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Community Matters Quarterly
Spring 2022
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World Class. Community Funded. |
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The Community Newsletter of your Menlo Park City School District
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From Superintendent Burmeister |
Dear Community,
Happy Spring! Since our last issue of this newsletter, we have seen the passage of Measure B for the future of our schools, the commitment to add transitional kindergarten to our campuses, and the omicron wave of the pandemic work its way through our schools. Needless to say, it has been a very busy few months.
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Through it all, we remain grateful to our community for support as we continue to provide a local public education you can be proud of. |
Please read this issue of our newsletter for highlights of what we have been doing this winter and spring. And don't miss my latest blog post, which I believe we can all relate to as we come out of the pandemic and seek more balance in our lives. Please read "Love Alone."
I also invite you to attend School Board meetings or find us at the Menlo Park Farmers Market, which are listed in the "Dates to Note" section. You may also email [email protected] any time with your thoughts. Thank you for supporting your community school district.
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Dates to Note
Please see our website under "Announcements" 72 hours in advance of each meeting for the agenda and details for joining remotely or attending in person.
March 28-April 1 - Spring Break. Schools and District Office closed to public
April 14 - School Board Meeting, Open Session 6 p.m. over Zoom or in person
April 24 - MPCSD @ Menlo Park Farmers Market
April 29 - No School for Students. Wellness Day for Teachers/Staff
May 12 - School Board Meeting, Open Session 6 p.m. over Zoom or in person
May 30 - Schools Closed for Memorial Day
June 2 - School Board Meeting, Open Session 6 p.m. over Zoom or in person
June 5 - MPCSD @ Menlo Park Farmers Market
June 9 - School Board Meeting, Open Session 6 p.m. over Zoom or in person
June 10 - Last Day of School
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MPCSD is pleased to present its Annual Report to the Community for 2021-22. Please read it here for important financial and programmatic information.
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Measure B: Thank You, Community |
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Last November the MPCSD community overwhelmingly supported Measure B, a parcel tax that replaces Measure X and will raise $4.59 million annually for twelve years. Measure B lays the foundation for a generation of students, teachers, and families to benefit from smaller class sizes, excellent teachers, and a strong academic program. Thank you so much for valuing your school district and supporting it with your tax dollars. Measure B will take effect in July 2022 and Measure X will be discontinued at that time. For the 2021-22 tax payments, you will continue to pay the Measure X rate indicated on your current tax bill. |
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Enrollment is now open for incoming kindergartners and all other students who will be new to MPCSD in the fall. In addition, the district's Transitional Kindergarten program for students turning five years old between September 2, 2022 and February 2, 2023 will open this fall and is now taking enrollment. All enrollment information may be found at the district's Enrollment webpage.
Transitional Kindergarten (TK) is the first year of a two-year kindergarten program required to be provided by all California public school districts serving elementary-aged students, under Senate Bill 130. TK provides early childhood education as a transition between preschool and kindergarten to address a child’s language, literacy, and pre-math skills with an emphasis on social and emotional development. The program blends preschool and readiness standards for kindergarten with a focus on hands-on, experiential learning, and play. MPCSD's TK program will be offered as a half-day program with morning or afternoon sessions, with extended care available in partnership with the district's award-winning preschool, the Early Learning Center.
MPCSD looks forward to welcoming new families this year as part of a TK program that will reflect the learner-centered, whole-child values of the MPCSD educational experience.
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The pandemic is far from over, but like much of society, MPCSD is moving into the endemic phase and thinking of how we now "do school" with the presence of Covid. A high vaccination rate among teachers/staff (97%), students (70%) and within our county (94%) along with hospital capacity and therapeutics make it possible to adjust our Covid protocols and focus on the mental wellness of our community as we move toward "normal" operations.
MPCSD has joined the state and county health departments in highly recommending masks indoors, but no longer requiring them. The district maintains its excellent Covid ventilation practices and weekly testing program which is required for staff and offered to students. These practices are keeping Covid at low levels across our campuses, yet we remain nimble to reintroduce any necessary precautions should conditions require them.
Gatherings and Field Trips Return
Perhaps what we missed most were opportunities to be in physical community with each other. We are thrilled to be sending students once again on field trips including to the highly acclaimed Outdoor Education program through the San Mateo County Office of Education. This year, all MPCSD 5th graders AND 6th graders, who missed out on their trip last year, were able to attend. Thanks to our nursing team, all students were tested right before departure. Schools also brought back in-person science nights, book fairs, family picnics and more.
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Students learn in nature at week-long Outdoor Education. |
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Family science events are returning at all elementary campuses. Pictured here is Oak Knoll. |
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Seventh graders enjoy an outdoor dance at Hillview. |
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The Show Goes On!
Live performances in MPCSD are back. This spring will be filled with the sounds of musical theater and music performances. Just last weekend, Encinal produced their version of Wizard of Oz (pictured at right). Upcoming in April and May, Laurel, Oak Knoll and Hillview will stage Seussical. And the Hillview music department has a spring schedule that includes a Disney Tour, a joint concert with La Entrada and M-A High School, the CMEA Orchestra and Band and Choral West Festivals, and concerts across our district. We are proud to have the arts alive and well in our schools.
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#OperationWellness
The pandemic has taken its toll on learners, families, and educators alike. Even as we enjoy the return of many activities, the stress and anxiety of the past two years will take a long time to heal. This spring, MPCSD is highly focused on providing extra wellness care to students, parents, and teachers and staff. From therapy dogs Eclair (pictured here with Hillview students) and Boris (he visits Encinal 2nd grade classrooms weekly) to parenting support with StarVista to the integral lessons from our full time counseling team and the district-wide adoption RULER, a systemic approach to social emotional learning developed at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, we strive to meet our community's mental health needs with timely, appropriate, and easily accessible support. This spring each grade level will have a field trip to the Riekes Center to engage in community-building activities while teachers receive a day to attend to their own wellness. And for the second year in a row, the Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation has used its annual auction Fund-A-Need to raise money for mental health and wellness support throughout the district. Together, we will emerge stronger, more compassionate, and healthier.
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2022 Administrators of the Year |
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MPCSD is home to not one, but two distinguished Administrators of the Year for 2022! Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Jammie Behrendt and Executive Director of Student Services Stephanie Sheridan were both selected by Region 5 of the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) as leaders of the year in the categories of Curriculum & Instruction and Special Education, respectively. |
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Jammie Behrendt is a bilingual Mandarin and English speaker with experience leading in diverse districts throughout the Bay Area. In all of her roles, educational equity and effective instructional strategies have been at the forefront of her work. She is successful at leading student-centered change where others may not find success because she quickly engenders trust and confidence. |
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Dr. Stephanie Sheridan has over 20 years of experience in the field of education, including as a school psychologist and graduate level instructor. She has expertise in the area of mental health, behavior and wellness services and has led our district with great care, resolve, and creativity during this time that has challenged our patience, well-being, and health.
ACSA Region 5 includes all of San Francisco and San Mateo Counties, with over 300 schools serving 158,000 students. Each year ACSA honors educational leaders who excel in their fields. Jammie and Stephanie will be officially recognized at ACSA's Celebration of Leadership and 50th Anniversary event in South San Francisco on March 23.
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Superintendent Erik Burmeister and other members of the Leadership Team are always eager to engage with the community at the Sunday morning Menlo Park Farmers Market. Come see us April 24 or June 5. |
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Beginning Monday, March 28 the Menlo Park Curative Kiosk will move to its new location in the Hillview Middle School parking lot at 1100 Elder Street in Menlo Park. It will be open Mon-Fri 10AM-5PM. MPCSD has partnered with Curative to make Covid-19 testing available to the community since 2020, and we are pleased to have Curative now share space on the Hillview campus. |
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Catching Up: Anna Quinlan |
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If you haven’t heard of Anna Quinlan, you probably will someday. She completed Hillview in 2015 but didn’t go far, geographically speaking. From MPCSD she attended M-A High School and is now a junior at Stanford University. Anna was recently recognized by Apple Scholars Program and Rewriting the Code for her work supporting the diabetes community. We caught up with Anna between classes and were delighted to hear more about her current work and plans for the future, as well as how her time in MPCSD laid a foundation for creativity and possibility.
Anna believes that living a meaningful life and feeling successful come from happiness, good health, and self sufficiency. She credits her parents for offering a childhood with the freedom to explore and find what made her happy, as well as some notable MPCSD teachers who encouraged her to follow an interest in science, Spanish, and love of books. She recalled Hillview 6th grade science teacher Mr. Green telling her she was good at science, which set her on a path to enter the science fair the following year. Her science fair projects evolved into focusing on diabetes research, which remains a strong focus for her today. What makes her interest in diabetes so compelling is the burden the disease puts on patients and just how much work they have to do simply to live, with their care affecting every aspect of life. As she progressed through high school and added coding skills to her toolkit, she began to see how applied technology could make people’s lives better. “Technology fundamentals are interesting, but applying it to people is even more exciting,” she said about her natural marrying of tech skills with compassion for people.
An avid reader who feels that the Hillview library created a safe space and books opened her up to new perspectives, Anna shared some of her favorite recommendations: Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach, Know Your Power: A Message to America’s Daughters by Nancy Pelosi, and Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario. Anna’s appreciation for multiple perspectives informs her work with the diabetes community and her approach to problem solving in general. “The more diverse a test group, the more likely you are to deliver a great experience. When developing a solution you want people to think ‘Wow, that was made for me!’ and you need to hear from as many different people as possible for that to happen.” As an Indigenous woman herself who grew up practicing Native traditions, seeking out diversity feels natural for Anna. She says you don’t know “what’s normal and what isn’t” unless you take the time to seek out other stories.
By all accounts, and most importantly her own, Anna is creating a pathway to success for herself. And we are lucky that with her dedication to finding solutions to improve life for others, we may all someday benefit from Anna’s pursuits. In closing she shared some insight gained from her own childhood experience that many current MPCSD parents may appreciate: “If you focus on a child developing into a good human, then the ‘college thing’ will work out. Kids really need to be supported in pursuing what makes them happy.”
We are excited to bring you this Catching Up story and are always open to hearing from or about other MPCSD alumni and what they are up to now. Please email [email protected] to share!
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You're Invited - Final 2021-22 Speaker Event |
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Menlo Park City School District's annual Speaker Series events are free and open to the public. You are cordially invited to the final event of this school year, which is scheduled to be in person at Hillview Middle School. We hope to see you there. See the full series and catch up with videos of events and extra resources provided by speakers at the Speaker Series website.
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Teaching Children Self Regulation: An Evening with Therapist Lauren Allerhand
Wednesday, April 13, 2022 @ 6:30pm at Hillview PAC
Regulating emotions is one of the most critical - yet hard to develop - skills we need in school, relationships, and life. It’s hard for adults to grasp and can be confounding for us as we teach it to our kids. Dr. Lauren Allerhand of the Child Mind Institute will help us with practical advice, scientific research, and plenty of time for deep Q&A about your pressing concerns. This talk will cover how to better understand your and your children’s emotional experience and skills that can be used in the moment to manage uncomfortable or intense emotions.
Thanks to local favorite, Kepler's Books, all four books featured in this year's series are available for purchase on one handy site. Visit Kepler's MPCSD page to view the books and authors that were part of this year's line-up.
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Support MPCSD Through MPAEF |
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Become a Friend of the MPAEF and Support Our Schools
The Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation (MPAEF) is celebrating its 40-year history supporting the students, teachers and schools in the MPCSD community. Our four local public schools – Encinal, Laurel, Oak Knoll, and Hillview – receive only twelve percent of their budget from state and federal funding. Our schools rely on gifts from community members like you to fund critical programs and offer a dynamic and well-rounded educational experience for all children in the Menlo Park City School District. As an engaged member of our Menlo Park-Atherton community, we invite you to show your support for our local public schools and become a Friend of the MPAEF by making a donation today to mpaef.org/community-giving. Thank you to our community donors for their continued support of our local schools!
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Community Connection - Engage with Us |
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Hillview Hawks, Laurel Squirrels, Encinal Eagles, Oak Knoll Otters. These mascots represent MPCSD's four award-winning schools that are the hearts of their neighborhoods and the pride of our community. As partners in educating our future, we welcome your interest, questions, and feedback at any time. Use the links below to access each school's website, or email [email protected].
School websites:
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Erik Burmeister, Superintendent
Board of Education
Scott Saywell, President
David Ackerman, Vice President
Sherwin Chen
Stacey Jones
Francesca Segrè
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