Superintendent's Message:
Welcome Back!
Over the summer our custodians and grounds crews polished, trimmed, and mowed their campuses, and librarians unpacked and distributed thousands of books.
Now our Carlsbad Unified students are back in their classrooms and out on their fields. They are tuning their instruments and opening their chromebooks. Teachers have completed their summer meetings, professional trainings, classroom prep, and curriculum work. They’ve launched another year of instructional excellence. School is in session!
Last week teachers and staff, sporting their spirit wear, came together at Sage Creek High School’s stadium for a rousing rally to celebrate the 2024-25 school year. Highlighting this year’s theme, #proudtobeCUSD, the event featured some jubilant Rock 'n' Roll – the good music we grew up with – and lots of collegial fun.
And we talked about this year’s efforts to focus on three interconnected areas:
1. Academic achievement and growth. Carlsbad Unified is a high-achieving district – when looking at our graduation rates, or Advanced Placement scores, or other standardized testing measures, we’re known to impress. Our challenge is to identify the students who are not achieving at high levels, and to provide additional support to those who need it.
2. Health and wellness. The security and safety of our students Is always our highest priority. The physical, mental, and emotional wellness of our students and staff continue to be a major focus.
3. Culture and climate. We cannot experience steady improvement in those first two areas without continuing to reinforce a culture of trust, innovation, informed risk-taking, and collaboration. And we are committed to the principle that all students deserve to feel they belong. A survey last spring reported the positive news that 92% of our elementary students and 82% of our secondary students feel a sense of school connectedness. While this is a great start, we want all students to have friends and to feel they belong at their schools.
But back to the rally at the Sage Creek High School stadium…. Everyone there was invited to use a ThoughtExchange QR code to weigh in on “what makes me #proudtobeCUSD?” Over 500 teachers and staff took the time to chime in.
Their top themes included:
Student centered
Collaboration and cooperation
Community and belonging
Dedication and commitment
High-quality education
Joy and positivity
Parental involvement and family connection
Supportive staff members and teamwork
Growth and opportunities
Professionalism and excellence
Inclusion
Innovation
Tradition and history
ThoughtExchange uses Artificial Intelligence to generate a summary of responses. Here’s what it came up with from the more than 500 responses:
The responses to the question "In one word, or in a short phrase, what makes you #proudtobeCUSD?" reveal a strong sense of community and belonging within the district. Respondents highlighted the high quality of teaching and learning, the professionalism of the staff, and the innovative approaches adopted. The district's high performance and the excellence of its principals, teachers and other staff were also noted. A recurring theme was the joy and love associated with teaching and learning, with respondents expressing their affection for both the students and their fellow staff members. The responses collectively paint a picture of a district that is more like a family than a mere educational institution.
I’m not sure I could have said it better myself. Together, let’s make the 2024-25 school year a great one!
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Carlsbad Unified School District
Email: cusd@carlsbadusd.net
Website: https://www.carlsbadusd.net
Location: 6225 El Camino Real, Carlsbad, CA, USA
Phone: 760-331-5000