I was excited to get my kids both vaccinated last week when it opened to ages 12+. Did you know we’re offering the vaccine now at school sites? This week Tuesday-Saturday, 8am-3pm it is at Ygnacio Valley High, free and open to anyone 12+ with no appointment needed. Details and flyers linked below.

Last week I also had the pleasure of visiting Horizons and Prospect High school to congratulate Teacher of the Year Libby McDonough. Principal Brennan showed me around, explaining the nuances between the various alternative education offerings. These are crucial for MDUSD parents and students to know about when they are seeking flexible, personalized learning options.  I’ve summarized some of them below.

Read on for:

1. School Board meeting May 26th - in person
2. COVID vaccines at MDUSD schools for everyone 12+
3. Superintendent’s Friday letter 
   • Student School Board member applications
   • New summer meals schedule & flyers
4. Alternative Education options

School Board Meeting May 26th - in person

This week’s board meeting will again be fully in person, and held next door to district headquarters at Monte Gardens Elementary school (3841 Larkspur Dr, Concord, CA 94519). The public is welcome, following all COVID safety protocols including distancing and required masks.  The open meeting will begin at 6pm.  Members of the public may submit a card to comment.

Alternatively, there are still distanced options: the public may view the livestream video and/or may submit a public comment via email to [email protected] . 

Find the agenda and viewing/participation information here: https://mdusd.org/boardmeetings

Recognitions/resolutions on the agenda include:

• Recognition of Foothill Middle School as a CA Distinguished School
• Resolution Recognizing June as LGBTQ+ PRIDE month
• Resolution Recognizing May as Jewish American Heritage month

Key business items on this agenda include:

• One Time Employee Stipend
• Third Interim Financial Update
• Public Hearing of contract for HVAC Upgrades to Northgate High School
• ELO - Extended Learning Opportunity grant application
• Summer School revised compensation rate

COVID Vaccines at MDUSD schools

COVID-19 vaccine is now available for anyone who is 12 or older, and to help our families find a convenient vaccination opportunity, Concord High School, Ygnacio Valley High School and Mt. Diablo High School are hosting a no-cost clinic.  See the dates and times below.

Everyone is welcome, including students who are 12 or older, family members and members of the community.

La vacuna contra el COVID-19 está disponible para cualquier persona de 12 años de edad o mayor. Para ofrecer a nuestras familias la oportunidad de vacunarse, Concord High School, Ygnacio Valley High School y Mt. Diablo High School estará realizando una clínica de vacunación sin costo.  Vea las fechas y horas a continuación.

Todos son bienvenidos, incluyendo a los estudiantes de 12 años de edad o mayores, los miembros de sus familias y los integrantes de la comunidad. 

Find more school flyers, forms and more in Dr Clark’s May 14th Friday letter here.

Superintendent's Friday letter

Click here to read Dr Clark’s May 21st letter, full of information including: 

• Garden plant giveaway success
• Foothill Middle School recognized as CA Distinguished School
• Student School Board member applications
  • 10th or 11th grade students in MDUSD - check with your school for the application form and email our current student board member, Michelle Alas, with any questions at [email protected]
  • 
• New meal distribution schedule
  • FOOD & NUTRITION SERVICES - Curbside Meal Distribution and Bus Meal Distribution will end on Wednesday, June 2, 2021 except for Foothill Middle School and Valley View Middle School which will end on Tuesday, June 1, 2021. All Curbside Meal Distribution Centers will be closed on Friday, June 4, 2021. The following Curbside Meal Distribution Centers will reopen on Monday, June 7, 2021. Here are the flyers in Spanish and English

Alternative Education Options

Are you considering Independent Study or an alternative education option?  

Here are some key schools/programs that might interest you. These are all well established programs in Mt Diablo Unified School district that continue to be available for the coming school year.

1. Independent Study at Horizons - This is an option for grades 9-12. Here is an Independent Study FAQ from Horizons that answers a lot of questions I’ve heard lately, and feel free to call the school office to discuss further. 
2. Horizons Home study is a program within our district for grades TK-8 as well. They provide an entire library chock full of curricula and hands-on experiences, as well as a supportive network of other Home Study families to connect with.
   •    
3. Prospect High School, located in Pleasant Hill, is “an alternative high school focused on small class sizes, close interaction with teachers and staff, and credit recovery. We welcome all students who may perform well in a smaller high school environment or need to make up credits in order to graduate.”
4. Gateway High School is the Bay Point campus of Horizons, providing alternative options for students in that community.
5. Olympic High School is located in Concord. Their purpose is “to meet the needs of students who, for a variety of reasons, are not on track to graduate from high school. Teachers and staff use standards-based instruction, best practices, and data informed decision making to help each student get on track toward graduating from Olympic High School, graduating from her/his comprehensive high school, or passing the GED.”  
6. Crossroads High School is located in Concord, and is a necessary small high school that serves pregnant and parenting teens and their children. They provide an alternative academic program aimed at high school graduation and beyond. 
7. College Now, housed at Diablo Valley College, is a two year program for 11th & 12th grade students. (Tenth graders normally apply by February, so this is something to plan ahead for and discuss with your counselor.) College Now students take a block of three high school courses taught by MDUSD teachers, and they take the rest of their courses at DVC with other community college students.  They earn both high school and college credit for those DVC classes.

I look forward to seeing many of you at various MDUSD graduation ceremonies in the coming week!

May is the time to thank and recognize all our MDUSD teachers and staff for their hard work.  A special congratulations to all the nominees and winners of the MDEA Academy Awards on May 6th! The evening included a touching recognition of the Lifetime Achievement of Jesse Forsland from Olympic High, and recognized excellent talent from Classified Employee Connie Krawesky at Ayers Elementary, to student Seena Fahardi’s startup volunteer organization LEAP MDUSD that matched students tutors with homeless & foster youth who needed extra academic help.  Plus they gave the first ever Social Justice Award to Patricia Hamachi at ShoreAcres Elementary. See all nominees & winners below.

Don’t forget Classified Employees Week is just around the corner on May 16th-22nd!

Read on for:

1. School Board meeting May 12th - in person
2. Superintendent’s Friday letter 
   • Ask the CBO - call to action
3. Nominate a student leader
4. Congratulations MDEA Academy Awards Winners

School Board Meeting May 12th - in person

This week’s board meeting will be fully in person, and held next door to district headquarters at Monte Gardens Elementary school to provide plenty of space (3841 Larkspur Dr, Concord, CA 94519). The public may participate in person, following all COVID safety protocols including distancing and required masks.  The open meeting will begin at 6pm.  Members of the public may submit a card to comment, as has always been the case at our in-person board meetings. 

Alternatively, there are still distanced options: the public may view the livestream video and/or may submit a public comment via email to [email protected] . Staff is also working to add in a phone-in option for public comment as well.

Find the agenda and viewing/participation information here: https://mdusd.org/boardmeetings

Key items on this agenda include:

• California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) report
• Healthcare Careers Pathway (Certified CNA Workforce Development) Program
• Fall 2021 update
• One Time Stipend for Current Employees
• Public Hearing and Adoption of the Mt. Diablo Unified School District Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA)

Superintendent's Friday letter

Click here to read Dr Clark’s May 7th letter, full of information including: 

• Congratulations Walnut Acres Odyssey of the Mind Team on winning state finals and heading to virtual world finals!
• Register for tonight’s Teens & Tweens Mental Health webinar at https://mdusd.org/mental-health
• Ask the CBO - a call to action to halt unemployment insurance increases

Nominate a Student Leader

Ed100 is hosting a summer Academy for Student Leaders - and it’s free!  

Can you share this out to and/or nominate students from Mt Diablo High, Ygnacio Valley High, Olympic and Horizons? Their chart shows that there are students registered so far from College Park, Northgate, and Concord High. Let’s get reps from every school!

https://ed100.org/blog/student-leader-academy

Congratulations to MDEA Academy Award Winners

This celebration was a showcase of all of the fabulous work that dedicated community members are doing all over our district. Congratulations to all!  Please see the list of nominees and finalists:  2021 MDEA Academy Award Nominees

And the winners are…

• Lifetime Achievement - Jesse Forsland
• Community Involvement - Angela Bever
• Creative Curriculum - Al Douex
• Leadership & Courage - Hilary Garcia
• Most Inspirational - Alexandra Kirberg
• Outstanding Administrator - Marga Marshall
• Outstanding Classified Employee - Connie Krawesky
• Outstanding Parent Volunteer - Kathryn Durham-Hammer
• Outstanding Volunteer Organization - Learning Enrichment and Assistance Program (LEAP MDUSD, founded by student Seena Farhadi) - https://leapmdusd.org/
• Outstanding Collaborating Team - Mt. Diablo High School Counseling Department
• Outstanding Collaborating Team - Mt. Diablo High School Math Department
• Social Justice - Patricia Hamachi

They also recognized this year's MDUSD Teachers of the Year: Libby McDonagh and Chelsea Ridenour.

You can view a recording of the event here. 

It's time to celebrate! The Mt. Diablo Teacher of the Year sought nominations of outstanding educators from transitional kindergarten through grade 12 and adult education to be represented as the MDUSD Teacher of the Year.  Over 60 teachers were nominated, and the five finalists were: 

• David Hunter from Bridge, 
• Jim Keck from College Park, 
• Chelsea Ridenour from Diablo View, 
• Elizabeth McDonagh from Prospect High, and 
• Elisa Mendoza from Sequoia Middle.  

The two teachers selected to represent Mt. Diablo in the County Teacher of the Year competition are Chelsea Ridenour and Elisa McDonagh.

I had the pleasure of visiting Diablo View Middle School yesterday to present Ms Ridenour her certificate in person!  It was a beautiful day to see students engaged in hands-on learning all over campus, indoors and out, amidst the beats and improvisations of band practice tunes.

Don’t miss the MDEA Academy Awards zoom event May 6th, to celebrate excellent teachers, staff, parents and administrators throughout our district! Details below.

Read on for:

1. School Board meeting tonight April 28th
2. Superintendent’s Friday letter 
3. MDEA Academy Awards May 6th
4. Vaccination Walk In Clinics
5. Free Summer Education Academy for Student Leaders
6. Accelerating Learning as we Build Back Better

School Board Meeting Tonight April 28th

Find the agenda here, along with information about how to watch the live broadcast as well as how to submit public comments.  Key items on the agenda include:

• Teacher of the Year Recognition
• Classified School Employees Week May 16-22nd
• Enrollment and Demographic Report from Davis Demographics
• Update from Superintendent on Fall 2021
• Potential Approval of Increase to Substitute Teacher Daily Rate

Superintendent's Friday letter

Click here to read Dr Clark’s April 23rd letter, full of information including: 

• Fall 2021 Return to School Survey (I’ll also send a recording of last night’s Q&A webinar)
• Mental Health webinars created by MDUSD Counselors in English or Spanish. Watch all past webinars such as “Recognizing When To Get Help Beyond The Home” or register for future topics at https://mdusd.org/mental-health
• Ask the CBO - “How is Staffing Calculated”
• Keep kids safe by securely storing all firearms: see BeSmartforKids.org

MDEA Academy Awards May 6th

You’re invited to this event on Thursday, May 6, 2021, from 6-8pm!

   Click here to watch the awards ceremony

         Meeting number: 145 364 5434

         Password: MDEA20210506

This celebration will be a showcase of all of the fabulous work that dedicated community members are doing all over our district. It will be an engaging opportunity for each of us to look up for a moment from the tasks we focus on each day and see the broader scope and bigger picture of successes across the entire district.  Congratulations to all!  Please see the list of nominees and finalists:  2021 MDEA Academy Award Nominees

Vaccination Walk In Clinics

Our school district has been coordinating with county health to ensure vaccines reach all families.  Here’s exciting news about more accessible vaccines here in Concord and Pittsburg:

1. There’s a new COVID-19 vaccine clinic opening tomorrow at 1034 Oak Grove Road in Concord

• Plus these new walk-in mobile clinics (open from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.):

  • April 26 – May 2: Albert D. Seeno Jr. Pittsburg Youth Development Center: 1001 Stoneman Ave., Pittsburg

  • May 3-6: Meadow Homes Elementary School: 1371 Detroit Ave., Concord 

Free Summer Education Academy for Student Leaders

Ed100 is hosting a summer Academy for Student Leaders - and it’s free!  Please share out and nominate students to attend.

Their chart shows that there are students from Mt. Diablo Unified School District registered so far from College Park, Northgate, and Concord High. Can you share this out to and/or nominate students from Mt Diablo High, Ygnacio Valley High, Olympic and Horizons?

https://ed100.org/blog/student-leader-academy

Accelerating Learning As We Build Back Better 

This article by Linda Darling Hammond is a must read for us all. She says, “If we focus on remediation for “learning loss” we'll go back to the unequal and inadequate pre-COVID education system. Instead, we need to set the norm for a new age that builds on how children really learn, rather than working against it...

It is critically important that we address these concerns based not on outdated notions about remediation, but on what we now know about how people learn effectively.”

Here a key excerpt, and I do recommend reading the entire article for more detail and models of best practices.

“If we really want to support learning, the return to school should not include these staple features of an outdated approach to learning that research has found actually undermine achievement:

• Testing students to label and track them into “high,” “average,” and “low” groups that are segregated by perceived ability — and often by race, class, and language background as well;
• Offering regimented drill and kill remedial instruction in these segregated groups, focused on filling gaps in basic skills in the artificial ways they are assessed on multiple choice tests, which then often causes them to be taught in equally artificial ways;
• “Personalizing” learning by putting students in front of programmed computers for machine-based instruction for long hours at a time — or piles of worksheets that offer the same decontextualized approach to learning;
• Punishing students who disengage or express frustration and despair by excluding them from the classroom or removing “privileges” like recess and library time;
• Placing the neediest students in remedial classes with the least trained and experienced teachers who are least likely to know how to create productive learning environments.

Instead, a supportive school return — both this summer and next fall — will seek to ensure that students:

• Experience warm relationships and social-emotional supports achieved by redesigning schools so that they are relationship-centered, with built-in time for creating community, trust, and belonging among students and with families;
• Engage in outdoor play and exercise, expressive arts, and collaborative activities that support brain development and learning;
• Encounter authentic, culturally responsive learning tasks and inquiry projects connected to their experiences that allow them to understand and positively impact their environment;
• Assess what students need both socially and emotionally as well as academically, address trauma with healing and support, and identify the next steps they are ready to take in their learning rather than labelling them;
• Accelerate learning through additional time and high-quality tutoring rather than tracking. Intensive tutoring, found to be highly effective, both establishes strong relationships and customizes teaching directly to student readiness and needs.”

Please join us for the LCAP Input Meeting tomorrow night!

         On Wednesday, April 21st at 5pm, Mt. Diablo Unified will be hosting a virtual LCAP Input Meeting. 

The Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) must be updated annually, be aligned to eight areas identified as state priorities, and describe the school district's overall vision for students, annual goals and specific actions the district will take to achieve the vision and achievement targets.  This year, in addition to the LCAP, the state is requiring that districts complete several other documents describing how Mt. Diablo Unified will target support for African American students, English learners, foster youth, students experiencing homelessness, students with unique needs, and how we plan on coordinating academic and social emotional support to increase student achievement and success.

         Below is the link to the meeting and Spanish translation will be provided.

         Join Zoom Meeting  

        Meeting ID: 857 0573 9817

        Passcode: 684843

Find MDUSD prior LCAP plans and news at https://www.mdusd.org/lcap/lcapnews

• For parents: here is a handy "what is LCAP" from Ed100: https://ed100.org/blog/lcap-hub . This explains the 8 priority areas that all LCAP plans must cover and much more about how this plan intersects with school site plans and the complexities of state funding.

And if you missed last week's school board meeting, here are the actions we took:

Actions Taken at Last Week's Board Meeting: Fall ReOpening, Intercultural Education, Outdoor Classrooms