Superintendent Community Update
March 8, 2024
Superintendent's Message
Dear JUHSD Community,
I hope your March is off to a great start!
Our schools are implementing Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in order to ensure equitable access to learning. Our district leadership team conducts classroom walkthroughs at all of our schools, and each site has a UDL team that regularly conduct walkthroughs in their own school, as well as in other schools. This week, our district leadership team did classroom walkthroughs at Jefferson, Thornton, and Oceana. I am heartened by our efforts and saw great teaching and learning!
UDL, is a framework that provides greater access and removes barriers to learning in order to ensure student success in the classroom. Strategies are focused on increasing engagement, varying the way material is presented to students, and allowing students flexibility in expressing their own ideas.
The UDL guidelines offer practical suggestions that can be customized to any subject area, ensuring that all learners enjoy equitable access to stimulating and fulfilling learning opportunities.
I encourage you to learn more about the Universal Design for Learning Framework here!
Have a great weekend!
Warmly,
Toni Presta
Superintendent
@superintendent_tonipresta
School Social Work Week is marked every first full week of March to celebrate school social workers across the nation and show appreciation to their work in helping students achieve academic success.
School social workers are professionals within the social work field that work with teachers, parents, and school administrators. They help students deal with mental health and behavioral challenges and provide academic and classroom support.
JUHSD thanks their site social workers and wellness teams for providing constant care and support to the students and staff of this amazing district. To learn more about this week, click here. Visit the District's Wellness webpage for resources, services, and supports!
JUHSD Summer School 2024
Information for the District's 2024 Summer School Program is here! We are proud to announce a number of learning pathways to support your students, and their learning experiences, here at JUHSD.
To learn more about course offerings and the summer school registration process, please look here (Spanish Version, and Tagalog Version). The location for this summer's program is at Westmoor High School, and the first day of summer school is June 5, 2024.
Parents and Guardians, please note that:
- Students who are in need of meeting graduation requirements will be identified by the school counselors, and they will communicate with both students and you about enrolling into the summer school.
- Students can also complete the summer school registration process at Westmoor front office with the drop-in counseling during June 3 - June 5, 2024 from 8 am to 2 pm.
- Students who are interested in taking the acceleration/enrichment courses (Math course 3, Spanish 1, and a CTE class) will need to submit an application through this link.
This year's program will be lead by WHS Vice Principal Dr. Sterling He. For additional information, please contact him by calling (650) 550-7400 or by email, mailto:sterling.he@jeffersonunion.net.
Pacifica Youth Summit for ALL District Students
JUHSD and the Daly City Youth Health Center invite you to attend Pacifica’s Youth Summit, "Keep Kind On Your Mind." This event is hosted by Be the Change Youth Coalition and will include youth-led workshops and focus groups, along with a photo booth, community resources, a live stream podcast, and more!
Event Information
Saturday, March 16
11:00 am-2:00 pm (lunch will be served)
Ingrid B Lacy Middle School, 1427 Palmetto Avenue, Pacifica
Register here: Pacifica Youth Summit Registration Link or click on the below flier. For additional information, contact Mary Bier, mbier@jeffersonunion.net.
Photo: Daly City Youth Health Center Director Mary Bier facilities an activity during the 2023 Pacifica Youth Summit.
KTVU Anchorman Visits TNHS Journalism
Yesterday, March 7, well known television anchorman Andre Senior from Fox 2 KTVU news visited Alyssa Jenkins' Terra Nova High School journalism class. During his visit, Mr. Senior captivated the class audience with his profound insights into the intricacies of the career field. With years of experience under his belt, he illuminated the room with anecdotes and wisdom, offering a glimpse into the challenges and triumphs that define the profession. To learn more about Andrew Senior and his career in media, click here.
World Compliment Day Honored at WHS
March 1 was World Compliment Day, a global initiative to create the most positive day in the world and is celebrated to spread joy through simple verbal affirmations of appreciation.
Students from Westmoor High honored this event by creating a Compliment Tree. Hosted by the school's Student Government class, WHS students wrote compliments about their friends, peers, staff, and families on paper flowers and posted those to this tree that adorned the walls of the school's main hallway.
Emily Kyauk, a member of the school's Student Government class shared that along with placing the flowers on the tree, members from the class passed out goodie bags, with a handwritten compliment, to students who placed a flower on the tree.
Thanks for keeping it kind, Westmoor! To learn more about World Compliment Day, click here.
DCYHC Kicks Off Strategic Plan
This past Monday, members from the Daly City Youth Health Center (DCYHC) Advisory Board Members, including District and community leaders, met over a pizza dinner to discuss the implementation of their strategic plan. During this meeting, they celebrated recent successes, along with laying out a plan to involve community members and stakeholders in guiding service provisions for their program. DCYHC Executive Director Annya Shapiro thanked the dedicated board members for devoting their time to support the youth of this community. To learn more about the Daly City Youth Health Center, click here.
Grizzlies Become Giants For The Day
On Wednesday, March 6, students from Jefferson High School teacher Cristina Lewis' Digital Arts 2 class attended a field trip to Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants baseball team!
During this exciting journey into the city, students were given a behind-the-scenes tour of the ballpark, along with learning about the various types of jobs and careers offered through their organization. With a guide from the Giants, students were given a full stadium tour including time in the press box and snapping photos on the field.
JHS and JUHSD thanks the SF Giants for this very cool opportunity provided to our students.
Study Abroad Recipients Named
Congratulations to the following students for being selected to take part in this summer's Study Abroad Program through Experiment in International Living! Collectively, these students received over $60,000 in scholarships and will pack their bags this summer to experience student life in other parts of the world. Way to go, JUHSD!
Jefferson High School
Yinai Deng
Jasmine Kuang
Lian Turla
Eden Magbilang
Westmoor High School
Jessielynn Tran
Keith guevarra
Hailey Zhu
Sky Rivera
Ariel Perez
Oceana High School
Donovan Mullin
To learn more about this amazing experience, contact program coordinator and WHS Foreign Language Chair Madame Alexandra Mullin.
Photo: 2023 recipients of the program take a group photo at WHS.
Fernando Montanes, WHS
JUHSD sends a special shout-out to Fernando Montanes, Westmoor High School Class of 2018, for being named Daly City's youngest commissioner appointed to the City's Parks and Recreation Commission!
As stated in the March 5 online edition of Inquirer.net, Fernando, at the age 23, will be the youngest of all city commissioners, being among an estimated 60 million in this country born after 1995 and 2015. During his time in this role, Fernando plans to "forge towards his vision of seeing himself and his contemporaries as legitimate stakeholders in the boardrooms, the dais and in all positions of power who will provide fresh and new perspectives and cultivate an intergenerational relationship will only strengthen the community as a whole." Fernando was sworn into this role on March 6.
JUHSD gives an additional shout-out to Westmoor High teacher and school Filipino Barkada Club advisor Joal Truong-Vargas for being mentioned in this article as Fernando's very first mentor. Way to go, Mr. Truong-Vargas! Click here to read the full article!
Do you know a JUHSD alum who is making a positive different in the world? If so, let us know by emailing communication@jeffersonunion.net.
Photo credit: Cherie Querol Moreno @inquirerdotnet
Free Dresses for Prom
Daly City Composting Challenge
The City of Daly City invites you to participate in the City’s monthly composting challenges! Build new sustainable habits and be a part of the movement to reduce methane emissions (a greenhouse gas that causes asthma) in our environment.
March 17 is St. Patrick's Day. In honor of this day, Daly City encourages residents to use the green compost cart as part of your celebration and compost leftover veggies and even four-leaf clovers.
Take a photo of your composting efforts, tag the City @DalyCityGov #DCCompostChampion, and be entered into a raffle for a chance to win a $50 gift card from Republic Services. If you don’t have social media, you can find composting challenges on www.dalycity.org/sb1383 and email pictures of your composting efforts to CityManager@dalycity.org.
Save the Date: OYE Latinx Youth Conference
Latino youth (ages 12-22), and their guardians who live in San Mateo County, are invited to attend the return of the annual OYE Conference, an in-person event Saturday, March 23, 2024.
At this conference, held in person at Cañada College in Redwood City, youth and their guardians will explore ideas and discussion on culture, identity, obstacles their communities face, and opportunities for the future through interactive workshops, keynote speakers, performers and community networking.
To register for this event, please call (650) 834-3038. To view highlights from OYE’s 2023 event, please click here: OYE Conference 2023. For additional information, please click on the below flier or visit Facebook and Instagram pages.
Essay and Visual Arts Scholarships Available
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 on Friday, March 29, 2024, 11:59 pm. Learn more here.
Today is International Women's Day!
Throughout the month of March, we'll honor women who have positively transformed and impacted the landscape of our society. As today, March 8 is International Women's Day, we share with you milestones made by women in American politics.
From March Fong Eu being elected as California's first Asian Pacific Islander to hold a statewide elected executive office as Secretary of State, to Deb Haaland being appointed by President Biden as Secretary of the Interior, the country's first Native American woman to serve in a presidential cabinet, learn more about the amazing women who influenced the landscape of this country's political arena by clicking here.
Spring Forward
It's time to move the clocks forward one hour and lose an hour of sleep on Sunday, March 10. Though we gain an hour of daylight, we lose an hour of sleep. Please have a restful weekend and remember to set your clocks ahead one hour this Sunday!
To learn more about the history Daylight Saving, visit The Old Farmer's Almanac website.
