Message from Our Superintendent
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Greetings DUSD Families, Staff and Community,
As we enter the final month of the 2019-2020 school year, we continue to be faced with the unprecedented impacts of COVID-19. There have been numerous developments across the country and within California as we begin to transition and look to re-open the economies of our state and country. This is, without question, going to be complex and challenging because our worlds are so interconnected. As a school district, we will continue to follow the guidelines put forth by our county department of public health as we determine the appropriate steps for re-opening our schools in the future.
During a press conference last week, the Governor expressed some interest in having schools re-open in July. His comments created several questions from many of our stakeholders. While I want our schools to re-open again, we have to rely on science and data to determine when it is safest for our scholars and staff to return. The health and safety of our school community is my highest priority. Based on the information that we have right now, DUSD will continue to plan to welcome our scholars and staff back to the 2020-2021 school year on August 13, 2020. However, as I cautioned in my previous messages, the realities of what this “return” to school will actually look like will be very different from the practices we were accustomed to prior to COVID-19.
The initial conversations with our public health authorities advise physical distancing will need to be maintained. Students and staff will need to stay six-feet apart, wear face-coverings, and group congregation for recesses, lunchtimes, assemblies, etc. will need to be avoided. Without providing any concrete guidance as of yet how to enact these directives, CDE and LACOE have posed to districts to consider limiting class-size to no more than ten students, stagger start times, create block scheduling, continue remote online learning, all the while putting in place measures to serve our medically fragile students and staff.
As was done when the “stay-at-home” order was initially issued, our district leadership team has been tasked to address every possible scenario to our “return” that will require radically transforming every aspect of our district’s operations from transportation to sanitization. No matter the challenges put before us, I know that our learning community will step up to the challenge and DUSD will find solutions to best serve the needs of all our students and staff.
The success of the Grab and Go service continues to be a great source of district pride. We have now served well over 55,000 meals. On Friday, I was able to spend some time with our wonderful food service workers as they prepared a whooping 1,417 meals for our scholars. The level of dedication and collaboration with the food services team was clear and it was a pleasure to see them completing this important work for our students. After packing the meals, I had the opportunity to assist our delivery driver to store those meals in our cold storage for safekeeping over the weekend. It was clear to me that our hard-working staff is committed to our students and meeting their needs.
With that in mind, as I shared in last week's message, 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 once again to all who are sticking to the “safer-at-home” guidance, it is vital we do so to flatten the COVID-19 curve now if we are to have a return to some semblance of normality in the near future. Please continue to also 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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Distance Learning Phase 3
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DUSD will provide distance learning for all students during the closure of our schools through May 28, 2020. The next Packet Pick-Up will be held on Monday, May 4, for students only if needed. Please follow all physical distancing directives that now include face coverings. Questions, please view our
Distance Learning Plan webpage
.
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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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Teacher Appreciation Messages
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On May 5, our district will join the nation to recognize the heroic work our teachers engage in daily to support our students. Please help us to acknowledge how much we value their efforts and care for them by sending messages of appreciation this week via email and/or social media.
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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:
- CDC expanded list of symptoms that people may experience with COVID-19 to include: cough, shortness of breath, fever, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, and loss of taste or smell. Learn more here.
- Tips for talking with your child about COVID-19 can be found here.
- LA County residents who are facing food insecurity can apply for Cal Fresh at getcalfresh.org or by calling 866-613-3777.
- 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, 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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Principal Appreciation Day
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It was our honor to recognize our Principals on May 1, 2020, in celebration of School Principals' Appreciation Day. Duarte Unified is fortunate to have the best leaders in the profession in our district. These individuals work tirelessly to fulfill our mission to provide the knowledge, skills and inspiration for each student to be successful in college, career and life. Thank you for being you and for everything that you do to care for our students, our families, and our staff. In case you missed the opportunity last week, please send them a message of appreciation, they will appreciate it very much!
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Creating Creators Premier Virtual Film Workshop Episode Features MIT Students and Principal
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“During these unprecedented times, we are so excited to be able to host a series of virtual workshops which will benefit our educational partners, starting with the amazing students of Duarte Unified School District - MIT HS.”
- Polo Munoz, CCO & Co-Founder, Creating Creators
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On Friday, May 1, our Creating Creators partner launched the first episode of their Virtual Film Workshops on Instagram as a brand new IGTV series (@creatingcreators) featuring our very own students and Principal of M.I.T. High School, Mr. Kevin Morris. In response to school closures caused by COVID- 19, Creating Creators has pivoted to connecting students, teachers, and industry professionals via video chat. The very first workshop covered Acting and featured a live table read of the M.I.T. High School student-written script,
”Dangers of The Street”,
with actors Goya Robles and Lydia Porto from the Epix TV show “
Get Shorty."
Our Creating Creators partners share the teachers and administrators at Duarte Unified are doing admirable work to not only take care of their students' education, but also support the students' and their families’ well-being as a whole. Creating Creators will continue to support their educational partners during these turbulent times by providing these recorded workshops and other learning resources for their students and educators online. Subscribe to their InstagramTV and Youtube channels for access to these resources and a chance to interact with their filmmakers. View the first episode and read an excerpt from the press release they have issued about this incredible opportunity below. Find the full draft
here
.
Subsequent episodes will explore Directing, Editing, Character Design, Screenwriting, Special Effects Make- up, Stop-motion Animation, and Poster Design to name a few. With the workshops, Creating Creators aspires to still provide their signature film professional mentorship with their classes and attract students to become more familiar with online learning to complete their assignments.
During the workshop, the professional actors shared how they prepare for a table read and suggested finding hints in the script to best understand their character truths. Mr. Robles gave this guidance to the students; “Learning how to play is essential. What questions do you ask when you are exploring the character and the story? Is the character-rich? Poor? Do you live in a neighborhood with many immigrants? Are you religious? The quality of your questions will ground you in a reality that will inspire your imagination. For this to happen, you have to be willing to get it wrong. Make mistakes. Make bad acting choices. Develop a great relationship with finding the truth, no matter how bad or silly it might look. The only true mistake one can make is trying to get it right. It’s the death of creativity.”
Miss Porto also was generous with her guidance; “The preparation for the time in front of the camera is most of your work. Reading the script several times, understanding what the writer says about your character, what other characters say about your character and what your character says about themselves, looking up any words you’re not familiar with, doing research about your character’s occupation and any other details, and also filling in the blanks with your own imagination. Memorizing lines and understanding your blocking. When you get in front of those cameras, you want to be as prepared as you can be, because the crew has been working for a long time before you come on set, and they have other things to do after you leave. Any questions you have for the director should be asked earlier, if possible so that the time in front of the camera is spent recording your great performance! Your part in being a good team player is to be prepared.”
“Students were able to give life to a text that they had created with the help of professionals Lidia Porto and Goya Robles who then provided them with valuable, authentic means to improve their project. We are often told that true education is generated by the successful marriage between the theoretical sphere of the classroom and the applications and possibilities of the world beyond school. This is what I witnessed Friday, education as it ought to be, multilayered and multidimensional, where students were allowed to create and then flesh out and improve their craft under the tutelage of caring professionals, whom I know benefited from the exchange as well.”
-- Laurent Lanuqueitte, Teacher, M.I.T. H.S.
Bryan Soto, who played the lead alongside the professional actors during the table read commented, “I thought it was definitely something, new to try, you got actors coming in giving you some great feedback on what we as a group worked on [in class] and it kinda felt like I was still actually there learning with them.”
Juan Gonzalez, a graduating senior also commented , “I really liked it, it was nice to see Lidia and Goya give feed back and give us advice on how to improve it and make it better.”
About Creating Creators
Creating Creators,
www.creatingcreators.net
is an educational development company that connects film industry teaching artists to classrooms through a student-centered authentic learning experience via film production. Their year-long supplementary curriculum is meant to support teachers with a creative way to explore the ELA and Visual Arts standards from elementary to high school instruction. In partnership with their 501c3, The Creating Creators Foundation, they continue their work beyond the classroom through field trips, film industry special guests, and an end of the year showcase of student work to community and industry partners. It is the mission of the foundation to provide equity and inclusion opportunities through the entertainment industry for underserved youth in K-12+ classrooms.
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DHS Class of 2020 Valedictorian & Salutatorians
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Maxwell Academy's "Care-avan" Car Parade
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Our Maxwell Academy staff 🚗 🚙 🚗 paraded through the neighborhood to wave a safe hello to our Mountain Lions last Thursday! By all accounts, it made for a very emotional reunion for both staff and students. You can watch one view of their caring caravan below.
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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
. View last week's top posts below:
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Beardslee Dual Language Academy
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Valley View Academy of Technology & Creative Learning
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Andres Duarte Arts Academy
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Maxwell Academy - IB World School
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Duarte Unified School District
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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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Support Student Mental Health Week
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Next week, Duarte High School will join schools all across Southern California in recognizing the first
Student Mental Health Week
. Please refer to the flyer below for ways to support and the dress up days that many schools will be participating in.
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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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