Dear Alhambra USD Community,

It looks like the groundhog was correct when he predicted six more weeks of winter! I hope you and your family are staying warm and dry in the midst of this unusually cold and wet weather. This weekend would be the perfect time to stay in, sip some hot chocolate, and enjoy a little family time together.

February marked the beginning of awards/recognition season for our district. This month, I had the pleasure of joining our California Distinguished Schools and our Academic Decathlon teams at their recognition events. Additionally, the Asian American Association held its scholarship dinner and Alhambra PTA Council held its Founders Day dinner. What an honor to be among so many students and staff members who continually excel, and to be with those who selflessly give to our schools and district. In the next few months, we will have many other celebratory events and occasions and I hope to see many of you at them.

It feels like winter, but we know spring (and spring break) is right around the corner, and then the last few months of school will seem to fly by. Before you know it, it will be time for open houses and promotion/graduation ceremonies. In schools, we often see a tendency of students to have a case of “spring fever” and to slack off a bit. This would be an ideal time for all of us to remind our students to stay focused, while still enjoying all that the spring months bring to our schools and community. It can be a delicate balance between work and fun, but with school-family partnership and support, we will help students end the year on a strong and positive note.

As we transition out of the pandemic and continue to heal from the trauma of the mass shooting in Monterey Park, I am continually reminded of how important it is to work together, learn from one another, and support others with kindness and grace.

In partnership,

Denise R. Jaramillo, Ed.D.

Superintendent

• Event Highlight: PTA Founders Day Dinner
  
• February 21st Board Meeting Staff Report Presentation Slides & Student Calendar
  
• - Overview of the Process for Development of Comprehensive School Safety Plans
  
• - Overview of District Implementation of BP 5127 (Summer Grads) & BP 6146 (State Graduation Requirements)
• - AUSD Transportation Plan
• - 2023-24 Student Calendar
• Educational Services

• - March 20th LCAP Parent Advisory Meeting
  
• - Equity Talks With Parents RSVP
  
• -College & Career Center Workshop: College Hour with East Los Angeles College
  

• Student Support Services
  
• - Parent Webinar: "The Truth about Vaping, Marijuana, and Fentanyl"
  
• - TUPE PSA Winners: SGHS & Ynez
  
• - Registration for 2023-24
  
• Small Spotlights (News and Information from Around AUSD)
• ATA's Read Across America Event
• Cafeteria Menus
• Special Event for National School Breakfast Week (March 6th-10th)
• Parent Resources: Community Offerings
• Partner Non-Profit Organizations (AEF, ALA, AAA)
  
• - AEF Fundraiser for SGHS Football CIF Rings
• - ALA News: Lotería & Scholarship Dinner Dance
• - AAA Scholarship Recipients
  
• Human Resources
• - Employment Opportunities
  
• - Game Changers
• Scholarship Opportunities

• High School Athletics Calendars
• Upcoming Events and Important Dates
• Event Highlight: Los Angeles County Academic Decathlon
  
• Publicity Requests

• AUSD Featured in Local Papers
• Alhambra USD YouTube Channel
• AUSD Website & Social Media
• AUSD Connection Archive

Throughout the newsletter, please CLICK ON IMAGES AND HEADLINES to access additional information, embedded links, and larger versions of the photographs/graphics.

Last Friday, we had a wonderful time as we recognized over 80 amazing parents, staff members, and students for their dedication and commitment to their school, our students, PTA, and the Alhambra Unified School District. Thank you to John Tong and Alhambra Council PTA for sharing their photos with us.

Access the full-color program, including photos of ALL the 2023 honorees, below. To view more photos from the Founders Day Dinner, please visit the Alhambra Council PTA WEBSITE.

Although the slide decks give you an overview and basic information of each topic, we encourage you to attend our BOARD MEETINGS and listen to the detailed staff reports as they are presented to the Board. Click on the images below to access a PDF of each presentation's slide deck.

At the February 21st Board of Education meeting, the Board approved the student calendar for the 2023-24 school year.

For those of you who like to plan early, you can access a PDF of next year's student calendar HERE.

Please join us for Equity Talks with Parents, in partnership with the consultants from Powerful Choices. Click HERE to RSVP by March 24th.

College Hour with East Los Angeles College

Click here to RSVP:
March 8, 2023 (English/Spanish) http://bit.ly/3Z9xM8B
April 26, 2023 (English/Chinese/Vietnamese) http://bit.ly/3XVgJpl

Please join us for March parent webinar: "The Truth About Vaping, Marijuana, and Fentanyl," featuring Clayton Cranston, Cyber Safety Cop.

1st Place - San Gabriel High School

Linh Dinh, Sophie Lin, Christine Phung, and Denise Fernandez (Advocate Lead Adviser)

1st Place - Ynez Elementary School

Kelly Kong, Youqi Zhou, and Melody Chiong (Advocate Lead Adviser)

Click HERE to view ALL of this year's TUPE contest submissions.

Click HERE to view the Dangers of Fentanyl PSA (featuring AUSD students).

Registration for the 2023-24 school year is OPEN. The Parent Portal is also ready for returning students to update their enrollment. (Reminder: Parents of returning students are supposed to update their enrollment information in the Parent Portal ANNUALLY! Make sure you complete it before the new school year begins.)

Little Bits of Good News & Information from Around the District

Congratulations to these AMAZING Alhambra USD administrators! They have each been honored with Association of California School Administrator Chapter Awards from the Alhambra Management Association. Most are being considered for Regional Level awards, and Pat Mahony is being considered for a State Level award. We are very fortunate to have these dedicated, outstanding leaders as part of the #AUSD team. These honorees will be celebrated at the ACSA Region XV Spring Awards Banquet on April 21st!

The Alhambra Teachers Association's fourth annual READ ACROSS AMERICA community event will be happening soon! Mark your calendars and plan to join us on MARCH 11TH!

The event will be filled with community readers, published authors, activity/informational booths, and music & other performances, but the highlight is always when students get to self-select their own FREE books! It's an amazing opportunity for hundreds of families to join together as a community while helping children build their personal home libraries and enhance their love of reading.

ATA needs books, books, and more books to make the event a success. Please call the ATA office (626-289-1933) by March 3rd if you are able to provide books and/or a monetary donation.

Did you follow SGHS’ football team’s incredible run this fall? Their amazing season ended with a hard-fought and heartbreaking loss in the State Championship game, but the Matador Football team made all of us proud all season long with their actions on and off the field. They ended up as CIF-Southern Section Division 13 Champions, SoCal Regional Champions, and California State Runner-Ups.

AEF wants to continue supporting this incredible team by helping to fundraise for their CIF Championship rings. Any size donation will be greatly appreciated! Please spread the word and make your donation HERE or through the AEF WEBSITE. Thank you in advance for your support!

The Alhambra Latino Association has TWO upcoming fundraising events. Please join us (and donate/sponsor if you are able)! All proceeds go towards student scholarships.

Congratulations to the 2023 Asian American Association's Scholarship Recipients:

• Marcus Partida, Alhambra High School
• Emily Morrugares, Independence High School
• Callie Thai, Mark Keppel High School
• Jasmine Luong, San Gabriel High School

Please view this issue's featured video (below) to learn more about these amazing seniors.

Thank you to all who attended the 33rd Lunar New Year Banquet & supported the Asian American Association. Your generosity helps us continue to offer scholarships to our future leaders.

Due to technical issues at the venue, we were not able to show the video of our scholarship winners. Please watch the video below to learn about these accomplished AUSD seniors and their goals for the future.

Join the AUSD Team! Please click HERE for full-and part-time positions. We have competitive salaries and excellent benefits! AUSD posts all job opportunities at EdJoin.com. Make sure to check back often.

Click on the high school logo to access their current athletic calendars.

• February 26: AUSD Booth at Alhambra Farmers Market 9:00am
• March 2: National Read Across America Day
  
• March 5: AUSD Booth at Alhambra Farmers Market 9:00am
• March 8: College & Career Center Workshop: College Hour with East Los Angeles College 7pm
• March 9: Community Conversations - Middle Schools 6:30pm (Flyer, RSVP)
• March 10: End of 3rd Quarter (Grades 9-12)
• March 11: ATA Read Across America Event 11:00am-1:00pm (Flyer)
• March 12: AUSD Booth at Alhambra Farmers Market 9:00am
• March 14: Board of Education Meeting (Agendas & Minutes)
• March 15: Gateway Parent Webinar (Flyer, RSVP)
  
• March 17: Deadline for March Game Changer Nominations (Nominate HERE)
• March 17: "AUSD Connection" Newsletter Emailed to Parents
• March 19: AUSD Booth at Alhambra Farmers Market 9:00am
• March 20: LPAC Parent Advisory Committee Meeting 6:45pm (Flyer, Zoom Link)
  
• March 23: Community Conversations - High Schools 6:30pm (Flyer, RSVP)
• March 27-32: SPRING BREAK (No School)
• April 4: Board of Education Meeting (Agendas & Minutes)
• April 7: "AUSD Connection" Newsletter Emailed to Parents

Yesterday, the Los Angeles County Office of Education held its Academic Decathlon celebration, and Alhambra USD was well represented on the stage with multiple students earning medals, trophies, and scholarships for their knowledge on this year’s theme, The American Revolution. SGHS’ AcaDec team finished in 13th place and their coach Kenneth Ma was awarded the Roberta Kordish Coach Award. Coach Ma was nominated for this special recognition by his students for going “above and beyond” for them. AHS took home 3rd place and a berth at the State level competition. MKHS made history as the County CHAMPION for the fourth year in a row, and will also be heading to State. Congratulations to all our Academic Decathletes! We’re VERY proud of them!

Click on the masthead images below to view digital versions of the current issues. AUSD students, staff members, and programs are heavily featured in both papers. The March issues will be published next week.

In order to reduce the number of Blackboard-Connect messages you receive from the District, many of our initial notifications and announcements will now come through this newsletter. Fewer reminders will be sent via Blackboard, so please follow/like us on social media if you want our notifications/reminders to show up on your timeline.

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https://www.youtube.com/@AlhambraUSD

Email: AlhambraUSD@ausd.us
Website: www.ausd.us
Location: 1515 West Mission Road, Alhambra, CA, USA
Phone: (626) 943-3000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alhambrausd
Twitter: @alhambrausd