DJUSD Special Education Department

Newsletter January 2025

A Message from the Director of Special Education

Happy New Year! I hope this message finds you rested, rejuvenated, and ready to embrace all that 2025 has to offer. As we return from the winter break, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for your unwavering dedication to supporting our students. The start of a new year provides an ideal moment to reflect on our successes and refocus on the important work ahead. This January, I’m thrilled to share that we will be hosting a staff work group at the end of the month. This gathering will give our staff the opportunity to come together and thoughtfully process the valuable feedback shared by our sites during the Inclusion interviews. During these interviews, we visited each school site and gathered staff feedback on challenges, barriers, opportunities, and successes related to inclusion, as well as ideas for establishing a shared definition of inclusion and improving supports. Our staff is consistently committed to advancing a shared vision for inclusion that ensures every student feels supported, valued, and empowered to succeed in DJUSD schools. This dedication and collaborative effort is a vital step in shaping the future of our programs and ensuring we meet the diverse needs of every student we serve. We invite and value the feedback of our community members through the parent/guardian survey linked below. Your insights are instrumental in helping us refine and improve our programs and services on an ongoing basis. Please take a moment to share your thoughts—your voice truly matters. Additionally, we regularly discuss these and other important topics at our SACSE meetings, which are open to all community members. We encourage you to join us and contribute your perspective. Meeting information is included below. We will be sharing the updates related to these discussions with our broader community and the Board of Education in February. Your engagement and partnership are at the heart of our continual improvement efforts, and I am confident that together, we will continue to create meaningful and positive educational experiences for our students and families.

Thank you for everything you do, and I wish you a joyful and fulfilling start to 2025!

Sarah Dhah | Director, Special Education

Superintendent’s Advisory Committee for Special Education (SACSE) Meeting

Our next monthly SACSE meeting will be held on February 5th from 4:30pm-6:00pm. Meetings will be held through Microsoft Teams. Please click the link below to join the meetings at the scheduled time.

A friendly reminder that we will not be having a SACSE meeting in January due to the Winter Break. We will see everyone in February.

Join via: Microsoft Teams

Meeting ID: 238 893 269 371

Passcode: umv4Gg

Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.

Monday, January 20th is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday that honors the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Davis Joint Unified School District will be closed on this day.

Celebrating Lunar New Year

Wednesday, January 29th, is the first day of Lunar New Year. It is the year of the snake, representing wisdom, elegance, and mystery.

Welcoming Alison Jensen, our new Resource Specialist

Hi! I'm Alison Jensen and I am the new RSP teacher at Patwin. My journey into education began in Davis and I am delighted to be working in DJUSD many years later. I received my teaching credential and master's degree in education from UC Davis. I then worked in a general education classroom in the Bay Area for seven years before stepping back from teaching to stay home with my children when they were little. Four years ago we moved back to Davis and enrolled our children in DJUSD. Volunteering in my children's classrooms inspired me to get back into education, and I spent the last year and a half as the math paraeducator at Patwin. I look forward to continuing to learn and grow in my RSP role. My goal as an educator is for students to feel seen and cared for, while using teaching best practices tailored to their needs. I am especially excited to be a part of the caring, supportive, and passionate team at Patwin. And when I am not in the classroom, I love spending time with my children, reading, hiking, and avoiding having to cook dinner.