District News

By design, students throughout Campbell Union School District are stepping up to make a difference at school. Through the Innovation Grant program, 10 student teams are using the design-thinking process to generate and implement their innovative ideas. This year, the teams’  ideas are responding to feedback from the district’s survey data: how to build a sense of belonging within their schools and instill more pride in keeping the campus clean.  

“We believe in empowering students to take ownership of their education and school experience,” said Superintendent Shelly Viramontez. “When we provide them with real-world challenges, our students see the connections to what they learn in school and that they have the ability to make a difference in their everyday lives.”

Today, we drop in on the progress at two schools.

Blackford’s Student Voice & Choice Lunch Clubs: The group’s challenge was to find ways for students to have more fun at recess with opportunities to practice and spread kindness. With support from teacher Megan Delaye, they polled their classmates and created two clubs: a craft club for making friendship bracelets, and a soccer club for those who wanted to learn and enjoy the game. The clubs meet weekly and the grant pays for supplies and equipment.

On the first day of soccer club, fourth grade club leader Gabriel D. said clubs are making a difference. “I see people being more kind to each other,” he said. Co-leaders Ava C. and Fabian D. agreed, adding that they like helping kids learn soccer skills, sportsmanship, and seeing both girls and boys playing the game together.

To know if their efforts are successful, students will gather data through observations and future survey data to see if there are better results in the area of kindness.

Photos: (1) Students shake hands before beginning a scrimmage on the first day of soccer club.  (2) Soccer club leaders stand with teacher Megan Delaye.

Lynhaven’s “Kindness Rocks”: Spreading kindness is a schoolwide endeavor for this student team. To reinforce the idea that each student has the power to create a positive school climate, classes of students are painting “kindness rocks” with messages and images about friendship, caring, empathy, and sharing. Later this spring, the rocks will be hidden around campus as part of a scavenger hunt activity that will engage students in collaborative problem-solving.

“When students feel connected and proud of their school, they gain a sense of ownership that leads to a range of positive behaviors and improved academics,” said Teacher Erin Lewis.

Photos: (1) Teacher Erin Lewis (center) stands amid groups of students during a rock painting activity. (2) A student paints a rock with a caring message and images. 

Next week, we will check in on the teams from Sherman Oaks, CSI, and Rosemary.

Cover photo: Lynhaven students Noor A., Leovanni R., and Toby H. presented their idea and research at the second annual Innovation Grant Pitchfest in November.

Under the most recent changes to the state’s COVID-19 guidelines, students and staff will be able to return to school sooner, as long as their symptoms are improving. That is one of several changes announced by the California Department of Public Health this month. 

In response, Campbell Union School District has made the appropriate updates to the COVID-19 response plan. Following is a summary of the updates.

Effective March 13, 2023:

• A COVID-19 positive person may end isolation after five days and return on day six if they feel well, have improving symptoms, and are fever-free for 24 hours, with less emphasis on testing negative. They must continue to wear a mask until after Day 10. This change aligns with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations.
• After ending isolation, individuals may remove their mask sooner than Day 10 with two sequential negative tests one day apart.​
• Updates to the definition of infectious period.

Effective effective April 3, 2023:

• Masks will no longer be required in indoor high-risk and health care settings. They are optional.
• Schools will no longer send exposure notices home when a positive COVID-19 case is reported

The full CUSD plan is available online in English and Spanish here.

“Learning to read, for some students, is much more complex than it may seem,” said District Superintendent Shelly Viramontez. “And it is a fundamental skill for success in life.”

Campbell Union School District intensified literacy training and resources for teachers under its “Every Child a Reader by Third Grade” initiative. The efforts are making a difference!

Through classwork, i-Ready and DIEBELS assessments, teachers are seeing positive results from their training and focus on strengthening literacy skills for every student, especially in the early primary grades. 

A long-term study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation found that students who were not proficient in reading by the end of third grade were four times more likely to drop out of high school than proficient readers. Reaching literacy by third grade is a goal of California schools and a key benchmark in measuring and predicting student success. 

Ideas on how to help your child become a proficient—even an enthusiastic—reader are available from your child’s teacher, school and community libraries, and online.

Online Resources for Parents and Students

• The Campbell Library has given all CUSD students access to online library accounts. If your student has not used it yet, please ask your child’s teacher or the school library staff for information. 
• Million Book March, is part of the Reading is Fundamental celebration of National Reading Month, a campaign to encourage kids nationwide to collectively read one million books in the month of March.
• National PTA’s “Raising Ready Readers” offers tips for parents to start early and practice often.

“Educating students to their highest potential is a big job, and our partners in the community help to remove some of the obstacles for our students,” said District Superintendent Shelly Viramontez. 

Toothaches, earaches, food insecurity, vision problems, and other non-academic issues make it difficult for students to focus on lessons and tasks. Thanks to our many community partnerships and grants, our students have access to professionals who can address these barriers to learning.

For example, neighboring dentists conduct oral screenings for kindergarten and TK students to determine those who need follow up care. A grant from El Camino Hospital supports funds for two additional school nurse positions. Local counseling agencies supplement our counseling services for students. And the Healthier Kids Foundation is providing fifth graders with Wellness Check screeners to identify those students who may be struggling and in need of additional support.

These are just some examples of our partners working with us to benefit all of our students. To learn more about our multi-tiered system of support (MTSS), please visit our Supporting Learning web page.