San Juan Scene - Nov. 5, 2024

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On Oct. 25, the Mariemont community celebrated the completion of its long-awaited campus modernization, which included new roofs, fresh paint, new carpet, updated teaching walls, counter space and furniture. To recognize the campus’s newest updates, students, staff and community members cut the ribbon on the renovated school grounds as kindergartners participated in the school’s jog-a-thon on the freshly renovated blacktop area. Read a recap of the event. 🎀

San Juan Unified School District is grateful for our community who continue to invest in our schools through voter-approved bonds. These 21st-century standard facilities are the foundation of a secure and distraction-free educational experience for all students and staff.

Anthony Vo knew he wanted to become a chef at the age of 17 inside of San Juan High School’s Culinary Career Technical Education program.

Exposure to a commercial kitchen, high-quality instruction and real-world culinary experiences led him to discover his dream career. Today, he is an executive chef competing on one of the most-watched cooking competition shows, Hell’s Kitchen with Chef Gordon Ramsay.

Learn more about his journey on our website!

There are multiple paths that lead to a single destination - this thought stands true when discovering and achieving your dream career. Mediha Shakir, a teacher at Arcade Middle School, found the pathway to her current job through the Teacher Residency Program hosted by San Juan Unified in partnership with Alder Graduate School of Education.

An opportunity to follow her dream presented itself when she received an email inviting her to participate in the teacher residency program. This program, available to San Juan Unified employees, allows participants to obtain their master’s degree and teaching credential in one year. Learn more about Shakir’s journey and the teacher residency program.

One of our goals is to transform our aging schools to better provide safe 21st-century learning environments for our students.

We are currently in the process of revising our Facilities Master Plan, last updated in 2014. As part of that process, school communities were invited to provide input on the facilities needs of their campus and their vision for improvements that would support teaching and learning. Draft versions of conceptual site and building plans for each campus are available at sanjuan.edu/FMP. Students, staff, families and community members are invited to view plans and provide feedback.

Your feedback will help us finalize the new facilities master plan that will assist us in prioritizing which projects move forward first.

Watch the video below and read the Superintendent’s full message about the draft plans at sanjuan.edu/superintendent.

The San Juan Unified community is invited to tell us what our schools are doing well and what we can do to better help our students and families. Feedback collected will help develop the district’s 2025-26 Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP). Please share your thoughts now through Nov. 11 by participating in a ThoughtExchange at www.sanjuan.edu/LCAPinput.

If you haven’t participated in a ThoughtExchange before, you’ll have the chance to share your thoughts and ideas, see what others have shared and rank the ideas that resonate with you.

Mesa Verde High School hosted some very spooky guests in preparation for Halloween this year.

The school’s Theatre Career Technical Education (CTE) Pathway is well-regarded for its role in providing students with real-world knowledge and experience that will help them in their future career goals, especially for those seeking a career on the stage or behind the scenes.

For the past four years, the program has brought its unique production of Ghost Tours to the high school as its fall production. This unconventional show takes audiences throughout the Mesa Verde campus to hear short monologues from the various ghostly narrators featured in the play.

Learn more about the production and the high school’s career pathway on our website.

When U.S. Representative Ami Bera stepped inside of Rio Americano High School on Oct. 11, he entered an atmosphere buzzing with curiosity. Civic-minded 11th and 12th-grade students gathered in the performing arts center with notebooks in hand ready to ask him questions about today’s pressing issues, including AI, social media and mental health.

Bera’s visit resonated deeply with students from CIVITAS, Rio Americano’s four-year interdisciplinary political studies and public service academy, a program that has been unraveling similar topics in class every week.

Learn more about Bera’s visit and the CIVITAS program on our website.

In addition to the national and statewide propositions on your ballot, don’t forget to vote on your local measures, including San Juan Unified School District’s Classroom Repair Measure, Measure P.

If you still have your ballot, you can drop it off at any of the County drop-off boxes or polling locations during posted hours. Visit elections.saccounty.net to find the site most convenient for you.

• Prepare. Make a list of things to tell the teacher about your child. Ask your child if there is anything you and the teacher should discuss. Also list your questions - about your child’s strengths, weaknesses, friendships, etc.

• Maximize time. Arrive on time. Take notes on your child’s progress. Make a plan with the teacher to address concerns.

• Report back to your child. Share positive comments as well as the teacher’s suggestions and how you will carry them out.