EUSD Community Newsletter
Winter Edition
Eat a RAINBOW: January 22-25th
Enrichment Showcase: January 28th - February 1st
We invite you to come “WALK THROUGH THE WHEEL” with your child and experience the unique weekly learning opportunities that provide quality instruction for our students while allowing classroom teachers time to collaborate. Stay for the whole grade level wheel rotation or come see just a snapshot of the day! Feel free to come during a time period that works with your schedule … even if it is not during your child’s rotation. We look forward to seeing you there! Click HERE to see individual school wheel rotation schedules.
Update from the Board
In late November 2018, the EUSD Board of Trustees attended the California School Board Association (CSBA) Annual Education Conference in San Francisco. This annual conference, led by CSBA, is held every November / December in either San Diego (odd years) or San Francisco (even years). This conference provides a professional development opportunity that offers the governance perspective. Leaders in education collaborate with peers to discuss and problem solve issues faced across school districts.
At the regular meeting on December 11, the EUSD Board of Trustees shared how their attendance at presentations during the conference could inform practice and policy across the district. Topics of several sessions attended related to social-emotional skills/learning, English language learners, the recent Janus ruling, and Brown Act updates. For more information about the CSBA AEC, please view: https://aec.csba.org
REMINDER: Helpful Parent Videos are Online!
Just a reminder that helpful "...in a SNAP!" videos are viewable all year long on the front page of the eusd.net website. Topics such as "Logging in at Home", "Screen Time", "CAASPP", "iBoss", and much, much, more. All videos are created by students and are posted for parent's access anytime.
Park Dale Lane Students Increase Creativity With CoTA
In 2014, Park Dale Lane was one of three schools in San Diego County to be selected for the Beacon School Project with CoTA (Collaborations: Teachers and Artists). Through this partnership, teachers work alongside highly-trained CoTA teaching artists to discover innovative ways of incorporating the arts into the existing curriculum. During the first three years of the partnership, CoTA engaged the services of the Center for Research on Creativity (CRoC), an internationally recognized research firm with a specialty in collecting data on creativity in educational environments. The final results of that three-year study are about to be published, but early data is rather encouraging. The study is showing that there has been a noticeable growth in empathy and a willingness to collaborate amongst students who participated in CoTA programming at the Beacon School sites. Closer to home, the results are indicating that Park Dale Lane students who participated in the study exhibited a 34% increase in demonstrated creativity and an 85% increase in demonstrated critical thinking skills over the course of three years in the program. Look for further and more detailed information regarding this study to be shared soon. The staff of CoTA looks forward to an ongoing partnership with Park Dale Lane and exploring how the Beacon School Project can continue to have a profound effect on student engagement at their site in the future. You may read more about CoTA here: https://cotaprogram.org/
Exciting Next Generation Science Activities!
Employment Opportunities for Parents
The Encinitas Union School District has a range of employment opportunities available for parents who want to work part-time and/or want to be on the same schedule as their children. Many of our current employees started as volunteers and then applied for paid positions in the district. Please visit the Administrative Services website to view the job descriptions and salary schedules. You can view current vacancies on www.edjoin.org and complete your application online. If you would like further information, please contact Jane McGuigan by calling 760-944-4300 ext. 1182 or by email at jane.mcguigan@eusd.net for further information. Please pass along this information if you know someone that would be a great fit for our district!
Current Classified employment opportunities available range from 1.75 hours a day to 6 hours a day and include:
· Noon Supervisors - Range 4.5 starting at $13.49
· Instructional Assistants Specialized Care (Special Education) - Range 8 starting at $16.14
· ASPIRE (Before and After School Child Care)- Range 6 starting at $14.58
· Health Technicians (LVN certification required)-Range 12 starting at $19.78
· Classified Substitute - Please contact Lori Alguire by calling 760-944-4300 ext. 0 or by email at lori.alguire@eusd.net for further information.
Farm Lab and DREAMS Campus Update: Did you know?!?
1. Since spring, 11,000+ pounds of organic produce has been harvested from our certified organic farm. We rocked Farm to School month in October!
2. The Great Design Challenge is underway! The interior of the new Design and Research rooms (‘Dill’ and ‘Rosemary’) and the shared deck area are being designed by fourth and fifth graders from Flora Vista. Stay tuned for the winning design!
3. The DREAMS Campus most recently hosted kindergarteners from around the district for a one-day learning experience. Observing, analyzing, measuring, recording, picking, planting, and play made for a purposeful and engaging day of learning and discovery! To view more photos and this news in full format click here.
Highlight! Fourth Grade Farm Lab
EUSD 4th and 5th grade students at Flora Vista experienced transdisciplinary learning with an emphasis on real-world problem solving during this new week-long EUSD DREAMS project. Students were tasked with becoming experts in designing the "Design and Research" studio rooms at Farm Lab, by creating multi-use environments. This included the walls, furniture, design & research tools, storage, and the surrounding exterior space for outdoor learning opportunities. Day one, Superintendent Tim Baird presented the district's overview of what could be in contrast to what should be. Students spent two days in inquiry reviewing information and listening to a design expert, two maker space experts, and district experts in construction, purchasing, and budgets. Stay tuned for an update...
Newcomer Intersession
Huge smiles and laughter punctuated the week at the first ever English learner Newcomer inter-session held by EUSD during the first week of fall break. Thirty-one students from four different school sites and from grades K-6 participated in a variety of high-interest language-rich activities. Each day, students worked in small groups of 8-12 engaging in dialogue, discussing literature, practicing new categories of words (e.g. food, school supplies…), and writing about themselves in journals. Of course, the development of the newcomer students’ language skills was the main goal for the week; however, the growth in self-confidence was simply remarkable. The gratitude and pride felt by the students were perhaps best summarized by a sixth-grade student who said, “I am so happy to be here, and wish I could see all of you every day!” This was a true labor of love by all the staff involved, and a great source of support to the recent increase in new immigrants in the Encinitas Union School District.
Robotics WIN for ECC
The El Camino Creek Elementary Robotics team, The Musical Planets, won a chance to compete for the world-championship Global Innovation Award when the team won first place for their project design in the First Lego League Robotics Regional Tournament this December at Legoland. They competed against over 50 teams of 4th-9th grade students from across Southern California and now will go up against the best students from across the world to try to get their project launched on a future space mission! We are proud of how their perseverance and hard work have paid off!
Pictured L to R: Jackson, 5th, Aiden, 5th; Alana, 4th; Mike, 6th; Sei, 4th; Aiden, 6th; Alan, 6th
Link to article in the Coast News
Do you want to hyperlink to the Global Innovation award home page? Click here.
Encinitas Union School District
Email: heather.hultgren@eusd.net
Website: www.eusd.net
Location: 101 South Rancho Santa Fe Road, Encinitas, CA, USA
Phone: 760-944-4300
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EncinitasUSD/
Twitter: @eusdtweets