Soledad Unified School District Weekly Newsletter Timothy J. Vanoli, Superintendent

Discover What’s Possible Board of Trustees

www.soledadusd.org

April 13, 2018

BOARD RECOGNITION Congratulations to everyone who was recognized at April 11th Board Meeting. The Board takes pride and makes it their goal to recognize students and employees every month for all they do for our students and community. This is the best part of their job.

Josie Perez-Aguilera President

EMPLOYEES OF THE YEAR Annette Buttle, Teacher of the Year Nova Rodriguez, Instructional Aide/Paraprofessional Vickie Castro, Office & Technical Maribel Franco, Support Services Rudy Canchola, MOTF

These employees were selected by a committee from nominations submitted by school sites. They will be celebrated at a special event sponsored by the Monterey County Office of Education on May 14, 2017 at the Elks Lodge in Salinas.

Jodi Massa Vice-President

MTAL COACHES OF THE YEAR Congratulations to: Tatiana Rodriguez Girls’ Basketball Coach

Monica Pantoja Clerk

Nicholas Twitchell Boys Basketball Coach

Javier Galvan Trustee

EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH From Jack Franscioni Elementary Belen Gonzalez, Secretary III (Pictured with Principal, Leslie Davis Marisela Chavez, Counselor

Jaime Fernandez’ Trustee

Main Street Middle School (Eric Olsen, Principal) Diana Arroyo Soledad High School (Jeff James, Principal) Getsemani Puga Pinnacles High School (Jeff Lopez, Principal) Mohsen Saleh Ali

Congratulations to everyone! Students are pictured with their parents and School Principal. You set the model for other to follow!

Our goal is to eliminate the opportunity gap while creating every student to be civic and digital citizens who are prepared to be college and career ready. The mission is to provide leadership and guidance for all stakeholders to increase student achievement through standards based curricula, professional development, & educational support.

“The Educational Services Department supports teachers in continuous improvement of their knowledge and skills. We aim to support teachers in delivering as well as sustained professional learning and the Systematic Instructional Framework.”

SOLEDAD UNIFIED EDUCATIONAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT

Randy Bangs, Associate Superintendent of Educational Services Supporting Staff: Maria Torres

Dr. Dianne Witwer, Director of Student Services, Assessments and Accountability Supporting staff: Rosalinda Sanchez & Maria Torres

Erin Ramirez, Special Projects Coordinator Supporting Staff: Rosalinda Sanchez, Sandra Celio & Maria Torres

Annette Trujillo, Director of Technology Supporting Staff: Martha Martinez, Vickie Quitevis, John D. Little, Zeke Zuniga, Greg Quitevis, Edgar Leos, & Lucero Zuinga

Lori Morones, Program Coordinator/Preschool Supporting Staff: Cristina Chavez, Elivier Aguilar, Lupe Calderon, Emely Tovar

Nathan Moreno, Special Education Coordinator Supporting Staff: Cristina Chavez, Elivier Aguilar, Lupe Calderon, Emely Tovar

“The Educational Services Department supports teachers in continuous improvement of their knowledge and skills. We aim to support teachers in delivering as well as sustained professional learning and the Systematic Instructional Framework.”

April 16, 2018

Educational Services Newsletter Monterey County College Readiness Collaborative The Soledad USD is a member of the Monterey County College Readiness Collaborative (MCCRC). The goal of the MCCRC is to impact college math readiness and use CDR grant funds to sustain efforts to support student success in college math. Om April 9, SUSD representatives Luke Dilger (SHS Math Teacher), Jeffery James (SHS Principal) and Randy Bangs attended a Collaborative meeting and heard a presentation from Dr. Lisa Jilk on Complex Instruction. Complex Instruction looks at research which states that levels of student participation in classroom activities and instruction is linked to student socioeconomic status. The theory is that if a classroom’s social system is not tended to, social inequity occurs. In a classroom setting this can limit some students’ access to instruction and thus achievement. Dr. Jill stated that practicing complex instruction promotes three principles: (1) a multiple-ability curriculum, (2) norms, roles and participation structures for students and (3) status and accountability. This means that teachers should provide curricular activities which are open-ended and rigorous, develop autonomy and interdependence among students and actively manage status and raise intellectual expectations for all students.

. The MCCRC also discussed priorities and projects for the 2018-19 school year and heard from representatives of Hartnell College and CSUMB partners.

Scale Up to Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (SUMS) District’s work at looking at its systems continues meeting. On March 22, a group of 35 District stakeholders gathered together to conduct a Systems Analysis around six components. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Shred Beliefs, Vision and Mission Teaching, Learning and Assessment Leadership and Governance Professional Development for All Infrastructure Alignment Clear and Collaborative Relationships Continue pg.2

On Thursday, the same group gathered together again to review results of the Systems Analysis and conduct a Root Cause

Educational Services Newsletter On Thursday, the same group gathered together again to review results of the Systems Analysis and conduct a Root Cause analysis in three areas of practice for the District: (1) Math Achievement, (2) Identification of students for SPED services, and (3) Alignment of Initiatives and Professional Development. The Systems Analysis results will be shared out in a future weekly update. For the Root Cause analysis, the District stakeholders, including teachers, classified staff and administrators were divided into three groups. For each of the three practices, the groups were asked to generate a list of challenges and then write recommendations. The results are summarized as follows: 1. Math Achievement: Need consistency in practice, focus on pacing, interventions and professional development for teachers 2. Identification of Students for SPED services: Need a comprehensive plan for documentation and use of data, parent education, system of supports for all students, make intervention a District priority, provide targeted training and a three year plan with a single focus 3. Alignment of Initiatives and Professional Development: Need to prioritize initiatives, a plan for communication of initiatives to all stakeholders, monitor systematic implementation of initiatives and a plan for accountability regarding PD. The District stakeholders in attendance did an extraordinary amount of amazing work in a tightly scheduled session. More details will be shared in future weekly updates.

Educational Services Department

STUDENT SERVICES, Weekly Newsletter ASSESSMENTS AND ACCOUNTABILITY DIANNE WITWER, DIRECTOR

Week of April 9, 2018 LCAP Goal 3: Fisher & Frey Tr2ining

18

This week we had both Connie Hamilton and Marisol Thayre here to facilitate the Fisher and Frey training at

Three of our schools attended and displayed their PBIS implementation at the MCOE Showcase on April 10 along with many other districts in the county.

Main Street Middle School. Marisol, one of our trainers, covered:  Collaborative Conversations  Independent reading  Strategies, and  We Conducted Walkthroughs at MSMS

2

LCAP Goal 3: JF, FL, and MSMS Attended the MCOE PBIS Showcase on April 10

Awards were given out at the end of the 3:00-5:00 session. Three of our Soledad staff members took awards for their dedication and commitment to PBIS in their schools. They were: 1. Alxis De La Rosa from Jack Franscioni, 2. Maribel Franco from Frank Ledesma, and 3. Felipe Maturino from Main Street Middle School

L

SPECIAL PROJECTS SPECIAL PROJECT COORDINATOR: ERIN RAMIREZ

Migrant Student Honorees (LCAP Goal 2 & 6)

Migrant speech and debate students were honored at the board meeting, Wednesday night, April 11, 2018. Eight students grades 6th – 12th placed in the Monterey County, regional 16, migrant speech and debate tournament. Humberto Santos, 9th grader at SHS, placed second in the English prepared speech competition, SHS 9th grader Faustino Zamarripa placed second in the English extemporaneous speech competition while 6th grader from San Vicente, Maria Zamarripa placed third in the 6th grade English prepared speech competition. The Spanish high school debate team placed first in the county. The Spanish debate team, as well as, Faustino Zamarripa will be heading onto the migrant state speech and debate tournament, in Visalia, May 4-6, 2018. Great job students and good luck to our finalists moving onto the next level!

Coming Up: ELPAC (English Language Proficiency Assessments 1 of California) Testing Window (for annual students only): February 8 – May 31

DELAC Meeting: 2

The next District English Language Advisory Committee Meeting will be Tuesday, April 17, 2018.

Special Education Department Autism Awareness Month Soledad Unified School District would like to take advantage of National Autism Awareness Month to shed light on the overall increase in identification of students with autism. The diagnosis and identification of students with autism has become a focal point in recent years. Research has shown that the number of children with autism is increasing year to year. A recent government survey found that 1 in 45 children are diagnosed with autism ages 3-17. It is important to understand autism through the scope of a public school district. The Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA), in which public school operate under, defines autism as: “...a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three, and adversely affecting a child's educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environment.” It is important to understand that just because a student might be diagnosed by a physician as having autism, that does not necessarily mean they qualify for special education services. As stated above, the child must also be presenting with an adverse education impact. Therefore, not all students with autism my need special education services, while others might. If you or a family member would like additional information regarding autism and what services are available in the school and community, please contact your local school psychologist or SUSD District Office. UPCOMING EVENTS IA Training…………………………………………...…....District Office April 25th @ 2:30-3:30 Special Olympics…...………………………..Monterey Peninsula College April 27th @ 8:00

Nathan Moreno SpEd Coordinator (831)678-1581 ext.116 *** Lori Morones Program Coordinator (831)678-1581 ext.113 *** Cristina Chavez Secretary I: SpEd (831)678-1581 ext. 137 *** Elivier Aguilar Translator Clerk (831)678-1581 ext. 139 *** Lupe Calderon Secretary I: SpEd/PreS (831) 678-1581 ext. 117

Educational Services Department

Weekly Newsletter

Twitter Challenge was Accepted! We have reached almost 1,000 tweets using our #susdlearns hashtag! Let's keep the ball rolling! Great way to show our community the great things happening at Soledad Unified! This week's winners are: Eric Olsen - Principal at MSMS Lucero Zuniga - Tech at SHS Ms. Nill - Teacher at Jack Franscioni

Did you know? Our Tech website has a lot of Staff Resources including how to's. Check it out under Resources at: tech.soledadusd.org

Do you Tweet all the great things happening in your classroom or at your school? Follow & tag @SoledadSupt & @soledadedtech

Be sure to use the hashtag

#susdlearns

Book Carrie for one-to-one

coaching at bit.ly/bookcarrie

I look forward to working with you!

New Teacher Support & Development Coordinator Julia Turner

Kester Bantin New Teacher Support TOSA

Talking! Writing! Thinking Beyond! Having participated in trainings this week, I reflect upon how the variety of engagement activities focused upon LCAP Goal #2: Proficiency for all. In Fisher-Frey training and in DLT meetings, I engaged in at least three strategies for learning: collaborative conversations, writing, metacognition. Collaborative conversations – structured, purposeful interactive tasks - required my imbibing the criticality of my individual accountability and positive interdependence necessary to support my partner or my group to be able to discuss content. Writing – paraphrasing my partner’s response, annotating text for a specific close-reading purpose, composing questions about text that reflect levels of thinking – gifted me intermittent time to pause . . . to process . . . to reflect upon content and my learning about it. Metacognition – moving beyond the cognitive into thinking “So What” – pushed me to think beyond the why and how I should intercalate collaborative conversations and writing into my practice (I can find copious research extolling the why and how by googling it!). But, my metacognizing prodded me to reflect upon my practices with teachers so that they may explore for themselves their “So What” while envisioning their student’s faces attached to the practices. According to John Hattie in Visible Learning for Literacy, implementing metacognitive strategies as a learning practice yields an effect size of .69. Hattie states that .40 designates one year of academic growth for one year of learning; then, an effect size of .69 signifies 1.72 years’ growth for one year of learning. Both collaborative conversations and writing in a myriad ways can promote metacognition.

LCAP #2: Proficiency for all: SUSD will provide a high quality and comprehensive instructional program. LCAP #5: SUSD will attract, recruit, support, and retain a highly effective and diverse workforce. LCAP #6: SUSD will provide resources for ELs and other students requiring additional support.

Unlocking the Future Today!

Welcome Stephanie Carrillo as our new evening clerk typist for Soledad Adult School! We are so happy to have her on board in our Soledad Adult School family! Stephanie will track, record and maintain attendance records, and enroll students along with supporting our adult ed staff on site. She will work hand in hand with Roxanna Argueta who manages the accountability part of Adult Ed, the CASAS testing, Federal Reports and data requirements. Both clerks are crucial to meet state, federal and consortium requirements.

Meet Manuel Ramirez, he is a student that shows that persistence and dedication does pay off! Manuel is an adult student with special needs. He has been a student at Soledad Adult for many years. His goal, was to become a US Citizen to visit his country. Manuel enrolled in our ESL classes, and Citizenship Prep classes. He applied and went to his Citizenship exam in San Jose , but failed, not once, twice but 4-5 times according to Manuel. He had to re apply for the N-400 several times. This year, Manuel enrolled in our Citizenship class. He started to give up in his dream. His classmates would say “No , Manuelito, you can’t give up! You can do it!” Well, he did do it! He had his swearing in ceremony in March. With tears in his eyes, Manuel said “Thank You Mr. Green and Mr.Pinedo for helping me reach my goal! Now I can vote, Now I can visit Mexico! “ Manuel proves to us, that

RESOLUTION OF THE GOVERNING BOARD OF THE SOLEDAD UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT PROCLAIMING

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK MAY 7-11,2018 NO.4-01-18

WHEREAS,teachers mold future citizens through guidance and education; and WHEREAS,teachers encounter students of widely differing backgrounds; and

WHEREAS,our country's future depends upon providing quality education to all students; and WHEREAS,teachers spend countless hours preparing lessons, evaluating progress, counseling and coaching students and performing community service; and WHEREAS, our community recognizes and supports its teachers in educating the children of this community.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees of the Soledad Unified school District proclaims May 7-11, 2018,to be TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Soledad Unified School District Board of Trustees strongly

encourages all members of our community to join with it in personally expressing appreciation to our teachers for their dedication and devotion to their work.

Adopted this 11"^ day of day of April 2018 by the following votes: AYES:

5

NAYS:

0

ABSENT:

o

I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and accurate copy of the resolution passed and adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Soledad Unified School District at its regular meeting of April 11

2018 and that such resolution has been duly made and entered in the minutes of said Board of Trustees.

^// Board President

Date

Clerk of the Governing Board

Date

RESOLUTION OF THE GOVERNING BOARD OF THE SOLEDAD UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT PROCLAIMING AND HONORING

CLASSIFIED SCHOOL EMPLOYEE WEEK

MAY 20-26,2018 NO.4-02-18

WHEREAS, California's Legislature recognized that every aspect of a child's educational experience is impacted by a classified school employee and named the third full week of May as Classified School Employee Week to honor the accomplishments and contributions these employees make to our schools and educational community; and WHEREAS, the Soledad Unified School District Board of Education recognizes the crucial roles and vital services our classified school employees provide to improve student learning, meet school standards, and build a better future for Monterey County and urges students, parents, and the entire community to show their appreciation for all Monterey County Classified Employees; and WHEREAS, performing many behind-the-scene tasks and working to create an effective learning environment, every classified employee position serves an important purpose in support of the educational system and allows student instruction to advance to greater heights; and WHEREAS, maintaining a pristine campus, assisting with coursework, reaching out to parents, driving students to school, and feeding them nutritious meals are just a small mixture of the talent and skill classified employees transmit to provide positive results and contribute immensely to school operations and student success; and

WHEREAS, playing a crucial role in education, Soledad Unified School District classified employees interact daily with students, enrich their lives, form trusted bonds, serve as positive role models, and ensure our students receive the support they need to learn, grow, and create a healthy path for themselves:

NOW, THEREFORE,BEIT RESOLVED that the Soledad Unified School District Board of Education,in accordance with California Education Code Section 45460, does hereby adopt Resolution Number 4-02-18 to recognize the numerous contributions of our Classified Employees and recognizes the full week of May 20-26, 2018 as Classified School Employee Week. Passed and Adopted on the

^

Tr^ment^f the Board

Clerk of the Board

11™ Day of April 2018

^

^//■/sr'

Date

Date

Business Department

California districts to take part in groundbreaking school safety study Article by David Washburn

What are all the things that make a school safe and the people inside it feel connected with each other and the surrounding community? This question is most often answered with some variation on the following: a school is safe if it is a secure facility in good physical condition. Students, teachers and parents feel connected if class sizes are reasonable and it has a full menu of extra-curricular activities. However, a growing body of research is demonstrating that such answers only scratch the surface — and the health and welfare of our children depends on schools and communities digging much deeper into the question. A new addition to this work is a five-year, $5-million study led by the Washington D.C.-based American Institutes for Research (AIR) that promises to be a groundbreaking examination of school safety in California schools. Virginia Tech University’s Laboratory for the Study of Youth Inequality is partnering with AIR on the research and Public Counsel, the Los Angeles-based public interest law firm, is also involved. “We still have a misunderstanding of school safety, which most think of as the physical safety of students,” said Patricia Campie, AIR’s principal researcher for the study, which is federally funded through the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) — the research and development arm of the U.S. Department of Justice. “But the more important and more difficult thing is understanding the social and emotional safety of children.” This requires studying a number of factors affecting school environments, including school discipline policies and how they are enforced, how students from different backgrounds and orientations are treated by their classmates, whether there are people and protocols for addressing the trauma students experience at home and the quality of parent and community engagement. For full article click here

Important Date To Remember APRIL 27th is the last day to submit PO’s for FY17-18

District Wide Human Trafficking Workshops

Save The Dates Tuesday, May 8th 2018 @3:40 p.m. Sites: Gabilan & San Vicente Elementary Host: Gabilan Elementary (MPR) Tuesday, May 15th 2018 @3:40 p.m. Salinas Office Monterey County Rape Crisis Center P.O. Box 2401, Salinas CA 93902 [email protected] Office: (831) 771-0411 Fax: (831) 771-0105 Guest Speakers: Deborah Pembrook Nicole Irigoyen

Sites: Jack Franscioni Elementary Host: Jack Franscioni Elem. (Staff Lounge) Wednesday, May 16th 2018 @2:20 p.m. Sites: SHS, Pinnacles & MSMS Host: Soledad High (GYM) Tuesday, May 22nd 2018@3:40 p.m. Sites: Frank Ledesma & Rose Ferrero Elementary Host: Frank Ledesma Elem. (MPR)

Soledad Unified School District

present an event on

Bully Prevention

Building School Community & Unity with Compassion & Kindness Featuring Jack Franscioni Elementary and Soledad High School Not In Our School (NIOS) Club 5:30-6:00 p.m. “Upstander Video”

MICHAEL PRICHARD

6:00-7:00p.m. Michael Prichard Presentation

Nationally Acclaimed Keynote Speaker, & Youth Motivator

Monday, April 23rd 2018

Using his unique humorous style, he empowers his young audience with social and emotional skills and influences them to make good choices.

Jack Franscioni Elementary School Multi-Purpose Room 779 Orchard Lane, Soledad CA 93960 Pizza & Refreshments Daycare in Library

Academia Ollin 2018

Cultivating Change-Makers For The Next Seven Generations Academia Ollin was brought to us by MILPA Collective during the Spring Break. Over 30 youth from SHS and Main Street Middle School joined the fun! The youth gained skills and knowledge regarding leadership, culture, self care, self advocacy, community resources, and overall enrichment by participating in workshops & educational activities.