Principals are reminded to alert families and school communities that the majority of San Diego Unified's bell times will be unchanged in 2009-10. However a number of schools have modified their schedules for the new school year and one campus, CPMA (San Diego Creative, Performing and Media Arts Middle School) is making major changes. Beginning September 8, some changes affect school schedules every day, others only affect minimum days. View a complete list of updated bell times for all schools. Schools should update their websites immediately and consider sending Connect-ED messages to families with a bell time update throughout the summer.

Employees who have not taken sufficient vacation to reduce their balances below 328 hours by August 31 will have the balance above 328 hours paid out on the September monthly warrant.
In accordance with district policy and collective bargaining agreements, employees can accumulate a maximum of 328 vacation hours. Excess vacation hours can be carried forward and used prior to August 31 (non-applicable to regular classroom teachers). Along with the pay out, an employee’s vacation balance will be reset to 328 hours. Managers and employees share responsibility to monitor vacation balances. Managers or supervisors may require an employee to use vacation hours to avoid reaching the maximum accumulation. Payments to employees that have exceeded the cap are charged to site budgets. For more information, read the Vacation Accrual Policy on the Payroll Department website. Employees should contact their payroll specialist with questions.

School Police reports an increase in the number of staff members encountered by the police when responding to intrusion alarms at school sites. This is primarily due to custodial staff leaving earlier during the summer months and staff not checking in with school police when the alarms are on. Principals and staff are reminded to review the district’s after-hours administrative procedure (Section 17) and to establish after hours guidelines for staff, particularly during the summer months. For questions, contact Sergeant Michael Marquez at mmarquez2@sandi.net or (619) 725-7022.

The 6th Annual New Everybody Recommitting to Academic Achievement (ERAA) Conference will be held on Saturday, August 22, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at Lincoln High School. The free event is co-sponsored by SDUSD, several community groups and volunteers with a goal to have parents and students become more knowledgeable, supportive and committed to academic achievement. Workshops will be provided for parents and students at all grade levels. Every participant will be given a back-to-school backpack filled with schools supplies. A festival with exhibitors, free lunch, giveaways, and entertainment will also take place. Registration forms are provided in English , Spanish and Somali . For more information, contact Zoniece Jones, conference chair, at (619) 264-6870.

The Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS) announces the annual ALAS/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Scholarship, which provides Latino educators seeking to become administrators and superintendents with a one-time, $10,000 award. Additionally, the scholarship offers a one-time, $2,000 honorable mention award each year. Applications are available online and are due on September 1.

• Educational Technology Summer Workshops
  For course descriptions, dates and times, visit the Ed Tech web site.

• District Purchase Card Training
  District Purchase Card training will be held from 10 a.m. to noon, August 27, September 16, October 14 and November 18, in the Ed Center auditorium. Training is required for new card holders, approvers or reconcilers who have not yet attended this class. RSVP to Julie Nguyen in the Fiscal Control Office at (619) 725-7669 or jnguyen1@sandi.net.

• Discover Program Course Offerings
  To view a complete list of course descriptions offered for district credit and to register online, go to the DISCOVER website. For information contact Esther Caluza at (619) 725-7431 or email ecaluza@sandi.net.
  
  Visit the Staff Development Website
  
  
• Discover Program – Summer-Fall Sessions
  The Discover Program is seeking instructors to develop and teach classes to certificated and classified employees during the Summer-Fall Sessions (Jul.-Dec.’09) and throughout the year. Instructors are paid at a rate of $45.29 per hour for teaching time and $30.57 for preparation time spent outside of assigned workday. For information contact Esther Caluza at (619) 725-7431 or email ecaluza@sandi.net.

• Summer Institute and Demonstration School
  The district’s GATE program and University of Southern California (USC) are together offering a multi-faceted professional development experience for grade 1-8 teachers and administrators. See differentiation in action and acquire strategies that will raise achievement for all students. The program is offered August 10-12, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Cherokee Point Elementary School. GATE funding can be utilized to offset the cost of $250 per participant. See flier and registration form or contact Jessica Manzone at jmanzone@usc.edu or (626) 224-4097.

• CSET Prep Courses
  Teacher Preparation and Induction will offer California Subject Examinations for Teacher (CSET) Prep Courses to prepare teachers for the November 7 exam. Classes begin Thursday, October 8.  Courses are available in Single Subject English , Mathematics , Science , and Social Science , plus Multiple Subjects . Courses are free for district employees; $60.00 for Charter schools and all others. The deadline to register is Thursday, October 1, by 5 p.m. Click individual subjects above for schedules. Download a registration form . For more information, you can contact Lucy Delvalle at ldelvalle@sandi.net or (858) 539-0553.

• Free Nutrition Education Curriculum
  Dairy Council of California is offering free nutrition education curriculum for teachers in grades K-12. All curriculums are research-based and align with California state standards in Math, Language Arts, Science and the newly adopted California Health Education content standards. Visit http://www.dairycouncilofca.org/Educators/ for more information. To order the curriculum, contact Heather Troska, Dairy Council of California, at (619) 756-9881 or htroska@dairycouncilofca.org.

• Summer Adventure as a Host Family
  Teachers at Barnard Mandarin Chinese Magnet announce a volunteer opportunity with Home Stay International. The non-profit educational organization is looking for host families for a group of Chinese high school students coming to San Diego from July 18 through August 11. The program is voluntary, and students between ages 15-17 will be here to learn about our country, teach host families about their culture and improve their English skills. Students spend time with their host families on evenings and weekends and carry their own medical and dental insurance. For more information, visit www.chinet.org or contact Carla Cherry, Cultural Homestay International, at (619) 934-6234 or (619) 895-1469.

• Learn Japanese for Free at SciTech High
  San Diego High Science and Technology is offering a free Japanese language program for middle and high school students. The program runs July 20 to 31 and will allow students to experience the Japanese language and culture in a fun way. See flier for more information.
  
  
• Free Money Camp for Teens and Parents
  California Coast Credit Union is offering a no-cost educational workshop to help students and families with making smart decisions about money. The Money Camp is recommended for children ages 12 and up and their parents. Workshops will be held on Tuesday, July 14, and Wednesday, July 15, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., at the Cal Coast main office. See flier for more information.

• Superintendent’s Friday Notes
• New Administrative Circulars and Bulletins
• 2009 TB Testing Summer Schedule
• Slam the Spam
• Become a Fan on Facebook (Access from outside the SDUSD network)
• Follow SDUSD on Twitter

• San Diego Union-Tribune
  July 7, 2009
  Retired school librarian fears unhappy ending for profession
  
  
• La Jolla Light
  July 8, 2009
  Students are stoked for summer program at LJHS
  
  
• San Diego Union-Tribune
  July 9, 2009
  It's lights, camera, community action | Group uses movie nights to prevent gang activity
  
  
• San Diego Union-Tribune
  July 11, 2009
  Student Spotlight - Irene Cisneros
  
  
• La Jolla Light
  June 17, 2009
  La Jolla High student finds wheel excitement on the track
  

See San Diego Unified School District Newsfeed for more district news.

District E Parent & Community Forums
Board President Shelia Jackson will hold the Lincoln High School Cluster meeting tonight, June 13, at 6 p.m., at Porter Elementary South. The Lincoln High Cluster meetings occur every 2nd Monday of the month. See flier for all District E meetings, including the Lincoln, Crawford and Morse High School clusters.

View upcoming events throughout the district. (Campus Calendar)

• Renee Small, Hamilton Elementary
  July 20, Hamilton Elementary auditorium ( Flier  )
  

• Mary L. Collier-Wade, Crawford CHAMPS
  Retiring after 24 years at Morse High and 34 years with the district as a coach and teacher. Celebration on July 31, at the Christ United Presbyterian Church fellowship hall. For more information and to send well-wishes, contact Bertha Sims at (619) 794-0336 or bsims@sandi.net.

• Barbett Wood, R.N., Cherokee Point Elementary
  Retiring after 30+ years of service to the district. Please send any pictures, favorite memories, and best wishes for Nurse Wood to Rachel Clark at rclark@sandi.net. 

• Billie Stanley-Miller, Payroll Department
  Please congratulate and thank Billie for more than 34 years of service to the district.

• Field Elementary: Joanna Airhart, Patty Carlson, Carole Phillips and Robin Stern
  Please send your favorite memories and best wishes for the honorees to the attention of Linda Earlston at learlston@sandi.net or (858) 273-3323.

• Jackie Kenworthy, Jefferson Elementary
  Retiring after 35 years of teaching. Please send well-wishes c/o: Maria Shingledecker at (619) 293-4406 or mshingledecker@sandi.net.

• The Mental Health Resource Center honors Larinda Pilkerton (27 years), Myrna Romero (21 years) and Linda Rubin (31 years).
  For more information, call (858) 636-4375.

San Diego Unified School District Employee Discounts webpage

For Rent

• 4BR/3BA home in Serra Mesa: 2 car garage, beautifully landscaped, gardener included. $2700. Call (858) 382-6469.
  
  
• 4+BR/2BA home in Lemon Grove: Large lot, large driveway and garage. Very private, residential neighborhood. $2,200/month. Call Karla at (619) 277-4151.

Travel

• Gage Elementary staffers are organizing a 15-day trip to Ireland, starting July 27, 2009. For information or to join the group, e-mail Milanne at milannes.mail@gmail.com.

• Roosevelt Middle School staffers are organizing a 9-day Thanksgiving 2009 cruise from Venice to the Greek Islands and Croatia for $1,495 + taxes (air + cruise). For information, contact Sandra at sandraboe@sbcglobal.net.

• Join Roosevelt Middle School staffers during Spring Break 2010 (March 27 – April 2) in the Galapagos for $1,995 + taxes (air + land). E-mail: sandraboe@sbcglobal.net.

Do you have an announcement for Newsline? Newsline is published every Monday; the deadline to submit items is noon on the preceding Friday.  E-mail items to communications@sandi.net and mark “Newsline” in the subject line.