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Community Matters Quarterly
Winter 2023
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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 Kristen Gracia |
As I have stepped into my new role as the Superintendent of Menlo Park City School District (MPCSD), I find myself reflecting on the road that led me here. I began my career in public education because I wanted to dedicate my time, effort, and skills to make a difference for students from all walks of life, beliefs, values, and circumstances. To me, this is the beauty and strength of being a public school district - our doors are wide open to serve all of our community’s children. I have seen the world-ready benefit that our students receive from coming together, learning about and alongside each other, and working collaboratively.
Public schools have an important role in our society that I do not take for granted. We have the opportunity and responsibility to foster our students’ academic and social growth, create safe conditions for them to make friends and build community, close historical persistent opportunity gaps, and preserve and protect childhood.
As Superintendent, I will bring my best every day to ensure that each child feels valued, knows their strength, and is ready to access the high-quality education our community expects and our outstanding teachers and leaders work tirelessly to provide. I believe we are in a fantastic place and doing incredible work and that this is the perfect time to shape a strong and intentional vision for the future. I have so much confidence, enthusiasm, and hope in the quality work we will do, because we will do it together, as a community, for our students.
I also invite you to attend School Board meetings or find us at the Menlo Park Farmers Market. 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 Board meeting for the agenda and attendance details.
February 9 - School Board Meeting, Open Session 6 p.m.
February 20-24 - No School in Observance of Presidents Day / Mid-Winter Break
March 9 - School Board Meeting, Open Session 6 p.m.
March 24 - No School for Students (Staff Development Day)
April 10-14 - No School for Spring Break
April 20 - School Board Meeting, Open Session 6 p.m.
May 11 - School Board Meeting, Open Session 6 p.m.
May 29 - No School in Observance of Memorial Day
June 9 - Last Day of School in MPCSD
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Enrollment for fall 2023 NEW students is now open! Residents of MPCSD may register their children for grades TK through 8. Find enrollment details and the online registration portal at our Enrollment webpage. The re-enrollment process for currently enrolled students will launch in March and families will receive a direct email with instructions.
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All MPCSD Elementary Schools Distinguished |
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All three of MPCSD’s elementary schools, Encinal, Laurel, and Oak Knoll, have been honored as California Distinguished Schools for 2023. This year marks the return of this recognition program for the first time since Covid-19 temporarily suspended reporting of state and local student data. California Distinguished Schools are recognized for their excellent work in closing the achievement gap and achieving exceptional student performance. Elementary schools and middle/high schools are recognized in alternate years; therefore, awardees hold the title for two years. In total, 356 California elementary schools - just 6% - were selected for this honor.
MPCSD students continued to achieve highly when the state standardized tests returned in spring 2022, the data on which this award is based. Overall, 81% of MPCSD students met or exceeded standards in English Language Arts and 77% met or exceeded standards in Math. Subgroup performance that was taken into account for the award are our socioeconomically disadvantaged students, who made a two percent gain in academic achievement over 2019 data. Other factors considered were chronic absenteeism and suspension rates. MPCSD has 7.5% chronic absenteeism compared to 30% statewide, and a suspension rate of 0.5% compared to 3.1% statewide.
MPCSD Superintendent Kristen Gracia commends the entire district for its focus on teaching and learning that enabled the district’s schools to earn this designation. “I am so proud of the work our educators are doing, despite the many upheavals of the past few years. By focusing on progress over perfection, we are meeting students where they are and fostering their growth, both academically and socially. It is always rewarding to have the important work of our schools acknowledged like this, and I am thankful to our teachers and staff for remaining so dedicated to our students’ success.”
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Partnership is a Core Value in MPCSD, meaning that a culture of inclusivity is the norm in our schools, where all backgrounds and perspectives are valued, and we share a deep commitment to providing opportunity and achieving success for every child. Unfortunately, we are not immune to the rise in hate speech and ethnic slurs being used across the country as incidents of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism have recently affected our own families.
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We hope that you will join us in helping create an environment of inclusivity throughout the community. It takes all of us to raise young people to be compassionate, caring, and kind.
Here is some of what MPCSD is doing to educate our students beyond academics, so they can contribute to a globally connected and equitable society:
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Noting major holidays for the Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, and Muslim faiths in our staff calendar and educating staff around how to be supportive to students during times of observance.
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Utilizing a district-wide advisory team, site-based equity leads, and staff BIPOC and ally affinity groups to develop ways to co-create inclusion across the district.
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"Walk a Mile Wednesdays" at Hillview to create a community where all students, staff, and families feel valued, connected, and inspired. Staff are sharing stories from their childhood along with what actions students can take to look out for each other and practice compassion in their words and actions. See episode one with Assistant Principal Johnna Becker here.
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Assemblies and class visits highlight various cultural events and practices to build awareness among students; for example Stanford Lion Dance recently visited Encinal School in celebration of Lunar New Year (pictured above, image accessed from facebook.com/stanfordliondance/).
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Community events that further our development, knowledge, and perspective on inclusivity and belonging; for example our Speaker Series recent event with ADL focused on hate speech.
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Facilitating the regional Community Trust, a quarterly gathering of agencies that provide services to youth and families, including police, fire, schools, social services, and non-profit agencies.
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Hillview 7th/8th Grade Orchestra Performs in San Francisco
Every year this talented group makes the trip to San Francisco City Hall for a holiday performance in the beautiful rotunda. Congratulations to music director Richard Vaughan and our student musicians.
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Reading Specialist Jacqui Cebrian Hosts Caldecott Event at Cafe Zoe
Prior to the prestigious Caldecott Medals being announced, Ms. Cebrian held two events at the Willows' Cafe Zoe. Participants voted on their pick to win, which turned out to be the actual winner just days later! Read more about Doug Salati's Hot Dog here. Books from the evnets were then donated to Belle Haven School.
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San Mateo County Board of Education Seeks New Member
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Support Local Schools Through Dineout February!
Our educational fundraising partner Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation is partnering with local restaurant Mama Coco to give our schools 15% back when you place a dine-in or take-out order all February ling. Just mention “MPAEF” when placing your dine-in or take-out order. Support a local business and our excellent schools!
Mama Coco is open all day, every day for lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. - 9 p.m and has a kids area and special kids menu to ensure your entire family enjoys their meal.
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Dining-in? Check out the Mama Coco menu online.
- Ordering take-out? Place your order via phone at (650) 272-6634.
- Don’t forget to mention “MPAEF” when placing your order to make sure the Mama Coco team knows to apply your meal to our promotion!
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MPCSD's Enrollment Picture |
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School enrollment in MPCSD has long been both a driver and a reflection of the high quality public education that our community expects and our schools deliver. Beginning in the mid-1990s the School Board began investing in our schools' facilities, staffing, and programs through parcel taxes and bond measures. This community investment reaped benefits like top achievement scores, campus upgrades, and state and national recognition for academics, innovation, the arts, and environmental design. Its excellent reputation caused MPCSD to become a "destination district" that attracts young families and continues to support high property values throughout the community.
In a community funded district like MPCSD, enrollment plays a crucial but unpredictable role in our planning. Community funded districts' funding is not tied to enrollment and they do not receive significant funding from state or federal sources. In fact, those sources only make up 12% of our operating budget. From 2000 through 2019, MPCSD experienced unprecedented enrollment growth of nearly 54%, placing the district in a time of rapid expansion pressure on its facilities and staff. The community's support of parcel taxes and bonds was crucial to the district's successful management of this growth.
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After two decades of consistent growth, MPCSD is now in a near-term period of slow decline or plateau. This is a trend throughout the state, although in MPCSD the decline is much less steep than in other districts. The district's most recent demographic study predicts that the district will expand again in school year 2023-34 with the full implementation of transitional kindergarten, and will decline for the following two years to reach about 2500 students by school year 2027-28. Beyond that timeframe, we expect our enrollment numbers to rise again, especially as new housing is built with The Housing Element.
What does all this mean for our future?
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Transitional kindergarten for all four year olds has been mandated by the state yet additional funding has not been made available to community funded districts to pay for this new grade level.
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Site-based enrollment is uneven. The majority of new housing in the district boundaries will be built along the El Camino corridor, impacting Encinal School disproportionately. With less demand at Laurel and Oak Knoll and greater at Encinal, MPCSD boundaries may need to change.
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Declining enrollment releases the immediate pressure on our facilities, although MPCSD has the largest elementary schools in the county by enrollment, and the smallest physical campuses.
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Older buildings need replacing. Our oldest campuses, particularly Laurel Lower Campus, need significant modernization including seismic upgrades, or replacing altogether. An enrollment plateau gives us time to focus on these necessary upgrades.
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The cost of education rises every year. MPCSD is not immune to inflation and the high cost of living in our community. Competitively compensating our staff remains a priority, but it is ever more difficult to recruit teachers and classified staff to an area which grows more unaffordable every year. As fewer and fewer young people choose a career in education, MPCSD needs to work harder to remain in a position of hiring the best talent for our community's children.
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It's all relative. Even with fewer students and strong property values, the per-student funding in MPCSD remains significantly lower than other local districts. For example, our neighbors in Ravenswood, Las Lomitas, Woodside, and Portola Valley have between $5,274 and $15,626 MORE per student per year in funding.
MPCSD looks forward to a continued partnership with the community in supporting our facilities, programs, and staff. The education of our children is all of our responsibilities and we couldn't do it without you.
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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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Kristen Gracia, Superintendent
Board of Education
David Ackerman, President
Francesca Segrè, Vice President
Sherwin Chen
Scott Saywell
Jed Scolnick
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