Community Update
April 20, 2023
Join Us At The 7th Annual Early Education Fair
Come out and have some fun with us at our 7th Annual Early Childhood Education Fair on Saturday, April 29th from 10 am - 1 pm. This is a free community event for all that brought in 1,800 attendees last year, with over 30 community partners, many games and activities for kids, free resources, lots of prizes, student performances, the opportunity to get to know our fabulous VUSD schools and preschool partners, and more! For those interested in enrolling their children in TK or kindergarten for the 2023-2024 school year, you can pre-register at the event. We look forward to seeing everyone on April 29th! For more information, e-mail: FamilyEngagement@vistausd.org.
Check out past Fair videos: Video1 (former VUSD student-created) Video 2 (VHS student-created).
Art Under the Stars
The beginning of April saw students from across all arts disciplines shine through Vista’s Art Under the Stars. The Moonlight Amphitheatre had 29 performing groups from elementary to high school share their talent over two days. Both days had packed houses as parents and the community came out to support the more than 1000 student performers. It was a fabulous demonstration of the talent, skills, and abilities our students have developed in the arts.
The Civic Center Showcase, which runs through April 27th, features middle school and high school visual artists from across the district. The opening reception was well attended by families and dignitaries such as our school board, mayor, and city council members.
Congratulations to the following awardees: Mayor’s Award MS - Natalie Bankert; Mayor’s Award HS - Haley Reed; Superintendent’s Award MS - Daisy Goodson; Superintendent’s Award HS - Desiree Garcia; City Council Award MS - McKenzie Duggan; City Council Award HS - Jenny Ortega; Principal’s Award MS - Maleny Garcia; Principal’s Award HS - Maricela Herrera; Originality: MS - 1st Place Hailey Bennet, 2nd Place Maizy Harry, 3rd Place Elise Harner; Originality: HS - 1st Place Kyla Smith, 2nd Place Mandy Trinh, 3rd Place Eva Majeska; Artistry: MS - 1st Place Rey Martinez, 2nd Place Zurysadai Garcia, 3rd Place Ava Regos; Artistry: HS - 1st Place Grace Montes, 2nd Place Maritza DeJesus, 3rd Place Savannah Lopez; Best in 3D - 1st Place Rowan Kugher, 2nd Place Havanna Millwad, 3rd Place Natalie Gonzalez; Best in Show MS - Cole Eustace; Best in Show HS - Jorge Martinez.
Bravo!
Summer School Learning Opportunities
Elementary Summer Expanded Learning - Elementary students will have the opportunity to register for several programs this summer. “Wild About Learning” is the intensive academic intervention program that runs from June 12th through June 30th. Hours are from 8:00 am-12:00 pm at selected sites throughout the district. “Bloom Where You’re Planted” is the extended day program that is available from 6:30 am - 6:00 pm. Click on the link below to access information for both programs and the registration form.
Expanded Learning Opportunities
Secondary Summer School Opportunities - We have prepared a variety of opportunities during the summer months for our middle and high school students in order to create a robust, comprehensive, and multi-tiered system of support. These fall into three main categories - remediation, bridge, and enrichment.
Remediation - We have a comprehensive program for high school students to remediate failing grades in order to be on track for graduation and to meet A-G requirements.
Graduating seniors will have the opportunity to attend up to two three-week sessions in order to complete their senior year and receive a diploma during the summer.
Current 9th, 10th, and 11th graders will also have the opportunity to remediate failing grades through programs at each high school. We will offer two three-week semesters of courses in the summer months, allowing high school students to remediate credits before the next school year.
Bridge - Middle and high schools will be offering bridge options for invited students to provide targeted learning opportunities that will prepare students academically for the upcoming school year. Principals will be sharing schedules and details with parents as each site finalizes their dates, times, and programs. Summer bridge opportunities include programs for incoming 6th and 9th graders, English Language Learners, special education students, and at-risk students.
Enrichment - Middle and high schools will also offer enrichment opportunities in a variety of disciplines. Just as with the bridge programs, each site will finalize their dates, times, and programs and communicate information directly to students and families. Sample programs include AVID, sports and strength training, visual and performing arts, lab sciences, career pathways, computer science, STEM, and design labs. Keep an eye out for individual high school notifications about summer programs.
New District Website Hosting Approved
Website Refinement
In concert with the implementation of our new Framework for the Future (Vision, Values, Portraits), we are moving forward in redesigning our website. It is our goal to streamline content on the website so that it is cohesive and easier to navigate for our community.
Updates
Our Website Sprint Team collaborated through the month of February to research a list of 17 web hosts that have been used by districts throughout Southern California. That list was narrowed down to three vendors: FinalSite, Catapult, and Apptegy. Vendors provided training and a week of sandbox trials for the team. The team gave feedback and provided their final recommendation on March 6th via a survey. The final webhost recommendation was for FinalSite, which the board approved on Thursday, April 6th.
Next Steps
Starting in April and running through June, staff will have access to a series of training sessions to get acquainted with the new web hosting platform.
Official launch of the new website will be July 1st
Starting in the fall, schools will be offering tutorials for students and parents on how to navigate the new website.
Career Pathways Paid Summer Internships
Vista Unified School District and the Vista Chamber of Commerce are proud to partner on the Velocity Summer Internship Program. Running between June 12th and August 9th, incoming high school seniors have the opportunity to earn $16 an hour for up to 100 hours interning at a local business in their career interest area. Students will learn important work readiness skills and dispositions while building their social networks and earning greater than minimum wage.
Over 160 Vista students have applied to participate. As Vista's largest employer, VUSD has committed to taking interns across all of our departments.
Graduation and Promotion is Just Around the Corner
It is hard to believe that we are just six weeks away from the end of the school year. Preparations are underway at all of our elementary, middle, and high schools for graduation and promotion ceremonies. The families of current kindergarteners, fifth graders, and eighth graders will be receiving information regarding dates and times of their promotions from each individual school site. At the high school level, seniors have already received graduation information, including senior contracts and information about caps and gowns. Families of our graduating seniors will receive ticket and ceremony information from their individual school sites in the coming weeks. This time of the school year brings us a great sense of pride and appreciation for the accomplishments our students have made as scholars.
Sincerely,
Matt Doyle, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Vista Unified School District
Vista Unified School District
Email: webmaster@vistausd.org
Website: vistausd.org
Location: 1234 Arcadia Avenue, Vista, CA, USA
Phone: (760) 726-2170
Twitter: @VistaBlueprint