Ms. Berger has a DonorsChoose campaign up with donation matches from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation!

Teachers and students need someone who knows how to enter their world- meet them at their level- to help them be the best learner possible. Educators and students at my school need to create roadmaps that best support their learning. This three-day conference will provide me with invaluable strategies and hands on practice I will take back to better coach my school community.

Empathy is an essential coaching practice if everyone is to have equal opportunities to grow.

Effective coaches use different lenses to allow them to dig deeperand identify ways to develop a school culture that meets everyone's needs. This conference will allow me to deepen and practice questioning and coaching strategies that help scaffold ways every teacher and student can uniquely drive their learning to better support the collective goals of the school community. The knowledge I learn will allow me to help countless teachers and students increase their self-awareness and peer to peer empathy by providing them with custom strategies. Thank you for considering my project.

Dear Santa Clara Unified families,

To address rumors and clarify the status of the district’s process in investigating current sexual harassment allegations, the district is confirming that Santa Clara High School social studies teacher Dominic Caserta has been placed on administrative leave with pay, pending the outcome of an investigation by an independent investigator.

 “We are aware of our community’s questions and concerns, and we take student and staff safety very seriously,” said Dr. Stan Rose, Superintendent. “We have been challenged to immediately and directly respond to these questions and concerns due to confidentiality and due process laws and policies which apply to all of our certificated employees,” he continued.  
 
“We are appalled and disappointed with these allegations,” said Dr. Rose. “We are committed to ensuring that each allegation is thoroughly investigated. We take each and every claim seriously,” he continued.
 
The district is also reviewing its sexual harassment reporting process for students and staff, ensuring that the process is widely available and accessible, has established wellness coordinators at each of its school sites, and is appointing the Stand Up and Stop Sexual Harassment Task Force to identify areas of improvement of harassment reporting, processes and education for the District community, as well as ways to engage stakeholders in developing solutions around harassment. The school site wellness coordinators are licensed counselors or social workers who provide students with support and guidance when facing any types of challenges, including sexual harassment.
 
“We want to assure our community that the safety of our students and employees is our highest priority and that we will thoroughly investigate any and all sexual harassment complaints,” said Dr. Rose. “We encourage students and staff who have sexual harassment concerns to talk to a trusted adult, their school’s wellness coordinator, another teacher, supervisor, or they may contact Andrew Lucia, Assistant Superintendent, School Support and District Development at (408) 423-2008 or alucia@scusd.net.”
 
The district will also continue to keep students, parents and the community apprised of ways in which the district will continue to strengthen our approaches to recognizing, responding to, and reporting sexual harassment. You can find additional resources regarding sexual assault and harassment at the District website. 
 
Sincerely,

Santa Clara Unified School District

Dear Santa Clara Unified families,

Superintendent Dr. Stanley Rose announced today that the District will begin to implement several steps to inform and educate students and staff on recognizing, responding to and reporting all forms of harassment in order to create safer and more supportive learning and working environments. These actions will include appointing a harassment task force, streamlining and simplifying harassment reporting processes, and educating and training District staff, students, and their parents.

“Santa Clara Unified School District does not condone the mistreatment of our students, past or present,” said Dr. Stanley Rose, Superintendent. “We hold our employees to the highest professional standards and conduct. Our district strives to protect our students in every way possible — from campus security to bullying prevention and mental health services — and every representative of our district is responsible for ensuring safe school climates,” he continued.

Santa Clara Unified School District’s commitment is “Rising Above in Silicon Valley!” The District applies this commitment to its educational programs and facilities by seeking innovative ways that students can be educated and prepared beyond basic subjects and to be leaders in Silicon Valley. “We know that rising above means doing all we can to increase ways that our students and employees are safe from all forms of harassment, including sexual harassment, at school and in the workplace,” explained Rose. “We are also subject to federal and state laws for processing complaints and dealing with matters of discipline to assure that the rights of all are respected.”

In the coming weeks before the summer break, the District will begin to implement the following steps:

Step 1: Appoint the Step Up and Stop Harassment Task Force

The Step Up and Stop Harassment task force will consist of teachers and certificated staff, students, parents, classified staff, and administrative staff representatives who will identify areas of improvement of harassment reporting, processes and education for the District community, as well as ways to engage stakeholders in dialogues and forming solutions around harassment. Additional announcements about this task force will be made in the near future.

Step 2: Streamline and Simplify Harassment Reporting Processes

Based on task force recommendations and best practices, the District will begin to implement streamlined and simplified harassment reporting processes that will increase the timeliness of referrals to District and local law enforcement representatives and protection for victims.

Step 3: Expanded Training and Education of Staff, Students, and Parents

First, the District has established Resources for Parents on Sexual Harassment and Assault to provide parents information and resources on sexual assault and harassment and tips how to discuss harassment with their child. The District acknowledges that its families come from a variety of cultures, beliefs and values systems, and encourage parents to discuss these topics in a way that works best for their family.

Next, the District will provide expanded harassment training beyond its annual sexual harassment training so that District staff can recognize, respond to, and report harassment through the proper channels in a timely manner. This training will also facilitate increased support for students reporting sexual harassment.

In addition, at the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year, parents and students of all grade levels will receive expanded age-appropriate education programs and resources on how to recognize, respond to, and report harassment to their parents or a trusted SCUSD employee.

Santa Clara Unified School District will continue to seek ways to increase the safety of its schools so that the entire District community can help students continue to rise above in Silicon Valley.

If you have any additional questions, please contact Andrew Lucia, Assistant Superintendent, School Support and District Development at (408) 423-2008 or alucia@scusd.net.

Sincerely,

Santa Clara Unified School District

Reminders

May 15th - STEAM Expo 6:00-8:00pm

May 28th - Memorial Day - No School

June 1st- Early Dismissal 1:37pm

June 7th- Early Dismissal 1:37pm

June 8th- Last day of school - Early Dismissal 12:30pm

Reader’s Workshop: In Reader’s Workshop, students have been asking questions about poems like, “Why did the poet write this poem? Where did the poet get the inspiration for this poem?” Students have also had discussion about why they like certain poems. They are asking themselves questions like, “Do I like the way the poem sounds? Do I like the feeling of the poem?”

Writer’s Workshop: In Writer’s Workshop, students learned about odes, which are poems of praise. We read several different odes and students began writing one. Students chose from a habitat they are learning about and created an ode. Finally, they published their first poem.

Math Workshop: In Math Workshop, students have been learning about money. We have talked about all of the coins and what they are worth. Students counted different groupings of coins to figure out their totals.

Habitat Preservation PBL: Our conservationists began brainstorming different ways to preserve the habitats they chose. In their teams, they are now coming up with a script for the media portion of their PBL. They will use their script to help guide their Green Screens, Chatterpix, or documentaries.

Alum Rock Park: Our 2nd graders had a wonderful time exploring Alum Rock Park. Many students had never been there before. They enjoyed hiking among the oak trees and observing nature. In our YSI presentation, students observed, touched, and learned about different animals and their adaptations. We had an awesome time!

Central Park students interested in competing in VexIQ Robotics for the 2018-19 season can start forming teams and building their robot now. The new challenge, "VexIQ Next Level" is already out.