The FACE Forum
October 2023
Happy October! Can you believe it's already fall?! We hope your October is off to a great start and that things are starting to settle in. We know the past couple of months have been BUSY, so THANK YOU for all you're doing! And an extra thank you to all our incredible school administrators as we celebrate School Administrator Week October 8-14! We appreciate you all so much and are beyond grateful for the never-ending, selfless work you do on behalf of our students, families and colleagues each and every day.
If this is your first time reading our FACE Forum newsletter, welcome! In this digital monthly newsletter for school staff and district departments, our Family & Community Engagement (FACE) team shares practical family and community building tips, high-leverage engagement strategies, upcoming family workshops, staff professional development opportunities, district and community resources, school shoutouts, and more!
(Please note that in an effort to create more accessible messaging for viewers, we will be limiting the amount of PDF flyers we digitally include in the FACE Forum newsletter and on our website. Instead, we will be creating simple graphics and content blurbs with accessible links that can be copied and pasted onto your own social media, newsletter, or any other forms of messaging you use for your families. Hard copies of flyers that we do include in the FACE Forum and our monthly mailers to sites are meant to only be used for physical displays at sites and/or handed out to families and staff. The flyers are NOT intended to be scanned and posted on websites or social media solely as a PDF or image, since the content on the flyers is not accessible to families with visual impairments. Instead, please visit our website or FACE Forum newsletter to grab the image and content for your postings and link families and staff back to our website for more details. Friendly links to our website are www.sanjuan.edu/face or www.sanjuan.edu/familyed ).
Thank you for all you're doing to engage with and support our San Juan students, families, and community! Our FACE team is here to help you, so please reach out to us at any time!
Have a great October!
The FACE Team
Welcome to Our New Parent Family Support Ambassadors, Ewa and Azadeh!
Our Family and Community Engagement team is excited to announce the newest additions to our team! Please join us in welcoming Ewa Firl, who is based out of San Juan High School and Azadeh Khazaei, based out of Encina Preparatory High School. Their dedication and commitment to serve students and families will be a valuable addition to our team as they begin a new chapter in their role as Parent/Family Support Ambassadors.
Parent/Family Support Ambassadors work with families and students in grade levels 6th – 12th to help raise awareness about the importance of high school graduation, college and career readiness, and engaging families in education of their children at the secondary level. Some of the activities that our Parent/Family Support Ambassadors support include working with counselors and administrators to assist with implementing positive student supports and interventions, providing outreach to families about school and district resources, providing a welcoming space for families to be involved on campus, fostering school to home communication and partnerships, supporting with welcome calls and tours for new families, and much more! At times you may also see our Parent Ambassadors supporting family education workshops, assisting with FACE Mobile and tabling outreach events, and attending FACE trainings/events. We welcome our school and district colleagues to contact our Parent/Family Support Ambassador team if you have any questions or ideas on collaborative ways to support your work and support families and students!
Lesley Leatherwood, Parent/Family Support Ambassador – El Camino High School (lesley.leatherwood@sanjuan.edu)
Asia Hassan, Parent/Family Support Ambassador – San Juan Central Enrollment (asia.hassan@sanjuan.edu)
Azadeh Khazaei, Parent/Family Support Ambassador – Encina Prep High School (azadeh.khazaei@sanjuan.edu)
Ewa Firl, Parent/Family Support Ambassador – San Juan High School
Field Trip Facilitator
It's bittersweet for us to announce that our Field Trip Facilitator, Cassandra, will be moving to Chicago in November. We're so excited for her new opportunities and will miss all the terrific field trip support she's been providing to sites and our team. Her last day with us will be on Wednesday, November 1. In the hope to onboard a new Field Trip Facilitator before Cassandra’s last day, we have posted the position which will close on Wednesday, October 4. If you know of anyone interested, please send them the posting below. Our plan is to get to a place where this position would not only process field trips, but also have the opportunity to work with community and sites in order to establish more opportunities to access expanded learning enrichment. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to supervisor of community partnerships and volunteers, Natalia Aguirre-Mazzi.
https://www.applitrack.com/sanjuan/onlineapp/default.aspx?AppliTrackPostingSearch=facilitator
October Morale Booster: Fall Fun Family Engagement Bingo!
Who's ready for some BINGO fun, Family Engagement style?! Take a look at our Fall Fun Family Engagement Bingo card that's arriving in your October Fan Mail envelope coming to your school site the first week of October. Start checking off the activities you/your school completes. When you've completed all the activities, email BINGO! to Amy Rovai Gregory (arovai@sanjuan.edu) for your prize!
WAYS TO USE THIS FALL FUN BINGO TO BOOST ENGAGEMENT WITH YOUR SCHOOL COMMUNITY:
- STAFF- Make a copy for each of your staff of the Fall Fun BINGO Card we sent to you. The first staff member that completes all the spaces wins a fall treat!
- Use the blank BINGO card to create your own site-specific activities to fill in for each square of the BINGO card. These activities could involve ways to build community with each other, families, and students, or may be activities specific to your own school initiatives.
- STUDENTS- Use the blank BINGO card to create a BINGO game for students, including activities centered around demonstrating proficiency with school routines, positive behaviors, acts of kindness, campus cleanup, academic skills, at-home learning activities, family engagement, etc. Give students a week to complete their BINGO card and they earn a small fall prize.
- FAMILIES- Use the blank BINGO card to create a Family Engagement BINGO game for students to take home and complete with their family. Activities could range from reading a story together, making a meal, sharing a funny part of their day, taking a walk, telling jokes, playing a game, reviewing homework, signing up for their Parent Conference, etc. As students complete the activities and parents/caregivers sign off on all of them, the student can bring it back to redeem for a small fall prize from their classroom.
Important Upcoming Dates
Oct. 4 - Engaging Families in Partnership - Staff Development
Oct. 5 - Family Power Hour via Zoom
Oct. 6 - Let’s Get Organized in person
Oct. 6 - Evening with the Stars in person
Oct. 6 - Family Engagement Bootcamp (for site/department teams)
Oct. 7 - Families Matter Conference in person
October 8-14- Week of the School Administrator
Oct. 11 - Preparing for Adulthood in person
Oct. 13 - STAR grants due
Oct. 16 - Family Leadership Academy in person
Oct 17- FACE Collaborative (for support staff: counselors, SCIA, SCIS, Liaisons, etc)
Oct. 17- Fingerprint Clinic, Sunrise Tech, 5:30-7 pm
Oct. 18 - Effective Communication Practices - Staff Development
Oct. 25- Fingerprint Clinic, Greer, 5:30-7 pm
Oct. 26 - Talleres Familiares in person
Oct. 30 - Staff Book Study Begins: Everyone Wins! The Evidence for Family-School Partnerships & Implications for Practice, Google Classroom
Explore strategies for effective home-school communication and using Parent Portal. Learn about district and community resources available to families and ask questions about other school-related topics or district programs. Presentation followed by open forum.
Let’s Get Organized- October 6, 11:00 am-1:00 pm at Marvin Marshall
Organizing your records is the first step to advocating effectively and with confidence! Bring your child’s IEP, assessments and any other Special Education or medical paperwork you would like to organize. Spanish interpretation will be available.
Preparing for Adulthood- October 11, 6:00-7:30 pm at Ralph Richardson
Presentation by Karen Kaplan MS., local education professional and author who has engaged in special needs work for over 40 years. Participants will learn about early intervention, nurturing your child through the school years and preparing for adult years.
Family Leadership Academy- October 16, 6:00-7:30 pm at Special Ed, Kenneth Avenue
This 6-week program empowers families to become leaders at the school and district level. Learn about the educational system, current initiatives in the district, and discover ways in which families can be involved. Offered in English and Spanish.
Talleres Familiares- October 26, 5:30-7:30 pm, Kingswood K-8
Presented entirely in Spanish, this workshop for parents, guardians, and caregivers covers a range of topics such as high school graduation requirements, college and career readiness, school/community resources, and more!
FACE's Fall Conference "Families Matter: Setting the Stage for Success" Taking Place October 7
THE SCHOOL WITH THE MOST CONFERENCE ATTENDEES WINS A FREE FAMILY NIGHT, SO KEEP SHARING THE FLYER & GRAPHIC BELOW WITH YOUR SCHOOL COMMUNITY!
Come Meet Kevin Bracy at Our Families Matter Conference!
We're thrilled to announce that the incredible Kevin Bracy will be joining us at our Families Matter conference coming up on October 7th! He'll be delivering an amazing keynote address to help motivate, inspire, and SET THE STAGE FOR SUCCESS for our students, families and colleagues!
Brace Yourself for your 2023 Families Matter Conference Motivational Entertainer, Kevin Bracy!
Health Education Council's Fresh from the Garden Class Beginning at Whitney Elementary!
Parents are invited to attend a “Fresh From the Garden” series that is being hosted by our wonderful community partners, Health Education Council! The classes will be taught in Farsi and are taking place at Whitney Elementary school on Wednesdays at 1 pm, beginning October 4th. This series will be taught in Farsi, but can also be taught in Spanish and English. If interested in bringing this to your school community, please reach out to Clarissa Alva, our District Community Engagement Specialist. (clarissa.alva@sanjuan.edu)
October Staff Workshops
Engaging Families in Partnership: What it Means to Be a Learning Ally #55452- October 4, 3:30-4:30 pm via Zoom
Strong home-school partnerships are essential to student learning and development. During this session, we will explore how educators can maximize their role as learning allies to engage families as learning partners by building and maintaining strong relationships, focusing on asset-based practices, and implementing two-way communication while sharing instructional information and performance data that will support families in taking action at home.
Leading Family Engagement Initiatives- October 6, 8:30 am-3:30 pm at Kenneth Avenue
This staff development opportunity consists of a full day of learning about effective family engagement practices and is hosted by our FACE team in collaboration with Scholastic Education’s Family and Community Engagement team. This staff training is open for classified and certificated staff that work directly with families and support activities/actions to enhance the partnership between school and home. In this training opportunity, staff will learn about family engagement fundamentals, keys findings in family engagement research to support positive student outcomes, ways to incorporate family engagement to support everyday work, and practical strategies/tools to build authentic partnerships with families. Lunch will be provided and there will be fun raffle prize giveaways for participants! If you are interested in registering for this staff development , please fill out the form found here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfovEBUe1dGcl0tyvVaKSXg2BlHTBzyyFWn6yKMP3LRKqyAcg/viewfor
Effective Communication Practices #55436- October 18, 3:30-4:30 pm via Zoom
In many schools across the country, families and caregivers feel excluded from the learning process and unsure about how to get involved. During this session, participants will learn and practice strategies for strengthening verbal, written, and virtual communication that will motivate and empower ALL families to become active partners in their children’s learning.
Families and staff can always visit www.sanjuan.edu/familyed for workshop information, learning opportunities, upcoming events, and school/family resources, including our upcoming FACE Mobile visits!
Leading Initiatives in Family Engagement One-Day Training Coming Up!
Registration Now Open for Our Virtual Fall Book Club for Staff Beginning October 30th!
Book Study: Everyone Wins! The Evidence for Family-School Partnerships & Implications for Practice #55445- October 30-December 17 on Google Classroom
During this 6-week book study on Google Classroom, worth up to 20 professional learning hours, participants will read “Everyone Wins! The Evidence for Family-School Partnerships & Implications for Practice” and learn how engaging families in education not only improves student achievement and social-emotional development, but also strengthens families and boosts teacher and administrator effectiveness.
FREE Newsletters for Families! (Elementary, Middle & High School)
Whether you have a 7-year-old or a 17-year-old, research shows that students perform better academically and behaviorally if the student knows their parents are involved and have high expectations.
To support this effort, each month we will feature a new "Helping Children Learn" newsletter that is full of ideas to support learning at home. You can share this free newsletter with families directly from our website!
To access the newsletters in English and Spanish for Elementary, Middle School, and High School, visit www.sanjuan.edu/familyed and click on the "Parent Newsletter" tab.
Sac State's Feria de Educacion
Sac State’s 11th annual Feria de Educacion – Held in partnership with Univision 19 CONTIGO on Saturday, October 7, 2023, in the University Union on campus. This free event empowers Hispanic/Latinx students and parents with information and resources to access higher education. In addition to college/university exhibitors and community resources, there will be:
- Workshops for students and parents (in Spanish)
- A Transfer Corner for current community college students
- An undocu-clinic for undocumented/mixed-status students
- One-on-one financial aid guidance
- Live entertainment
- Activities for children and more!
Parking will be free!
DISTRICT RESOURCES- Get to Know the New District Website!
Explore and share the San Juan Unified Parent/Family hub at www.sanjuan.edu/parents
Explore and share the San Juan Unified Student hub at www.sanuan.edu/students
Explore resources to support families at www.sanjuan.edu/communityresources
Food
Clothing
Diapers
Utilities & Housing
Social & Recreational
Academic
Disability & Special Education
Employment
Mental Health
Refugee, Immigrant & Newcomer Supports
LGBTQIA+
Domestic Violence
and more!
San Juan Unified Volunteer information and sign up: www.sanjuan.edu/volunteer
FACE department page is on the intranet! Find field trip forms, volunteer fliers and more!
https://intranet.sanjuan.edu/familycommunityengagement
Outreach requests: https://bit.ly/FACEoutreach
(Face Mobile visit, tabling, staff/family workshops, mini clinics, parent portal demos and more!)
Lending Library of Fun: https://bit.ly/FACElendingfun (Create and enhance engagement opportunities)
Staff Digital Resource Library: https://bit.ly/FACEresource (community/district fliers & resources)
San Juan Education Foundation DIRECT TO TEACHER GRANTS
FACE Lending Library of Fun Catalog & Item Checkout Request Form
https://sites.google.com/sanjuan.edu/facelendingfun/home
If you see an item that you'd like to borrow, please complete the request form below and a member of our team will follow up with you:
Our catalog of items is growing and will be updated regularly. Please continue to check back for more fun additions!
Free Community Food Distributions & Resources
San Juan Unified Food Distributions
Monthly drive through and walk in distribution in partnership with Sacramento Food Bank & Family Resources includes canned and dry goods as well as fresh produce. If you have your Sacramento Food Bank Card, please bring it with you.
Location: San Juan Unified District Office, 3738 Walnut Ave, Carmichael, CA, 95610. Please enter the back parking lot off Gibbons Dr between Walnut and Garfield.
2023-24 Dates (2:00 - 4:00 pm while supplies last)
- October 25, 2023
- November 15, 2023
- December 20, 2023
San Juan Central Food Closet
The San Juan Unified food closet is located at the Central Enrollment Center (3700 Garfield Ave. in Carmichael) and serves families who are in need of non-perishable food items.
Hours:
Open year round, Monday through Friday (8:30 am - 2:00 pm)
Closed on non-school days and holidays. If you are unavailable at these times, please call (916) 979-8878 to schedule an appointment.
FACE Digital Resource Library
We know how challenging and time-consuming it is to search for resources for families, so our team has been building a Digital Resource Library for all sites and departments to have access to. In this library, you'll find flyers and links for district and community resources to assist with housing, clothing, food, health, special education, college and career, community service partners, and more. We'll be adding to this library regularly, so keep checking to see what's new! The link allows anyone in San Juan to view the resources, so please feel free to share the link with your site/ department team members!
Community Resource of the Month: SMUD Educator Workshops
SMUD is excited to announce a series of fall workshops for educators that focuses on sustainability and the environment. All classes are free but registration is required.
Click on a class name below to register.
Oct. 5
4 - 5 p.m.
Grades 2 - 6
Oct. 10
5 - 6:30 p.m.
Grades 4 - 12
Oct. 17
4 - 5 p.m.
PV Party – Exploring Solar in the Classroom
Grades 4 - 12
Oct. 24
4 - 5 p.m.
Grades 3 - 12
Nov. 9
4 - 5 p.m.
Go with the Flow – Hydropower in the Classroom
Grades 3 - 12
Nov. 15
5 - 6:30 p.m.
Grades K - 12
Dec. 5
5 - 6:30 p.m.
Intro. to Student Prototyping in Engineering with Raspberry Pi Pico
Grades 6 - 8
Dec. 7
4 - 5 p.m.
Microgrid Map with Paper Crafting & Circuits
Grades 3-12
Additionally, SMUD offers:
Classroom visits
We offer free classroom visits, including hands-on materials, so your students can build, discover and learn. Learn more at smud.org/TeachingTools or email us at etcmail@smud.org.
Stay safe around electricity
Free classroom resources make teaching electricity safety easy. Learn more at SmudSafety.com/Educator.
Email etcmail@smud.org to subscribe to SMUD’s educator emails. For year-round teacher resources and events, learn more at smud.org/Education.
Our friends at the Sacramento Public Library have two STEAM programs they are currently promoting for students!
The first is a youth leadership program -paid internship- to be held virtually from mid-October to mid-November open to youth 14-19 years old and that is only open to Sacramento County residents.
The second is a STEAM Bilingual Book Club program followed by a STEAM activity. This program is presented at the Sylvan Oaks Library located in the city of Citrus Heights, this program is for school age children but anyone is welcome to come and join in the fun.
Should you or families have any questions, please reach out to the contact below:
Víctor D. Jiménez Olvera, MLIS (He, Him, His)
Bilingual Services Specialist – Youth Services
Sacramento Public Library
828 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
(279) 499-1007 | vjimenezolvera@saclibrary.org
Yo soy bilingüe.
Volunteer Updates
There is currently a delay between our district's application server and Google Sheets; therefore, volunteers may be cleared, but their status may not be reflecting correctly. If there is a field trip or volunteer opportunity approaching, feel free to call us to see if we do in fact have a volunteer's clearance level. We will update the volunteer site leads and principals when the system is up and running smoothly again. Thank you for your patience.
Volunteer recruitment is a site-wide, ongoing effort to increase volunteerism within your school community. In order to remove barriers to access office hours fingerprinting, we have continued to offer our afterhours fingerprinting clinics. You can direct families to find those dates reflected monthly on the calendar found here:
After Hour Volunteer Fingerprint Clinics Available!
We understand some families have barriers to access district office appointments during the day, therefore, we have created regional walk-in volunteer fingerprint clinics. Please only use the PDF flyer below for display purposes/hard copies at your site. Use the Fingerprinting graphic above for websites, social media, or other digital family messaging and include the details below with the www.sanjuan.edu/volunteer website address for more information.
Sunrise Tech Center - 5:30-7pm
7522 Sunrise Blvd, Citrus Heights
October 17
November 7
Greer Elementary - 5:30-7pm
1300 Bell Street, Sacramento
October 25
November 15
Field Trip Updates
October is impacted with field trips and most dates are unavailable for school busses.
Turning in your completed field trip paperwork early assures availability for school buses. This includes budget codes and tracking forms. Keep in mind, there may be a delay in getting back to you however, you're in the queue in order of submission and have a high chance of getting your bus.
Please be patient with us. We have received over 400 trip requests since the start of school. If you have emailed fieldtrips@sanjuan.edu we received your email and will respond as able. Sending multiple emails, and having others send emails on your behalf only backs up the inbox and delays response time.
Field Trip Packet can be found on the intranet under Family & Community Engagement
https://intranet.sanjuan.edu/familycommunityengagement/Pages/Field-Trips.aspx
Community Partnership Tip of the Month:
Now is a great time to start planning your special holiday events and activities. Community partners are eager to help and provide much needed support, especially during the holidays. Make sure to include partners in your planning and implementation. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact district community engagement specialist, Clarissa Alva or supervisor of community partnerships and volunteers Natalia Aguirre-Mazzi.
Community Organization of the Month: La Familia Counseling Center
La Familia offers a range of programs to meet the needs of our diverse community in the following program areas:
Behavioral and Physical Health
La Familia provides Mental Health counseling services for children and youth ages 0 to 21 and their families.
Family-driven mental health services are provided through home visitation, at school sites, at La Familia’s Maple Neighborhood Center, or at other locations as requested by families.
La Familia’s Maple Neighborhood Center
3301 37th Ave, Sacramento, CA 95824
P: (916) 210-8773 F:(916)395-5904
Employment and Adult Education
La Familia’s Training Center and Employment Services are available to all community members, and orientations are hosted every Wednesday from 10 – 11:30 a.m. Free services include:
- Access to the computer lab and computer basics courses
- CalJobs computer search
- Higher education opportunities
- Résumé preparation
- Resource networking
- GED preparation and testing referrals
- Telephones, TDD phone and fax available for job search
- Services for Veterans and Dislocated workers
- Job announcements
La Familia is also a Sacramento Works Training Center that provides GED preparation classes in English and Spanish. Trainings are linked with employment services, life skill workshops, assessments and employer workshops. Additional trainings are available for basic computer classes offered in English and Spanish, as well as referrals to outside partners for additional education, training and classes.
A variety of programs and services for youth and their families are available through La Familia. Parents can participate in parenting classes, and receive resources and support services for their children and families through the Birth & Beyond and Effective Parenting Programs. La Familia also provides educational opportunities, leadership development and positive reinforcement activities for youth through programs like Youth Voice—that helps youth develop leadership and life skills, Project Reach, GVSP and Out of School Youth Programs.
La Familia hosts a range of ongoing and annual events for community members of all ages. Check our events calendar often to stay in-the-know about events like free karate for youth, weekly parenting classes, our annual Halloween and Christmas events, Health and Safety Fairs, Job Fairs and Community Workshops.
Federal Tax ID: 94-2270786 |© La Familia 2021 | Tel: (916) 210-8773 or TDD: 1 (800) 735-2929
The Partnership Connection Launches!
Family Engagement Tip of the Month: Family Resource Boards!
Problem Resolution Tip of the Month: Take a Pause
Shout Out to the El Camino Team, Rio Americano Team, Equity Team, United College Action Network (U-CAN) and Our District College & Career Readiness Team for an Amazing College Week!
Shout Out to The Aerospace Museum of California for Hosting the Girls in STEAM Event!
Give a Shout Out!
There are so many wonderful student, family and community engagement highlights happening around the district! We'd love to spotlight any of those efforts that your site or department is doing! Remember, if you submit a Shout Out for your team or another team, we'll send you a Starbucks card as a thank you for helping spread the positivity and encouragement! The link to submit a Shout Out for your school/ department or another school/ department is below: https://forms.gle/vLhYTumEDY1NN3dB8
Did You Miss Last Month's FACE Forum Newsletter?
Click the link below to access September's newsletter and see all the resources, information and supports for you and your school community!
Want to receive the monthly FACE Forum newsletters directly to your email inbox during the school year? Our newsletter is now being emailed directly to recipients who have opted in to receiving the monthly newsletter. For those who choose not to opt in to receiving the newsletter via email, you will still be able to access the newsletter in Behind the Scenes (all SJUSD employees) and Leadership Reflections (administrators).
To opt in to receiving The FACE Forum newsletter directly to your Inbox, please complete this brief opt-in here: https://forms.gle/3DQ62CUCZy4HjzGt6
San Juan Unified Family & Community Engagement Department
Email: face@sanjuan.edu
Website: www.sanjuan.edu/face
Location: 3738 Walnut Avenue, Carmichael, CA, USA
Phone: (916) 971-7929
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SanJuanUnifiedFamilyandCommunityEngagement/