SCSOS Community Update: May 2022 | |
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A Message from Superintendent Reusser
We are quickly coming into one of my favorite times of the year: Graduation. At Sutter County Superintendent of Schools, we serve more than 20,000 students throughout 12 school districts. When our students finally make it to graduation, walking across the stage to grab their diploma, it is a moment of celebration specifically for them. It is a moment to recognize everything our students have accomplished throughout their school year and academic career; proving that hard work and dedication pay off.
It's important to note that this wouldn't be possible without our amazing staff. Each person in our many districts have worked diligently to ensure that our students receive the high quality education they deserve. I am honored to serve alongside a dedicated team of people with the same goal in mind: Doing what's best for students.
Here are some dates for our graduation ceremonies:
May 25: Adult Education Graduation
May 31: YCHS Special Education Graduation
June 2: Adult Transition Program Graduation
SCSOS, along with School First Financial Credit Union, will also be hosting our first 'Educator of the Year Awards Dinner' at Peach Tree Country Club on Tuesday, May 24. I look forward to honoring staff from our schools and districts who have been selected by their peers and/or administrators for recognition. It is certain to be an unforgettable evening.
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Click on the link below to watch our teacher appreciation video: | |
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Shady Creek Update
SCSOS is proud of the work that Shady Creek is doing for our students. All weeks for the season have been booked with schools from across Northern California. Director Christopher Little provides updates every week about all the wonderful things happening for students at the camp. Below are samples of letters from students.
| SCSOS is delighted to welcome Jessica Burrone as our new Special Education Director beginning on July 1! | |
Jessica Burrone brings over 27 years of experience in special education to SCSOS. She has worked in various capacities including a bilingual para-educator, special education teacher, general education intervention teacher with English Learners, regional county office of education principal, and director of regional county programs. While in those capacities she had the opportunity to work with students from infant to age 22. Her experiences have influenced her desire to effectively support staff through collaboration towards a mindset of continuous improvement to best serve students and families.
In addition to her diverse classroom experiences, Jessica brings professional accomplishments that will support Sutter County Superintendents of Schools’ goal to provide innovative supports and services to promote education and self sufficiency to do what is best for students.
A few of those professional accomplishments include being a published author of the Special Education Administrators of County Offices (SEACO) Access Guide, California Autism Professional Training Autism, and Information Network (CAPTAIN) Cadre Member, alternative dispute resolution experience, and as an inclusive coach and consultant on evidence-based practices. In addition, she has worked with the California Commission on Teaching Credentialing (CCTC) as an accreditation reviewer and is currently on the CCTC design team for the restructuring of the Education Specialist Preliminary Credentials. Jessica also has served as the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) Region 3 Woman’s Leadership Network Representative.
Jessica’s core foundation includes her family and faith. She is the mother of three that include a 30-year-old daughter who has blessed her with four beautiful grandchildren, a 22-year-old Marine son stationed in North Carolina, and a 15-year-old student-athlete son. Jessica is a Yolo County native and resides in Woodland with her youngest son and their cat Elephant. During her time off she enjoys working out, hiking, and club volleyball.
When asked what she looks forward to the most as she starts her role as the director of special education with SCSOS she said, “I look forward to getting to know the individuals that make the difference every day for our students and families. They are the foundation of student successes.”
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SCSOS Retirement:
Monica Ramos
Monica Ramos is saying goodbye to Sutter County Superintendent of Schools after nearly three decades. During her 26 years with SCSOS, she has served the majority of her time as a Special Education School Secretary at Lincrest Elementary, Riverbend Elementary and Yuba City High School. However, for the last six years, she has held the title of Shady Creek Administrative Assistant where she helped to grow the outdoor school, and most importantly, keep Shady Creek afloat during the COVID Shutdown. Monica has served under six Sutter County Superintendents, five Special Ed Principals and two Shady Creek Directors.
In her long-term role as School Secretary, “The kids, staff and parents are what have kept me here at SCSOS,” Monica said. “I would always tell the students, ‘Miss Monica is your Secretary.’” Monica saw her role as one of a liaison between staff, students and parents; as well as making sure her principal was successful.
Her career with Shady Creek Outdoor School was the perfect way for her to end her time with us at Sutter County. Showing the students the wonders of the outdoors has been so rewarding and right up her alley. Working with a positive, upbeat and loving staff is what anyone would want to be a part of.
Monica has lived with her husband, Rob, in Loma Rica on a 6-acre ranch for the past 27 years. They have one son, Carson, who lives in Virginia Beach. Monica has two horses, Visa Gold and Vegas, two dogs and two cats. She enjoys horseback riding and camping on the Pacific Crest Trail with life-long Cowgirl friends.
During retirement, Monica plans to travel. She has several trips planned already including Bucks Lake for her birthday, Virginia Beach to visit her son and Kauai. And having traveled to half the states in the US already, she intends to finish the list. The Kentucky Derby and international travel are on her list too.
SCSOS is grateful for Monica’s many years of sterling service. Monica is the type of person who can brighten your day with a quick word and her contagious laugh that can be heard across the office will be missed. Monica, we wish you all the best in the next phase of life.
Monica would like to say “Thank You to everyone for a great career and Happy Trails!”
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Principal Tejinder Khera would like to recognize the following employees for their wonderful attendance for the 2021-2022 school year:
| News from our Schools/Districts | |
SCSOS is delighted to announce that four of our schools and two of our districts received the 2022 California Pivotal Practice (CAPP) Award from the California Department of Education. This award was given to schools and districts who implemented an innovative practice during the 2020-2021 school year.
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Live Oak Middle School
Principal Parm Virk and his staff implemented the pivotal practice of Driving Through Success
During the 20-21 school year LOMS like many other schools started to feel the social emotional toll students, parents, and communities were bearing during this difficult time. LOMS staff talked about the emotional distress students were displaying during distance learning, and how parents were feeling helpless as well. Some of our most at risk students had started tuning out, and only showing up to Zoom class sporadically in the fall. There were numerous families asking what they could do to motivate their children to engage in school work. It was time to come up with some innovative ways to support our families. Our site and staff had taken the initiative to bring back the enjoyable elements of schooling to our families during this stressful time . The purpose was to raise morale, continue to develop those positive relations, develop a sense of community and pride. Driving through Success was developed as a way to allow students and staff to interact in a fun and meaningful way during the distance learning mandate.
LOMS staff worked diligently to plan, and collaborate a series of drive through events which would each hold a separate theme. The events were carefully planned with targeted themes and adhered to local public health guidelines as well. All of our drive thru events were open to all families and students, in the case certain families couldn’t drive their children or child through, we established a walking route with mask mandates and social distancing in place. To begin we started with drive thru events prior to school starting. The first event was designed to get students their school materials for the year, such as consumables, Chromebooks, and basic supplies. This event really helped us develop our Drive Thru Success campaign, by understanding the logistics and volume of what it would take to launch a much larger themed Drive Thru. Over the course of the year we were able to host six Drive Thru events. 1. Tech and Supply distribution, 2. Mental Health Awareness/Red Ribbon Week “Be Kind to Your Mind”, 3. “Making Spirits Bright,” 4. Be the “I” in Kind, 6. Grade Level Drive Thrus, 6. Drive Thru Promotion.
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Luther Elementary School
Principal Parveen Bains and her staff implemented the pivotal practices of Small Learning Communities, Data-Driven Decision Making and Professional Development
"Distance Learning was one of the most challenging times for our students as well as our staff. In order to meet the needs of our learners several practices were employed to support the social emotional wellbeing of students during distance learning and the strategies used to accomplish them. We relied heavily on our Luther Student Intervention and Support Services (LSISS) during this time. Every Student Reads! (ESR), a component of LSISS, was reimagined to fit a distance learning platform as we recognize part of supporting students socially and emotionally has to do with helping them feel successful in school. The first step in our ESR process was to identify which students needed additional reading support. This was done by administration of our benchmark through Zoom. All students scoring below benchmark were subsequently enrolled in an online reading intervention taught by a teacher or instructional assistant. Groups were generated based on the needs of the student whether it phoneme segmentation, correct letter sounds, fluency or comprehension.
The strategies used to support this pivotal practice are as follows: Small Learning Communities, Data-Driven Decision Making and Professional Development. The transition from in-person to distance learning instruction was a learning curve for all involved. Skilled teachers and instructional aides who were historically used to meet with small groups of students in-person for a pull-out intervention, were now forced into a digital teaching model. We used Small Learning Communities composed of administrators, teachers and instructional assistants to generate ideas on how to best deliver effective ESR instruction through Zoom and Google Classroom. Considering the social well-being of students, we knew opportunities for connecting with instructors in small groups was critical in creating a sense of community similar to that of a classroom. We realized it was difficult to get students to return to Zoom sessions when classroom sessions ended. For this reason, we created breakout groups during their instructional day on Zoom. We made sure these sessions didn’t interfere with key instructional times within the regular classroom Zoom. Most took place just after the regular Zoom.
Throughout distance learning, we reimagined our benchmarks and progress monitoring tools so they could be administered online. Instructional aides were trained in how to use a share screen function on Zoom to accomplish this task. Classroom teachers also reviewed and used this data to drive classroom instruction.
In addition to the components shared above, we introduced a virtual intensive intervention program as we anticipated a decline in student achievement from distance learning. With the use of benchmark data, we identified the students who had not made appropriate progress. These students were invited to an additional Zoom meeting each day for thirty minute blocks. To ensure student attendance, we partnered with parents and community members to ensure clear communication of our goals and comprehensive plan.
Our ESR program has continued this year as well as it is crucial in closing the achievement gap generated by distance learning. Because the need was great, we expanded the program with more staff and more resources. Data analysis and professional development is happening more frequently as well as we recognize it is critical in mitigating learning loss as quickly as possible.
Distance learning was an arduous process for all involved. For our community, the family unit as a whole required more support during this time. Some parents and staff became counselors and social connections for students. Many parents were working during this time leaving the responsibility of ensuring students attended Zoom lessons and completed assignments on the lap of grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles, or friends and siblings. We recognized quickly that many families were struggling with regular attendance. As part of the LSISS program, we created the Student Re-Engagement and Outreach component. This component allowed teachers to submit the names of students who were struggling with attending Zoom instruction, assignment completion, or participation during Zoom. The vice principals scheduled re-engagement meetings at the school or did home visits. During these meetings, parents were provided with support in understanding the Google Classroom Platform, Zoom, assignments, and assignment submission. Schedules and routines were also discussed with families. These meetings were critical in helping parents and students realize the importance of regular attendance and engagement.
Our final and most crucial component of our Pivotal Practice is the implementation and ongoing expansion of our Stronger Than Ever initiative. With the added anxiety and stress our students and families were experiencing during the pandemic, we had to find a way to offer counseling services through distance learning. The social and emotional well-being of our students was of utmost importance. Students receiving services in-person continued to receive them via Zoom. In addition, counseling sessions were offered to newly referred students and families. Many of our families benefited from sessions focused on establishing schedules and routines at home.
Some of our students who were making adequate progress before, were struggling during distance learning and continuing counseling and making it more accessible was vital. In addition to Zoom sessions, the counselor developed a counseling website for families. This user-friendly site, offered tips and information on stress management, healthy breathing exercises, how to cope with and discuss the pandemic and much more.
Our Stronger Than Ever initiative morphed into supporting the transition from distance learning to in person at the beginning of this school year as we saw an escalation in concerning behaviors. These behaviors included fights, peer conflicts during play and overall uncertainty of behavior expectations. Using a Comprehensive School Counseling Program, an RTI model was used to address increasing SEL needs. Tier 1 included school-wide presentations and lessons using Kelso’s Choices and KC’s Choices. Monthly character traits are displayed school-wide and students are recognized in the community for their exemplary use and modeling of each trait. Our counselors this year also meet with teachers during PLC meetings to discuss and develop a plan for behavior needs at the various grade levels. Tier 2 involves the counselors pushing into the classrooms to support student behaviors and working with teachers to develop behavior support plans. Tier 3 of this initiative includes one on one and group counseling sessions focused on social emotional learning, self-regulation and peer relationships.
Our Luther Student Intervention and Support Services (LSISS) program is vital to our school as it is ever evolving to ensure we are doing everything possible to support our students. As needs shift, we incorporate additional initiatives and programs as it is vital to the success and well-being of our students, our school and the community we serve. Our plan is to continue to use data and monitor trends to refine our program. We will continue to forge ahead and keep the promise of a bright future for all of our students."
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South Sutter Charter School
Principal Burke Wallace and his staff implemented the pivotal practice of Personalized Student Success Plan (PSSP)
This pivotal practice of developing Personalized Student Success Plans for each of our students was chosen to increase the partnership between students, teachers, and parents to review student performance. Goals are identified in English-Language Arts and math for our students to work on based on their individual performance. We are able to provide accountability and support in working toward each students’ individualized goals. By providing individualized support, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, we are closing the needs gap of underrepresented groups. The PSSP is reviewed monthly by our credentialed teachers, in order to track progress towards goals, offer interventions, and modify the instructional plan as appropriate.
South Sutter Charter School was established on the foundation of individualized learning and the belief that children, no matter how similar they are, will approach education differently and require unique support in order to reach their full potential. The Personalized Student Success Plan enables the teacher, student, and parent to work collaboratively in developing a learning plan that is as unique as the student while ensuring academic progress. Because the PSSP is individual, it meets the needs of ALL learners and allows the teacher and school to respond by providing the appropriate curriculum, instructional supports, and interventions to assist each student in achieving their goals.
This plan is a collaborative effort between the teacher, parent, and student to develop ELA and math goals as well as a plan to reach them. The PSSP uses data from our internal assessment (the iReady) to identify areas of need. Teachers then share the findings with parents/guardians so that there is a collaborative effort in developing the PSSP. This new program strengthens and provides structure to our school's vision of providing each student with individualized education to ensure their academic success. Individualization in education allows for the opportunity to meet the needs of diverse learners.
The strategies that are used to implement the Pivotal Practice: Parent Engagement & Data-Driven Decision Making. The Personalized Student Success Plan (PSSP) combines both of these aspects as well as student engagement. The teacher alone is not the decision-maker because it takes more than just a teacher for a student to succeed. By using a standards-based assessment (iReady) and sharing the results with the parent, the educational team develops a math and ELA goal for each student. No two goals are exactly the same because no two students are exactly the same. The goals and the assessment results inform the decisions that are made about curriculum, instructional opportunities, and interventions. We have developed a system called the “Curriculum Wizard” which uses the student iReady assessment scores and their learning style and then recommends standards-based curriculum that has been effective for students who are similarly situated. Teachers track what curriculum and supports have been offered and what is being used and the administration reviews these. Administrators have discussions with teachers about their students to increase accountability. Overall parent response to this program has been positive.
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Twin Rivers Charter School
Superintendent/Principal Karen Villalobos and her staff implemented the pivotal practice of closing the achievement gap by using data to drive every instructional decision.
Our pivotal practice of using data to drive every instructional decision began with TRCS’s administration of a school wide survey (spring 2020). Data from our 3 (three) participant groups: students, staff, and families/community members showed TRCS students and families were appreciative of TRCS’s DL delivery (March - June, 2020), but voiced feedback that their children needed additional instruction and school resources. As TRCS reviewed survey feedback we were able to refine our distance learning instructional delivery model to
ensure student engagement and student well being were addressed within the distance learning day.
In August 2020, schools in Sutter County were required to begin the school year in distance learning delivery mode. TRCS offered a distance learning instructional day that exceeded the state minimum instructional minutes each day, 1st - 8th grades instructional day was 8:30 - 1:00 PM, TK/K 8:30 - 11:30AM. The daily instructional routine supported additional resources and intervention for identified students: What I Need (WIN), designated ELD, intervention, speech, and IEP services were provided within the instructional schedule and also allowed TRCS to focus on SEL and enrichment/engagement activities for all students. For example, TRCS middle school students were able to select a club activity to participate in each week. These groups were small in number and allowed 1:1 contact by TRCS employees with every middle school student; the Principal hosted a Virtual Walking Club that included goal setting and virtual one mile walks with students. When TRCS returned to campus instruction, these activities were offered to distance learning students in order to keep connected with the TRCS staff and their peers. TRCS continued to strive for student engagement and success in these early months of DL.
TRCS safely and successfully returned to hybrid on campus instruction October 10, 2020. The school was one of the first LEAs in Sutter County to return to in person instruction and over 80% of our students returned to on campus/hybrid instruction. TRCS also launched a distance learning option for families who opted to not return to campus. This dual delivery system allowed TRCS to use data to ensure student success, and also to compare
student achievement results between the two groups of students; TRCS was able to provide data showing a student achievement gap for students participating in distance learning versus those participating in on campus instruction.
In spring 2021, TRCS actively engaged with our distance learning families; specifically our unduplicated students to encourage their return to a safe, on campus instruction. Because of our strong relationships with our families and commitment to safe on campus instruction we were able to bring back 10% more students and finished the 2020/2021 school year with over 90% of our students on campus. We know this was a contributing factor to mitigating learning loss for our students.
In order to monitor student progress, TRCS continued to use the NWEA MAP assessment during distance learning. In spring 2021, 300 3rd - 8th grade students took the statewide CAASPP assessment. Note: Recently statewide data was made public; TRCS’s data showed the least amount of learning loss in ELA out of all K-8 schools in Sutter County participating in the spring 2021 CAASPP assessment and second least amount of learning loss in math. While TRCS does not celebrate any learning loss, our higher than statewide average scores continued to widen that gap and we attribute our lower learning loss to the instructional decisions we made before/during/and since the Distance Learning school year.
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Winship-Robbins School District
Superintendent/Principal Dawn Carl and her staff implemented the Pivotal Practice: Student Engagement
As the Winship-Robbins Elementary School District administration and the instructional staff of Robbins School journeyed through the days of COVID-19, our focus and efforts were to provide an education of excellence for all our students. Student Engagement was the Pivotal Practice chosen for Winship-Robbins Elementary School District and the Robbins School community. Throughout the process of developing comprehensive Distance Learning for our students, we had three primary goals in mind. First, all curriculums taught both through Distance Learning and eventually in-class instruction must be through California Adopted State curriculums that focus on the Priority Standards of learning for all students. Our next district goal was to ensure that as our students transitioned from Distance Learning at home, to in-class instruction at Robbins School, the students’ learning would be without disruption. To ensure ‘seamless’ and equitable instruction, the Winship-Robbins Elementary School District administrative team and the instructional team of Robbins School crafted weekly lesson plans that adhere to the California State Adopted texts, for both on-line and in-person instruction. Finally, our third district goal was to ensure that all students had access to equitable instruction during Distance Learning and eventually during in-person instruction. At all times, all students received standards based instruction through engaging and collaborative teacher instruction. On all school days during Distance Learning, certificated staff provided intervention, tutoring, and other academic supports. Chromebooks were given to all students in kindergarten through eighth grades. Teachers used daily digital instructional tools for all students that included online interaction, instructional television, video, tele-courses, or other instruction that relied on computer or communications technology. This Pivotal Practice provides more learning opportunities for students and allows us to monitor the social emotional and health care needs of our students and their families when someone in the family has COVID or has been exposed to COVID. The Pivotal Practice continues to have an impact on our district as our students are engaged, have increased their computer literacy skills, continue to strive for academic excellence and have further solidified the district’s mission, vision, and core values.
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Yuba City Unified School District
Superintendent Doreen Osumi and her staff implemented the pivotal practice of aggressively addressing chronic absenteeism and dropout prevention
A. Yuba City Unified School District chose to aggressively address Chronic Absenteeism and Dropout Prevention by growing a robust district MTSS team to include four (4) additional school counselors and our district Positive Behavior Intervention Systems Coordinator in the 2020/2021 school year. Currently, YCUSD employs a total of thirty-three (33) licensed PPS school counselors/social workers, two (2) district-level MFT and MSW social workers, a PBIS Coordinator and a Director of Student Engagement who directly oversees the team of highly qualified social emotional experts. Additionally, several of our school sites added the position of Parent Liaison to address the language diversity on campuses and provide a direct link for family outreach. Every school site has a dedicated full time school counselor, including Independence Academy which saw obvious growth this year with students transitioning to independent study as an instructional model. These additions were all made with the purposeful intent of increasing outreach to families and bringing our kids back into the classroom. The addition of the PBIS Coordinator has allowed for purposeful, proactive support for establishing positive school cultures with Tier 1 interventions for all. Protocol was established that outlined immediate contact to home when a student missed 3 days of school with a personal phone call versus the autodialer where staffing permitted. Administrators and school counselors completed home visits in teams of 2 when outreach efforts failed. If the school site was unsuccessful in completing a home visit, an Outreach Form was sent to the Student Engagement Office to deploy a home visit conducted by district office staff, a social worker or truancy officer. As a result of this approach to reengage a disenfranchised family, YCUSD can immediately assess need, provide referrals to community agencies, and provide wrap-around services to the family unit where needed. This personalized and supportive approach has resulted in finding students who would have been dropouts and getting them re-enrolled, finding siblings who had not yet been enrolled in school, locating families in crisis, and providing supportive assistance and in building trust and rapport with our families. In the first half of 2020/2021 alone, the Outreach Team conducted over 700 home visits.
B. The YCUSD Food Services Department deserves recognition for their efforts this year in implementing a pivotal practice in the target area of Nutrition. The Food Services Director has qualified the district for federal funding to secure free meals for all students in the district; thus reducing the stigma of the provided “school lunch” for those students who are socioeconomically disadvantaged. Additionally, our district enjoyed many state and local partnerships that provided locally grown fruits and vegetables. The Food Service Department has also embraced the implementation of PBIS to join our school sites as true partners in student success. Reward systems, spirit days, routinely solicited feedback from students, PBIS implementation and a strong social media presence are all notable improvements made this year for our Food Services Department.
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