JULY 14, 2019
CHANDLER/TEMPE EDITION
Chandler schools chief welcomes a new year BY DR. CAMILLE CASTEEL Chandler Unified School Superintendent
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s we prepare for our first day of school, July 23, I want to take this opportunity to thank the families of more than 46,000 students for entrusting Chandler Unified School District (CUSD) with their children’s education. We are honored you have chosen CUSD and believe our efforts to create a menu of personalized learning experiences to meet the varied interests and needs of students is unprecedented. Our success starts with a visionary Governing Board that is providing a road map to make Chandler Unified the top school district in the nation. Expectations are high, but our staff is up for the challenge. In 2018-19, our staff proved that by
achieving a score of 92.9 percent on our annual goals. Please visit our website at cusd80.com, where progress is carefully monitored through our 10-year strategic plan, Journey 2025. In order to meet those high standards, our teachers and staff work hard to prepare students for life and career, create diverse paths for learning, develop global understanding, provide student-centered learning and engage parents in the success of their child. With the support of our parents, our students value diversity, think critically and creatively. And, just as importantly, they become problem solvers, engaged learners and service-oriented citizens. We pride ourselves in being the premier district of choice by continuing to add programs that adapt to the needs of the future workforce and interest of students. Our newest endeavor is the development of the Institute for Cyber Operations
and Networking, which will open at Basha High this year. This cybersecurity program will provide four years of high school curriculum, offer a pipeline to higher education in partnership with Chandler-Gilbert Community College and the University of Arizona and help address concerns of a global shortage of roughly 3.5 million cybersecurity professionals projected in the immediate future. The cybersecurity curriculum is the latest among a number of choices and safe learning environments for our families to select. We pride ourselves on providing outstanding educational programs at all grade levels, including: • Free full-day kindergarten • K-8 self-contained gifted programs (Chandler Academically Talented Students) • Knox Gifted Academy
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Traditional academies Mandarin Chinese and Spanish Language immersion programs • Elite Performance Academy for our serious young student-athletes • Accelerated Middle School • STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) diploma • Nationally recognized academic, fine arts and athletic programs • College preparatory advanced placement instruction • Accelerated International Baccalaureate study • Science and biotech classes that promote critical thinking • Chandler Online program • Access to a variety of quality preschool and afterschool programming Academic achievement is among the
learning is an art. We in Kyrene are very fortunate to have many master artists in our classrooms. You only have to walk through any one of our schools to see kids working together to solve a problem, or hear a poem a student crafted on their own, to know that we are truly making a difference in the lives of children.
of a comprehensive social-emotional curriculum. If we are truly committed to making a difference in the lives of children, the addition of counselors is a key piece in achieving that goal. We know that providing support beyond academic interventions to all students is critical to their ability to perform at their full potential, as it helps them to develop resiliency and strategies for coping with risk factors and provides an additional layer of protective factors that will improve the overall social-emotional wellness of our students.
relevant teaching strategies and the development of practices for attracting job applicants from diverse backgrounds. We have already begun the work of focusing on restorative justice opportunities to close discipline gaps and ensure all students are treated fairly. In addition to our work with Corwin, we have engaged with the University of Virginia, Partnership for Leaders in Education to prioritize a set of schools who have historically had achievement, behavior and opportunity gaps. The purpose of this initiative is to empower district and school leaders to create an equitable, inclusive and just system for every student by relentlessly pursuing transformational leadership, teaching and learning in our RISE UP schools. Our commitment is that every child in Kyrene feels like they belong and can
see CASTEEL page 4
Kyrene to unveil several major initiatives, programs BY DR. JAN VESELY Kyrene Schools Superintendent
“We are born makers. We move what we’re learning from our heads to our hearts through our hands.” – Brené Brown A new year is about to begin. All Kyrene students start school on Aug. 1, and families are encouraged to join us for Meet the Teacher nights on July 29 (elementary schools) and July 30 (middle schools). Over the summer, I have been reading the works of researcher and storyteller Brené Brown, and I came across the quote above. Brown says we are born makers, moving what we learn from our heads to our hearts and, finally, through our hands. I see this in action every day in Kyrene schools. At its best, the process of teaching and
Social-emotional learning
The year ahead welcomes several exciting initiatives across Kyrene. This year, we are expanding our efforts to provide students with social-emotional learning and supports. We began this work two years ago with the middle school design, and are in the process of extending social-emotional learning into our elementary schools. This work will include the addition of school counselors to our elementary campuses, as well as the implementation
Equity impact
Equity is also a key focus this year, as we work with expert partner Corwin to build systems of support that identify and eliminate bias. This will include professional development for staff, support for culturally
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