Superintendent Community Update

Translation: Para ver este boletín en español: 1) ubique el ícono que ve a la derecha de este artículo ( la figura de palo en un círculo) ... está en la parte superior derecha de su pantalla. 2) Haga clic en la imagen. 3) seleccione "Traducir" en la parte superior derecha de su pantalla (computadora). 4) Seleccione Spanish/Español.​

Dear JUHSD Community,

Spring Break recess (April 8-12) 😎is a week away and students are giving it their all as they wrap up the third quarter of the school year. After Spring Break, we'll enter the fourth and final grading quarter of the year with graduation season just around the corner! How does the year go so quickly!?

Senior Exhibition at Oceana High

Today, Oceana High School 12th graders participated in the school's annual Senior Exhibition (Senior Ex). Senior Ex is a year-long research project that is an Oceana graduation requirement and a major part of the Senior Humanities curriculum. Each student meets throughout the year with a faculty mentor to prepare and on Senior Ex Day, they present their research to District and community members.

Students do the following ...

• Choose a controversial topic that personally interests them
• Decide on an Essential Question (EQ) that guides their project
• Write a 15-page paper and give a 20-minute presentation
• Have a school mentor to guide them through the process and evaluate their final work
• Meet often with their mentor, receiving one on one support

I take great pride in the distinctive programs that we offer at all of our JUHSD sites. We boast an array of academic offerings across all of our campuses, designed to meet to the diverse needs of students, accommodating a multitude of learning styles and environments.

Whether it's through traditional classroom settings, hands-on experiential learning, or specialized courses, our schools strive to ensure that every student has equitable access to an education that resonates with them personally and empowers them to reach their fullest potential.

Site Visits

It's been so nice to see more of staff and students during my campus visits. A special thank you for welcoming me into your classrooms! I saw some awesome lessons in math, fine arts, dance, SpEd classes and more this week when visiting Oceana and TN. Next week, I will be in classrooms at Jeff, Westmoor, and Thornton. Woot! 💥

Coming Up

Teams and athletes from winter sports will be honored for their post season accolades, honors, and wins at Tuesday's Board Meeting. Tune in!📺

Have a great weekend. Stay warm and dry!

Warmly,

Toni Presta

Superintendent

@superintendent_tonipresta

Each Friday, JUHSD Superintendent Toni Presta releases a weekly newsletter highlighting the amazing things taking place within the District and neighboring communities.

We value your feedback and ask that you take a brief moment to complete the below survey in regards to how these Superintendent Updates best serve you. Thank you for filling out this form!

Of all the many actions Jefferson Union High School District (JUHSD) takes to serve students and their families, one of the most impactful is partnering with Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula (BGCP) to implement their Future Grads program. In the district’s second year of Future Grads, participation has nearly doubled to roughly 230 sophomores and juniors combined across Jefferson and Westmoor High Schools – 13 percent more than BGCP’s goal.

Future Grads supports students in getting to college and through college graduation, offering them counseling for applications, financial aid forms, college selection, and much more, such as developing the social emotional skills needed to ask for help when necessary, access resources, and build support networks. The Future Grads program is open and available for free to any student at BGCP partner high schools throughout the organization’s geographic footprint from East Palo Alto to Daly City.

What often stands between students and college success is access to caring, long-term, family-based college counseling that is attuned to the unique cultural characteristics of low-income and first-generation college students. The program starts the summer before 10th grade with the Future Grads Summer Academy, a fun, interactive, week-long experience that introduces students to the value of a college education and builds life skills that support their success in high school, college, and beyond.

To read more from David Jacobson's feature on JUHSD's partnership with the Boys and Girls Club's Future Grads Program, including praise from District Superintendent Toni Presta, and student testimonials from JUHSD 11th graders Amanda Taboada (JHS), Iam Chui (JHS), Ruth Cifuentes (WHS), and Mateja Cava (WHS), click here.

Above photo: Future Grads Program staff member Kiana Leong chats with Westmoor High 11th grader Mateja Cava about the college selection process during an afterschool activity this past February.

Creativity Explored, a San Francisco-based art studio and gallery for adults with special needs, has shared their talents with students from the District's Adult Transition Program (ATP) during a month-long series where interested students attended workshops and created their own works of art.

This past Saturday, March 23, their masterpieces were on display at Creativity Explored Studios in San Francisco's Mission District, during the program's Culminating Exhibition; an event that was quite the success! With family and staff in attendance, along with JUHSD Superintendent Toni Presta, Director of Construction and Bond Projects Stefanie Phillips, and Board Trustee Rosie Tejada, Adult School Principal Mark Beshirs thanked everyone for spending their Saturday afternoon in this space.

During the opening presentation of the exhibit, it was shared that framed art created by the ATP students will be on display in the new Adult Education Campus opening next school year! To learn more about this amazing opportunity offered to our ATP students, click here.

Superintendent Toni Presta, Director of Construction & Bond Projects Stefanie Phillips, and Adult School Principal Mark Beshirs stand with ATP students during their art exhibition in SF.

JUHSD would like to recognize Terra Nova High School 12th grader Dane Potter for being featured as this week's Student Spotlight!

Dane has been a Terra Nova Tiger during his four years of school with JUHSD and enjoys the camaraderie between fellow classmates, along with students from other District sites. He has been a member of the school's water polo and swim teams for the past four years and is the current president of Terra Nova's Environmental Restoration Club. He also serves as an ambassador for the San Mateo County Youth Climate Program.

Along with staying busy through campus athletics and activities, Dane's class schedule is host to several AP (Advanced Placement) courses including AP Environmental Science, his favorite class at TNHS. This course aligns perfectly with his passion to make the world a better place, as it delves deeply into the implications of climate change, sustainability policies, and our connection to the communities around us.

After graduating from Terra Nova this May, Dane hopes to attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and study in engineering with the goal of owning and running a successful self-employed business.

When not at TNHS, Dane enjoys surfing and being close to the ocean. This summer he combined the two by living in an Hawaiian tent on a seasonal farm at Molao'a Organica'a, the largest organic farm on the island of Kauai. He also enjoys playing music and is a member of local bands "Fish in a Bag" and "Young and Up Too Late."

Dane thanks his parents for keeping him accountable for academic responsibilities these past four years, along with helping him find opportunities for to expand his extracurricular interests. He also sends a special shout-out to TNHS English teacher Ms. Jenkins for challenging him in class and hopes to one day be able to write a satisfactory timed write.

When asked about advice he would give to incoming 9th graders he said, "Pursue what seems interesting to you. If you see a class that sounds fun, take it! You never know what class could spark a passion in you that may become your future career!"

Thank you for serving a role model to TNHS and JUHSD, Dane. You rock!

Due to transportation concerns, local youth and families are often without access to a personal vehicles and are unable to make it to the Daly City Youth Health Center (DCYHC) to receive the amazing supports and resources provided by this helpful entity.

To help alleviate this concern, a new van, adorned with DCYHC and JUHSD logos on the sides, will better support access to transportation for the Center. This van will assist the DCYHC staff with many issues our youth and families face including school truancy, attendance at the Center for appointments, and accessing basic community resources and services. Case managers would be able to pick them up and transport them to school, while working with the students to establish a sustainable routine for future attendance.

Sometimes, youth may feel unsafe passing through certain neighborhoods where they have peer conflict or experience anxiety in social situations that results in school avoidance. Center clinicians or case manager might be able to help them work through anxiety and develop strategies for future attendance while transporting them to school.

Along with supporting students with school attendance, this van can support families as a whole, including the connecting of families with needed services including trips to the social security or immigration office, court appointments, or job interviews. Through the use of the van, Center staff can even help deliver food to those who need, but are unable to come to the community resource center located in the DCYHC building.

With this new van, the possibility on how the Daly City Youth Health Center staff can better support the community are endless! Learn more about the programs offered through the Daly City Youth Health Center by clicking here.

Though prom season is a few short months away, it's not too early to visit The Princess Project's free prom dress closet, open to all genders. To reserve your spot for receiving a free dress, along with finding out more about this amazing project, click here! Please note that students under the age of 18 must have their guardian sign a waiver.

The California Kids Investment and Development Savings Program (CalKIDS) was launched in 2022 to help California children and students prepare financially for the costs of postsecondary education. The program automatically funds savings accounts with $1.9 billion for eligible low-income public school students enrolled in grades 1-12 and all California newborns, regardless of income.

Some JUHSD students may be eligible to use these funds to pay for tuition, fees, books, supplies, and certain room and board costs. They can use CalKIDS funds to pay for tuition, fees, books, supplies, and certain room and board costs.

To begin this process of retrieving these funds, guardians should visit www.calkids.org. Accessing an account is easy and requires only a few pieces of information, including the student's Statewide Student Identifier (SSID), which can be found through the StudentVUE/ParentVUE portal. If a guardian needs support in finding their child's SSID, please click here. To learn more about this program, watch the below video.

The California Armenian Legislative Caucus Foundation is holding two scholarship contests for the 2024 commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. High school students in ninth through twelfth grades are invited to participate in an essay contest and/or a visual arts contest to increase awareness of the Armenian Genocide. The submission deadline for both contests is TODAY, March 29, 2024, 11:59 pm. Learn more here.

As Women's History Month comes to a close this weekend, we would like to wrap up our series of featuring women who have positively transformed and impacted the landscape of our society by sharing more about women who changed the U.S. financial banking system, as mentioned in last week's Update.

Until 1974 in the USA, women were unable to open a bank account or acquire a line of credit without a man cosigning for them. The financial services industry was led by (usually white) men. Because of this, eight women banded together and opened their own Women's Bank. Carol Green Judi Wagner, LaRae Orullian, Gail Schoettler, Wendy Davis, Joy Burns, Beverly Martinez, and Edna Mosely founded the bank's board by each contributing $1,000.

On July 14, 1978, The Women's Bank opened for business. With instant popularity, people stood in a line that went down the street of their Denver bank to deposit their money, with the first day's total exceeding one million dollars, leaving a lasting impact on women's rights for today. Learn more here.

Nationally, Cesar Chavez is honored on his birthday, March 31, for being a true hero and a leader of the civil rights movement. As a Latino farm labor leader, he was one of the greatest community organizers and social justice advocates of his time. To learn more about his legacy as a civil rights and labor movement activist, please click here to visit the Cesar Chavez Foundation's website.

March 31, is Transgender Day of Visibility, a day to recognize transgender and non-binary people around the globe, along with acknowledging the determination it takes to live openly and authentically. JUHSD acknowledges today as time dedicated to raising awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide, along with celebrating their contributions to society. Learn more about this day here.

As a district, we embrace inclusion, value diversity, and educate ourselves in order to confront and dismantle systemic inequities to bring about a more just society. JUHSD commits to engaging, educating, and empowering ALL students, with an intentional focus on those under-served, inadequately served, or disenfranchised by educational institutions and systems, eliminating disparities in educational outcomes.