"Wow. Good evening. 4,000+ strong when I look out into the audience. It’s moments like this when it hits me and really makes me aware of how lucky I am to serve this community. Like many of you, after I heard the news of the shooting, I struggled with feelings of anger, sadness, fear, despair… and I was overcome with a strong desire and need to want to do something. “We need to do something. We need to do more.” But then I paused and I realized we are doing something. While we need to always continue to do better and do more, as educators in Poway Unified, we serve on the front lines in the fight against hate. In our classrooms, at lunch time, throughout the school day, our students and staff are engaged in lessons and activities teaching tolerance, kindness, and respect for differences. We at Poway Unified are truly committed to continuing to teach our children about tolerance, kindness, and respect for differences. Did you know that it’s “No Place for Hate Week” this week at many of our schools? Before this tragedy, our students had already been busy planning ways to help make our schools free of bias and discrimination.

One example is Talia Schauder, a junior here at Poway High School. Today she gave a presentation as part of her Talia’s Tolerance Tour, a way to share her grandfather’s Holocaust survival story. Talia realized that there was a need to educate middle and high schoolers about the Holocaust — teen to teen. So she’s been taking her presentation on the road to our schools across Poway Unified and San Diego County. She’s already reached thousands of children. Students like Talia give me hope; hope that by reaching more young people and educating them, we can make a positive impact to help prevent the type of hatred that fueled Saturday’s attack.

I am also touched by the outpouring of support and solidarity that Poway Unified has shown for the Jewish community, our Poway community, and our San Diego community. I’m also hearing reports that our students – from elementary to high school— are making cards and signs to express condolences in support of our families and for the victims as well as to thank first responders. Tragic events like what happened Saturday are not the type of experience we wish for any of our children to have to learn from. But the empathy, compassion, and resilience they are learning from this experience is a teachable moment. As we say in education: it’s an opportunity to engage in productive dialogue and learn as we continue to fight bias, discrimination, and hate.

It breaks my heart when I hear children say that they don’t feel safe. 8-year-old Noya Dayan survived the attack. She told reporters about the frightening moments when she was hit by shrapnel. This, after her former home was defaced by swastikas. We know that when a child doesn’t feel safe, they can’t learn, they can’t grow, and they definitely can’t thrive as they were meant to. Children (and all of us) have a right to feel safe in our places of worship, in our schools, and in our homes.

This effort doesn’t and can’t end in our schools and it can’t end from this. As a community, we have so much work to do. And as adults, we must model the right behavior, use education to fight ignorance, and show our children how to be upstanders and allies to the powerless. It’s not just our schools that should become “No Places for Hate.” Let’s all commit to making our workplaces, our homes, and all of our businesses all No Places for Hate.

When we show the world that our community won’t stand for hate and that instead of dividing us, it unites us; Love, not hate, wins.

Thank you. Bless you all."

Marian Kim Phelps, Ed.D.

Superintendent

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At the CyberPatriot National Finals Competition in Baltimore, in the Middle School Division, PUSD swept 1st, 2nd and 3rd place! 1st place went to Team CyberAegis Chaos, from Oak Valley Middle School; 2nd place went to Team CyberAegis Kronos, from Design39Campus; and 3rd place went to Team CyberAegis Aether – the all-girls team, from Oak Valley Middle School. In the High School Division, Del Norte High School’s Team CyberAegis Chobani took 3rd place. Congratulations to our National Winners!

The Poway Unified School District is proud to announce the selection of three schools - Monterey Ridge Elementary School, Twin Peaks Middle School, and Mt. Carmel High School - as the District’s 2019 Specialized Academic Instruction (SAI) model schools. These three schools are being celebrated for their work instructing students with disabilities and will serve as pilot schools for PUSD’s initiative to increase Specialized Academic Instruction (SAI) in the least restrictive environment. You can read more about SAI here.

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The Poway Band and Orchestra Festival, hosted by Poway High School and the PHS Instrumental Music Program, was in full swing at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts. The 3-day festival presents over 40 talented middle school and high school ensembles from PUSD.

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