The photo above was taken at the October 28 meeting with my Superintendent's Student Advisory Council, consisting of student leaders from all of our high schools. We have been meeting in person, wearing masks and physically distancing, focusing on leadership development, communication skills, and civic engagement/community service. These meetings with students are the highlight of my day. We will be seeing more of these types of in-person small group meetings at secondary schools across the District, as we continue to phase in the safe reopening of our middle and high school campuses. By now, our middle and high school families have heard the customized reopening plans that our sites have been working so hard to develop.

A huge congratulations to our 26 elementary schools, special education programs, and Abraxas High School on their successful reopenings for on campus learning! We are the largest District in San Diego County (and one of the largest in the state) to move forward with reopening. We are grateful for our families’ support as we continue to work together to make this a possibility for students in a safe and thoughtful way. Let’s work together to ensure that we are practicing recommended health and safety measures in order to keep our community infection rates low and keep our schools open.

I also want to commend and encourage all of our staff and families who are in virtual learning. As you may know, for the first time in its history, the Poway Unified School District opened the 2020-21 school year with fully virtual learning. This was no small feat. Try to wrap your head around this statistic: Poway Unified students participated in over 18 million minutes of learning via Zoom video conferencing in the first three days of school!

Our teachers, staff and administrators prepared for months to ensure a smooth start. We surveyed our families on what worked and what needed improvement based on our emergency distance learning in the spring, and implemented those changes for a more rigorous and robust virtual learning experience this fall. We offered professional development sessions for teachers and staff, with a combined 10,000 attendees.

Even as we reopen our campuses for in-person learning, I wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate the innovation taking place in our virtual classrooms. In many ways, this pandemic has forced those of us in education to fast forward our efforts to bring learning into the 21st century. Our students are also developing grit, learning to persevere past technical challenges and frustrations, and they are realizing that learning can be exciting and interactive even through a screen. They’re seeing how the curriculum is applicable to their real lives, and they are building time management and technology skills that are vital in college and beyond.

We know virtual learning isn’t ideal for everybody, especially for our youngest children, students with special needs, and working families. That is why our reopening plan brought our elementary schools and small groups of students with special needs back for in-person learning first. But even when we all eventually return in person, my hope is that the positive results of the pandemic on education will continue: providing students with more personalized learning, choice and flexibility, as well as teaching and learning in a whole new way, with creativity, patience and problem solving that will extend far beyond the classroom and beyond the status quo.

-Superintendent Marian Kim Phelps, Ed.D.

To view the most recent version of the Poway Unified School District Reopening Guidebook, click here.

Para ver la versión más reciente de la Guía de Reapertura del Distrito Escolar Unificado de Poway, hacer clic aquí.

Families are encouraged to watch and share this health and safety video to become familiar with the new protocols in place on campus.

You can watch the event below:

Thank you to those who shared their #PUSDBacktoSchool photos with us on social media; it was so nice to share in the joy of everyone's virtual first day. Visit the Adobe Spark page below for all the photos.

Students and staff waited for this day for a long time. We’re grateful to #TeamPUSD for making the return to on-campus learning a safe one, and to our parents for their patience and partnership.

The Elementary Schools that opened October 1 are:

• Canyon View Elementary School

• Highland Ranch Elementary School

• Morning Creek Elementary School

• Painted Rock Elementary School

• Pomerado Elementary School

• Shoal Creek Elementary School

• Sundance Elementary School

• Sunset Hills Elementary School

• Turtleback Elementary

• Westwood Elementary School

It was a great day back on campus for Abraxas High School Transition and Diploma programs on October 8. Students and staff were excited to greet one another after months of virtual learning (AHS started classes mid-July). Abraxas is hosting cohorts of students on campus in an alternating schedule, leaving Wednesdays as an "all virtual day" for a deeper campus cleaning and sanitation. Families were given the option to remain fully virtual if they choose.

District leadership have been meeting with parent and student representatives to ensure their voice is reflected in our planning, as well. This includes hosting virtual Racial Equity Community Conversations with families at all PUSD high schools and feeder pattern schools. The District recently added an additional meeting date (Wednesday, November 2) for families and staff who were unable to attend the meeting hosted by their feeder pattern school.

• To visit our new Racial Equity website, click here.
• To view the PUSD Plan for Prioritizing Racial Equity and Inclusion, click here.
• To register for the November 2 Racial Equity Community Conversation, click here.

This meeting will also be livestreamed on the #PowayUnified YouTube Channel for community members who are unable to attend.

Thank you to #TeamPUSD for working together to put on this crucial event for our families, and for the dozens of presenters who shared important info on the college admissions and career pathway processes.

The full Pomerado News story here.

Five former Valley Elementary School students gave back to their Tiger Family in a big way.

Despite attending different high schools, best friends Drew (Rancho Bernardo) Max (Rancho Bernardo) Sean (Torrey Pines) Juan (Poway) and Brandon (Pacific Ridge) joined together with plans to donate over 700 reusable masks to students at Valley. Thank you Drew, Max, Sean, Juan and Brandon for considering the needs of others in difficult times.

Read the inspiring story of how they're making it happen: bit.ly/VESmask

Girl Scout Madalyn T. Nguyen shared her love of science, technology, engineering and math with younger girls to “shatter” negative stereotypes of females in STEM fields while earning her Gold Award.

Her project included organizing and moderating two virtual events. They were a seven-week STEM careers series and a Girls STEM Camps Series. Read more about her efforts here.

Congratulations to Anika Menon (MCHS '20) and Kaavya Raamkumar (DNHS '22) for being recognized by the San Diego County Public Defender's Office as two of the "Most Remarkable Teens" in 2020.

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The Most Remarkable Teen program recognizes San Diego youth ages 13-19 for their contributions and efforts in 25 non-traditional categories including arts and culture, civic involvement, and more.⁠ Read about the program here.

Check out this inspiring story: Del Norte High School students Andrew, Jerry, Nick & Rishi are 3D printing face shields for local #HealthCareHeroes. Their project, which started as a summer "hobby," has now evolved into a non-profit. "Shield Our Health Heroes" has raised enough money to donate 750 more shields to 10 local hospitals. Whether it's making face coverings for hospitals or sending "Cards4Kindness" to people around the world, we can always count on our students to #bethechange.

Full story.

Prior to opening the remaining elementary schools for in-person learning, we showed some of the faces you might see around. So grateful for each one of these wonderful staff members. If you see any of them in-person, make sure to stop and say "Hello!" #TeamPUSD

“We decided to take matters into our own hands ... to make a place on campus for students that’s gonna make them feel united.”

The Rancho Bernardo High School Class of 2021 donned masks and elbow grease as they transformed an area of campus into an outdoor class/lounge space as their senior gift. We can't help but applaud the generosity these Broncos showed toward their peers.

Read the article here.

October is #DyslexiaAwarenessMonth. We join the CA Department of Education and districts statewide in providing ongoing interventions needed to support the academic success of students with Dyslexia.

Specifically, #PowayUnified offers universal screenings for K-1. Every elementary and middle school has curriculum aligned with the research-based Orton-Gillingham Approach to more effectively meet the unique needs of our students with dyslexia.

Usually in the third week of September, #PowayUnified students participate in "Start With Hello Week," where they teach fellow peers the importance of empathy and ending social isolation by starting with a friendly greeting. This program is through

Sandy Hook Promise

Meet Aashi Mittal: Aashi has had a direct hand in starting a SAVE Promise Club at Del Norte, and has a deep desire to bring students and staff closer together. Congratulations to Aashi in serving on this board, and we wish #TeamPUSD fun in the virtual Start with Hello activities.

Read more about her work with Sandy Hook promise here.