Message from Superintendent Amerson
Greetings DUSD Families, Staff and Community,

I miss you all very much and hope you are managing to find safe ways to make the most of summer break as best you can. During this time, our leadership team has continued to make preparations for the upcoming school year. I have the utmost confidence that our district will be ready to deliver a robust and rigorous 100% Distance Learning Model starting day one on August 13, 2020. We all learned many lessons about remote learning based on our quick transition to it last Spring, and I guarantee that what we provide to start this year will be substantially different and vastly improved. The specific parameters of our 100% Distance Learning Model are being developed in collaboration with our labor partners this week. Together, we are creating an optimal virtual learning environment that meets the needs of our students and supports our staff. 

I know we can achieve this goal because best practices are already being designed, vetted, and collected by 40 DUSD Teachers who are delivering our STEAM Summer School program using a distance learning format. Over 1,000 students who will be entering Grades 1-12 are participating, and we’ve received rave reviews from many parents and positive feedback from our teachers and administrators. The knowledge gained from our summer school program will also help inform the professional development the rest of our team will engage in before the 2020-21 school year begins. Will everything be perfect right out of the gate, no, probably not. But our district does have a proven track record of implementing innovative change, being nimble when adjustments are needed, and keeping the lines of communication open to solve issues that may arise. 

We are more eager than ever to reconnect with our returning students, families, and staff and want to extend a warm welcome to the new members joining our DUSD Family. This week our Principals will be reaching out to touch base with all of you. As we know the first days of this school year will be very different, helping you to prepare for what’s ahead and knowing the expectations are very important. We appreciate you may have many questions about students’ daily online schedules, teacher assignments, computers/materials pick-up procedures, navigating Google Classroom, and more. For this reason, each of our schools will offer a variety of virtual orientations and online opportunities to share these details with you in the days ahead. Please complete the student data confirmation process within Aeries by August 3, to ensure we have your correct contact information so that our correspondence about these events is reaching you. 

In the meantime, continue to send your questions to communications@duarteusd.org . Our team does read every question submitted and they are factored into our planning. Your questions are also being used to develop the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) guide we are building for our students, parents, and staff to reference. Do also regularly check the district website duarteusd.org and social media sites @duarteusd on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for updates. Please be safe during the remainder of summer vacation, and know we are here for you if you need us. Thank you and be well!


Best,
Gordon
 
Superintendent of Schools
Duarte Unified School District
#ProudSuperintendent
Upcoming District Events and Reminders
DUSD STEAM Summer School
The DUSD 100% Distance Learning STEAM Summer School will be in session through July 29, 2020. This free offering for children entering Grades 1-12 has been a huge success! The program has attracted approximately 1,000 participants that include students already enrolled in DUSD and those who attend elsewhere. Click here if you have questions for our Team.
District and School Offices Closed
We're sorry for any inconvenience, but our district and school offices remain closed to the general public until further notice. To reach a member of our team, refer to our staff email directory that is posted on our district website at www.duarteusd.org . For general information, please email communications@duarteusd.org .
Complete Aeries Student Data Confirmation
In preparation for the 2020-2021 school year, we ask that you finalize the registration process for your child by completing data confirmation through our online student information system, Aeries. Between now and Monday, August 3, 2020 , please log into the Aeries Portal account for your child to confirm and update the information that is currently in the system. This step is especially important this year to ensure our staff has the correct contact information to correspond with all of our families. Please note, school site personnel must verify a student’s change of address, and proof of residence is required for verification.

Prior to completing data confirmation, please visit  https://aeries.duarteusd.org/  and follow these steps:

  1. Enter the email address that was used to register your child for the 2020-2021 school year. If you do not remember the email address that was used, please contact your child’s school.
  2. Enter the appropriate password associated with the account. If you have not already changed/updated your password as instructed, please do so now to maintain security standards. If you do not remember your password, click on the “Forgot Password” link and follow the directions to create a new password.

Please keep in mind the following important considerations regarding interdistrict permits:

  1. If your child is attending school in the Duarte Unified School District (DUSD) through an interdistrict permit and still resides in the district of residence that issued the permit, you do not need to reapply for a permit. However, permits may be revoked by DUSD if your child does not maintain satisfactory grades, attendance, or behavior.
  2. If your child is attending a school in DUSD through an interdistrict permit, but the school district that issued the permit is no longer your child’s district of residence, you must apply for a permit with the new district of residence and with DUSD.
  3. If your child is currently a DUSD student but has moved or will move outside of DUSD attendance boundaries, please make sure that you apply for an interdistrict permit with the new district of residence and with DUSD.

Because our district and school offices remain closed due to COVID-19, if you have questions regarding data confirmation or need to submit proof of residence, please contact our schools by using the email address or phone number listed below.

Duarte Preschool
(626) 599-5123

Andres Duarte Arts Academy
(626) 599-5102

Beardslee Dual Language Academy
(626) 599-5202

Maxwell Academy – An IB World School
(626) 599-5302

Royal Oaks STEAM Academy
(626) 599-5400

Valley View Academy of Technology and Creative Learning
(626) 599-5502

M.I.T. High School
(626) 599-5902

Duarte High School
(626) 599-5713

Thank you very much for your cooperation!
Governor Newsom's Pandemic Plan for Schools
On Friday, July 17, Governor Gavin Newsom presented new protocols for the reopening of public and private TK-12 Grade schools. The order included five key areas:

  1. Safe in-person school based on local health data
  2. Mask requirements
  3. Physical distancing and other adaptations
  4. Regular testing and dedicated contact tracing
  5. Rigorous distance learning

Although our Board of Education had already had the foresight to open the school year with a rigorous 100% Distance Learning Model, this new order requires all public and private schools who had not already taken this action to remain physically closed in counties on the state’s monitoring list due to spiking COVID-19 cases. This includes all schools within Los Angeles County. Schools cannot re-open until their county has come off the state’s monitoring list for 14 consecutive days. Please learn more about Governor Newsom's directive and the updated California Department of Public Health Guidelines here. The Los Angeles Department of Public Health and Los Angeles County Office of Education will be updating their guidelines as well to align with this new order.
Last Day of STEAM Summer School is July 29
DUSD's 100% Virtual STEAM Summer School is going swimmingly! Approximately 1,000 students dived into our first-ever distance learning program for students in Grades 1-12 that runs July 1 - July 29, 2020. A variety of enrichment and credit courses are being offered for free to students enrolled within DUSD as well as those not attending our schools. Our summer school teachers are utilizing Google Classroom and Meets to provide online instruction Monday through Friday. The Principals facilitating the program are Russ Earnest (Grades 9-12), Char Wilson (Grades 5-8), and Leslie Bartlett (Grades 1-4). If you have questions or would like further information, please contact our STEAM Summer School team by clicking here.
Grab-n-Go Summer Meals June 1 - July 31, 2020
Online Registration for Preschool, TK/Kindergarten, & New Students is Still Open - Enroll Today!
If you have a child that will be ready to start Preschool, Kindergarten, or Transitional Kindergarten (TK) next school year, it's time to register! Please register online at register.duarteusd.org . We offer full-day Kindergarten at all of our Academies, and TK is offered at Andres Duarte Arts Academy, 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 register now.
DUSD Social Media Directory
As you know, you can follow @duarteusd on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube. But, w e have also put together a  DUSD social media directory  of all the official sites operated by our district, schools, and staff for your convenience. In addition to following @duarteusd, we encourage you to follow these other sites too for important information and updates during summer.
COVID-19 Safety and Public Health Information
The  Los Angeles County Department of Public Health  reminds everyone 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, and wear a clean face covering w henever in public. Also avoid the three C's: crowds, confined spaces and close contact with people outside your own household. 

The Reopening Protocols, COVID-19 Surveillance Interactive Dashboard, Roadmap to Recovery, Recovery Dashboard, and additional things you can do to protect yourself, your family and your community are on the Public Health website .

Always check only trusted sources for the latest accurate information about COVID-19:
Duarte Counts! Census Information
Got the DUSD App?
Download it Today for FREE
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.
School Flyers Available Via Email
Save Paper & Stay Informed
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.
See Who We Are
Submit Your Newsletter Ideas
Have an idea, information or a suggestion for a story for our newsletter?
DUARTE UNIFIED | 626.599.5000 | communications@duarteusd.org