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Friday, October 9, marks the official kick-off of the Year of the School Volunteer, a district-wide initiative aimed at increasing volunteer opportunities for the San Diego community, particularly where the need is greatest.  A special emphasis is being placed on the importance of reading. Schools, programs and teachers who need and want volunteers are encouraged to email Ellen Tiffany at etiffany@sandi.net. Individuals or groups interested in finding a volunteer assignment can simply fill out a Volunteer Interest Form and fax to (619) 725-5599.

Research supports that individual adult attention is a key contributor to student achievement and overall success in life. The district salutes the thousands of volunteers who already give their time and support to our students. We look forward to welcoming more volunteers who share our commitment to making a difference in the lives of San Diego children.  For more information, please contact the Volunteer program at (619) 725-5592.

San Diego Unified parents and employees can now call (619) 260-5409 with general questions about the H1N1 flu virus. The new H1N1 Information Phone Line is set-up to take messages, which will be answered by a school nurse within 24 hours. With more urgent health-related questions, call the Nursing and Wellness Program Office at (858) 627-7580. For non health-related district H1N1 issues, please email H1N1@sandi.net. For H1N1 issues not specific to San Diego Unified, call 211 or visit www.flu.gov.

Thanks to last-minute funding from the First 5 Commission of San Diego County, the San Diego Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenting Program (SANDAPP) is fully funded for the current school year. The program had been in jeopardy when the state eliminated its funding as part of this year¹s budget cutbacks, but First 5 stepped up with funding to carry the program through the current school year. The program provides case management, counseling and parent child attunement and interaction therapy services to pregnant and parenting youth residing throughout San Diego County. During the 2008-09 school year, 92 percent of eligible participating students graduated. Congratulations to the students and SANDAPP staff for your hard work and dedication to San Diego's pregnant and parenting teens and thanks to our local First 5 commissioners and staff for allowing this important work to continue. For more information, please contact Cindy Grossman at cgrossman@sandi.net.  

Zone managers from the district’s Physical Plant Operations Department are visiting with principals and building services supervisors at schools over the next few weeks to check on site issues and talk about the recent reorganization of the department. Managers Greg Taylor and Jim Gonzalves divide up the district and are visiting their schools, along with managers and supervisors from custodial, landscape and maintenance services. Physical Plant Operations has been reorganized over the past several years to improve delivery of services to schools. For more information, please contact Taylor at gtaylor@sandi.net, or Jim Gonsalves at jgonsalv@mail.sandi.net.

District employees can shop for clothing and other items with the new district logo at the new San Diego Unified Web Store. The web store was created through Lands’ End Business Outfitters.The store offers a full range of women’s and men’s clothing and other items that can be purchased with a choice of either of the two versions of the logo (See photos).This web store is provided to the district by Lands’ End at no cost and does not generate any funds for the district. We are simply offering it as a service to employees and our school communities. Land’s End is responsible for all sales and customer service.

Visit the store and enjoy shopping. Once you select your item, you are offered the choice of adding a district logo at an additional charge per item.  For more information, please contact the District Relations Office at (619) 725- 5578.

SCHOOL NEWS

• UC High and Scripps Health Form Partnership
  Thanks to University City (UC) High School instructor Ellie Vandiver, a new partnership has been formed that will benefit students interested in pursuing health careers. Scripps Health has agreed to accept UC High students for clinical internships at Scripps Memorial Hospital, surrounding Scripps Clinic medical offices, and possibly Scripps Green. Currently, UC High has more than 60 students enrolled in the Health Essentials Course, a class comprised mostly of seniors who are anxious to have “hands-on” experiences in a hospital setting.  This is UC High’s first year participating in the Project Lead the Way Biomedical Sciences program, which is designed to introduce students to health sciences and allied health careers. Project Lead the Way has been working closely with the Regional Occupational Program to expose students to the many career opportunities in health sciences.  For more information, please contact Ellie Vandiver at evandiver@sandi.net or (858) 457-3040 ext. 150.

• Crawford MVAS Students Make a Difference in Community
  The Colina Park Neighborhoods First Initiative has formed a partnership with Crawford High School students to create the “Stories of Colina Park,” a project designed to increase cultural understanding and neighborhood pride. It is a two-year service learning project between San Diego Local Initiatives Support Corporation, the Boulevard Business Association and the Multimedia and Visual Arts School (MVAS) at Crawford. During the 2008-09 school year, and continuing this school year, 80 MVAS students have identified and interviewed diverse community leaders, written human interest stories based on these interviews, interpreted the stories through art, created public art installations displayed along El Cajon Boulevard and documented the project through a website and printed materials. To check out their work, go to http://www.storiesofcolinapark.org.  For more information, please contact Principal Diego Gutierrez at (619) 583-2500.

• High School Science Student Achieves Another “First”
  Henry High School senior Anna Simpson is the first high school student ever to have an article published on the LiveScience website.  Anna describes first-hand her experiences doing research in a UCSD chemistry lab and presenting her award-winning mobile autonomous chemical-detecting robot at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair as well as the California State Science Fair last spring. For more information, contact Pat Crowder, principal, at (619) 286-7700 ext. 2208.