Designers' Reminders
October 22, 2023
Weekly Messaging from Design39Campus
Here What's Happening in the Month of October into November
- October 23-27: Red Ribbon Week
- October 31: Halloween
- November 1: Dio De Los Muertos/All Saints' Day
- November 7-8: Minimum Days (Student-Led Conferences)
- November 9: No School (Student-Led Conferences)
- November 10: No School (Veterans Day Observed)
- November 12: Diwali
- November 20: Transgender Day of Remembrance
- November 20-24: No School (Thanksgiving Break)
Facilitators' Findings
The annual Resolutions for these initiatives were passed at the October Board of Education meeting proclaiming support and awareness for each during the month of October 2023.
Please click here to view a presentation on Supporting Students with Dyslexia which includes the curriculum available to support students struggling to learn how to read. Click here for additional information and resources.
Student Led Conferences
In November, students in grades Tk-5 will participate in Student Led Conferences. Though the format may vary, these conferences differ from traditional conferences in that they place students at the helm of teacher-supported discussions with parents about student progress and learning. SLCs also often present opportunities for students to prepare, reflect on, and discuss evidence of their learning and growth by way of student portfolios.
Conferences in 6/7/8 will be held at the request of the LED.
Access for All
One awesome feature available in each week's newsletter is the ability for it to be translated into over 40 different languages. In the top of the newsletter you will see a button that reads "TRANSLATE" - click on this button and then select the desired language from the drop down menu. You can also modify the font sizes according to your needs. Hopefully now the newsletter is truly accessible to all of our D39C families!
What Makes You, You?
We are working on a design instillation for the Welcome Center and are seeking your active participation. When you have some time, would you mind clicking on the photo to left and adding a few characteristics that help comprise your identity.
Thank you. More to come.
Couraging with Design
Equitable Spaces
Equity at Design39Campus
As a part of our ongoing effort to ensure our students know that they belong at Design39Campus, a few staff members attended Middle School Aspire Network training this week. Known as MSAN or Aspire, is a network of passionate middle school educators. We have formed as a team because we recognize that we have tremendous opportunities to shape the experiences and impact the development of our brilliant, strong, and creative 6/7/8 students. We recognize the time to impact student trajectory for success happens now.
In this network, D39C staff will courageously reflect on our own experiences, and actively seek to empathize with those of our students and families. Together, we can reimagine and design our 6/7/8 spaces to intentionally foster and nurture belonging for everyone within our community.
We commit to our individual and collective learning so that we can provide students what they need to be successful here in 6/7/8 and beyond.
We never want a D39C student to feel alone, to not be seen, or not be heard. As the poet, Louise Glück, who died last week, aged 80, wrote in her beautiful poem, Averno –
It is terrible to be alone.
I don’t mean to live alone –
To be alone, where no one hears you.
Welcome Center Information
Attendance Procedures
With the holiday season rapidly approaching, we often have families who choose to take time off from school to travel. While we strongly encourage families not to miss school days, I also want to make you aware of our policy if you choose to take time off.
If you have a student who will not be in class for 5-14 days, please notify the office so we can have the parents fill out an OCIS contract for their child. The forms will have to be completed and signed by parents 5-10 days in advance of the absence. Click here for a link to the OCIS Contract.
Parents are required to give 5 days notice for absences up to 5 days, 10 days notice for absences more than 5 days.
Prepping work for students who are absent is an incredible amount of work for our teaching staff and we ask that you give your child’s teacher as much advance notice as possible beyond the above guidelines.
We do not write contracts beyond 14 days. If you plan to be away for 15 or more days please contact the Welcome Center for the necessary procedures.
Advancement Via Individual Determination
AVID Tip of the Week
Our AVID tip of the week is focused on Prioritizing:
Sometimes, it can be tough for your student to juggle their schoolwork, social life, and extra curriculars. If that's the case, they can create a priority list! On a post-it note, planner, or on their phones, students can write down what they need to accomplish that day and number it from most urgent to least. Then, they check it off one by one as they complete it; it feels good to complete a task! One version of prioritization is the Eisenhower Matrix. For more information, feel free to watch this quick explanation: LINK
Counseling Connections
Unity Day
On Wednesday of last week, we wore the color orange to support Unity Day.
Why unity? For years, bullying was justified with expressions such as, “Bullying is a natural part of childhood,” “Bullying makes kids tougher,” or “Bullying is a rite of passage.” The goal of Unity Day is to bring together youth, parents, educators, businesses, and community members across the nation to emphasize the message that bullying is not acceptable, and that all students deserve to be safe in school, online, and in the community
Why the color orange? Unity Day is celebrated in October, and orange is a color commonly identified with the month and the autumn season. It is also a color that is associated with safety and visibility. It is a color described as warm and inviting, and its vibrancy makes an impactful statement.
Why just a day? The event provides a catalyst for everyone to come together with a visual statement that our actions matter not only on one day, but every day.
Red Ribbon Week
Our Outstanding Team
Matt Bibby (last names A-I): mbibby@powayusd.com
Jennifer Asmann (last names J-R): jasmann@powayusd.com
Andrea Guevara (last names S-Z): aguevara@powayusd.com
Cuyamaca Outdoor School (6th Grade Camp)
Design39Campus 6th Graders will be attending Cuyamaca Outdoor School the February 5th through the 9th, 2024. Detailed Camp Packets will be coming home soon. Please take a look home soon!
For information on camp, please check out this movie, or this slideshow, or you can go to their website. It is the best week of middle school!
It is never too early to begin preparing for one of the most momentous events of middle school, 6th Grade Camp. D39C 6th grade students will be attending Camp Cuyamaca February 5th through the 9th, 2024. This is not a dusty tent camping experience in the wilderness. Camp Cuyamaca is a fully accredited outdoor school run by the San Diego Country Office of Education based in our local mountains. Students will engage in science and problem solving activities and also enjoy hiking, rock climbing, and so much more!!!
The cost of the five-day program will be $455***; which includes transportation, food, lodging and medical insurance. It is an incredible experience and we are so excited to offer this opportunity to all students in PUSD.
You have two payment options:
- Cash
- Check (made payable to PUSD; please write your child's name in the memo line)
***Scholarships are available. Please see you LED for additional information***
Traffic Update
Our wonderful community across the street has expressed concerns that students on E-Bikes and cars are using their private property as a cut through or a city street to get to their destination. It has also been reported that parents are using their parking lot as a “pick up/drop off” zone for their children while our parking lot is under construction. Please continue to wait in the designated pick up/drop off line or park in a designated parking area. As a friendly reminder, please tell your children not to use Fairbanks Terrace’s parking lot as a cut through to the Target Shopping Center. Also, when exiting the main parking lot, please go either left or right and not use their parking lot as an additional cut through. We appreciate your partnership with keeping our community safe and free of unnecessary traffic in our private communities.
Lofty Ideas
Author Visit: Shanthi Sekaran
This week as part of their Deep Dive, some of our 4th and 5th grade designers met virtually with Shanthi Sekaran, author of The Samosa Rebellion and Boomi’s Boombox. Designers learned more about the writing process and received tips to apply to their fictional stories. Shanthi’s advice included to start simple and to create a sticky situation for a character.
Redundant Repetitious Reiterating Repeated Recurrent Routine Reminders
Yes, You Have Seen This Before
D39C Halloween Costume Requirements: If your student chooses to dress up for Halloween, we ask that the following guidelines be observed:
No weapons. Knives, guns, or batons are not permitted at school. If your child does have these items, they will be removed and returned at the end of the day
No costumes that depict violence, alcohol, or drugs
No masks, face coverings, or face paint. Students' faces must be visible throughout the school day
No costumes that could be offensive. i.e., a stereotype of someone’s culture, gender, heritage, or religion
We also ask that you save your scary costumes for the evening, sending your child in attire that will not “scare or spook” our young designers. Students wearing questionable costumes will be asked to change into appropriate school attire.
Would you like to become a part of the Design39Campus Team? Do you like to be outside and work with children? If so, we are looking for a few quality Motion Managers to help support our designers during body breaks and lunch during the middle of the day. Possible times are 10:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. or 11:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. If interested, please apply through Poway Unified School District at the this link.
Attendance: To report your child's absence or early checkout, please email the attendance office at d39cattendance@powayusd.com before 10:00 am on the day of the absence. Please include your child's name, homeroom/grade, dates of absence, and reason for absence. We kindly ask that you avoid checking out your student during the lunch period from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm. Please refer to the attendance section of our Design39Campus website for protocols regarding reporting student absences and requesting early release for your student.'
California Education Code 48205 states that a student may be excused legally from school when the absence is due to:
- Personal illness or injury
- Quarantine under the direction of a county or city health office
- Medical, dental, or chiropractic services
- Attendance at funeral services for a member of the immediate family
- Justifiable personal reasons, including, but not limited to, an appearance in court, observance of a holiday or ceremony of his or her religion, attendance at religious retreats, attendance at an employment conference, when the pupil's absence has been requested in writing by the parent and approved by the principal or designated representative
- For the purpose of serving as a member of a precinct board for an election
- Exclusion for failure to present evidence of immunization
- Exclusion from school because student is either the carrier of a contagious disease or not immunized for a contagious disease
Drop Off/Pick Up Reminders: Please remind your designers that they should be walking their bikes, e-bikes, scooters, skateboards, hoverboards, horses, segways, pogo-sticks, unicorns, and unicycles when on D39C campus. Also, while we love puppers and always want to pet them when we see them, please refrain from bringing them on campus during drop off and pick up. Thank you.
Communication with your Designer: If there is a need to communicate with your child during the school day, please send a message to your child’s LED or the Welcome Center. Please refrain from communicating with them directly through text messages or phone calls as it disrupts their learning.
Personal Items: For equity reasons, we are asking that students keep their personal playground equipment at home or in their backpack. Our wonderful Collaborative supplies us with enough funding to ensure that there is enough equipment during recess and lunch.
The Design39Campus Collaborative
The D39C Collaborative is a 100% volunteer-run foundation designed to be responsive to the needs of students, parents, and learning experience designers of Design39Campus. Once a year, the D39C Collaborative secures funding to expand and enhance the educational experience of every student attending Design39Campus.
This year’s 39 days of giving campaign was the school’s most successful yet. Thank you so much to all our generous families.
What's Up With Poway Unified?
EmpowerED Digital Magazine
We are excited to debut the first-ever edition of our new EmpowerED Digital Magazine, to highlight all the ways you are empowering world-class learners every single day! We want to share with each other and the rest of our community what makes Poway Unified students, staff, and families so special in this visually pleasing, multi-media platform moving forward.
Click here or anywhere on the below image to be taken to a flipbook to enjoy the magazine. You'll see slideshows, links, and videos embedded in the pages. We hope you love it as much as we do! Feel free to share it with your family, friends, alum, retirees - anyone who might enjoy it too.
Parent Education Courses: PUSD is excited offer several Parent Education courses each month. Families are able to enroll and pay online at via Poway Adult School on their website linked HERE. You can search for the course you are interested in and enroll directly from the site.
October 2023 Parent Education Courses:
- Talking and Listening to Your Kids – 6th -12th Grade NEW
- Early Childhood Development: Shaping the Mindset TK-3rd Grade NEW
- Help Your Children Manage Stress and Anxiety – TK-5th Grade
- Using your Strengths to Navigate Life Storms – All Grades NEW
- Help Your Teen Manage Stress and Anxiety – 6th-12th Grade NEW
- Developing an Effective Individualized Education Program – All Grades
- Empowering Parents with Consequences that Work – TK-5th Grade NEW
Please note, scholarships are available to parents who may be in need. Parent can contact the Caring Connections Center for more information.
Thank you for supporting our PUSD Parent Education and for all you do for our students and families! May you have an amazing 2023-2024 school year!
Food and Nutrition Updates and Reminders: School breakfast and school lunch are FREE for all enrolled students, every school day. Meals must still be entered into the cafeteria computer by individual student account.
Even though meals are free, families are still highly encouraged to complete the application for free and reduced-price meal eligibility. School site funding depends in part on the number of students eligible for free/reduced-price meals. Families that qualify for free/reduced-price meals may qualify for other benefits, as well. The meal application is available online at MySchoolApps.com.
Printer-friendly PDF menus are available on the PUSD Food and Nutrition webpage. At the top of the page, click or hover over School Menus + and then Printable PDF Menus.
Interactive, web-based menus containing nutrient and allergen details are available at MySchoolMenus.com, as well as via links from the F&N webpage.