MPCSD District Newsletter - November 20, 2024 | |
Educating and empowering students while embracing childhood and adolescence. | |
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Last year at this time I was announcing our plans to get back to business with Strategic Visioning and Facility Planning. Literally one year later, I am beyond grateful and proud to say we have successfully completed both monumental tasks through exceptional community engagement!
We launched the school year with our updated vision: Educating and empowering students while embracing childhood and adolescence. Our staff is hard at work implementing our strategic directions: grow student belonging, strengthen academic excellence, and create inspiring environments. All three directions have specific actions and metrics that you can read more about.
Speaking of creating inspiring environments, our facility planning is now full steam ahead with the passage of Measure U, which will provide the necessary funding for much of our facility needs. Special thanks to the entire volunteer campaign team, led by district parent Katherine Bicer, who took on the herculean task of educating and engaging our broader community, culminating in a 71% YES vote on Measure U! With such a high voter turnout this speaks volumes about how willing our community is to support our schools. (Read more about Measure U and our facility plans later in this newsletter.)
Everything we do in MPCSD, we do together as a community that cares deeply about our students. My gratitude runs deep as this is my 25th year as a member of our staff and community. Working as a team with our educators, leaders, families, and board members in service of our students is still why I jump out of bed in the morning excited to get to work. Working as a public school educator has always been a driving force for me and one that I approach with incredible gratitude: the meaning of public education is an equal education provided to all children free of cost, regardless of race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, disability, or any other distinguishing factor. I am thankful to everyone who contributes to MPCSD in creating the most outstanding, student-centered public school experience.
I wish you a meaningful Thanksgiving holiday with your loved ones.
With gratitude,
Kristen Gracia
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Speaker Series Resources for You | |
Our first event featured an inspiring panel (pictured above l-r): local authors Sana Rafi and Nicole Chen, MPCSD Reading Specialist Jacqui Cebrian, and DEI Coordinator Marissa McGee, also an author. Their lively conversation illuminated the importance of giving kids mirrors to see themselves represented in literature and windows to see and learn more about other cultures and perspectives. Choosing a variety of authors and characters when reading to our children and filling our home libraries is key to helping all children develop their own sense of identity and their belonging as part of a diverse community. See this flyer for more book suggestions and links to exploring diverse children's literature. | |  |
January 23, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. over Zoom.
Join us as we uncover the hidden benefits of independence therapy and discuss practical strategies for parents to empower their children. Discover how small changes in parenting approaches can have a significant impact on children's confidence and self-reliance.
Dr. Ortiz's scholarship focuses on child anxiety and disruptive behavior, parenting, and cognitive behavior therapy. He is the developer of Independence Therapy, a revolutionary new approach to treating child anxiety through “mega-doses” of child independence.
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School Board Meeting: Gratitude & Appreciation | |
Gratitude and appreciation were the themes of November 14’s school board meeting as both retiring district CBO Marites Fermin and retiring Board Member David Ackerman attended their final meeting. The board approved resolutions for Ms. Fermin and Mr. Ackerman affirming the district’s appreciation for all they have done. Mr. Ackerman retires from eight years on the board, following a career as an educator that began in St. Louis in 1970 and brought him to MPCSD as a principal at Encinal and then Oak Knoll. Ms. Fermin joined MPCSD in 2020 and successfully navigated through the budget implications of Covid to open quickly and provide a safe and effective education, and she embraced the district’s compensation philosophy to prioritize professional pay for all staff. She also oversees the implementation of our parcel taxes and bonds and helped return millions of dollars to MPCSD taxpayers through bond refunding programs. Former board members Mark Box, Joan Lambert, Caroline Lucas, and Terry Thygesen, alumni parents, and former superintendent Erik Burmeister came out to make public comments commending Ms. Fermin and Mr. Ackerman. Thank you, David and Marites, for your service and best wishes for a happy retirement! | |
Welcome Board Member Josh Spira | |
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As David Ackerman retires from the school board, we welcome new member Josh Spria who will officially take the role on December 13 and will join his first meeting on December 19. Filling the other open seat this year is Francesca Segrè who is beginning her second term. Both members ran unopposed for these board seats.
Board Member Spira introduces himself to our community in his own words: "My name is Josh Spira. My wife and I have called Menlo Park home for 13 years, and we have a child attending Laurel elementary. I have been a math teacher at Greene Middle School in Palo Alto for 18 years. My time in the classroom has given me unique insights into the needs of students, teachers, and staff. As an experienced educator, I understand what works in education and how to make our schools the best environment for our students to learn and grow. My daily experiences in school life equip me to make effective policy decisions that benefit the entire school community. In addition to teaching, I serve as the Math Department Instructional Supervisor and am a member of the district math steering committee. These leadership roles have taught me the importance of collaboration in developing and implementing policies that serve students, teachers, and schools effectively.
I also recently served on the Palo Alto Educators Association Executive Board and as its Vice President. In this role, I worked collaboratively with teachers, administrators, district staff, and community members. My decade-long experience on the negotiations team has given me a deep understanding of what it takes to negotiate contracts that work for both school districts and teachers.
My top priorities include Creating an Inclusive and Supportive School Environment, Enhancing Mental Health Support in Schools, Ensuring Exceptional Teachers for Every Student, and Achieving Equity in Education." Welcome Board Member Spira! Beginning on December 13, he can be reached at jspira@mpcsd.org.
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Empowering Students: Our Vision Brought to Life | |
As we strive to educate and empower students, we share a recent story from each school highlighting ways students are gaining empowerment across the district. These are just four examples among the many wonderful experiences happening every day in every classroom.
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Some of the district's special education students were proud to participate in a recent Special Olympics of Northern California event: soccer skills hosted by Sacred Heart School. At Encinal, Mr. Ruth's and Ms. Stamates' classes joined other students from around the area, including Hillview, as they grew their athletic, independence, and teamwork skills. The Encinal general education students lined up to support and cheer on their peers as they left for this inclusive and empowering day! | | |
Laurel third graders in Ms. Greenwald's and Mr. Tashman's classes learned about democracy, elections, and civic engagement as they voted in the contest of Oreo vs. Chips Ahoy on Nov. 5. Students increased their vocabulary knowledge, campaigned by making posters and critiquing each other's persuasive arguments, and even learned about the popular vote and electoral college as their votes were counted. We are preparing empowered citizens for future participation in our democracy. | | |
The 3rd-5th grade multiage class with Zeiser/Austin/Meneze packed over 7,000 meal kits in their Rise Against Hunger project. Student Nirvaan Goel brought the challenge to his classroom and together their jog-a-thon raised over $11,000, which in turn funded the supplies needed to create meal kits, which all students worked together to package. Service learning projects empower students with self-awareness and important skills such as compassion and empathy to be leaders and helpers in the community. | | |
Hillview celebrates the district's 10th anniversary of Lion King, Jr. performances with six stellar shows, featuring 100+ Hillview students on stage and behind the scenes with new songs, sets, costumes and technical production values! The performing arts empower students to gain confidence, practice teamwork, and be a part of something bigger than themselves, all qualities that will serve them well in whatever roles they pursue. This year all MPCSD third graders will also participate in spring productions of Lion King, Jr. and there is even special pricing for district third graders to attend Hillview's production. There are still two showtimes left today and tomorrow; check for tickets here. | | |
Recognizing Native American History Month | |
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MPCSD is located on the unceded ancestral land of the Ramaytush Ohlone. Visit their website to learn more about the original stewards of this land.
Join us in recognizing November as National Native American Heritage Month and Friday, November 29 as Native American Heritage Day. Your family can check out a virtual exhibition sponsored by the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and consider how art can help one express culture by watching this TEDTalk.
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Facilities Planning Gets a Boost from Measure U | |
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As Superintendent Gracia mentioned in her letter, the district is very grateful to the community for its resounding approval of Measure U. You may be thinking, now what? Bond program implementations require a lot of time to complete. The term "bond program" refers to the time during which the district is actively implementing its bond funding by constructing/ renewing facilities. This can take 4-6 years. These are our first tasks, which are already beginning:
- Facilitate financial, legal, and planning processes that guide our work to produce a prioritization, scope and sequence, and fiscal mapping of a bond program.
- Assemble a Citizen’s Bond Oversight Committee (CBOC) to "inform the public concerning the expenditure of bond revenues" per California Education Code 15278(b). The CBOC will be community members who fill required roles within the committee, including one member active in a business organization representing the business community located within the school district; one member active in a senior citizen's organization; one member active in a bona fide taxpayer's organization, one member a parent/guardian of a child enrolled in the district, one member a parent/guardian of an enrolled child and active in a parent-teacher organization like the PTO or site council. Applications for joining the CBOC will be available after Winter Break.
At the November 14 meeting, the school board approved the district’s Facilities Master Plan (FMP) and a resolution on Climate Resilience and Sustainability. Board members noted that the advantageous timing of the climate resilience resolution as so much of the work outlined in the FMP that will be financed with the passage of Measure U is already aligned to our sustainability goals.
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Kristen Gracia, Superintendent | mpcsd.org
Governing Board
Francesca Segrè, President
Sherwin Chen, Vice President/Clerk
David Ackerman
Scott Saywell
Jed Scolnick
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