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MISSION STATEMENT
All San Diego students will Graduate with the Skills, Motivation, Curiosity and Resilience to Succeed in their choice of College and Career in order to Lead and Participate in the society of Tomorrow. |  |
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All schools will be closed next week, Nov. 23 through 27, in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. Friday Notes will not be published. During this time, I hope everyone has the opportunity to reflect upon the many things for which we are thankful. I wish you and your loved ones a happy and healthy Thanksgiving season. Thank you for all you do for the children of San Diego.
Bill Kowba
Interim Superintendent
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San Diego High Teacher Receives Prestigious Educator Award |
Left to right: Lowell Milken, San Diego Unified Interim Supt. Bill Kowba, former NFL player Roosevelt (Rosey) Grier, Jaime Enochs, State Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell, and CA Assemblymember Lori Saldana.
Jaime Enochs of the School of International Studies at San Diego High was named a recipient of the prestigious Milken Educator Award on Monday, Nov. 16. Dubbed “the Oscars of teaching” by Teacher Magazine, the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Awards recognize the importance of outstanding educators and encourage talented young people to enter the teaching profession. Unlike most teaching awards, the Milken Educator Awards have no formal nomination or application process and come with a no-strings-attached cash prize of $25,000. For more information, please contact Principal Kirk Ankeney at (619) 525-7455 or kankeney@sandi.net . Read more.
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SDG&E Partnership Saves Parents Money |
 An innovative partnership between San Diego Unified and San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) Company has reduced gas and electric bills by 20% for 2,719 San Diego families and earned the district a check for $40,785 from the utility, with more to come. Under the partnership, the school district is providing SDG&E with our list of families who qualify for the federal Free and Reduced Priced Lunch Program. Chances are these families also qualify for the California Alternative Rate for Energy (CARE) program. The school district receives a $15 per household payment for each new CARE program participant. For more information, please contact Bernie Rhinerson, chief district relations officer, at (619) 725-5578 or brhinerson@sandi.net . Read more.
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Board President’s Scholarship Awards |
Jillian Margaret Collins (center, left), special education Braille assistant at Bay Park Elementary, and Shawneka Thomas (center, right), special education technician at Field Elementary, are the recipients of the 2009-10 Board President’s Scholarship awards. This annual award is presented to monthly classified employees who are interested in becoming teachers. With support from Mission Federal Credit Union, each recipient received $1,000 to be used for tuition, fees, or books at any local two- or four-year accredited college or university. For information, contact Melissa Hudson at mmabe2@sandi.net or at (619) 725-5550.
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Outstanding High School Teachers |
 Six San Diego Unified high schools have received notification that one of their teachers has been selected a regional finalist for the California League of High Schools Region 9 "Educator of the Year" award. Joseph Panian (Mission Bay), Roger Engle (Scripps Ranch), John Nelson (ALBA), Mary McDonald (Mira Mesa), Clyde Yoshida (San Diego MET) and Tami Thoro (Serra) will be honored at an awards dinner taking place Tuesday, Dec. 15, at the Admiral Kidd Club in Point Loma. For more information, please contact Joe Austin at jaustin@sandi.net .
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Time Warner STEM Initiative Starts at Innovation Middle |
Left to right: Harlan Klein, Marc Farrar and Board member John Lee Evans
Time Warner Cable’s new five-year, $100 million nationwide effort to encourage student achievement in STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — started right here in San Diego Unified, at Innovation Middle School in Clairemont. Marc Farrar, Time Warner Cable’s Vice President of Public Affairs, presented a $5,000 check to the school as part of the “Connect a Million Minds" program kickoff. The company has more than 1,400 employees in San Diego, including many with students in our schools. The company’s contributions is not only appreciated by Innovation Middle School and San Diego Unified, but by educators across the nation. For more information, please contact Principal Harlan Klein at (858) 278-5948 or hklein@sandi.net . Read more about the kickoff event.
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There is Value in Training for an Emergency |
San Diego Unified regularly conducts emergency drills, purchases emergency supplies and equipment, and trains employees and students on emergency response procedures. The Oregonian recently featured an article and video on its website that reinforced why emergency planning and drills are so critical. It gave a real-life account of how drills and training helped an elementary school conduct an emergency evacuation when the school caught fire. In 2008, San Diego Unified received a $484,210 Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Grant that is currently being used to improve site readiness by conducting an emergency preparedness exercise at every site. For more information, please call School Police Chief Don Braun at (619) 725-7000. View The Oregonian article.
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Class of 2010 Gets Closer to Graduation |
Students enrolled in our credit recovery labs are steps closer to graduation. Graduation coaches worked diligently over the summer aligning classes to better support students. As a result, there are tougher standards and better student support systems in place this year. Students are now spending more time in courses and are already seeing the benefits. Currently, 2,725 students are enrolled in credit recovery courses across the district, including Garfield and Twain continuation high schools. Efforts are underway to better reach home hospital and other students with special needs. To date, the results of summer and fall enrollments are paying off as 432 students have already completed a make-up course. For more information, please contact Nellie Meyer, executive director of dropout prevention, at (619) 725-7388 or nmeyer@sandi.net .
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Post High School Programs for Students with Disabilities |
Parents of students receiving special education services or with a 504 plan are invited to attend as special presentation on Post High School Options. (Flier: English | Spanish) A panel will discuss various services and programs including college attendance (university and community college), adult education and vocational programs, high school diploma criteria, General Equivalency Diploma (GED) options, and the district's Transition Resources for Adult Community Education (TRACE) program. The presentation will only be offered on Monday, Dec. 7, from 6 to 8 p.m., at Ballard Parent Center, 2375 Congress St. in Old Town. For information and to RSVP, please contact Jane Doft at (619) 223-3121, ext. 1167 or jdoft@sandi.net .
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Budget Town Hall Meetings |
Parents, students, employees and community members are strongly encouraged to attend one of the upcoming Budget Town Hall Meetings. Attendees will learn more about the budget crisis and have the opportunity to offer ideas and feedback to the Board of Education. Each meeting will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m.:
For more information, please visit www.sandi.net/budget or contact Bernie Rhinerson, chief district relations officer at (619) 725-5578.
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- United Nations Comes to Montgomery Middle School
Montgomery Middle School recently partnered with UCSD professor Dr. Luz Chung and United Nations (UN) representative Bettina Hausmann for a unique event entitled U.N.- Classroom Without Borders. The special visitors led interactive lessons with 6th graders that focused on the work of the United Nations and the issues it encounters daily. The partners created DVDs of the pilot lessons and may publish articles about their experience. The U.N team was quite appreciative of the support and participation from the Montgomery students and staff. For more information, please contact Principal Jonathan Ton at (858) 496-8330 or jton@sandi.net .
- Pacific Sunwear Promising Artist at SD Met High
San Diego Met High School senior and photographer Seth Rader was selected by Pacific Sunwear as one of a handful of promising young artists nationwide. Seth will be working with a designer to create a T-shirt to be sold in 450 stores beginning March 1. He will also be interviewed for their corporate magazine, A Story. Through the school’s internship program, Seth has interned with a number of prestigious organizations including GCS Photography, Paradise Printing & Graphics, Jonathon’s Photography Studio and A Reason to Survive (ARTS). He plans to attend UCLA beginning Fall 2010 where he will major in Media Arts. For more information, please contact Principal Mildred Phillips at (619) 388-2297 or mphillips@sandi.net .
- Scripps Ranch High Students Pick Up Grants
Students at Scripps Ranch High continue to excel. Junior Krishna Hammond has been selected to receive a $500 Intel Research Grant and will participate in a four-week summer program at UCSD. He is one of 10 county students to receive this grant from Intel Corporation in conjunction with the California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science (COSMO). The grant supports his continued research in science or engineering and enables him to excel in future academic endeavors. Through an extremely competitive process, Freshman Kimberly Marron has been selected for the 2009-2010 La Jolla Playhouse Student Board of Trustees. The Student Board has the opportunity to meet the artists and experts who bring the La Jolla Playhouse shows to its audiences as well as plan events to celebrate the theater. For more information please contact Kurt Madden, kmadden2@sandi.net or (858) 621-9020, ext.1103.
- Solar Cup Competition includes Sci-Tech and Scripps Ranch High Schools
The Green Technology and Energy programs at San Diego Sci-Tech High and Scripps Ranch High will be very busy over the next seven months building a 16-foot, one-person boat that runs on the sun's energy. Students from the two schools are part of the 2010 Solar Cup, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s challenge to build the best boat to power across Lake Skinner beginning May 14. Teams from all over Southern California build identical, single-seat hulls from kits supplied by Metropolitan. Teams equip their boats with solar panels, batteries, steering and related systems. The Solar Cup event takes students beyond the textbook and provides them with hands-on applied science which infuses engineering and design, alternative energy, mathematics, physics, and problem solving. For more information, please contact Greg Quirin at the Office of College, Career and Technical Education at (858) 503-1736 or gquirin@sandi.net .
- San Diego High Students Get Great Business Mentors
The Academy of Finance at the San Diego High School of Business is having great success with its Junior Mentoring Program, which is funded through the California Partnership Academy grant. The Academy consists of 39 juniors who have all been matched with industry volunteers from such companies as Smith Barney, AXA Advisors, Union Bank, Qualcomm and many others. With planned monthly group meetings and weekly contact from mentors, these students receive support and accountability that is vital to their academic success. For more information, please contact Jeremy Martin, Academy of Finance mentor coordinator, at (619) 525-7461 or jmartin@sandi.net .
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