School Support Services Division
Spring 2019
The SSS Division welcomes you to our Spring newsletter edition. The newsletter showcases the activities of the Division and provides information on upcoming events, and how to access our Division's services and supports. Have a fun read!
Pasadena Unified School District, SSS Division:
- Office of Child Welfare, Attendance and Safety
- Families in Transition
- Office of Health & Wellness
- Office of Enrollment, Permits, and Student Records
- Pasadena USD Mental Health Services
- Center for Student and Family Services
Center for Student and Family Services (SFS)
The Center for Student & Family Services is currently conducting a district-wide homeless count. So far we have verified nearly 600 students (and climbing) experiencing homelessness with the majority falling into the Doubled-Up category of the McKinney-Vento definitions. Every day calls are being made to families to verify and invite them to the SFS Office for support services and case management. Currently we are case managing over 80 families within the McKinney-Vento definition of homelessness.
2019 Salvation Army Prom Attire Giveaway! Nearly 40 students (male & female) participated.
Office of Health and Wellness
Yoga / Mindfulness Training for PUSD K-12 teachers
Teachers receive 12 hours of training thanks to the Trauma Informed Care Grant that Unihealth Foundation is funding. Mayor Tornek visited our class to participate and learn!
"Stop the Bleed"
Health Programs sponsored "Stop the Bleed" training at the PUSD Professional Development Day April 1, 2019. 60 Classified and Certificated Staff enrolled in the class which was facilitated by the Trauma Nurses at the Huntington Memorial Hospital. The initiative is designed to help non-medically trained people recognize life-threatening bleeding and then provide helpful interventions.
PUSD School Gardens
Spring Recess was filled with energy as 56 Volunteers from Stony Brook College in New York came to PUSD to help school gardens. Thanks to PEF, the Volunteers were organized and had a great week working at 4 separate school sites helping maintain and plant new crops.
Pasadena USD Mental Health Services
The PUSD Mental Health Services Program will participate in the worldwide day to stand against sexual violence. Denim Day is recognized as a day for prevention and education efforts on sexual violence. On April 24th we will wear jeans to show our solidarity in this movement!
May is Mental Health Awareness month! The PUSD Mental Health Services Program will participate in a collaborative event between PUSD and Huntington Hospital on May 1st 2019 to educate the community in mental health topics with a focus on suicide prevention and education. Our program will have a resource table with information to share.
Office of Enrollment, Permits, and Student Records
Act Now!
School Choice is choosing a school based on what the school has to offer – not where the student lives.
What did families choose?
- All schools received applications via Priority, Employee, and Lottery phases.
- 2228 applications were processed.
- 256 families opted into 2nd lottery, hoping to be assigned a higher preference than 1st lottery assignment.
What was the outcome?
- 1469 families were assigned to their 1st choice preference.
- 325 families received none of their preferences and were defaulted to the school of residence.
- Families could opt into the waitlist for all of their preferences higher than the one that was assigned.
- Waitlist will be maintained by the Office of Enrollment through August 9, 2019.
A school of residence is the school that is assigned based on where the family lives. All families are encouraged to visit their neighborhood school first. You can find your school of residence by going to openenrollment.info or calling the Enrollment,
Permits and Student Records Office @ 626-396-3639.
I choose to attend my School of Residence. When do I register? Act NOW!
Office of Child Welfare, Attendance, and Safety
This spring semester the Office of Child Welfare, Attendance, and Safety has been sponsoring Pop-Up Attendance Celebrations for each of our elementary schools. These celebrations are a part of PUSD’s Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow Campaign and ongoing support to improve student attendance district-wide.
During each Pop-Up Attendance Celebration, students who had the most improved school attendance for the 2018-2019 school year were publically awarded for their hard work and effort. Parents for each student were invited to the event to see their child receive a certificate for Excellent Attendance and celebrate with us.
Our goal during each event was to not only recognize the improvement and gains our students have been making, but also foster school connectedness with our families. Some the students receiving Excellent Attendance awards had never before received a school award. The feedback from our schools, parents, and students has been overwhelmingly positive. The CWAS Office is currently working on developing a collaborative plan with key community partners to continue this initiative for the 2019-2020 school year and build off this amazing momentum.
Need support in navigating our services?
PUSD SSS Division/Contact Information:
- Office of Child Welfare, Attendance and Safety- (626) 396-3600 x 88230
- Families in Transition- (626) 396-5782
- Office of Health & Wellness- (626) 396-3600 x 88243
- Office of Enrollment, Permits and Student Records- (626) 396-3600 x 88340
- Pasadena USD Mental Health Services-(626) 396-5920
- Center for Student and Family Services- (626) 396-5782