Hi everyone,

I hope that you are staying safe and healthy during this challenging time. Happy Dolores Huerta Day!  Today is her 90th birthday, the California organizer who coined the phrase "Si Se Puede".  We honor her as we work together for health & education for all!  Check out her Foundation and curriculum here.

MDUSD continues to work hard to provide essential services.  Did you see in the superintendent’s April 9th letter that the district’s Food and Nutrition Services Department has served over 41,600 meals in just sixteen days of operation? Plus they are now also working to provide over 80 meals each day to senior citizens in our community, through a partnership with the City of Concord and Meals on Wheels.

And, as a District we have deployed over 5,000 devices to students. One measurement indicated that we have had close to 25,000 connections that have been made to our Google classrooms within a short amount of time.  I’m so thankful for all the staff and teachers who have been working nonstop in this unprecedented time!

Here are 3 key announcements from MDUSD:

1. School campuses closed through end of school year
2. Next School Board meeting - Monday, April 13
3. Watch the MDUSD Town Halls

School campuses closed through end of school year

On April 7, 2020, Superintendent Dr. Rob Martinez communicated to the public confirming school closure for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year in conjunction with joint action from six bay area counties. The full message is available here.

Next School Board meeting - Monday, April 13

The next School Board meeting is scheduled for this Monday, April 13^th. The meeting will be livestreamed to the public here: https://vimeo.com/405941539. The public may submit verbal information during Board Meeting hours by email at [email protected].

Agenda is available here. It is a very full agenda, including information about Distance Learning, Board policy revisions for grades and promotion, and reductions to Classified employees for the 2020-21 school year.

Visit https://mdusd.org/agendasminutes for all board agendas & videos.

Did you watch the MDUSD Town Halls? 

This is a new format to share important details from the district to the community. Watch the first two at http://mdusd.org/townhall, and that’s also where to look for the next one to tune in and participate.   The second Town Hall included translation into Spanish as well.

Also in this message I’ve collected some additional resources for you here:

1. Food
   • MDUSD
   • Monument Crisis Center
2. Remote Learning
   • Coco Students Helping Students
   • Where to find free internet & cell data – CDE complete list
   • En Espanol – Zoom tutorial by teacher Blanca Vega from ShoreAcres
   • Yours Humanly Distance Learning tools & content
3. Community Resources
   • Monument Impact Resource Guide in English y Espanol
   • Are you storing your guns safely?
   • Career Girls - epidemiologist
   • Crisis Help Lines

1. FOOD

MDUSD Meals – now Mon/Wed/Fri

 Monument Crisis Center – food for all

2. REMOTE LEARNING

In addition to the MDUSD Parent Portal, Staff Portal and CDE resources, here are a few additional gems:

• CoCo Students Helping Students

Did you know MDUSD students are taking a leadership role in remote learning? 

Here’s a message from Rosie Reid, an MDUSD teacher at Northgate High who was also National Teacher of the Year:

“The school closures caused by COVID-19 have been quite a challenge for so many of us. For some, this challenge has been dealing with feelings of isolation and sadness. Others have struggled with maintaining a sense of normalcy and motivation. Many are having a hard time learning on their own and keeping up with their schoolwork. To remedy this, I have set up a free student-to-student mentoring match-up program. How it works is simple: Students who want to mentor/tutor other kids email me and tell me what classes they have taken and gotten at least a “B” in. Students (or parents of students) who need help or want to connect email me and I match them up. From there, they schedule appointments that meet both of their needs. Some mentor/mentee pairs meet daily, others every other day, and others a couple of times a week via Zoom, Skype, Facetime, or phone. Currently, we have 60 student pairs with students from several school districts participating at the elementary, middle, and high school level. If you know of a teen who could use support or a teen who wants to mentor, please email me at [email protected]. “ -- Rosie Reid, Northgate High School

• Where to Find Free Internet & Data

Here is a comprehensive list that will be updated, from CA Dept of Education: https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/he/hn/availableinternetplans.asp

• En Espanol, Zoom Tutorial de MDUSD ShoreAcres Teacher Blanca Vega

Buenas tardes! Para aquellos que quieran practicar cómo meterse a una videoconferencia en zoom, aqui está un titorian que hice en español. Muy sencillo, solo para poder entrar! Pueden encontrarlo también en mi canal de YouTube https://youtu.be/AhxnpiYGZDM   @MtDiabloUSD @ShoreAcresMDUSD

• Yours Humanly Distance Learning List of Tools & Content

“Our relationships with aid organizations, government agencies, school districts, teacher associations, and parent clubs have allowed us to compile a far reaching list of tools and resources that will help our communities cope with the unprecedented challenges and overcome the major obstacles we are facing.

Our hope is to curate some of the best ideas, strategies, reports, and online resources for the benefit of all, presented in one easy-to-navigate space. This initial resource list focuses on distance learning and strategies in light of shelter in place and social distancing.

 https://yourshumanly.org/tools-and-resources/

3. Community Resources

• Monument Impact Resource Guide in English y Espanol

They created a resource guide that organizes the available services and resources in Contra Costa county, from food distribution programs to unemployment insurance. Updated daily!

English: http://bit.ly/ResourcesCoCo  Spanish: http://bit.ly/RecursosCoCo

• Safe Gun Storage

Thank you to Mt Diablo Chapter of Moms Demand Action, for bringing this to our attention.  Did you know that in California, it is a crime for a person to negligently store or leave a loaded firearm in a place where a child is likely to access it.

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond stated in a recent letter, “District and school administrators must help educate parents and guardians about California’s child access prevention laws; it is a crime for a person to negligently store or leave a loaded firearm in a place where a child is likely to access it.”

Child access to guns and actual or potential gun violence is occurring in our immediate community.  In January, a neighboring high school, Las Lomas experienced a lockdown when an at-risk student brought a loaded gun to school with alleged intent to harm himself or others.   An Antioch High School student was shot and killed this year after a school sporting event.    More recently, gun sales amid the Corona virus outbreak have spiked.  According to Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, "This spike in gun sales is deeply concerning, particularly for the millions of children unexpectedly at home with unsecured guns, women sheltering in place with abusers, and anyone struggling economically and psychologically."

The following national, state and regional organizations advocate for education on gun violence prevention:

American Academy of Pediatrics                                 American Federation of Teachers

California Attorney General                                          California Department of Education 

Contra Costa County Probation Dept.                          Contra Costa County Dept of Education

Contra Costa County District Attorney                         National Education Association

National PTA

• Career Girls

Career Girls is founded on the dream that every girl around the world has access to diverse and accomplished women role models — to learn from their experiences and to discover their own path to empowerment. CareerGirls.org is a comprehensive video-based career exploration tool for girls. It’s free to use, and, as important, it's free of ads. They have the largest online collection of career guidance videos focusing exclusively on diverse and accomplished women — over 130 of whom are in STEM fields — and add to it weekly.

Their Epidemiologist Career Page can encourage the next generation of disease detectives. Also, consider sharing their free Career Girls Toolkits with the parents, educators and mentors you know who need help keeping their kids engaged during this social distancing, shelter at home period.

• Crisis Help Lines

Crisis Text Line Text MHA to 741741 and be connected to a trained Crisis Counselor. Crisis Text Line provides free, text-based support 24/7

Disaster Health Helpline Call 1-800-985-5990 or text TalkWithUs to 66746. The Disaster Distress Helpline (DDH) provides crisis counseling and support for anyone in the U.S. experiencing distress or other behavioral health concerns related to any natural or human-caused disaster, including public health emergencies

Teen Line Call (310) 855-4673 or Text TEEN to 839863 to be connected to peers to offer support and education

Trevor Project Call (866) 488 -7386 or text START to 678678. A national 24-hour, toll free confidential suicide hotline for LGBTQ youth