Lincoln Cluster Schools Newsletter

Greetings Lincoln Cluster Staff, Families, and Community Members;

We have had an incredible start to our Spring with so many family and community events as we spring into this beautiful sunshine weather of San Diego. Yes, it looks like winter and our rainy season may now be coming to an end; so smell the flowers and enjoy the beautiful blooms. Our schools have been shining a bright spotlight on our students and their brilliance, as they shine their talents in our theater productions, musicals, STEM fairs, genius hours, and maker spaces to name a few of the spaces I have seen our students shine this month. Our community partnerships are strong and alive and to name a few, our Elementary Institute of Science partner, supporting every 4th and 5thgrader in Lincoln Cluster with a 5-week hands-on, minds-on science program, our DEEP (Diamond Educational Excellence Partnership) is thriving more than ever at four of our schools (Chollas-Mead, Johnson, Webster and Encanto) as we prepare students for Kindergarten, get every 3rd grader proficient in reading, and provide after-school and summer supports for acceleration, and our Groundwork SD partnership at MTM, as students learn outside the walls of the classroom in an interactive, experiential, and interdisciplinary learning environment, adjacent to the school, called the EarthLab. Additionally, our middle school after-school sports are alive and well, and students are loving the experiences with our extracurricular offerings. I would also like to share that our principals were able to experience a leadership retreat recently at Deloitte in Dallas, Texas, where they dove deeply into Business Chemistries (Pioneer, Driver, Guardian and Integrator), which can help our leaders grasp where others are coming from, appreciate the value they bring, and determine what they need in order to best excel. This professional learning was developed by scientists and the system is designed to provide insights about individuals and teams based on observable traits and preferences. By understanding these differences, we are hopeful that It will improve the effectiveness of our interactions, as well as understanding the combinations of business chemistry types within team environments. Lastly, I can’t emphasize enough how important your partnership as parents and guardians are with our schools, along with your daily involvement with your son and or daughter’s learning, which can have a significant impact on their overall success and achievement in both school and life. You are the bridge between school and home for our students we serve everyday, and rely on your partnership and involvement tremendously. Thank you for making learning and attending school every day a top priority in our household, as every day at school is an opportunity for growth and for joy for your child.

Always in partnership,

Bruce R. Bivins (He/Him)

Area 1 Superintendent

Spring is a time to celebrate growth and renewal. At Lincoln High School, we invite all of our cluster families to join us in celebrating the growth, learning and accomplishments of our underclassmen Wednesday, May 17th at 5:30 as a part of our “BIG NIGHT”, highlighting Student Exhibitions and Awards. Community Partners are also invited to join us in celebrating students and to share resources they want to make available to our families. We are so proud that our students are creating and telling the stories of their lives, their hopes and their community. Please take the time to visit both our online student newspaper, THE TAKEOVER, and Mr. Moller’s Digital Gallery. On April 8th, 75 of our Orchestra and Band students took the stage at The Rady’s Shell to share their music and represent Lincoln High School at the High School Music Festival, please see the picture below. Between the Arts, IMIN student clubs or Drop In Center, Career Exploration Programs, inclusive classrooms and sports, there are so many places for students to find belonging, explore interests and pursue their passions. Please visit our athletics website, https://lhshornets.com to see highlights from our championship basketball season and to find Spring sports schedules and to come out to support our Hornets!

Knox Middle School's Musical Theatre program performed The Lion King Jr.

The students did a phenomenal job and are true artists.

Thank you to our theater directors Mr. Jones and Ms. Barr.

Please click on the videos above to see clips from our musical.

MTM recently went on an exciting field trip to DreamHack, a popular e-sports convention in San Diego. The trip was not only a fun experience for the students, but also a valuable learning opportunity. In addition to seeing incredible cosplayers, they also gained insight into the rapidly growing video game e-sports industry. The trip was particularly timely as our school is currently in the process of creating its own e-sports team, and the students were thrilled to see the possibilities that await them. We look forward to seeing the continued growth of e-sports in our school community.

March and April were busy and exciting months at Horton Elementary.

In March, the Horton Hawks celebrated Read Across America Week, the nation’s largest celebration of reading. We read and explored books that students can see themselves reflected in, as well as books that allow readers to see a world or a character that might be different from them. Several special guests joined us to read aloud to students in classrooms. There was a bookmark and Book Bingo contest, as well as a whole school Read-a-Thon, and buddy reading event. Our Read Across America week celebration promoted the message that reading is critical to academic success and that the world, through books, is filled with many different kinds of people. Our Read Across America celebration helped motivate students and families to read and to celebrate the diversity in our community and our country.

This week, we’ve celebrated Earth Day, where classrooms discussed conservation, working to deter climate change and global warming, and encouraging volunteering for the good of the planet. Throughout Earth Week, students engaged in reading and learning about ways to protect and take care of the environment. We hosted a school wide clean up day and an advocacy poster contest.

Hello Lincoln Cluster Families, Happy Spring! We hope this newsletter finds everyone doing well. Here at Webster we have so many wonderful things happening, it is hard to mention them all. In March, we held our Parent Teacher Conferences. Parents had the opportunity to sit with their child’s teacher and learn wha,t where and how well their child is doing academically. Webster’s goal is to have all students reading at grade level by the end of the year. If we are going to meet this goal, we must have parent support. Without a strong home school connection, we can only do so much. In May all 3rd 4th and 5th graders will be taking the CAASPP exam. We know our teachers have been working hard all year to prepare their students for this challenging exam. We wish the students the best.

The students and staff are continuing with our “writing” focus. All students are in the process of writing an “opinion” piece with sources. On top of that, all classrooms are creating STEAM games that maybe attached to the “opinion” writing. We are planning a wonderful evening of “games on May 19th. Our goal is families can go from room to room playing the different games as they gain a better understanding of the expectations in the different grade levels.

As Webster grows into a STEAM school, we want to thank “Art Reach” for providing us with art teachers that have been sharing the many different art techniques, so next year my teachers can take on more art teaching directly in their classrooms. Enjoy the photos.

Our student Leader In Me Lighthouse Team hosted a school wide art contest. In recognition of wellness, the prompt was “who is someone special to you, and why?”
Here are some of the winning entries. We are so glad that so many students can identify friends, family, and staff who are important to them!

Encanto’s 5th grade Soaring Eagles began their foray into the world of business on April 8th at the Junior Achievement McGrath Family BizTown. The McGrath Family JA BizTown is Junior Achievement’s experiential-based elementary school Capstone Program. Through daily lessons, hands-on activities, and active participation in a simulated community, students are encouraged to use critical thinking skills as they build the foundation in business, economics, and free enterprise. Students develop a strong understanding of the relationship between what they learn in school and their successful participation in a local economy. The McGrath Family JA BizTown is a 10,000-square-foot mini-city comprised of 21 life-sized San Diego businesses where students connect the lessons learned in the classroom to ‘real-world’ applications. They run a business, earn paychecks, open bank accounts, pay taxes, vote, and are challenged to earn a profit in their business. Their experience is monumental and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and academic achievement. https://jasandiego.org/biztown/

Read what students have to say about this amazing experience.

Kara’s BizTown Experience

Before going to Biztown, we needed to prepare before arriving there. First off, we did lessons and learned about work life and we started to get used to it and eventually got to choose and get our jobs! Then when we were ready, we went to Biztown with another school too. At Biztown we heard some speeches from the CEOs of all companies and started to get to work. Every person there at biztown had a job and specific break times. At your break, you first had to deposit your check then could go buy stuff! There were tons of businesses that you could buy from, especially Jack in the Box! After I had my 2nd break/lunch, I went back to work and finished my stuff. Then when the day was over, we packed up and made sure to clean up and go home. My overall experience was amazing.

Skylar’s JA Biztown Experience

Before I went to biztown I learned about what taxes are and what they are needed for, I also learned why we need banks and what debit cards are for, we also learned vocabulary on stuff we need to know about. Once I got to biztown I noticed it was much harder to make decisions and interview other workers, I really enjoyed working with others and giving speeches and watching others do speeches. After biztown I came back knowing a lot more than I knew before, and most stuff we needed to know about I finally know about now.

Peleina’s BizTown Experience

My experience with JA Biztown was amazing, we were learning about financing and taxes before we got to Biztown and when we got there we had assigned jobs. I was a photographer at San Diego Union-Tribune. We all took breaks and got checks from our CEO. There was also a Jack in a Box with actual food, popcorn. JA Biztown is one of the best field trips our school has had in a long time. After all of this I felt like I learned a lot, met new people, had lots of fun, and I got to make a newspaper and sell them. THANK YOU JA BIZTOWN!!!!

Chollas Mead hosted a Resource Fair for our community with about 20 booths as well as a team from the Human Resources Department to recruit new school employees from the community in which we serve. For our March Family Friday, the New Children’s Museum donated literacy art kits for our UTK-2nd grade students. Teachers read an included book to the class and students completed the art projects with parents - lots of smiles and fun!

Johnson Magnet School for STEM

On April 20th, we had our annual STEM Fair! We had 85% of our families attend with at least one family member! Wow! Did they get to see some amazing learning! Every classroom from Preschool, UTK and in up to Grade 5 was represented! Families were impressed with how student curiosity led to the awesome projects at school last night! Our students are AMAZING!!!!