The Children's Miracle Network annually identifies a “Champion” in their local community to serve as the face for children treated at their local children’s hospital. These ambassadors spend their year advocating for the charitable need of children’s hospitals across the U.S. April Arellano, a third-grade student at RMK Elementary School, is this year’s local "Champion." April cheerfully navigates the world with a prosthetic leg. She loves to sing, dance and perform in local theater productions. She also performs as a member of our District Honor Choir. RMK Principal Jason Burns describes April as "A breath of fresh air. She lets nothing get in the way of achieving her goals...and wow, can she sing!"

Learn more about April's journey here and learn more about the Children's Miracle Network of CHOC Children's Health System here. Congratulations to April...and look at that smile!

April was not alone in being recognized this past week. The California Association of Bilingual Educators (CABE) Riverside Chapter held their annual awards event to recognize Riverside County biliterate scholars. Fara Martinez Alvarez, a senior at Norte Vista High School, won the 2021 BEST Award for her essay on how being biliterate influences her perception of other cultures and languages and promotes unity. Fara's use of expressive, authentic, and rich language earned her the top award. At the award ceremony, nominating teacher Mr. Reyes described Fara as a bright and driven student who has become fluent in two languages in less than four years! Congratulations to Fara and to the NVHS team for their great work preparing Fara for the next phase in her life, which she will begin when she attends college in the Fall, 2021.

Middle & high School student progress report cards are now available on the AERIES parent portal here.

We launched our 2021-22 school year interest-survey starting last Monday. You should have received an email from your principal with instructions. As of Friday, about 50% of our families have responded. If you haven't completed the survey please do so this evening. Of those who have responded, 86.4% of our families plan to return to fully in-person learning when we kick-off the 2021-22 school year on August 6. The remaining 13.6% of respondents are interested in a home-based program.

Remember, this is only an interest survey for us to determine the number of families who may prefer home-based instruction next year (as opposed to full 5-days-a-week in-person school). It’s not a commitment on your part. Depending on the number of families interested in an alternative to in-person instruction, we will determine the type of virtual programs we will be able to offer. It’s likely the home-based program will be more independent learning with parent support than our current virtual academy, but until we know the number of students in each program, it's difficult to plan.

Thank you in advance for completing the survey by midnight tonight.

On the COVID front, this week marked the second consecutive week and the first two weeks since the trend first reversed in February that the case rate did not decline. It rose from 3.0 to 3.6 two weeks ago and 3.6 to 4.5 this past week. The positivity rate increased this week from 2.0% to 2.3%. Public health officials do not believe these slight upticks are cause for alarm, but they do remind residents to continue to be diligent about face covering, social distancing, and washing hands regularly.

There have been no reports of any outbreaks on our campuses as of this past Friday. Since Riverside County remains firmly in the Orange Tier, we will continue to plan for an in-person graduation, in-person summer school, and fully in-person instruction in 2021-22, following the California Department of Public Health and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s safety guidelines.

On behalf of the Board of Education, thank you for your educational partnership. We are nearing the end of an incredibly challenging year. But brighter days lie ahead.

Stay positive. Stay safe. Be well.

Sincerely,

Allan Mucerino