PUSD UPDATE

Dear PUSD Community,

We have exciting news this week: PUSD has been awarded a third magnet grant that expands the vibrant public school choices for families of Altadena, Pasadena, and Sierra Madre and affirms the excellent work our teachers and administrators have done with two previous grants. For PUSD to receive this third grant speaks to the confidence that the U.S. Department of Education has in our district’s ability to implement two other magnet grants successfully.

The new five-year grant:

• Adds an environmental science program to Washington Elementary STEM Magnet

• Adds a new Cross-Cultural Learning magnet at Longfellow Elementary

• Adds a new arts conservatory and French dual immersion at Eliot Arts Magnet

• Expands language learning opportunities and articulated pathways between elementary and middle schools in Spanish and French.

In this week’s update, you’ll also see our students growing through our school nutrition program, our very cool water safety program, and ongoing programs to strengthen our students’ mental and physical well-being. Please take a moment to enjoy the newsletter, learn something new, and hopefully make your life a little brighter this week. Make it a good one!

Sincerely,

Brian McDonald, Ed.D.

Superintendent

We might never know the full impact of teaching children to swim but we’re certain it saves lives. Through the PUSD Water Safety Program, every third-grade student enrolled in the District is taught life-saving water safety skills at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center. Last week, the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center recognized Ana Maria “Ria” Apodaca, Director of PUSD Health Programs, for keeping the program afloat.

Since 1991, the program has made a big splash among more than 25,000 PUSD kids who have learned to swim, play water polo, and become lifeguards.

PUSD is keeping it hip and healthy with “Peace, Love and School Lunch” – this year’s theme of National School Lunch Week. Here’s a far-out fact: every day our PUSD Food Services team provides over 13,000 nutritious meals - both lunch and breakfast. Although this is California’s first time implementing the “School Meals for All” program, at PUSD all breakfasts and lunches have been free to our students for the past three years and qualified for the Community Eligibility Program since 2020. To learn more about PUSD programs where “our mission is nutrition,” click here.

Check the air in your bike tires and get ready to lace up your tennis shoes. This Wednesday, Oct. 12, PUSD students will “walk and roll” to school to celebrate National Walk and Bike to School Day. It’s a day that reminds everyone of the simple joy of walking to school, the health benefits of regular physical activity, the need for safe places to walk and bike, and how these activities can help the environment.

We encourage all of our schools to participate in Walk and Bike to School Day. PUSD has been enjoying the “walk and roll” day since 2005 and we appreciate the support of the PUSD Board of Education, the Pasadena Department of Transportation, Pasadena Police and Fire departments, Pasadena city officials, and many community partners.

Without amazing administrators, PUSD schools wouldn’t be the same, so please join our PUSD Board and the California Legislature in recognizing October 9 - 15, 2022, as the official Week of the School Administrator. Take a moment to thank a leader for their service and support. Don’t forget, administrators are not only principals but also assistant principals, special education and adult education leaders, curriculum coordinators, school business officials, and other district employees. Thank you for doing so many jobs with one goal in mind - helping our students!

“I spent my entire K-12 education as a student who was known as being different. First I was different because I was a poor reader, then a poor speller, and later because I was a boy who liked boys. Not having access to any meaningful information that reflected my identity or acknowledged my social challenges that I had to navigate was difficult.”

--Dr. David Rennie, PUSD Data Facilitator, Academics Division

As Dr. Rennie explained his personal background and struggles at a PUSD Board of Education meeting recently, he said he hoped to provide a “humanizing face” and “give voice” to a resolution that aims to reaffirm the freedoms and equality of all those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ+). The Board unanimously approved Resolution 2681, declaring October as LGBTQ+ History Month. In doing so, they raised awareness and resolved to support programs that reflect diversity and uphold the human and legal rights of LGBTQ+ people. For more on the “power of inclusion and visibility,” please see Dr. Rennie’s board presentation here and the resolution here.

Nearly one in five children in the United States will experience mental illness in their lifetime (source: Center for Disease Control). World Mental Health Day, honored annually on October 10, was created to raise awareness of mental health issues and mobilize support to improve the mental health of people around the world. PUSD has its own Mental Health Consortium of school-based mental health programs serving students and their families. If you need help, we can provide it directly or find a professional who can support you. Please contact your school site administrators first or in an emergency, you can call or text 9-8-8 and get immediately connected to the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline for help 24 hours a day.

“So the great thing about Pasadena Unified School District is that students can come and check in with us if they’re maybe having a bad day, if they need to just talk to someone about something that may be going on at home, in the classroom, or on the playground and they need to talk to someone and maybe get some guidance on one, how to problem solve it or two, how to process that emotion, or even how to kind of cope with what they’re feeling. So the great part is we have people on the school sites and we encourage students to drop in, say hi, and also come to us when they feel that they need to talk to somebody.”

--Julia Paniagua, PUSD Clinical Social Worker

The California Healthy Kids Survey is coming soon and we’d love to get your students’ opinions. The District is asking students in grades 6, 7, 9, and 11 to take part in the survey to gather information on key elements that affect learning. Topics include youth health risks and behaviors, school connectedness, school climate, and school violence. Please go to www.pusd.us/survey and follow the instructions. The survey will be open from November 4-18, 2022. For 6th graders, parents and guardians must give consent. If you do not want your 7th, 9th, and 11th graders to participate, you must opt-out here. It is anonymous, confidential, and voluntary and is highly encouraged because students’ voices are valuable!

On Thursday, October 20, 2022, at 10:20 a.m., PUSD will join millions of people worldwide to

practice earthquake drills for International ShakeOut Day. The drill provides an opportunity for

all staff and students to simulate a disaster response in order to test and evaluate our schools’ and

districts’ emergency procedures plan www.shakeout.org/california Also on Oct. 20, PUSD will test our emergency communications systems by sending emails, texts, and phone messages to all staff and student contacts. So get ready to drop, cover, and hold on!