to support kids in the morning, at lunch and after school. The goal is for these volunteers to work with students in learning positive ways to play through coaching organized morning and lunch activities including soccer and basketball. We are also excited to bring the resources of South Bay Community Services to Central. This organization will provide onsite parent education, a social emotional learning curriculum for K-3 students and additional family consult and therapy resources.
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EMORY NEWS
Jennifer Grondek, Principal
provide opportunities and additional resources, the Emory team also places value in longstanding partnerships with organizations including the United States Navy and the San Ysidro Community Health Center. We continually strive to develop new relationships with organizations to promote 21st Century thinking skills and empower the entire school community. Tijuana Estuary Discovery Lab Partnership
A YEAR IN REVIEW Thriving School Community
For many years, Emory has valued a strong partnership with families to support the development of 21st Century Skills, including communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. This home/school partnership allows students to highlight their mastery of 21st Century skills during grade level events such as the Emory Tech Talk Fair, Animal Shoe Box Expo, Global Cardboard Challenge and the Egyptian Fair. In our endeavor to create a thriving school community, we recognize that families are our most valuable partner. To
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Working in partnership with the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, Emory fifth grade students had the opportunity to be scientists. Visiting rangers from U.S. Fish and Wildlife and California State Parks came to our campus and provided hands-on opportunities for students to observe phenomena and make observations/ predictions in their notebooks, just like real scientists. Students considered the helpfulness of various bird adaptations, learned about the impact of pollution, and discovered more about the flora and fauna in our community. Global Cardboard Challenge
Third grade students participated in the Global Cardboard Challenge. Teachers provided students an opportunity to play and learn by using simple materials to build the things they imagine. Kids were challenged to use cardboard, recycled materials and imagination to create and build. The Global Cardboard Challenge engages children in creative play, fosters creativity, ingenuity, resource-
fulness, perseverance and teamwork. We strive to provide children an opportunity to explore their interests and passions and actively foster and celebrate child creativity. Emory PTA Family Dance
Emory students and families danced the night away at our annual PTA Family Dance. Thanks to the hard work and support of the PTA, families and staff, we had a great turnout and a lot of fun. Everyone made new friends and enjoyed time with the school community. Health and Safety Fair
Students, staff and families understand that the foundation to a strong mind is being safe and healthy. Our Health and Safety Fair started with a school-wide Flash Mob! Led by Spotlight Dancers from each classroom, students had fun, and got fit by dancing along with their classmates and attendees. With support from the San Ysidro Health Clinic, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, the San Diego Police Department, the Federal Navy Fire Station, Border Patrol, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, DEA and tremendous support from our parent volunteers, and the Emory Student Council and PTA, students learned about making safe and healthy choices. Students heard about the dangers of illicit substances, got fit doing Zumba, watched a canine unit safety routine, visited a mobile surveillance bus, and visited the mobile health clinic. It was a great day!
Melissa Griffith, Principal // Michelle Syverson, Director // Veronica Reyes, Asst. Principal
the phenomena behind science. This year, students participated in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) challenges to apply engineering in science, while increasing curiosity and exploration of the Next Generation Science Standards. This year, the IB Charter team strengthened our partnerships with the Jose Montaño Foundation, the U.S. Navy, and UCSD.
A YEAR IN REVIEW At Imperial Beach Charter School, we care about strengthening the whole child. Our team strives to develop critical thinkers and future leaders by enhancing communication and literacy skills, reinforcing conceptual understanding in math, and encouraging an understanding of
For two years, the IB Charter community has worked with the Jose Montaño Foundation to assist in fundraising to supply snack bags, toys, games, and blankets to hospitals in San Diego and Orange County. Students learned about kindness and compassion while creating rock artwork for patients and preparing snack bags for children who are hospitalized. In return, Mr. Montaño and the Foundation supported our students on both campuses with attendance assemblies. Connecting with our military partners provided new opportunities for our students this year. Anchored4life is a student club that promotes leadership, teaches social skills, develops selfesteem, and builds character development. In addition, the military provides an onsite Family
IMPERIAL BEACH CHARTER NEWS
Counselor to assist military families with communication, self-esteem/self-confidence, resolving conflicts, behavioral management techniques, bullying, helping children deal with angry feelings, sibling/parental relationships, and deployment and reintegration issues. Finally, the USS Mobile Bay provides volunteers to assist students with physical fitness, reading, homework, and events. We thank the military for playing such an important role on our campuses! In August 2017, IB Charter launched our journey with the UCSD School of Medicine, Center for Community Health School Wellness, in the area of physical education and activity. UCSD provides professional development for staff, lunchtime activities for students, and furnishes physical fitness equipment to encourage students to be active each and every day. In April, the campus started hosting Family Nutrition Classes, which promote healthy lifestyles and healthy eating. These free classes are taught by a Nutritionist and are open to the public. We are proud of these important partnerships and look forward to continuing these activities next year!
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MENDOZA NEWS
Jil Palmer, Principal // Clinton Anderson, Asst. Principal
A YEAR IN REVIEW
Mendoza is committed to developing the whole child as we prepare students for Middle School, High School and beyond. We not only focus on academic achievement, we also have a strong focus on creating a safe community where justice is restorative and positive behavior is rewarded. We have provided professional development for our staff to ensure that these areas of focus are delivered with fidelity and rigor. One challenge in elementary education is that one teacher must deliver instruction in so many different subjects! At Mendoza, we have chosen
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to focus on literacy, since reading and writing are the foundation for all other subjects. We have a strong affiliation with Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University in New York. Each year, Teachers College sends two highly qualified staff developers, one for Transitional Kindergarten through second grade teachers, and another for third to sixth grade staff. Our teachers receive professional development from these experts twice per year. During these visits grade level teachers collaborate, plan lessons, and practice lessons for each other with students. This experience challenges us all, which in turn challenges our students to grow and be successful as readers and writers. The “Workshop Model� allows for blocks of time to be focused on a single strategy or objective that builds on previous lessons. Students are given ample time to read and apply the strategy of the lesson with individual support from the teacher. This style of learning is empowered by the incredible number of books available to students. Classrooms have hundreds of books not only in their classroom but available in the teacher library to share with their students. Students have access to books that they can read independently about topics of interest to them. Throughout the year, Workshop units support students to integrate reading and writing to hone valuable skills in research, making opinions and arguments, writing realistic and personal narratives, and more. These skills prepare
them to be successful for their academic and professional careers. Grade level teams have integrated science and social studies into literacy units, which makes learning fun and more natural, instead of learning subjects in isolation. We know that all the energy and effort put into our Workshop Model will not be successful if students do not feel trusted, respected and safe in their learning environment. Before school began this year, Anthony Ceja from the San Diego County Office of Education led an onsite workshop for our teaching staff. This training focused on Restorative Practices and the power of Restorative Circles. Each day, teachers gather their students in a circle and each child is given a chance to share on a certain topic. Sometimes the topic is fun and not too serious, but sometimes the topic will address more serious issues in the class or at school. Having students participate in the circle allows them to build community, develop empathy for each other, and create solutions as a class. Circles also allow teachers to build strong relationships with their students, which helps them provide a better education for each child. Circles are also used to mitigate bullying. Having the students involved in talking amongst themselves and deciding on how to right the wrong, holds them accountable and they become part of the solution. Consequences are more powerful and impactful when they come from the students themselves.
Guadalupe Avilez, Principal // Beatriz Carlos, Asst. Principal
NESTOR LANGUAGE ACADEMY CHARTER NEWS
mersion program, which has been successfully preparing students for a future as bilingual and bi-literate global citizens, will support even more students in our local community.
A YEAR IN REVIEW
Construction for the expansion project is underway and expected to complete in early June. Five new portable classrooms and new student bathrooms have been installed with minimal disruption to students and staff. There are plans for three new green areas, including the planting of more than a dozen trees. We are looking forward to the many changes that will occur as Nestor continues to evolve and serve even more students. Thank you to the Facilities team for their commitment to providing high quality campuses to all students!
eral students, and the Joplin family built an extraordinary garden that will be enjoyed by staff and students for many years to come. Julius hopes that students will enjoy the environment that he created. “We hope that kids will enjoy the habitat and that people will start planting and will interact with nature and the organic environment.” Thank you to Julius and all the volunteers for their work on this project!
Nestor’s Garden Project Nestor is expanding!
Nestor is expanding yet again! Staff, students, and parents are excited about the prospect of two additional seventh grade classrooms for the 2018-2019 school year and two additional eighth grade classrooms for the 2019-2020 school year. We are proud that our Dual Im-
Our new garden was the result of a community service project by eighth grade student, Julius Joplin, who wanted to create a space to honor the memory of first grade teacher Marina Matzner. Julius was interested in creating a serene space for students, full of colors and foliage. The garden does just that. Julius, sev-
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NICOLOFF NEWS
Rigo Lara, Principal // Estela Corrales, Asst. Principal
community to include experiences such as a trip to The Living Coast Discovery Center, animal encounters with the San Diego Zoo, contributing to build a school bottle cap mural, viewing and participating in a live storytelling performance with professional storytellers, and much more! Next year promises to hold even more exciting community clubs and growth for the program!
A YEAR IN REVIEW
Battle of the Books and Jr. Battle of the Books
Battle of the Books (BOTB) continues to flourish at Nicoloff! Student excitement for the program grows each year, shown by the number of books read and kids in the book club and competition. Although BOTB has enriched our student’s lives in many ways, one way that has been especially impactful these last two years was the addition of the BOTB Community Book Clubs. The Clubs have enabled us to partner with the
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Until now, only students in grades 4-6 have had the opportunity to participate in BOTB. Primary grade teachers wanted the same wonderful opportunity for their students and worked this school year to launch the Junior Battle of the Books. It is not surprising that students have embraced the program. They are flooding the library on each day to check out books such as Still a Gorilla! and Dragons Love Tacos. We are looking forward to building the Jr. BOTB into a great program for all of our students to enjoy! Robotics Club
The Nicoloff Robotics Club was the result of the idea that students of various learning modalities need alternative ways to show their passion for learning. As a team, Principal Lara, Assistant Principal Corrales, and teachers Mrs. Smith and Mr. Alvarado created an after-school program that offers enrichment activities to students in science, computer programming, robotics and engineering.
As soon as the Club was announced, students jumped onboard! The club met twice per week, and provided students with individualized classes that were paced appropriately for their needs. Through the Club, students accessed rigorous tasks and challenges that fostered critical thinking and perseverance. With a group of 22 students and counting, this club promotes the ideal that all kids can be creators and innovators! Parent Engagement Workshops
The Nicoloff team was excited to offer Parent Workshops this year. The workshops were developed to respond to requests from families to assist their children at home with reading and math. Our first workshops focused on literacy, which is at the forefront of study in math, science, and social studies. For this reason, providing parents with strategies and resources to help children improve their reading skills at home is critical. During the workshops, parents participated as learners and were engaged in interactive activities to learn strategies to support their children with reading comprehension and fluency. In addition to these strategies, parents learned about the Readers and Writers Workshop model and how this model is being implemented in every classroom. Parent workshops were tailored by grade level and were offered in both English and in Spanish. Thank you to all the families that participated!
Marla Fernandez, Principal
books they found motivating. Students read books that interested them, thus the volume of books they read increased. Teachers have commented, “I see more students choosing to read as a preferred activity. Students have a joy about reading.”
A YEAR IN REVIEW Oneonta Elementary School is a place where kids feel happy, safe and loved. We collaboratively teach our students academics and leadership with a smile...because education matters. Our collaborative mission statement, which was developed by staff, students and parents, drives the work at Oneonta. This year, our team focused on school-wide implementation of Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop and the second year implementation of the Leader in Me program. Reading! Reading! Reading! This was the constant refrain every day, in every classroom. Students in grades TK-6 set goals for individual reading stamina and number of books/pages read each day or week. It was fabulous to see all students self-selecting fiction and non-fiction
This year, Oneonta teachers were provided professional development through the Learning and Innovation Team in onsite Lab Workshops. Staff planned collaborative lessons and practiced with students in different classrooms. Teachers were coached on lesson delivery, how to support students during 1:1 conferences, and small group intervention. Oneonta teachers live the love of learning by modeling it with their colleagues. “Great leaders don’t tell you what to do, they show you what to do.” This is a quote from our Leader in Me brochure that was developed by a class of students. In our second year of implementation, we have continued to model the 7 Habits of Leadership, including the 8th Habit Find your Voice. The voices of students are heard school-wide through the Student Lighthouse Team, which is comprised of two representatives from each grade 1-6 classroom. Students in this role applied for the position via a job application that mirrors the real world of employment. Meetings are held in Mrs. Alvarez’s fifth grade classroom every other Tuesday morning. Along with Mrs. Alvarez, several other teachers volunteer their time to collaborate with students regarding school events and service to our school and the community. Emily Soto, a fifth grade student commented, “The Lighthouse Team has helped
ONEONTA NEWS
me to more confident. I am not afraid to speak in front of a group.” A Leader in Me highlight of this school year was our Leadership Day. Oneonta hosted over 150 guests from all over California and three guests as far away as Hawaii! The teacher Lighthouse Team (Mrs. Terrazas, Mrs. Delgado, Mrs. Corrales, Ms. Rosales, Ms. Alaman, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Alvarez, Ms. Nichols, Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Gutierrez) were instrumental in preparing for the Leadership Day. Guests were greeted by our mascot, the Oneonta Orca. A student wore an Orca costume to greet every guest. Angel Benavidez thought this was so important, he celebrated his birthday by giving back to our school. Guests enjoyed student presentations, took a tour with student docents and even danced in the auditorium to “sharpen the saw.” Principal Fernandez shared, “This wonderful event, planned by teachers and students was truly amazing. Students led every presentation, spoke about the positive impact of the Leader in Me program at Oneonta, and demonstrated confidence and pride about their school.” At Oneonta, every single child is a leader. We build leadership skills that help students be proactive at school and at home, demonstrate responsibility for their own actions, seek to understand others, think win-win to solve conflict, synergize to work collaboratively as a team and to find their voice at school and in the world at large. We are leaders! We are learners! We are readers!
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PENCE NEWS
Robert Daily, Principal
ger-free and healthy San Diego. Through the use of donations and volunteers, Feeding San Diego provides nutritionally sound food baskets for families in need. Since its arrival to our campus, dozens of volunteers have assisted in the distribution of the supplies to a wide range of residents in our community. Our team of volunteers are providing food to more than 250 families! Thank you to Feeding San Diego, our wonderful team of volunteers, and the Pence team for not only providing a much needed service, but helping to create a unique bond between our school and the community.
A YEAR IN REVIEW Feeding San Diego
This year, Pence launched a partnership with Feeding San Diego, whose goal is to build a hun-
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Student-Led Activity Clubs
Pence students have taken the initiative to create their own lunchtime clubs, including groups that focus on science, art, sports, clean-up, and garden. The clubs are facilitated by student leaders who have a special interest in their specific area. Student groups organize and arrange activities for their respective clubs. This takes a great deal of planning, including organizing teams, provid-
ing materials, and modeling the activity. Students in grades 4-6 are free to sign-up for a club of their choice during lunchtime recess. We are proud to offer these worthwhile, productive and enriching activities for our students and to provide opportunities for student leadership. Club Live
In Club Live, a group of self-motivated sixth grade students write, organize and perform student skits that teach a type of social skill. Topics this year have included friendship, anti-bullying, honesty and empathy. Students meet on their own time to create, share, discuss and practice the performance that models the proper thing to do when facing a difficult situation. Performances take place for the entire school, with time set aside for a follow-up question and answer session. Their performances are based on real-life situations, and because they are performed by their peers, allows for all students to relate to them on a personal basis. Kudos to the Club Live team!
Cynthia Smith-Ough, Principal
designed for ages 8-11. The program aims to increase awareness and understanding of natural hazards, teach safety and emotional coping skills, and stress the importance of personal preparedness. Through instructor-led presentations, students learned the best ways to stay safe, how to handle stressful situations, and what tools they can use at home to prepare for emergencies. Sunnyslope students had the opportunity to decorate and personalize their own pillowcases, which served as containers for a personal emergency supplies kit.
A YEAR IN REVIEW This year, Sunnyslope partnered with the American Red Cross to implement The Pillowcase Project, an interactive preparedness program
Kindness matters at Sunnyslope! All students and staff participated in The Great Kindness Challenge this year, a proactive and positive bullying prevention initiative that improves school climate and increases student engagement. The Challenge is one week, devoted to performing as many acts of kindness as possible. Students participated in various activities at kindness stations throughout the campus, and were also provided a checklist of 50 kind acts that they could
SUNNYSLOPE NEWS
perform. Students accepted the challenge and proved that bullying is weak and kindness is strength! The Sunnyslope community demonstrates a growth mindset and continuously works on building a culture of learning and collaboration that is student-centered and focused on results. This year, Sunnyslope was named an Affiliate School with Teachers’ College Reading & Writing Project in collaboration with Columbia University in New York. Our teachers received ten days of job-embedded professional learning and coaching from an expert coach with a focus on Reading Workshop, student-centered goalsetting conferences, small group differentiated instruction, and interactive read aloud in support of balanced literacy opportunities. Teachers and students engaged in high level inquiry and collaborative opportunities to elevate their critical thinking and literacy skills. Thank you to our instructional team for their commitment to this work!
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VIP VILLAGE NEWS
David Sheppard, Director
VIP VILLAGE RECEIVES TOP MARKS
ON THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA’S RATING SYSTEM The State of California has implemented a rating system for preschools across the state. The Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS) is based on a 1-5 point system, with 1 being a lower quality program and 5 being a preschool of highest quality. We are very proud to announce that VIP Village has been designated a Tier 5 Preschool site! The ratings are based on various factors including early intervention, teacher and administrator education level, adult to student ratio, external reviews of facilities and classroom instruction, as well as student assessment. As preschool coach Cherie Maurice shared, “It’s all very important to meet these ratings, but it really comes down to students understanding social-emotional interactions and language development. We want all of our students to have a solid foundation for future school success.” Congratulations to the entire VIP Village Preschool team!
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SBUSD NEWS
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Updates to our Local Control and Accountability Plan South Bay’s Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) is a three-year plan that describes the goals, actions, services, and expenditures to support positive student outcomes that address state and local priorities. The LCAP also provides us an opportunity to share our stories of how, what, and why programs and services are selected to meet the needs of the students in our community. Each year, the LCAP is revised based on input from multiple stakeholder groups and in alignment with the vision, goals and priorities of the Board of Trustees. As we have done since adopting our LCAP, this year we solicited input from students, parents, community members, and staff to determine and define any needed revisions. Feedback was submitted via surveys (students, parents and staff) and from various District groups (DELAC, School Site Councils, the LCAP Advisory Committee, among many others). Following review and analysis of all the data, we have made revisions to the LCAP to address identified areas of focus. Next year, the South Bay team will be working on ensuring that each and every campus includes a welcoming environment and a positive culture and climate. We are excited to begin this work! As the year draws to a close, we bid a heartfelt farewell to our eighth grade students and many of our sixth grade students. Congratulations to all and best wishes for great success in the future! We are also saying goodbye to several retiring staff members. Thank you for your many contributions to South Bay!
DISTRICT CHAMPIONS This year, Superintendent McNamara continued the District Champions program to recognize students, parents/guardians, staff, teams, and community members that demonstrate outstanding work, dedication to South Bay’s mission and goals, commitment to our community, and strong support for our schools. Congratulations to the following Champions: • District-wide: Katy Roberson (Let’s Dance Kids!), Raleigh Sanders (Community Member), Laura Ortiz (Facilities), Linda Weaver (Technology), Nancy Chavez (Transportation) and Jessica Serrano (Technology). • Bayside STEAM Academy: Angelica Carrillo. • Berry: Veronica Duarte, Irma Gonzalez, Beth Herring and Liliana Galiano. • Central: Maureen McElroy. • E mory: Tracy Rolfe, Lindsay Fox, Monica Hueso-Melgar, Dave Benson, Angie Schmitz, Rebecca Bengston-Carson, Erika Pehrson, Erin Major and Mahrnee Paguia. • Imperial Beach Charter: Liz Tec Montalvo, Autumn Collin, Erica Montoya, Ted Maxwell, Desiree Million, Christina Espiritu, Amanda Martinez, Shannon Hinzo, Vicente Aborqui, Leilani Martin-Gonzalez, Zoe De Los Santos, Alyson Correa Luna, Isabella Hartley, Gizah Martinez, Melody Gutierrez and Ricardo Fernandez . • Oneonta: Belen Macias.
I wish your families a wonderful summer. I look forward to a great 2018-2019 and welcoming students back to school on Monday, July 23, 2018. Sincerely,
• Pence: Isaac Garcia and Winnie Dalisay. • Sunnyslope: Sandra Garcia. • V IP Preschool: Elisa Ajao, Atzimba Servin, Ruby Borrero, Valerie Dorrian, Susy Dorsey, Sonia Gutierrez and Edith Rodriguez. The recognition program will continue next year and we look forward to honoring more South Bay Champions!
Katie McNamara, Ed.D. Superintendent
SOUTH BAY AND THE ARTS In June 2017, the South Bay Board of Trustees adopted an official resolution declaring the rights of all students to equity in arts learning. Students in the district are promised equal access to opportunities in arts learning, including visual arts, media, dance, music, and theatre. Success and participation in the arts is strongly linked to an advancement in critical thinking and general problem-solving skills. South Bay adopted this resolution as official recognition that success in the arts is crucial to a comprehensive education to prepare students for college and future career goals. “Adopting the Declaration ensures that all students have the right to develop their creative and academic potential and that South Bay schools nurture the skills necessary to excel in college, career and life,” says Superintendent Katie McNamara. This declaration further acknowledges the significant barriers to access that is felt among many students in public education. To combat these historically persistent inequities, this declaration has prompted various initiatives throughout the district and ensures that administrators will continue to provide equal and accessible resources for all students. In addition, South Bay formed an Arts Strategic Planning team comprised of teachers, parents, community members, and site and District leaders in the fall. The team met several times this year, with facilitation led by the California Arts Project, Arts Empower, and the San Diego County Office of Education. The team developed a five year plan focused on providing a comprehensive, standards aligned, equitable arts experience for all students. In support of our focus on the arts, the SBUSD Education Foundation sponsored South Bay’s Got Talent, a showcase of student performances and visual art in May. The event featured students from every school in individual and group performances. It was an amazing evening!
ADVOCACY FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION It has been a busy school year with a priority on advocacy for the South Bay governance team. Last summer, Board Trustees Elvia Aguilar, Chris Brown, Barbara Elliott-Sanders, Melanie Ellsworth, and Cheryl Quiñones and Superintendent Katie McNamara met with Representative Juan Vargas; Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher; Assemblymember Todd Gloria; and Jacob O’Neill, Senior District Representative from the Office of State Senator Ben Hueso. Discussions focused on the need for additional education funding and concerns related to the increasing costs of pension fund contributions, utility fees, and Worker’s Compensation rates. In late October 2017, Dr. McNamara was asked by San Diego County Superintendent of Schools Paul Gothold to accompany him and Chula Vista Superintendent Francisco Escobedo and Fallbrook Superintendent Candace Singh on a legislative advocacy trip to Washington DC in late October. During two days in the Capitol, the team met with Kara McKee, Assistant to the President of the United States for Domestic Policy; Representative Juan Vargas; Representative Susan Davis; Representative Darrell Issa; and Brett Rosenberg, Legislative Assistant to Senator Kamala Harris. Conversations included education funding, the challenges facing our families as a result of proposed changes in federal immigration policy, and the important focus on subjects such as Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Computer Science. On November 27, 2017, Assemblymember Todd Gloria visited Oneonta School to observe professional development and meet students participating in the Leader in Me program. He joined students and staff in grades 4-6 at an observation of a Writing Lab Site Workshop, led by Assistant Superintendent Cindy Wagner. This professional development is a result of South Bay’s phenomenal partnership with Columbia University’s Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. In early February, the Board and Superintendent attended the 2018 Advocacy Institute hosted by the National School Boards Association in Washington, DC. The Institute included workshops on effective advocacy and attendees spent an entire day on Capitol Hill meeting with elected officials. Superintendent McNamara is proud of the governance team’s commitment to advocacy. “District leaders are important spokespersons for public education. They are uniquely positioned to speak on behalf of their local communities and to share the voices of their constituents. We are all honored to represent the priorities and needs of South Bay and the students and families we serve.”
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SBUSD SO MANY GOOD THINGS HAPPENING! El Boletín Informativo del Distrito se encuentra disponible en www.sbusd.org
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