California School for the Deaf, Fremont High School team welcomes you to the 2023-2024 academic year!

From left to right. (Back) Clark Brooke, Marissa Cohen, Ty Kovacs, Michael Sidansky, Mark Carney, Scott Swanson, Frank Germinario, Andrew Phillips, William Roberts, and Alan Davary. (Front) Anna Woodbury, Susana Acosta, Emily Sidansky, Sutha Ramanathan, Stacy Eilbert, Jair Portillo, Heather Ainsley, Janele Alarcon, Kristopher Hatch, Molly Christensen, Lorraine Flores, and Samantha Braidi

Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year!

Greetings from the High School team, including High School, Career Technology Education, Career Center, Physical Education, Curriculum Outreach Resources Education (CORE), Athletics, Pupil Personnel Service, and Student Life, are working together as a school to provide top-quality education services and experiences that students deserve in high school. We are thrilled to welcome our students and staff back to school. We invite you to join us on Our Journey to Excellence.

California School for the Deaf is such a special place to learn and grow. We are proud of our school and have high expectations for each and every student. Together with our dedicated staff, we strive to connect with students to help them feel valued, accepted, and safe. We will continue to provide a rigorous, joyful, and inclusive school environment. Our main goal is to encourage active student engagement to foster a lifetime love for learning.

School and Family partnership is crucial to promote a healthy social and emotional transition to school. We recognize that students may feel anxious with the start of a new school year, and we will continue to emphasize social-emotional learning while focusing on building a strong classroom community. We are more than ready to serve our students and their families. We aim to see that they continue to Learn, Experience, and Thrive at CSD.

Each year brings positive change. This includes a few additions to our staff. We are delighted to welcome new staff members:

· Clark Brooke, HS Administrative Principal

· Jimel Brightly Wright, Student Support Liaison

Let’s make it an enriching year!

From left to right. (Back) Stuart Ikeda, Colin Piorowski, David (Jay) Conley, Sinju Engineer, Kevin Bella, James O'Brien, Gabe Leung. (Front) Lacey Kotake, Jeff Mosher, Maureen (MOE) Klusza, Michelle Aguilar, Leah Bornstein, Jason Kulchinsky, and William Raby-Brown

Career Technical Education

The Career Technical Education (CTE) department extends a warm welcome to the CSD’s 2023-2024 school year.

Our CTE courses include Biotechnology, Building Construction, Cabinetry, Millwork, Woodworking, Consumer Services, Culinary Arts, Digital Media, Graphic Design, Manufacturing Technology, Service Learning, Work Experience, and Job Placement Support.

Career Education courses are also offered to high school students to help them prepare for their career interests, create resumes, succeed in job interviews, and more.

The Talon Media and Yearbook courses feature student leadership teams, with teachers supervising to enable students to create student broadcast news program videos and school yearbooks, respectively.

We are confident our high school students will have a fantastic school year!

Career Technical Education Team

Left to right: Jeana Williams (Program Assistant), Bonnie Biser (Real World Teacher), JR Goff (Real World Teacher), Yatika Engineer (Office Technician), Rosalyn Ramos-Barry (Real World Teacher), Vanessa Cristobal (Career Counselor), Frank Lester (Supervisor), Nelly Hencker (Transition Specialist), Marnee Wafer-Hoecker (Department of Rehabilitation Counselor), Shelby Cook, (Job Placement Specialist), Jian Huang (Program Assistant), Amy Eshelman (Real World Coordinator), and Rona Lev (Career Counselor)

Career Center

The Career Center and Transition Services Department at California School for the Deaf (CSD) provides various services to families and students to assist with the transition from high school to adulthood. The department is continuously updating the services and program offerings based on the student’s needs, the labor market, and the results of the annual Graduate Follow-up Study and data shared from the Work Readiness Program.

Letter from Career Center

Greetings CSD Students and Families,

Starting this Fall 2023, several changes will be implemented that will continue the High School Innovation Team (HSIT) vision of a new and improved high school experience that answers the question: "How can we design a High School that meets the diverse needs of our students in preparation for post-secondary options?"

With this in mind, our High School team met and determined that it was necessary to make some changes to our graduation requirements. Changes such as reducing the number of credits from 300 to 270, and adding new courses such as Ethnic Studies, Personal Finance, and Professional Communication.

In the packet that we are sending out, you will find detailed information about CSD's NEW HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA REQUIREMENTS. We look forward to these new changes and how they will positively impact our students. Thank you in advance for your support. Let's embrace the changes and see results!

Sincerely,

CSD High School Team

Announcing the New High School Website

High School students' minds are filled with thousands of questions. Their brains are constantly jingling with geometric equations, obscure factoids about Abraham Lincoln, the process of cellular mitosis, and the quandaries presented by dystopian literature.

However, the daily operation of High School should not present our students and staff with the type of Sisyphean struggle they endure during our classes on a daily basis.

So whenever you are faced with questions such as:

Who works with high school students?

How can we contact them?

What is going on in high school?

How do student leaders know when to schedule their events?

When is the next progress report due? Homecoming game? College visit?

Teachers would like to plan a field trip and need to check to see if any other field trips are planned on the preferred day.

Who are the officers of organizations and clubs? Who are the sponsors?

Where do I find the form I need to fill out?

What about the academic calendar? Bell schedule?

Where is the updated diploma requirement? How do I make a transcript request?

The answers to those questions and more can be found at our new CSD High School Website!

Please bookmark highschool.csdeagles.net and visit the website often.

The website is still a work in progress and will be updated as needed. Please reach out to the webmaster if you see something that is not working or if you have a suggestion to make it better.

Below is the QR Code to the ASL version introducing the new High School website

A Word from Student Life

We are already excited about the 2023-2023 NEST year! Last year, our high school students have achieved so much in the Student Life division. Their contribution to the makeover of the High School Activity Center and the conference room at Cottage 6 was one of the popular topics among students and staff. We are proud of their accomplishments. This year, we are exploring more transformative opportunities for students!

We will continue our Student Life mantra: Nurture Enthusiasm & Solidarity Together (NEST). The purpose of NEST is to provide support and guidance for students’ learning opportunities and maintain a safe space at CSD.

As always, our Student Life staff are committed to maintaining open-door communication. My supervisors and I encourage you to contact your child’s cottage counselor anytime. My supervisors are available to answer any questions you may have about our Student Life division.

Len Gonzales, Ed.S.

Dean of Students

[email protected]

510.344.6200 - VP

Oskar Schugg

Supervisor of Residence Programs: High School & Real World

[email protected]

VP - 510.344.6087

Holly Bullard

Supervisor of Residence Programs: Night Attendants and Leadership/Organizations

[email protected]

VP - 510.344.6094

Noah Kessler

Supervisor of Residence Programs: Day Counselors & and Transportation

[email protected]

VP - 510.344.6221

High School Academic Events

High School International Studies

In the spring of 2024, the International Studies class will travel to Japan for an 11-day educational trip. A total of 24 students are in this group. We are thrilled to make this trip an experience that our students will cherish for years to come.

Since the start of the 2023-2024 school year, the International Studies class has been undergoing a fundraising campaign to raise the funds necessary to send our students to Japan. These fundraising events include working at Levi's Stadium, restaurant fundraisers, and so on. Please be on the lookout for future fundraising events such as Dingo Night and a raffle ticket drawing at Open House in November.

Please support our students as they go around selling candies, chocolates, and other baked goods throughout the year. If you are interested in working for one of several events at Levi's Stadium to support the program, please contact Janele Alarcon at [email protected] to learn more.

Be on the lookout for announcement dates for restaurant fundraising and Dingo Night!

Arigatou,

William Roberts, Co-Teacher

Janele Alarcon, Co-Teacher

Alan Davary, Administrative Support

Volunteering opportunities are available at Levi Stadium to raise funds for our International Studies trip to Japan.

'22-’23 Academic Bowl team:

(from left to right, back row): Zoe Bell, Geneva Brock, Sevan Ikeda, Chang-May Tan

(front row): Andrew Phillips and Emily Sidansky

Academic Bowl

Our Academic Bowl team is preparing for another year of competitions and fun. Our Humanities class supports the team as we study different academic areas in order to build our knowledge.

The teachers give lessons in areas like geography, biology, Shakespeare plays, world history, geometry, and more. We will play in Battle of California in December. Then in February, we will travel to Santa Fe, New Mexico for the West Regional Academic Bowl competition at the New Mexico School for the Deaf. If we do well in the West, we’ll earn a trip to the Nationals in April at Gallaudet University.

Our team has won the last four West Regional Championships and has placed at the Nationals for 4 straight years – Finishing 2nd in 2020, 1st in 2021, 3rd in 2022, and 2nd in 2023.

Andrew Phillips, coach

Emily Sidansky, coach

The Epic First Week Back

NFO Student Leaders (L – R): Juliana Hammons, Aiden Shupe, Zorina Briseno, Patricia Patron Carreon, Jovianna Ikeda, Jasha Brock, Leonardo Hatch, Gabriella Bibb, Jalena Dingel, Jaden Dingel, Juan Berry-Berlinski, Lucas Gough, Marisa Goff, Benjamin Olivas Guerrero, Lelan Gonzales, Sevan Ikeda, Jace Tillotson, and Lionel Gough

The theme for the 2023-2024 academic year is Our Journey to Excellence. The CSD student leaders have begun their journey to become excellent leaders and mentors on campus. It began on a hot Sunday, August 30th, with 18 student leaders landing on the Eagle's nest to support the New Family Orientation (NFO). The orientation was an event for our new students and families.

Their young eaglet wings were busy setting up the NFO event, guiding new students and families to the High School Activity Center for registration, welcoming and chatting with the incoming eaglets during the BBQ luncheon, assisting with arts & crafts, and more. During the student panel, the student leaders impart a few words of well-earned wisdom and insights to the new students. By the end of NFO, all the eagles and eaglets learned all they needed to know to start their journey in our little nest.

-Daniel Girard

Student Panel during the New Family Orientation: Our moderator, Gabriella Bibb, facilitated the student panel in the Klopping Theater. During the panel, our six student leaders shared their stories, experiences, and involvements at CSD. They provided advice for new students and families as they begin their journey at CSD.

Student Panel participants (L – R):

Sevan Ikeda (Junior), Student Body Government President

Gabriella Bibb (Junior), Student Body Government Secretary

Jalena Dingel (Freshman), Class of 2027 Representative

Zorina Briseno (Senior), Raza de Sordx Club President

Patricia Patron Carreon (Senior), Raza de Sordx Club Vice President

Aiden Shupe (Sophomore), Foothills Athletic Association Vice President

Benjamin Olivas Guerrero (Junior), Indigenous Peoples’ Club President

Sevan Ikeda, Student Body Government President, welcomed our High School students and staff back on campus for the 2023 – 2024 school year.

Daniel Omorowa, Class of 2027, posing for his first High School picture

Physical Education & Athletics Department did a fun Icebreaker Activity to get students moving by doing mini Scavenger Hunt to see how much they know about the CSD campus

High School Administrative Principal, Clark Brooke, and Career Technical Education Principal, Stuart Ikeda, discussed the importance of investing themselves into their academics and making contributions to the academic culture at the school.

Students learned how to use the FlexiSCHED program to sign up for academic support and clubs/organizations/enrichment activities during the SOAR Block every week. Molly Christensen and Anna Woodbury led the training.

Students following the Technology Checklist to make sure they have access to their computer login account, school email, Google Classroom, and PowerSchool to help them prepare for their classes

Eagle Walk

August 21 – 25, 2023

To provide a warm welcome and prepare our high school students for the 2023 – 2024 school year, the High School Department set up our annual Eagle Walk. The day kicked off with the Welcome Back to High School presentation hosted by the Student Body Government team.

Before they knew it, the students were smiling in front of the camera for their school picture/identification card, bonding with their classmates during Class Meetings, learning how to use the FlexiSCHED program to get academic support, organizations/clubs, class meetings, enrichment activities, and Eagle Zone (Social Emotional Learning & Mental Health/Well Being sessions) during the SOAR block, participating in an icebreaker activity led by Physical Education & Athletics department, reviewing Handbook and Technology workshops by run by High School administrative staff and teachers and enjoying the Scavenger Hunt activity where they had to find their new teachers and obtain their signatures using their new class schedule.

During the first week, four workshops/trainings were provided to ensure that students review academic & MAP (Measure of Academic Performance) expectations, follow the safety procedure during field trips/weekly homegoing, and learn programs, services, and opportunities available to them.

Eagle Walk schedule to kick off the first day of High School '23-'24.

The schedule of the first week of school.

Key Events:

Tuesday 8/22 & Wednesday 8/23: Syllabus Review Days
Tuesday 8/22: Counseling Department Workshop
Wednesday 8/23: Career Center & Transition Services Workshop
Wednesday 8/23: Bus Evacuation Workshop & Training
Thursday 8/24 & Friday 8/25: MAP Review Days
Thursday 8/24: Clubs/Organization Presentation & Signup

The counseling Department provided an informative workshop about the support services that are available for CSD students and did a fun activity to see what available resources and information students know

Pajamas party

by Sevan Ikeda

The Student Body Government proudly hosted the first party of the 2023-2024 school year at the Orange Pavilion. Students filled their stomachs with pizzas and drinks. High school students were dressed in cozy pajamas and spent the evening enjoying a horror flick called Lights Out.