Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Wren Arts Magnet art show, complete with book fair and cotton candy machine.  Such fun and great parent attendance.  Thank you MDUSD Education Foundation for funding schoolwide Art in Action!  Mr Young here said he would not have attempted this bird art project if it weren't for Art in Action guidance and training.

And thank you Shore Acres for inviting me out to Thrilling Thursday fun runs last week!  What a wonderful way to get in shape and get the wiggles out before school to be ready to learn.  Ms Bever's class was buzzing with math epiphanies afterwards!

Here are a few highlights of events you can attend and actions you can take in MDUSD right now: 

• Transfers
• College Fair
• Giving to HOPE
• Trustee Area Maps

It's Transfer Request Time for Grades 6-12!

Are you considering schools other than your currently assigned school for middle or high?  If so, now's the time to visit schools to make an informed decision, and turn in your application to request a transfer if desired.  Find the online application and details here.  Due Nov 15th!

Did you know about the Career Pathways available in Mt Diablo schools?  Take a look at all the various industry sectors and community partners throughout our district schools here. Students or parents can click on Health Science, Engineering, Transportation, Education, Computer Science, Culinary or Digital Media, and see which schools offer those pathways.

Are you a business owner or leader who would like to connect students to internships, relevant industry projects, or career exploration?  You can join the Mt Diablo Business Alliance - see details here. Their next meeting is on Dec 2nd, 4pm at College Park High School!

College Fair Thursday Oct 24th, 6:30-8pm

It's never too early to plan for college.  Stop by Ygnacio Valley High tomorrow night (Thursday) to the districtwide college fair, meet reps from many different schools, and find out how to make a plan! Details here.

Giving Season - How You Can Donate to the 2019 HOPE Holiday Gift Card Drive

Mt. Diablo Unified School District is committed to making sure that all students arrive at school ready and able to learn. To supplement services, our Homeless Outreach Program for Education (HOPE) is requesting donations for our holiday program to support our homeless
students in the School District.  Please forward and share!

El Distrito Escolar Unificado Mt. Diablo está comprometido a garantizar que todos los estudiantes lleguen a la escuela preparados y disponibles para aprender. Para complementar nuestros servicios, nuestro Programa de Educación y Asistencia para Personas sin Hogar (HOPE) está solicitando donaciones durante la época de días festivos para apoyar a nuestros estudiantes sin hogar en el Distrito Escolar. 

Board meeting Monday Oct 28th

Our next school board meeting is Monday Oct 28th, 7pm at Dent Center at 1936 Carlotta Drive, Concord.  See agenda here once it is posted. You can attend in person, or to watch from home go to https://mdusd.org/agendasminutes to watch the video of any meeting live or recorded.

Agenda will include:

Final Public Hearing on By Trustee Area Election Process

At the September 23 and Oct 14 School Board meetings, public hearings were held on by trustee area scenarios.   See all maps & FAQs at https://mdusd.org/boardelections

1. The board decided to remove three of the maps from consideration: red, green, blue
2. The board would now like to hear community input on the remaining 3 draft maps: pink, purple, purpleA.
3. The board is now exploring additional options of the order of elections. That means it is possible that different areas will be chosen for the 2020 election than what has so far been designated on the draft maps. 

Current draft maps (pink, purple, purpleA) show Areas 3 & 5 with elections in 2020, because all three other areas have current trustees whose terms do not end until 2022.  This ensures that all 5 areas will have representation on the board starting in 2020.

However, technically the board could choose different areas. See "Election Sequencing Selection" "Selección de Secuencia de Elecciones" district news for details on the options.

Please share your perspective as a parent, student, staff or community member to inform the board decisions! 

Tell us which map is your favorite and which 2 areas you think should be up for election in 2020 and why.  Here’s how:

• to speak to the Board in person, attend the final Public Hearing at Board meeting October 28, 2019 or
• to submit your thoughts online anytime (in English or any language) click on https://mdusd.org/feedbacksurvey 

I hope to see you out and about!

Sincerely,

p.s. are you receiving the Friday letter from our Superintendent Dr Martinez?  If not, email [email protected] and they'll add you to the list. or follow @MDUSD on Facebook or Twitter to see them.

PG&E Power Outages Over

Thank you to all who helped in planning and communicating about potential power outages in MDUSD!  In the end only one school was affected, stayed open, and handled it smoothly.  It's great to see everyone come together to ensure safety preparedness for all students and staff!

Board meeting Monday Oct 14th

Our next school board meeting is Monday Oct 14th, 7pm at Dent Center at 1936 Carlotta Drive, Concord.  See agenda here.  You can attend in person, or to watch from home go to https://mdusd.org/agendasminutes to watch the video of any meeting live or afterwards.

Key agenda items include:

• State and Local Indicator Presentation 
• Public Hearing on By Trustee Area election process

State and Local Indicator Presentation

Click here for the slides.  Staff will report on the results of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) assessments administered in the spring and the local district indicators which must be submitted by November 1, 2019.

MDUSD website also lists CAASPP resources for parents in various languages, including free resources to navigate parent teacher conferences and help your child succeed: https://mdusd.org/caasppresources 

Here is an additional report from EdSource: http://caaspp.edsource.org/ showing data on CAASPP statewide, by district, or by school.

Public Hearing on By Trustee Area Election Process

At the September 23, 2019 School Board meeting, a public hearing was held on by trustee area scenarios.   See all maps & FAQs at https://mdusd.org/boardelections

1. The board decided to remove three of the maps from consideration: red, green, blue
2. The board would now like to hear community input on the remaining 3 draft maps: pink, purple, purpleA.
3. The board is now exploring additional options of the order of elections. That means it is possible that different areas will be chosen for the 2020 election than what has so far been designated on the draft maps. 

Current draft maps (pink, purple, purpleA) show Areas 3 & 5 with elections in 2020, because all three other areas have current trustees whose terms do not end until 2022.  This ensures that all 5 areas will have representation on the board starting in 2020.

However, technically the board could choose different areas, and a majority of the Board asked on Sept 23^rd to hear all of the options. See "Election Sequencing Selection" "Selección de Secuencia de Elecciones" district news for details on the options.

Please share your perspective as a parent, student, staff or community member to inform the board decisions! 

Tell us which map is your favorite and which 2 areas you think should be up for election in 2020 and why.  Here’s how:

• to speak to the Board in person, attend Public Hearings at Board meetings on October 14 or October 28, 2019 or
• to submit your thoughts online anytime (in English or any language) click on https://mdusd.org/feedbacksurvey 

Enjoy your weekend!

Sincerely,

PG&E Power Outages

As of Oct 8th, 11pm...

All Mt. Diablo Schools are Currently Open -click for more details-

Todas las Escuelas de Mt. Diablo están abiertas actualmente -haga clic aquí para más detalles-

The District will continue to monitor the events, and will provide updated information to the community should there be any need to close schools, or modify school schedules. We believe that keeping schools open provides a safe place for students to be.

Update on By Trustee Area Mapping

At the September 23, 2019 School Board meeting, public hearing #3 was held on by area trustee elections.   See all maps & FAQs at https://mdusd.org/boardelections

1. The board decided to remove three of the maps from consideration: red, green, blue
2. The board would now like to hear community input on the remaining 3 draft maps: pink, purple, purpleA.
3. The board is now exploring additional options of the order of elections. That means it is possible that different areas will be chosen for the 2020 election than what has so far been designated on the draft maps. 

    

   Current draft maps (pink, purple, purpleA) show Areas 3 & 5 with elections in 2020, because all three other areas have current trustees whose terms do not end until 2022.  This ensures that all 5 areas will have representation on the board starting in 2020.

   However, technically the board could choose different areas, and a majority of the Board asked on Sept 23^rd to hear all of the options. See "Election Sequencing Selection" "Selección de Secuencia de Elecciones" district news for details on the options.

Please share your perspective as a parent, student, staff or community member to inform the board decisions! 

Tell us which map is your favorite and which 2 areas you think should be up for election in 2020 and why.  Here’s how:

• attend Public Hearing #4 October 14, 2019, or Public Hearing #5 October 28, 2019 to speak to the board in person, or
• click on https://mdusd.org/feedbacksurvey anytime to submit your thoughts online in English or en español.

Sincerely,

p.s. thanks to all who walked/ran the Break a Sweat for Education race!  It was so uplifting to see so many of you from all different schools & communities join in healthy exercise together to raise funds for the MDUSD Education Foundation and Yours Humanly!

Did you read about our Superintendent in the news?

And here are a few upcoming opportunities to get involved:

1. Sat Sept 21st - Free fingerprinting 
2. Monday Sept 23rd - Hearing for By-Area Trustee Elections
3. Tuesday Sept 24th - Achievement Gap Town Hall
4. Register now for the Oct 5th Break a Sweat Run for Education!

Sat Sept 21st - Free Fingerprinting for parents at Cambridge Elementary School

10am-1pm.  This is for parents in:

• Bay Point – Shore Acres, Rio Vista, Bel Air
• Concord – Cambridge, Fair Oaks, Meadow Homes, Ygnacio Valley Elementary

Parents receive fingerprinting, Live Scan background check, and Tuberculosis screening at no charge. A great way to get set up to volunteer this year!

Mon Sept 23rd - Public Hearing for By-Area Trustee Elections

This Monday night, 7pm, there will be a public hearing for by-area trustee elections held during the regular school board meeting.  This process is moving forward to ensure our district complies with the CVRA.  Please give your input!

The goal of the CVRA (CA Voting Rights Act) is to create more opportunities for those who have been under-represented to have a voice in the system.  The law says each of the areas must be near equal in total population (<10% difference).  It also says that we must look at the Voting Age Population numbers to create as many areas as possible with a majority of underrepresented voters.  Lastly, it says that all incumbents serve out their current terms, and then the order of area elections should prioritize the majority underrepresented areas.

Based on community input, three more maps were designed (pink, purple, purpleA). See maps and details at https://mdusd.org/boardelections

Click on each map. 

• Which map do you think provides the best opportunity for minority representation? 
• Within that map, which areas do you think should be up for election in 2020 vs 2022?
• Click the online feedback form in English or Spanish to give us your thoughts!  Or speak at a public hearing:

Monday, September 23, 2019 Public Hearing

Mt. Diablo Unified School District Offices/Board Room, 7pm, 1936 Carlotta Dr., Concord, 94519. Third public hearing. See agenda here: https://mdusd.org/agendasminutes

Monday, October 14, 2019 Public Hearing

Mt. Diablo Unified School District Offices/Board Room, 7pm, 1936 Carlotta Dr., Concord, 94519

This will be the fourth formal Public Hearing to solicit public input on draft maps of trustee areas and proposed sequence of elections. The meeting will include resolutions to adopt the trustee-area maps and proposed sequence of elections.

Click here for printable flyer in English y Espanol

Want more wonky details? Read this ACLU guide about CVRA.

Tues Sept 24th - Closing the Achievement Gap Town Hall

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond would like education partners to share how the California Department of Education (CDE) can best assist them in working to close the persistent achievement/opportunity gap. Click here for details.

Date: Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Time: 3:30 to 5:00 p.m.

Interactive Virtual Town Hall: Various County Office of Education locations and livestream

Register now for the Oct 5th Break a Sweat for Education walk/run to benefit MDUSD!

The Yours Humanly annual "Break a Sweat For Education" 5K fundraiser benefits Mt Diablo students - and there's still time to register now to join the MDUSD Education Foundation team and be a part of the fun!

To sign up, go to: http://bit.ly/MDEDFTeam2019

On the right side, click "Join Team" to register.

Can't make it that day, but want to help support STEAM opportunities in our schools? Simply click Donate on that Team Page.

The 5K Run & Walk is open to all ages (strollers too!) and the Kids Fun Run is free for participants 10 and under.

Hope to see you there! 

Sincerely,