Message from Our Superintendent
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Greetings DUSD Families, Staff and Community,
As I shared with you all last week, navigating our way through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted a period of deep reflection. Suffice it to say. I am using this time to stretch and grow my understandings and learning about lots of new things. This is something that I hope each and every one of our scholars can also do during this time.
The positive power of learning is at our scholars’ fingertips thanks to our 1:1 laptop program. Since launching into distance learning six weeks ago, we have issued 2,570 laptops so that all students who are in need of a device at home in Grades TK-12 have one accessible. Our district has also arranged to provide over 300 wifi hotspots for households in need of internet access. Based on feedback from our families, it has been reported that all technology requests have been met, but if your child is still in need of a device or hotspot, please contact your child’s school.
With these tech tools, each day our scholars have the capacity to explore a new topic, a new skill, or a faraway place. Nelson Mandela famously said, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Now is a time when our scholars can actively engage with their teachers and then spend additional time exploring and uncovering the ideas and musings they are curious about. With the power of a digital device, the internet, and a curious question, our scholars can change the world.
Additionally, during this period of social distancing and physical isolation, I have also discovered the power of digital connection with work colleagues, friends, and family. I encourage all of our scholars, staff, and families to spend time connecting with people you care about. I know that lots of folks in our community are very adept at using social media platforms to connect. And, I'm sure that many of our scholars could be teaching social media strategies to thousands of people and getting paid handsomely for it. But, I want to share a quick "old school" smartphone strategy. It is called the 3-2-1 text strategy. Now if you read this newsletter, you must commit to doing the strategy. Trust me, it will brighten your day and the day of the people you reach out to. Here's how it works:
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- You send a text to three family members and you share your love for them by starting with, "I love you because…" (Warning: This may bring tears of joy.)
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- You send a text to two friends and you connect with them by starting with, "Do you remember when…" (Warning: This may bring the pain of belly laughter.)
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- You send a text to one work colleague and you share your appreciation for them by starting with, "You're a great teammate, and I appreciate you because…" (Warning: This may create a better team connection.)
This is a fun activity that our District Leadership Team did this week during our Leadership Team Google Meets session. I thought I would share it with our DUSD community because I believe that as human beings we need connection and we need camaraderie. If we can't be physically around each other, let's use the power of our technology to digitally brighten each other’s day.
With that in mind, traditionally during the month of May, we engage in staff appreciation activities. Our Board of Education approved Proclamations declaring May 5, 2020, as “Day of the Teacher,” and May 17-23, 2020, as “Classified School Employee Week.” Let’s also get creative using our digital resources to shower them with messages on these dates so they know how much we value and care about them! We also will still find a way to virtually join together as a staff to recognize our employees for their years of service and retirement as well as honor our certificated and classified employees of the year. Our district has scheduled May 14, and May 21, to host these events, and plans are being developed for virtual programming. Stay tuned for details!
Thank you to all who are sticking to the “safer-at-home” guidance, it is vital we do so to flatten the COVID-19 curve, but while we work to contain the spread of the virus, we can find creative and safe ways to increase the spread of kindness and love.
Please continue to regularly check the district website
duarteusd.org
and social media sites
@duarteusd
on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for updates.
Have a good week and be well everyone!
Best,
Gordon
Superintendent of Schools
Duarte Unified School District
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District Events Taking Place This Week
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During school closure, DUSD will provide free Grab-n-Go Meals for children 18 and under from 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. daily Monday through Friday at Andres Duarte Arts Academy, Maxwell Academy, and Royal Oaks STEAM Academy.
For more information, click here.
If you have questions, call (626) 599-5022.
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District and School Offices Closed
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DUSD Grading Policy for Remainder of 2019-2020
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While our school campuses are closed through the rest of this school year, the Duarte Unified School District is committed to supporting our students through Distance Learning. All our educators are focused on helping students maintain the progress they have made up to this point in the school year so that they are adequately prepared for their courses next year and beyond. We value the importance of keeping our students engaged in learning and maintaining meaningful connections between students and their teachers.
We believe that purposeful feedback from a student’s teacher(s), including grades, serves a valuable instructional purpose by helping students and parents/guardians understand performance expectations and identifying the student's areas of strength as well as areas for improvement. As directed by the California Department of Education, we will hold students harmless to potential impacts of temporary distance learning due to COVID-19. We believe that the Distance Learning Grading Policy outlined below will help us hold true to that expectation.
The development of the policy took into consideration the guidance provided by the California Department of Education, stakeholder input, and the following common interests:
- All students deserve the best education we can provide given the drastically changed conditions of learning.
- Learning needs to continue, but the method of instruction will look different.
- The system of learning must be equitable and provide students with a variety of ways to access the learning activities.
- Students, staff, and families are under considerable stress.
- Student participation in distance learning needs to be evaluated with grace and understanding.
Starting April 27, 2020, teachers will officially keep track of student participation and assigned work. For Grades 6 – 12, parents may view their student’s progress by checking their student’s Aeries account. For Grades TK - 5, parents may access student progress through the teacher’s regular digital communication system, including Google Classroom, Class Dojo, or email. For the last grading period of the 2019-20 school year, final student grades will be assigned by teachers based on the following guidelines.
High School Grades 9 – 12:
Students will receive Credit/No Credit for each class. This grade is not calculated into the student's GPA. However, high school students will still have the option to receive a letter grade in each of their courses. If students select this option, letter grades will be calculated in the student’s GPA. To receive a letter grade, students must notify their teacher by May 22, 2020. The student’s grade as of school closure on March 13 is the baseline; the semester or trimester grade cannot be lower than the student’s grade at the time of school closure. Students are encouraged to work toward improving their grades.
University of California, California State Universities, Community College systems, and the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities have stated that they will accept “credit” for this grading period for the Class of 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. Our higher education partners also announced more flexible admissions criteria that will be applicable for our current juniors and seniors.
Grades 6 - 8:
Students received their Quarter 3 Report Card with letter grades at the end of March. During Quarter 4, teachers are engaging students in Distance Learning and keeping records of the assignments. Students and parents may view student progress in their Aeries portal account (
Instructions for accessing Aeries portal
.) At the end of Quarter 4, students will receive a Credit/No Credit. The student’s GPA is calculated only on the first three quarters of the school year.
Grades TK – 5:
Students will receive a mark for Effort and Participation in Distance Learning and narrative comments for feedback. The student will not receive a Standards-Based Achievement mark for Trimester 3. The Trimester 2 Achievement mark will be the final mark for the 2019-20 school year.
Our school buildings may be closed, but please know that we remain determined to sustain the learning and to support our students and families. More details about Distance Learning grading will be coming from your child’s school. If you have any questions or concerns about your student’s progress, please contact your child’s teacher. During times such as these, it is more important than ever to work together to stay well and take care of one another. Thank you to our students and parents/caregivers for your ongoing support, patience, and collaboration.
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Advancing Equity in an Era of Crisis
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This partnership will provide training webinars to audiences of teachers, administrators, and parents on equity and online learning on a variety of critical topics. Additionally, as many as 15 trainings for para-educators during the webinar series commenced the week of April 20. This opportunity is very important for often para-educators have traditionally lacked access to this topic in professional development. Those para-educators who take part will receive a certificate of program completion from CCEE, CAAASA and UCLA. The webinar series will also include 5 training webinars for parents and their role for online instruction for their children as well as more than 10 training webinars for teachers and administrators.
Please click here to register.
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Payroll Information for DUSD Staff
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Business Services would like to remind our DUSD employees that payroll checks will be available for pick-up on their respective pay dates at the District Office front entrance lobby at the dates and times listed below. If you need to retrieve your check in-person, please adhere to all "social distancing" directives, wear a face-covering, and do not come if you are feeling ill.
All Classified Staff:
Friday, April 24, 2020, from 10:00 a.m. - Noon
All Certificated Staff:
Thursday, April 30, 2020 from 10:00 a.m. - Noon
Certificated CTE Staff and Certificated Long-Term Substitutes:
Tuesday, May 5, 2020 from 10:00 a.m. - Noon
Employees who do not pick up their checks during the pick-up period will have their checks mailed to their home address on the day that checks are disbursed. Employees using automatic deposit will continue to receive their deposits on the usual payroll deposit dates with no changes. Direct Deposit forms are available for those who would like to start direct deposit. Required for direct deposit is either a voided check or direct deposit authorization form from your bank. Contact our Business Services Team if you have any questions by email.
Find our staff email directory here.
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COVID-19 Safety and Public Health Information
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The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reminds everyone that if you are ill, even with mild symptoms, please self-isolate at home for 7 days and until you are fever and symptom free for 72 hours. If you have been in close contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 or is presumed to be infected with COVID-19, you must quarantine for 14 days from your last contact with that individual. Individuals who are elderly or who have underlying health conditions may be at higher risk of serious illness and should contact their doctor as soon as they are sick. The best protection against COVID-19 is to wash your hands frequently, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, self-isolate if you are sick, practice physical distancing (especially by staying at home) and wear a clean face covering when in contact with others from outside your household. Find additional updates below:
- Essential workers can access local child care by calling toll-free 888-92CHILD (922-4453) or visiting lacoe.edu/childcare, which also includes resources for teachers, providers and families.
- The CDC published updated recommendations regarding essential travel within the Unites States including travel by air, bus, and car as well as hotel occupancy guidelines and more. Find the link to this information here.
- For anyone interested in following the research being conducted in the United States on COVID-19, follow find the link here and clinical trials information can be found here.
- Please only refer to trusted public health sources for information and updates regarding COVID-19. Find a listing here.
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ADAA Creates Virtual Living Museum
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Before school closure, Andres Duarte Arts Academy students in Ms. Walker's Second/Third Grade Class began work on a Living Wax Museum. Students were asked to research a notable person, complete a vision board about them, produce a slide show and give a speech while dressed in the iconic garb of their person. The original plan had been for a walk-through in their school cafeteria where the students would be positioned in a similar format as what you would find in the Hollywood Wax Museum. The difference being, when visitors approached they would provide their prepared speech to share the highlights of the person they were pretending to be. Since this was not possible during school closure, the dressing and vision boards were optional. But, all the students did complete their slides online and read their speeches to each other in a Google Meets virtual learning session. Despite the changes to the original project, the students still had an opportunity to share what they learned and it was great to see their creativity!
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Royal Oaks STEAM Academy's Caravan of Care
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Story Time with Our DUSD Family
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We are putting together a collection of stories read by our staff for our students to watch. You can view them on our
website
and on our social media sites. Check for new episodes often. We hope you enjoy them! If you are a DUSD staff member willing to record a story for us to add to our collection, please email
communications@duarteusd.org.
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Distance Learning Teacher Tech Resources
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Our Technology Services Team has developed a dedicated website to host resources for our teachers to utilize during distance learning. This site hosts a variety of helpful information for how to screen record, video conference, access all of G-Suite, and much more. Teachers, please check it out!
Click here to visit the DUSD Teacher Resources website.
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Distance Learning Family Enrichment Resources
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In addition to the learning assignments teachers have provided, our district has also put together a database of supplemental resources for all grades.
Click here to access this database.
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DUSD Social Media Directory and Popular Posts
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We have put together a
DUSD social media directory
of all the official sites operated by our district, schools, and staff for your convenience. We encourage you to follow these sites for important information and updates. Also, it's a great way to stay connected and to "see" our students as they participate in our schools' virtual spirit week activities and daily challenges. Staff, if you have a site that you would like added to our directory, please send an email to
communications@duarteusd.org
.
Please note, an exciting new addition to our DUSD Social Media Directory! Beardslee Academy has launched their own Youtube Channel. This way it is easier for our Bears to enjoy the virtual Friday Assemblies Mrs. Romero, Mrs. Torres and Mrs. Mata have been producing. See their newest edition below.
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Need Tech Support? We're Here to Help You!
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If your student runs into any technical issues, please request assistance by using the tech support email address for your child’s school. The correct addresses are listed below:
Also, please remember that students should be checking their district-issued Outlook emails. If they need assistance reaching their Outlook emails,
click here
. Students should use Google Chrome to browse the internet and sign in using their district-issued email and passwords.
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Duarte High School Announcements
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Our Falcons are Getting Ready to Take Flight
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Congratulations to our
Duarte High School
Falcons on their college acceptances! We are very proud of you and excited for your next chapter! Seniors, please continue to share with us where you have received acceptances to by submitting the Google Form provided by your counselors. 👏🎓
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Online Registration for Kindergarten & New Students is Still Open - Enroll Today
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If you have a child that will be ready to start Kindergarten or Transitional Kindergarten (TK) next school year, it's time to register! Please register online at
register.duarteusd.org
.
We will be developing a system to submit documents, and will notify you when that is available.
We offer full-day Kindergarten at all of our Academies, and TK is offered at Beardslee Dual Language Academy and Valley View Academy of Technology and Creative Learning. Students new to the district entering preschool - 12th Grade next school year are also encouraged to begin registering now.
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Keeping Hearts and Minds Connected
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We are creating lots of clever ways to connect with our students virtually, and our students are enjoying “seeing” our staff! We’d love to help share these digital well wishes, so please send to
communications@duarteusd.org
and/or tag
@duarteusd
on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sending loads of virtual hugs to all in gratitude for helping to keep our community close in heart and mind, especially now.
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Duarte Counts! Census Information
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Download it Today for FREE
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Stay up to date with everything that is taking place at every school across our district by downloading the DUSD APP. Check your child's grades, attendance, lunch balances, sports scores, notices from teachers, calendar of events and more all in one place! Download our free app from the Apple App and Google Play Stores.
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School Flyers Available Via Email
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Save Paper & Stay Informed
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DUSD uses Peachjar to send home school-approved flyers digitally, saving our schools time and money while eliminating paper waste. This means that now our parents can opt to receive flyers via email.
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Submit Your Newsletter Ideas
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Have an idea, information or a suggestion for a story for our newsletter?
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DUARTE UNIFIED | 626.599.5000 | communications@duarteusd.org
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