Message from the Superintendent

Dear Colleagues,

Happy New Year and welcome back! I hope you were able to take time off to relax and have an enjoyable holiday. The new year brings a sense of hope and anticipation for what is to come and gain a new resolve to create or reestablish goals that help us chart the course for the next calendar year.

I love this time of year and I always make resolutions I won’t keep. But I am fulfilled by the people I have around me – personally and professionally. I continue to take pride in our hard-working educators and staff, who are the best of what education has to offer. As we start the new year, it is wonderful that we are nearly fully staffed and able to meet our students’ needs.

Later this month, we celebrate the life of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose legacy continues to inspire many to fight for racial equity and to speak out against social injustices. As an agency, we continue to commit to doing equity work and create a culture of belonging.

As we think about how we can affect others, we must not lose sight of ourselves. This month is National Staying Healthy Month. Keep an eye on your inbox for emails from Human Resources sharing health information and links to webinars and resources throughout the year. Some include challenges with prizes from partners.

As we move into the second half of the school year, I want to thank you all for your dedicated hard work. 2023 is off to a wet start which has brought on some challenges. But please drive slow and be safe, and I look forward to a great new year.

In partnership, 

Lynn

Human Resources - Updates

Business Services/Technology Services/General Services - Updates

Special Education Programs

• Thank you to all from East and Far East Programs for your collective effort to raise funds for a deserving family. You raised over $1,200 that goes directly to the family. Your generosity is greatly appreciated! And special thanks to Sarah Buhre and Andi Madsen for seeing this project through!
• Marchus held Winterfest for the first time since the Covid pandemic. The students, staff and guests enjoyed holiday songs from around the world, silly jokes from students, artwork from each classroom was on display, and they learned about various holiday traditions from around the world. Thanks to all the Marchus students, staff, and families for a wonderful Winterfest.
• We are excited to participate in professional development with Heritage, Liberty, O'Hara Park, Mauzy Krey, Turner and Diablo Vista all working together in site or classroom groups. Thank you to Sarah Buhre who facilitated an important discussion this month on Emergency Preparedness.

Court and Community Schools

• The Golden Gate Community School hosted a poetry showcase in collaboration with Movement Be, the Museum of Children’s Arts and the Center for Urban Excellence on December 15 at Golden Gate Pittsburg. The staff, students, and community filled the room and celebrated over 15 student poets that shared their great work.
• In keeping with tradition, Golden Gate Community School Staff celebrated with the students by holding a Pancake Breakfast at each site. This allowed the opportunity for students and staff to eat together and make connections while preparing for winter break.
• The Mt. McKinley team has partnered with the Curriculum and Instruction team to collaborate with improvement science work supporting the multi-tiered reading intervention process and practice. This collaborative work is a great example of how we can start with a task, break it down, examine the data, and adjust to best meet the needs of the students.
• Huge shout out to the Mt. McKinley team for the outstanding efforts to support our Mt. McKinley graduates. While we are excited about the more than a dozen students enrolled in online college courses this year through Los Medanos College and Contra Costa College, we are more excited to report that all of our students passed their college classes with a C or better. This is groundbreaking work is all due the great partnership with Mt. McKinley staff and Probation.

CCAS/ROP

• On December 16, CCC ROP celebrated the students graduating from the Process Plant Operator program. Students completing the 18-week program are ready for an entry level operator job in the petrochemical and related industries. This program is offered at no cost to students through the generous support and partnership of Chevron.
• As the tally continues to grow, we are proud to announce that over 11 adults have earned their diploma this year in the CCAS program. This growing number is due to the ongoing and continued efforts to combat COVID-19 quarantines, class closures and unexpected barriers in the adult facilities.

Tobacco Use Prevention and Education (TUPE)

• TUPE's next countywide family and community engagement event is an interactive virtual workshop on Tuesday, January 24 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. The workshop, presented in partnership with Wellness In Schools Program (WISP), will focus on the intersection between youth mental health, wellness, and tobacco use. There is no cost to attend, although pre-registration is required. Register for the Mental Health & Tobacco Use Workshop.
• In January, TUPE is also partnering with Rainbow Community Center to offer no-cost, virtual Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Inclusive and Expansive Schools trainings for school-based staff. View training options and register to attend. 
• Our CourAGE Youth Health Coalition has launched its 2022-23 Media Contest and this year's topic is "Let's Tackle Tobacco and Vanquish Vaping!" Students in grades 6-12 can enter their original work—video, social media, or drawing/art—for a chance to win a top prize of $200. The deadline for submissions is Friday, February 3. Check out the contest folder for flyers, guidelines and additional resources.

Youth Services

• Welcome Karlynn Scott and Brooke Terry to Youth Services department. Karlynn and Brooke are our newest Administrative Assistants. Karlynn is supporting the Foster Youth Services Coordinating Program (FYSCP) and Brooke is supporting the Workforce Program and YS Empowerment Program.
• The HETAC Team held its second HETAC Regional meeting on December 7, 2022, in Sacramento. A total of 24 COEs attended, the best attendance so far! COEs learned about the Federal Program Monitoring (FPM) process, reviewed the Homeless Education program instrument and heard from the Rainbow Community Center who is hosting a series of trainings as part of our partnership.
• Alejandra Chamberlain, Director, attended the FYSCP Statewide meeting on December 8, 2022. It was a gathering of coordinators from all over the state who serve students in foster care to ensure they stay current with new laws and opportunities such as AB740 and School Stability in Transportation Plans.
• This month, a former foster youth contacted FYSCP to donate items to students in foster care. FYSCP staff connected the donor to the AUSD Foster Youth District liaison who will be distributing the items to students.
• Last month, the EHCY Education liaison distributed 200 pairs of shoes and 40 duffle bags to LEAs countywide. For the month of December, the COE Homeless Education Liaison and the District Liaisons have been hard at work distributing the items to children and youth.

WISP

• WISP liaisons are providing tier 1 services across the region, including delivering and organizing trainings for students, educators, school staff, and parents; providing technical assistance to school and district staff to initiate and enhance school mental health services.
• The program has continued to build capacity for school mental health services in the county by facilitating learning spaces for sharing knowledge and experiences in administering school mental health services and meeting with representatives of schools, districts, and community-based organizations that provide direct services. WISP will coordinate four sessions of School-Based Mental Health Collaborative meeting for the 2022-23 academic year. In November, the meeting incorporated presentations from school staff at sites with effective mental health wellness centers and liaisons facilitated breakout room discussions for sharing learnings and ideas for implementing similar models at other sites. The next School-Based Mental Health Collaborative meeting will be held virtually on January 12.

Administrative Leadership Program

Clear Administrative Credential Program (CACP) Updates

• Registration for the CACP’s Winter 2022-24 Cohort is open now through January 31.
• We will be celebrating with eight candidates at the end of January. They will be completing their induction experience and will be recommended for their clear administrative services credential.

Preliminary Administrative Services Credential (PASC) Program Updates

• On January 10, district HR leaders Denise Rugani from Liberty Union High School District and Brian Inglesby from Orinda Union School District, will facilitate a workshop for our cohort on how to submit their best application for an administrative position, and share tips and tricks on a well-written and put together cover letter, resume and EdJoin application.
• On January 28, we will celebrate our first cohort of 33 aspiring administrators and their completion of the credential program. At the symposium, they will present a poster session, participate in mock interviews, and be recognized for their accomplishment.
• Our second cohort of 34 candidates begins on Feb. 3, 2023.

California Preschool Instructional Network

• Registration is now open for our relaunched professional development series called, “Nuggets at Naptime.” These sessions are held during the duty day for teachers to attend while their children are resting. It is yet another way CPIN strategizes to meet different PD needs of the region. You can view registration information here. Nuggets at Naptime is in collaboration with CPIN Region 5 this year. Region 5 serves Santa Clara, San Benito, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties and is housed at the Santa Clara County Office of Education.
• Our January-June 2023 Professional Development Padlet is nearing completion and will be released by the end of December outlining a variety of training opportunities throughout the rest of the year.

Charter Oversight

• Charter Oversight is now scheduling annual oversight visits with all CCCBOE authorized charters and organizing the process for pre-visit document submission and self-evaluations. This authorizer obligation includes visiting the school site, meeting with charter leadership and other education partners, and generally assessing the charter performance and progress.
• Charter Oversight concluded the work with the CCCBOE authorized charters on annual LCAP presentations at the December CCCBOE Board meeting. These presentations have provided each charter team an opportunity to apprise the CCCBOE of their performance and progress especially as it pertains to the latest LCAP.
• Charter Oversight is putting together a list of spring semester charter site visit opportunities for the CCCBOE Trustees. These occur a few times a year and offer a chance for the CCCBOE to see the charter school programs and operations in person.
• Finally, Charter Oversight continues to monitor the annual compliance calendar for our authorized charters, as well as prepare regular updates for the CCCBOE meetings.

Curriculum and Instruction

• Steve Bateman and Christen Northrop hosted a week of virtual trainings and events in celebration of Computer Science Education Week. These events were completed as part of our Education Workforce Development Grant (EWIG) and were designed to encourage students, families and teachers to equitably explore Computer Science.
• Erin Roberts and Michelle Kerwin hosted Project ARISE’s first partner meeting as a first step of the statewide Reading Instruction and Intervention (RII) grant. Partners included Glenn COE, San Diego COE, UCSF, Turnaround for Children, TNTP, CDE and more. The literacy team is excited to hit the ground running on RII in the new year!
• Curriculum Council met for the third time this year in early December. The agenda focused on preparing for the 2022 California Dashboard release and provided an opportunity for participants to preview LEA data, anticipate questions that would be asked by community partners, and make connections to their future LCAP updates. The 2022 California Dashboard was released to the public approximately one week later.

District and School Support

• The DA-CSI Network meeting on December 9 was focused on diving into the 2021-22 student absenteeism data that was just released. We are continuing to work with districts and schools to impact student outcomes using foundations of improvement science.
• Individual check-in meetings with each of the districts eligible for Level 2 Differentiated Assistance were held to offer support, guidance, and plan next steps.
• We are preparing for the supporting districts based on the 2022 CA Dashboard data, especially newly eligible districts and schools for DA and CSI.

English Learner Support

• The Multilingual Learner Leadership Network (MLLN) hosted a two-week ELD Instructional Materials Preview. District teams had the opportunity to preview the ELD instructional materials from eight different publishers all in one space and engaged in lively curricular conversations with colleagues.
• In support of district and school staff who are new to their role of coordinating English learner programs and multilingual learner services, we continue to host monthly meetings and office hours specific to this group of district leaders. The most recent session focused on the topic of Title III program and services and provided technical assistance to attendees.

Social Emotional Learning

• The California Integrated Supports Project informational webinar will be held January 10 at 9:30 a.m. The goal is to integrate SEL, Culturally Sustaining Practices and Trauma Screening into MTSS. Information to register can be found here.
• 100+ educators are enrolled in the “Onward” book study to build Adult SEL and resiliency. The last session focused on “Tell Empowering Stories” and “Build Community.”

Teacher Induction

• Monthly collaboration with the TIP Leadership Team 
• Connecting and providing Professional Learning pathways for 211 mentors:
• New Mentor Academy:
• Developing an Inquiry Action Plan
• Art & Science of Mentoring:
• Focus: Structure Conversations
• Experienced Mentor:
• Sustaining and Expanding Practice
• Differentiated Breakout theme based on group and coaching practice focused on Equity in Coaching



• The 42nd-Annual Contra Costa County High School Mock Trials begins at the end of this month. The program is back at the County Courthouse in Martinez after two years going virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Volunteers are still needed for scoring and judging purposes. Nearly 80 lawyers, law students and judges have volunteered in the past. If you know anyone in the law profession who may want to volunteer, more information is available on the communications page.
• As always, if you have a program, award, project, or event that would make a great story, please contact the Communications Department at communications@cccoe.k12.ca.us.