PCS Newsletter June 2, 2023

PCS Newsletter Dear PCS Community, In the words of Mitch Albom, “Every ending is a beginning. We just don’t know it at the time.” As we celebrate our students and bring closure to this year’s learning, I am reminded that each of our students is also at a new beginning point. In particular, our PCS seniors are off on their next chapter of life and I want to wish this amazing class all the best in their future endeavors. It is my sincere hope that our seniors have made meaningful connections with their teachers, staff members, and classmates that will last them a lifetime. I want to take a moment to thank all the teachers, school staff, and administrators who have supported our seniors along the way.  PCS, have a wonderful last week of school, full of gratitude as you celebrate the completion of the 2022-23 school year and look to new beginnings. Next week will be an exciting time and I look forward to seeing many of you at promotion and graduation ceremonies. In partnership, Matthew Harris Superintendent, Petaluma City Schools PCS IN THE NEWS Casa Grande holds on to advance to NorCal finals Kenilworth hosts very 1st Koltchella - Kenilworth’s Got Talent! PEF presents scholarships to 280 students Assistant Principal Christina Bridges takes helm at Casa Grande PHS students finish project for NASA and the International Space Station Casa Grande High School principal takes district position Trojan Broadcast Channel  (Petaluma High School student news channel) The Casa Revista  (Casa Grande High School student newspaper) STUDENT AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT As we wrap up the year, we have so much to celebrate and be grateful for! Pictured above, Superintendent Harris recognizes PCS employees with years-of-service pins, Casa Grande's softball team celebrates their NCS Division 2 Championship (!!!), and students at McDowell enjoy some parachute fun! We are especially proud of our students from San Antonio High School who were recognized at the National Spanish Exam Awards Ceremony. Seven students medaled and six students received honorable mention for the NSE. Three students earned college credit by passing the Spanish Credit by Exam with a B or better! We are #PCSProud. SMALL MIDDLE SCHOOL OPTION AVAILABLE AT PACS We are excited to announce the opening of several spaces in the 7th and 8th grade  PACS program , located on the McKinley School campus. Founded in 2015, with a mission to engage a diverse group of junior high students in a dynamic, rigorous, and personalized learning experience, PACS students are well prepared to become global citizens, problem solvers, and leaders. In fact, in 2021,  US News & World Report  ranked PACS as the #1 middle school in all of California!  Successful candidates for PACS are self-motivated students who are interested in a fast-paced academic environment with a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. If your family is interested in touring PACS, call (707) 778-4750 to schedule a tour today! PETALUMA CITY SCHOOLS AND SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE PROMISE PROGRAM Petaluma City Schools and Sonoma State University's  newly established partnership  will provide PCS students a guaranteed admission program. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) approved at the May 23rd Board of Education meeting, lays out this important partnership that will provide PCS students an opportunity to explore the academic and social experiences at SSU, field trips to visit SSU as early as elementary school, and organized campus events for parents and students to learn more about SSU and the college promise. The college promise program also ensures PCS students receive priority acceptance in the event SSU has met its enrollment capacity. EDUCATIONAL SERVICES UPDATES School Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) The School Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) is a document that represents a school's cycle of continuous improvement of student achievement. The SPSA, developed and approved by the School Site Council, is a plan that articulates what the school’s goals are based on a needs assessment, identifies how they will measure each goal with expected outcomes, and the strategies/actions the school will take to meet the goals. We highly encourage parents to get involved with the School Site Council at their respective schools and/or learn and review their school’s SPSAs. The SPSAs can be found on each school’s website as well as on the  District website . Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) Advisory Committee On May 24th, the LCAP Advisory Committee concluded their last meeting for the year.  Throughout the year, the committee  analyzed and discussed data points, learned about the initiatives our District was focused on, and heard from panelists of students, parents, and staff. At the last LCAP meeting, the committee had an opportunity to provide feedback about a new goal to support students with learning differences, review current actions, and propose new actions to support our goals so we can focus our budget around the needs of our community.  We would like to warmly thank the LCAP committee for all their hard work and participation this year. We look forward to re-engaging our community in the new year with the LCAP process. The 2023-2024 school year will be an important LCAP year as we will spend the year developing our new, three-year LCAP cycle. We encourage parents, students, and staff to participate in the LCAP advisory committee. Our first, in-person meeting will be on September 20th, 2023. Take the PCS Family Pulse Survey! In January we asked families, students, and staff to complete a comprehensive survey from the Youth Truth organization. Results from these surveys can be found on our  PCS website . As we approach the end of the 2022-23 school year, students are completing a brief survey at school. In addition, we are once again asking for your feedback in an effort to identify any progress made, and to continually improve the work we do as a learning organization.  Please provide your feedback by clicking on one of the following brief family survey links:  Local Family Survey (Spring 2023) in  English Local Family Survey (Spring 2023) in  Spanish June 12th - A Day of Learning & Connection As our students head into summer, our educators will spend one final day together of learning and connection. We will continue our work to ensure all students can access curriculum through Universal Design for Learning and English Language Development, as well as maintaining consistent expectations for behavior with Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS), and challenging our own biases. Our educators have the opportunity to end their day with team building activities intended to provide a joyous and meaningful end to the school year.  As we look to the 2023-24 school year, our focus for professional learning will continue to be equity with an emphasis on ensuring our schools are safe, welcoming spaces for all. We also recognize that safety is top of mind for many in our educational community. As such, we will continue to address safety and preparedness throughout the year at all sites. WORK AT PCS, WE'VE GOT IT GOIN' ON! At Petaluma City Schools, our students are the heart of what we do. So when it comes to staffing, we are committed to recruiting and hiring only the best. When schools are strong, communities thrive. We are asking you, our PCS community, to look at the list of job openings below and help us find talented, caring individuals to join our team and make a difference in the lives of our students. Bilingual Program Clerk, McNear Elementary Cafeteria Assistant II, Petaluma Junior High Elementary Music Teacher, District Wide 2023-24 school year Executive Assistant, Superintendent’s Office Science Teacher, Secondary, Various Sites 2023-24 school year Secondary Teacher, English and Yearbook, Kenilworth Junior High 2023-24 school year In addition to the highlighted positions above, we have multiple openings in a variety of jobs throughout our District, including both full-time and part-time opportunities. Linked here is a list of our  Open Positions . You can also find our  Jobs on Indeed . If you have any questions regarding any of our open positions, please contact our Human Resources Department at (707) 778-4795 or email hrinfo@petk12.org. SCHOOL SAFETY COMMITTEE UPDATE Petaluma City Schools is pleased to announce our new partnership with  North Bay Security Group . North Bay Security is a locally owned and operated business in Marin County. They have years of experience working in schools and they provide Incident Command Training, consultation and disaster drill training for school staff. During the 2023-24 school year, Bill Welch and his team will be supporting site leaders as they improve their safety plans and procedures.  This work is the result of the PCS Safety Committee's commitment to improving safety measures on all PCS campuses. We are grateful for the work the committee produced this year and look forward to their continued efforts as we work towards a climate of belonging, inclusion and emotional and physical safety.  The following is a list of support NBSG will be assisting PCS with this coming year.  NBSG will coordinate with PCS to provide: Knowledge and understanding of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and Incident Command System (ICS) to all district office staff.  Training to all school-site staff in ICS. Evaluate current safety policy and protocols and make recommendations as needed. Identify “safe areas”, evacuation routes, and off site evacuation locations.  Identify safety issues at each site and the district office and make recommendations to improve overall safety district-wide. Assist, monitor, and evaluate a disaster drill and a minimum of three shelter-in-place drills and/or shelter-in-place transitions to a lockdown at each site. BREAKFAST & LUNCH MENUS You can always find our breakfast and lunch menus on the  PCS Food Services Department website . We’re here, PCS. Be here with us.  

Friday, Jun 02 2023

PCS Newsletter May 20, 2023

PCS Newsletter Dear PCS Community, As another school year comes to a close and celebrations are well underway, I am reminded of the abundance of opportunities and traditions afforded to our students in Petaluma City Schools. This year’s Westside Relays was a beautiful example of how we celebrate students. Westside Relays is an annual tradition in PCS, where 5th and 6th graders from all seven of our elementary schools come together at Petaluma High School to participate in a friendly track and field competition. During my short visit, I saw camaraderie and sportsmanship amongst the competitors, and witnessed students cheering not only for students at their own school, but for all students involved in the event. A special thanks to Coach Johnson and team for creating such a memorable event for our students. Last week at Casa Grande, students were abuzz with talk of “The Bear Test,” a tradition dating back several decades. For the past six weeks, students in Mr. Dan Hubacker’s courses have been studying bears and how to safely enjoy hiking and camping in bear country. Students have been exploring the complexity of the four major North American species of bears and bear management. At the conclusion of this unit, not only do students have to complete a written exam, they are also challenged to complete a 72-hour performance task, demonstrating what they’ve learned about situational awareness and how to stay safe if they ever cross paths with a large animal. This performance task is certainly something our students will remember for the rest of their lives.  Last week at Petaluma High School, students and staff collaborated on their annual Salsa and Guacamole Festival, giving everyone a fun mental break before finals. Students and staff were out in the quad, taste testing various salsas and guacamoles prepared by staff members. Next week at PHS is Super Spring Week, which will bring students together for a BBQ festival, chalk contest, flag football competition, and a celebration of the senior class which includes Senior Sunset. Open Houses are in full swing, with families and staff celebrating our students in so many ways. While some students are demonstrating what they’ve learned this year  performing with their music teachers , others are completing theatrical performances, and still others are demonstrating their coding and  robotics skills . Some students are  making 3-D parts for NASA , producing films, and  building cars . Whatever students are interested in, there is a place here in PCS to cultivate and develop their gifts and talents. The 2022-23 school year has been a challenging one for us all, and I appreciate our students, teachers, and community for working together to make PCS such a great place. We have so much to be thankful for here in our District. With only fourteen more days before summer break, and in honor of teacher and staff appreciation weeks, please consider sending a card, flower, note of appreciation, or take a moment to recognize and appreciate our hardworking and dedicated teachers and staff. In partnership, Matthew Harris Superintendent, Petaluma City Schools PCS IN THE NEWS Meet Casa’s new principal: Ms. Bridges The Chalkboard: Reading and running on students’ agendas Petaluma grad Luke Haggard signs as a free agent with Tampa Bay Buccaneers Best of area track stars move on to Meet of Champions The Casa Revista  (Casa Grande High School student newspaper) Trojan Broadcast Channel  (Petaluma High School student news channel) 2023 Petaluma People’s Choice Awards, Best Professionals and Specialists PCS FAMILY PULSE SURVEY! (The best 5 minutes of your day! And ours!) In January we asked families, students, and staff to complete a comprehensive survey from the Youth Truth organization. Results from these surveys can be found on our  PCS website . As we approach the end of the 2022-23 school year, students are completing a brief survey at school. In addition, we are once again asking for your feedback in an effort to identify any progress made, and to continually improve the work we do as a learning organization.  Please provide your feedback by clicking on one of the following brief family survey links:  Local Family Survey (Spring 2023) in  English Local Family Survey (Spring 2023) in  Spanish JOIN ONE OF OUR SMALL LEARNING COMMUNITIES! Several seventh-grade spots have opened up at Petaluma Accelerated Charter School (PACS) for the 2023-24 school year. PACS was founded in 2015 with a mission to engage a diverse group of junior high school students in a dynamic, rigorous, and personalized 21st-century learning experience while preparing them to become global citizens, problem solvers, and leaders. Successful candidates are self-motivated students who are interested in and prepared for a dynamic, rigorous, and fast-paced academic environment with a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math.  If you are interested in your child attending PACS next school year, please complete the  application  and return it to the McKinley school office or email it to the PACS principal, Gina Roberts, at groberts@petk12.org.   Tours available upon request. Call (707) 778-4750 to schedule yours today! STUDENT & FAMILY ENGAGEMENT Podcasting with Mary Collins at Cherry Valley Wondering where to find Petaluma’s hottest restaurants? Wondering what students rate as the best books, board games, and rock bands? Wondering what’s behind the Crocs shoe craze? All these questions and more are answered in podcasts created by Rob Ruddell’s middle school students in his Project-Based Learning class at Mary Collins School at Cherry Valley. Ruddell’s middle school students use GarageBand on iPads to record their podcasts, where they also edit their work to clean up the audio and delete bloopers. In addition to choosing topics, writing scripts, and recording podcasts, his students also compose theme music for their podcast with GarageBand and design their show’s cover art. Their completed podcasts are available  here on SoundCloud , where friends and family can tune in and share. Give them a listen! 4th Graders Turn Earth Day Project Into Community Event Mrs. Reyes’s 4th graders at Grant Elementary were assigned a simple reading/research assignment about the challenges the Earth is facing. Little did Ms. Reyes know, just learning about these challenges was not going to satisfy her students. Ms. Reyes’s class asked if they could do a bake sale to send money to charities that help with each of the problem areas. With her support, she encouraged them to share with the greater community, not only about the problems, but also about how they were doing something to allow others to help make a difference too.  This basic Earth Day activity turned into a Project Based Learning assignment that kids truly care about, and it took on a life of its own. Each student printed or drew a picture and shared a correlating fact with the Grant School community at their school-wide assembly this past week. The class’s final project is  a slideshow showcasing their learning . Each group also researched charities or non-profit organizations they could support with the money they raised, with the goal of solving some of the Earth's problems. Mrs. Reyes’s class invites you to visit their bake sale on May 25th at 2:20 PM at Grant School. AS SHARED ON SOCIAL MEDIA - FOLLOW ALONG! Petaluma Police Department Connects with Students at Valley Vista Elementary Check out the video footage captured by  @petalumapolicedepartment . Westside Relays Brings Smiles, Cheers, and School Spirit For more Westside Relays pictures, check out our IG post @petalumacityschools . HEALTH & WELLNESS Join us for our final parent workshop with Aaron Kahlow Petaluma City Schools has partnered with the Society for Social Health & Well-Being to offer a monthly series of Social-Emotional Health Workshops and Parent Discussion Groups to provide more support, opportunities to grow & connect as parents (with each other) and foster a greater sense of community. We hope you’ll make time to join us!  RSVP  today. LOOK WHO WE'RE PROUD OF Meet Dylan Gard from CGHS  Dylan recently won a $10,000 scholarship from  Step  after completing a financial literacy course offered for all students at Casa Grande. Dylan will put his scholarship money towards getting his pilot’s license. Earlier this month, CEO and Founder of Step, CJ MacDonald, presented Dylan with his scholarship at StepFest, a student music festival.  Meet Stephanie Cardiel from PHS Stephanie founded Petaluma High’s Library Club during her junior year and has served as club president ever since. In her club, the members share their common love for reading and doing monthly themed crafts. She is also a member of Link Crew, where she mentors freshmen to set them up for success in high school. She has enjoyed seeing the ever-growing personalities of the freshmen and is proud to say that she still maintains relations with the freshmen she was assigned to during the 2021-2022 school year. Stephanie also uses her bilingual skills by giving tours to incoming transfer students who face language barriers coming from Spanish-speaking locations. One of Stephanie’s most meaningful extracurriculars is being a part of the Junior Commission on the Status of Women in Sonoma County, where she has spent the 2022-2023 school year advocating to eliminate the human trafficking of women. In the classroom, Stephanie has taken 13 AP/Honors classes, and her favorite class thus far has been AP Psychology. She will be attending Colorado State in the fall. Meet Calvin Rummens  Calvin is a 6th grader at Valley Vista who is a  nationally-ranked  chess player. In fact, Calvin is ranked #82 in the country for his age group. Although Calvin had been introduced to the game casually at home, he didn’t really start playing chess until it was brought into his classroom in 5th grade by Novato Chess Club member  Chris Majors . Calvin spends about 3 hours a day studying chess and he admits that while he spent a lot of time playing video games prior to becoming a skilled chess player, his life has much more meaning and purpose these days. Calvin is humble and kind, has plans to become a software engineer in his future, but not before making money by winning some chess tournaments! LAUNCHING IN THE 2024-25 SCHOOL YEAR! Our newest charter school, the Dual Language Immersion Academy, will launch in the 2024-25 school year. Designed to deliver a rigorous and bilingual curriculum to incoming 7th graders, the DLI Academy will then expand to serve 8th graders the following year. The DLI Academy will position students to be leaders in our global society. This small middle school model will be housed on the McDowell School campus, where an existing dual language immersion program already exists in the primary-grades. We look forward to welcoming students who have a background in Spanish and are ready to begin the journey of becoming bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural in an innovative and supportive program. More enrollment information to come in the fall of 2023. WORK AT PCS, WE'VE GOT IT GOIN' ON! At Petaluma City Schools, our students are the heart of what we do. So when it comes to staffing, we are committed to recruiting and hiring only the best. When schools are strong, communities thrive. We are asking you, our PCS community, to look at the list of job openings below and help us find talented, caring individuals to join our team and make a difference in the lives of our students. Instructional Assistant (Multiple Positions) - South County Consortium Director, Maintenance & Operations Science Teacher, Casa Grande High - 2023-24 School Year Executive Assistant, Superintendent’s Office SDC Teacher, Moderate/Severe - South County Consortium-Secondary In addition to the highlighted positions above, we have multiple openings in a variety of jobs throughout our District, including both full-time and part-time opportunities. Linked here is a list of our  Open Positions . You can also find our  Jobs on Indeed . If you have any questions regarding any of our open positions, please contact our Human Resources Department at (707) 778-4795 or email hrinfo@petk12.org. SONOMA COUNTY LIBRARY CONNECTIONS May is  Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month . First designated by Congress in 1977, AAPI Heritage Month is an annual celebration of the ways the AAPI community has enriched America's history and continues to be vital to its success. Join PCS and Sonoma County Library in celebrating AAPI voices during the month of May and beyond. Check out AAPI  events , book lists, movies, music, and more—all available for free through your Sonoma County Library. Connect with local AAPI organizations and community resources  listed  to keep learning. SAFE STREETS FOR ALL SURVEY Take the  Safe Streets For All Survey!  Whether you walk, bike, or drive to school, improving Safe Routes to School makes our streets safer for all road users!  This important survey will inform future Safe Routes to School programming and projects (including potential infrastructure improvements such as bike lanes, crosswalks, etc) to facilitate safer transportation. This year, local public works/planning departments in every jurisdiction are working on their Active Transportation Plan updates. An infrastructure project typically needs to be in a Transportation Plan in order for it to be funded. Parent (and school staff) voices are critical for identifying potential projects and priority routes in the vicinity of schools. PETALUMA YOUTH SOCCER LEAGUE REGISTRATION TIME! BREAKFAST & LUNCH MENUS You can always find our breakfast and lunch menus on the  PCS Food Services Department website . We’re here! Be here with us!  

Saturday, May 20 2023

PCS Newsletter May 5, 2023

PCS Newsletter Dear PCS Community, May is a unique and busy month, filled with many celebratory events that help us bring closure to the school year. You may have heard the expression, “the 90 days of May,” and while it seems impossible to fit this many joyful festivities into one month, it’s a happy kind of busy to honor all of the students and educators in our District. In May, we celebrate our  teachers  and  staff  for all their hard work and dedication to our students. One of our  District Goals  is to ensure that all student scholars and families are engaged in their learning community. We are leaning into this goal by creating as many districtwide experiences as possible to allow students to explore their various interests. This semester’s  PCS Art Show ,  PCS Film Festival ,  PCS Soccer Tournament ,  Butter and Eggs Day entries , and after-school clubs and sports are all great examples of our efforts to build community through the diverse and varied interests of our students. In addition, May is Jewish American Heritage Month and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. On behalf of our Board of Education, we want to take a moment to honor, recognize, and celebrate the notable accomplishments Jewish Americans and Asian American and Pacific Islanders have had on the rich tapestry of our diverse nation and local community over the years.  With open houses, promotions, graduations, and end-of-the-year celebrations well underway, I look forward to seeing many of you out and about, always with a focus on celebrating our students and recognizing their many accomplishments. There’s so much to be proud of in PCS! In partnership, Matthew Harris Superintendent, Petaluma City Schools PCS IN THE NEWS Chalkboard: Spring a busy time for Petaluma Students  (featuring PACS 8th graders, Casa’s journalism students, PCS art show) Leghorn American Legion team sets roster for a loaded schedule The Casa Revista  (Casa Grande High School student newspaper) Trojan Broadcast Channel  (Petaluma High School student news channel) Farm to Closet: Fiber arts inspire students in the school garden STUDENT & FAMILY ENGAGEMENT What a Night! PCS Art Show Wows Crowd! Wednesday night was quite a scene at the Lucchesi Community Center in Petaluma. Proud families, dedicated PCS staff, and engaged community members packed the hallways and activity rooms to celebrate our students for a special evening of artists, robotics, culinary, and jazz. It was an incredible evening! Thank you so much to our PCS art teachers and all staff who made this special event possible and to all those who attended and joined in on the fun. The PCS Art Show will be on display at the Lucchesi Center through Friday, May 12th if you missed opening night and want to see it in person. Alternatively, the Art Show is viewable online for those who prefer a  virtual show .  Coding Club Comes Alive At All 7 PCS Elementary Schools After our 6-week trial run of Coding Clubs at McDowell, Penngrove, Valley Vista, and Mary Collins at Cherry Valley, we have now added McKinley, Grant, and McNear to the roster, offering coding clubs at all seven PCS elementary schools for 4th through 6th graders. Nine more high school students - two from Petaluma High and seven from Casa Grande - stepped up to run the clubs, joining seven who continued from our first round, giving each elementary school two or three high school leaders to support our youngest coders.  The clubs are experimenting with a different  Scratch  curriculum, making revisions as we go to find the best fit for our students. This 6-week session will have each student designing and coding their own multi-scene game, culminating in a final week playoff, when they will play each other’s games and offer feedback for improvement.  We’re excited to see what these 91 students code and create, and we’re grateful to our 16 high school students who are volunteering their time to bring coding to all of our PCS elementary schools! Special Olympics - Young Athletes Soar This past week, Petaluma City Schools’ South County Consortium, with the support of Miwok Valley Elementary Charter School, hosted the 4th annual Special Olympics Young Athletes Program. The Young Athletes Program is a sports and play program that introduces children with and without disabilities, ages 2-7, to the world of sports through fun activities such as walking on a low balance beam, jumping on targets, and throwing/kicking a ball. The focus of the event is to have fun while also promoting respect, inclusion, and acceptance for all students regardless of ability or skill level. As if that weren’t enough fun for one week, Petaluma City Schools and South County Consortium participated in the Special Olympics Northern California Schools Partnership Program at Windsor High School. The Special Olympics Schools Partnership Program is a unique educational program in K-12 schools. It unifies students with and without disabilities through sports and whole-school involvement activities that provide them with the knowledge, experience, and skills necessary to create and sustain school communities promoting inclusion, acceptance, and respect for all students. Currently, over 8,100 special education students and 23,000 general education students participate in the program at over 350 schools in Northern California.  Connecting Our Community at the Butter & Eggs Day Parade Petaluma City Schools was well represented and we all had an incredible time at the Butter & Eggs Festival. Check out this video highlighting all the fun we had connecting with our community.                                              HEALTH & WELLNESS Town Hall Summary As a part of our ongoing commitment to the safety and well-being of all students and staff, we want to share an update on the safety efforts at Petaluma City Schools.  PCS held a Community Meeting/Town Hall on March 15, 2023. The purpose of this meeting was to listen to our community's concerns and work on solutions for improving safety and well-being for all. Over one hundred, parents, staff, students, community members, and partners were present. Some of the discussion included identifying the strengths and weaknesses in our physical and social emotional safety. Many individuals shared they were very concerned about their children, particularly on the heels of the tragic event at Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa City Schools. Many attendees came to provide ideas and suggestions and we appreciate all who participated. Common themes that emerged from the data collected include: Provide more frequent training for staff: emergency drills, procedures, CPR, NarCan Review and update our policies and procedures  Provide more mental health services and utilize local resources to do so Improve two-way communication from schools to the home  Offer more listening circles for students and staff Upgrade facilities with locks and window coverings  Assess root causes of student behavior  Strengthen collaboration between the police, SAFE Team, and schools Educate students and families on cell phone and social media security and safety  Additionally, throughout the 2022-23 school year, our PCS Safety Committee has been meeting monthly. The purpose of this committee is to identify areas of strength and areas of need in regards to the safety of our school communities. Throughout the year, this committee identified several goals and the following was accomplished:   Accomplishments of Safety Committee in 2022-23 Updated Student Services Website to provide resources for the PCS staff and families  Developed PCS Safety Plan Engaged in presentations from the City of Petaluma, the Sonoma County Department of Emergency Services, the SAFE Team, the Red Cross, and Petaluma People Services  Provided safety training for school staff Provided NarCan Training for 200 staff members Provided CPR and Basic First Aid Training for staff members Future Goals Provide parent education regarding cyber bullying and cyber security as well as online safety for students/families  Contract with a school safety expert to provide walk through training at each school site to advise us on physical security as well as training for staff Feeling Overwhelmed & Worried About Your Kids? Petaluma City Schools has partnered with the Society for Social Health & Well-Being to offer a monthly series of Social-Emotional Health Workshops and Parent Discussion Groups to provide more support, opportunities to grow & connect as parents (with each other) and foster a greater sense of community. We hope you’ll make time to join us!  RSVP  today. LOOK WHO WE'RE PROUD OF Kevin Jackson from PHS Selected as Constitutional Fellow Petaluma High School’s very own Kevin Jackson has been selected to be a part of the  2023 Constitutional Fellows Program , a year-long academic commitment to engage in professional development, focus group feedback, activity design, and evaluation to support the creation and implementation of  Constitution 101 , a new free, nonpartisan online education curriculum designed to teach young people about our founding documents and their relevance today. The program encourages students to seek out and understand arguments from various legal and political perspectives, and in turn motivates them to engage in civil dialogue and come to their own independent conclusions.  “Constitution 101 is giving teachers the tools to bring the Constitution into their classrooms and foster debate and civil dialogue among students. The Constitutional Fellows and their students are getting a front-row seat to pilot this exciting curriculum and all it has to offer,” said Dr. Kerry Sautner, chief learning officer at the National Constitution Center. When asked about his goals for his students, Mr. Jackon shared that getting his students to vote is his number one priority. He motivates them by showing them they can have an impact. Mr. Jackson shared that a lot of teaching government is helping students break down and understand the vocabulary being used. “Civics education is vitally important for students. Regardless of future plans or occupations, we all need to participate in our government. Empowering students to actively engage with society is a key element of our country and our future,” said Mr. Jackson. Renee Nealon from McDowell Honored by Disney & Morpho Institute Ms. Nealon, 5th-grade teacher from McDowell Elementary is currently being honored in Disneyland at a one-of-a-kind event recognizing “100 exceptional teachers who reflect the creativity and imagination of Walt Disney.” The event includes participating in a professional development day at the Disney Imagination Campus and celebrates how teachers bring wonder, creativity and imagination to life in the classroom. As described by her colleague, Jo Grima, “Ms. Nealon is an incredibly ambitious, inspirational and dedicated teacher. She works hard inside and outside her classroom and her winning comes as no surprise to her colleagues.” As if being selected out of thousands of teachers for this honor was not enough, Ms. Nealon will spend ten days in July on an educator expedition through the Peruvian Amazon as a part of the Morpho Institute . During the expedition, Nealon and 28 other educators from around the U.S. will learn about the Amazon’s biodiversity, conduct field studies to bring back into their work, and work with the local Maijuna tribe to learn about their sustainable hunting and farming practices. When she returns to McDowell in the fall, Ms. Nealon will help the students at McDowell Elementary conduct field studies in their own schoolyard, neighborhood, and understand how the Amazon affects global climate. Ms. Nealon was not only selected for this opportunity but she was one of only three teachers awarded a scholarship for the experience. WORK AT PCS, WHERE EDUCATION IS NOT WHAT WE DO, IT'S WHO WE ARE. If you are interested in making a difference and impacting our community’s future, Petaluma City Schools is the place to be. We are looking for new team members who are ready to make a difference in the lives of our student scholars. It is our mission to recruit, retain, and support a diverse, qualified workforce in order to support success for all students. We do this by fostering a service-oriented environment of teamwork, mutual respect, and continuous improvement.  We have multiple openings in a variety of jobs throughout our District, including both full-time and part-time opportunities. Linked here is a list of our  Open Positions . You can also find our  Jobs on Indeed . Check out this week's highlighted jobs below: Bilingual Instructional Assistant, Kenilworth Junior High Bilingual Instructional Assistant, McDowell Elementary Elementary Teacher Pool, 2023-24 School Year, Various Sites Instructional Assistant, Special Education, SDC, McDowell Elementary Playground Supervisor, Mary Collins @ Cherry Valley Secretary, Senior School, McNear Elementary  If you have any questions regarding any of our open positions, please contact our Human Resources Department at 707-778-4795 or email  hrinfo@petk12.org . PHYSICAL EDUCATION EXEMPTIONS AND WAIVERS Per California Education Code, students are required to take four years of Physical Education from 9-12th grades. However, many students in 10th-12th grades have the opportunity to apply for an exemption to this requirement. Many students are typically exempt from PE because they participate in regular school-sponsored interscholastic athletic programs but there are other State and/or Board-approved exemptions. During our recent Federal Program Monitoring (FPM) review, it was determined that moving forward, PCS will be required to show evidence of all exemptions for all 9th - 12th-grade students who are not enrolled in a PE course. To address this requirement, PCS will be responsible for identifying all students who request and qualify for a PE exemption, and we will bring this list to the Board each year for approval. SAFE STREETS FOR ALL SURVEY Take the  Safe Streets For All Survey!  Whether you walk, bike, or drive to school, improving Safe Routes to School makes our streets safer for all road users!  This important survey will inform future Safe Routes to School programming and projects (including potential infrastructure improvements such as bike lanes, crosswalks, etc) to facilitate safer transportation. This year, local public works/planning departments in every jurisdiction are working on their Active Transportation Plan updates. An infrastructure project typically needs to be in a Transportation Plan in order for it to be funded. Parent (and school staff) voices are critical for identifying potential projects and priority routes in the vicinity of schools. BREAKFAST & LUNCH MENUS You can always find our breakfast and lunch menus on the  PCS Food Services Department website . We’re here! Be here with us!  

Saturday, May 06 2023

PCS Newsletter April 21, 2023

PCS Newsletter Dear PCS Community, I hope that each of you were able to relax and rejuvenate during the Spring Break holiday. I was fortunate enough to take a special trip with my twelve-year-old daughter, Siena. I’m working on trying to slow down and invest in quality time with my family as much as I can, particularly those magical, one on one moments. As we shift into the busy spring months, I hope you’ll be able to find time to do the same. On Wednesday evening, our own  Petaluma Educational Foundation (PEF)  held their Annual Scholarship Evening, where 280 graduating seniors were awarded with a record-breaking $269,060 in scholarships. The generosity of the donors, sponsors, and our community is an inspiration. Congratulations to our students who received awards - we are all behind you as you prepare to launch into life after graduation. Thank you, PEF, for all you do for students!  I would like to invite each of you to attend our second annual Districtwide Art Show on  Wednesday, May 3rd from 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM , at the Lucchesi Community Center (320 N. McDowell Blvd.). We will have artwork on display from TK - 12th-grade students from across our District. In addition to our students’ inspiring artwork, the Petaluma High and Casa Grande jazz bands will be performing, our culinary arts students will be serving free samples of their favorite appetizers, and food and ice cream trucks will be on location for families to check dinner off their list. Join us in this fun, community- building event! Lastly, I want to share some great news that will aid us in attracting and retaining the highest-quality teachers and staff in the area. Our dedicated and hardworking teachers and staff are receiving an approximate 11% increase to their overall compensation. In addition, the  teacher and certificated salary schedule  has been restructured such that instead of 25 steps to reach our top salary step, we now have 20 steps to reach our top salary step, which is currently $108,954 plus any additional stipends. This well-deserved compensation increase is another step in the right direction as we continue to look for ways to improve employee satisfaction and show our gratitude for the hard work and dedication of our teachers and staff.  In partnership, Matthew Harris Superintendent, Petaluma City Schools P.S. If you’re attending the Butter & Eggs Day festivities tomorrow, be sure to look for us in the parade and visit our booth in the A Street Parking Lot near the Kids Party Jump Inflatables.  PCS IN THE NEWS Petaluma Fire Department holds 1st high school career day Chalkboard: Spelling, cooking, acting - Petaluma students shine (featuring Casa Grande culinary students!) Sonoma County approves $250,000 to fund new student mental health program Petaluma School Board President Joanna Paun Honored as Woman of the Year HEALTH & WELLNESS Where Do I Go For Help? The Petaluma City Schools website has a Health & Wellness section full of school and community resources for all PCS students and families to access. Watch the video below to see exactly where to go.                                                                                   Feeling Overwhelmed & Worried About Your Kids? Petaluma City Schools has partnered with the Society for Social Health & Well-Being to offer a monthly series of Social-Emotional Health Workshops and Parent Discussion Groups to provide more support, opportunities to grow & connect as parents (with each other) and foster a greater sense of community. We hope you’ll make time to join us!  RSVP  today. Marijuana Prevention Learning Opportunity for PCS Students and Families Petaluma City Schools is excited to partner with  Panaptic  and the Sonoma County Department of Health Services to provide our students and families with a digital marijuana prevention program. IMPACT Marijuana Prevention is designed to provide awareness, and the course includes strategies for talking with your child about the detrimental impacts of marijuana use on academic performance, emotional well-being, and future life goals. The interactive student and family courses take approximately 1 - 1.5 hours per session to complete. The program’s innovative curriculum also addresses mental health concerns facing our students and provides an introduction to decision-making skills relating to substance use. Access the courses  now and use the following voucher codes to get started. Student Registration Code: pcsstudents Family Registration Code: pcsfamilies WORK AT PCS, WHERE EDUCATION IS NOT WHAT WE DO, IT'S WHO WE ARE. If you are interested in making a difference and impacting our community’s future, Petaluma City Schools is the place to be. We are looking for new team members who are ready to make a difference in the lives of our student scholars. It is our mission to recruit, retain, and support a diverse, qualified workforce in order to support success for all students. We do this by fostering a service-oriented environment of teamwork, mutual respect, and continuous improvement.  We have multiple openings in a variety of jobs throughout our District, including both full-time and part-time opportunities. Linked here is a list of our  Open Positions . You can also find our  Jobs on Indeed . Check out this week's highlighted jobs below: Dispatcher/Driver Transportation Director, Transportation and Fleet Management Campus Security Supervisor, Petaluma High RSP Teacher, Special Education, Casa Grande High, 2023-24 Bilingual Clerk Typist, Valley Vista Elementary If you have any questions regarding any of our open positions, please contact our Human Resources Department at 707-778-4795 or email  hrinfo@petk12.org . BREAKFAST & LUNCH MENUS You can always find our breakfast and lunch menus on the  PCS Food Services Department website . We’re here! Be here with us!  

Friday, Apr 21 2023

Happy Spring Break, PCS!

HAPPY SPRING BREAK, PCS!  Dear PCS Community, I want to express my sincere gratitude and admiration for the strength of our PCS community. As we wind down in preparation for a well-deserved Spring Break, it is impossible to overlook the mental health crisis we are facing as well as the increase in the number of poor behavioral choices at schools. Now, more than ever, it is critical that we continue to work together and maintain a strong focus on supporting our students.  These are not empty words, I believe them with all my heart and have always tried my best to lead by collaborating with others as we keep our students at the center of all we do. I am not always perfect (however hard I try to convince my wife otherwise), but I do try to act with integrity by always putting students first, even if the result is not always popular. I want to directly address a decision I made to keep the media off campus when our high school students led “Walk-In Assemblies” to talk about school safety a couple weeks ago. I address this because in my experience, when the adults become the story rather than the students, there’s something out of place in the priority rankings, and I’d like to appeal to our PCS community to stay focused on the deep challenges facing our students right now.  When student leaders around Sonoma County were asked to stand in solidarity with the students and staff in Santa Rosa following the tragedy at Montgomery High School, our PCS students at both Petaluma High School and Casa Grande did not hesitate. They reached out to school staff with the idea of holding Walk-Ins, where students and staff could share their perspectives about school safety on campus. These Walk-Ins turned out to be positive and peaceful events, and I am incredibly proud to work in a District where students and staff have built up the trust to be able to collaborate in this way. It showed a level of student leadership that makes me hopeful that ultimately, we are in good hands. The big takeaway I heard from students during the Walk-Ins is that we are all in this together, and we need to hold each other accountable in order to keep our community safe. I have always been and remain a firm believer in students having a voice and being the ones to tell us what they need. While making space for student voice, I am also charged with leading the way on student safety during the school day, a need that has been all too clear these days. I did not believe it was appropriate to give a group of adults with cameras and microphones unrestricted access to our campuses in the middle of the school day when our students were asking for a safe space in which to be vulnerable and share their perspectives. I had no desire to censor students, nor would I ever be able to do that. Our students are strong, and they have many outlets to make their voices heard publicly if they so choose. Let us not be distracted by adult issues during a time when we need to come together to solve complex and persistent problems that require our laser focus to be on students. My number one goal is, and will continue to be, to keep our students safe and to build an environment that is conducive to learning. It’s often a hard line to walk, and there is never absolute clarity or a way to meet everyone’s needs at once. Time and time again, I have called for us all to unite as a community to do our part in addressing the mental health crisis that is facing our students right now. They are telling us they’re struggling, and they’re asking for help.  Thank you to those of you who have engaged this year in our committee meetings, listening circles, and District events. I look forward to hosting even more opportunities for our community to engage in real dialogue and partnerships to support the safety and mental health of our students and staff. I hope you will engage, as I’ve found that the answers are almost always found within the community asking the questions.  Thank you to all of you who are seeking to understand first and who are operating with grace for our school staff. It is not an easy time to be an educator, and those who stick with it do so because they care deeply about our students. As adults in our community, we can be the ones modeling civil discourse and positive behavior, even when we disagree or have critical feedback to share.  In the meanwhile, we have  amazing things  happening in every corner of our District. I hope that you enjoy the break, get to spend time doing the things you enjoy the most with those you love, and I look forward to seeing you all in April.  In partnership, Matthew Harris Superintendent, Petaluma City Schools

Saturday, Mar 25 2023

☘️ PCS Newsletter March 18, 2023 ☘️

PCS Newsletter Dear PCS Community, I hope you all had a festive and happy St. Patrick’s Day! Yesterday morning, I was able to visit several of our elementary schools and noticed that some mischievous leprechauns visited classrooms and left green confetti and green footprints everywhere. Luckily, those same little leprechauns also left some treats for students to make up for their messes.  When we drop off our children at school, we as parents all have the same basic expectation: that they will be safe and well cared for by their school community. As I shared in my last newsletter, our community has endured years of traumatic events, and we have all felt the cumulative impact. Recent incidents in our own schools have only amplified these feelings of anxiety, pain, and helplessness. This week’s incident at Petaluma High School, where students took advantage of a shared document to post hateful, racist, and threatening comments, has no place in our schools or in our community. The students who spoke up and told their teacher what was happening that day are to be commended - students who say something, when something is not right, help us keep our community safe. Please know that, as far as this specific incident is concerned, we are continuing to partner with the Petaluma Police Department to hold accountable those students who are responsible. As was shared in March 3rd’s newsletter, we held a town hall meeting this week to discuss the physical and emotional wellbeing of our school communities. The event was well attended, and the majority of attendees who completed our feedback form felt the meeting was valuable. The data and feedback collected that evening have elevated several concerns for us to prioritize:  Families want us to do everything we can to keep their children safe.  Families want transparent, honest, and clear communication. Families appreciate that we leverage our community partners, and they want to see those partnerships strengthened.  Families want to know where to go to get help. Families want staff to strengthen relationships and connections with students.  Families want help with supporting students who struggle with bullying, particularly as it pertains to social media. Families want us to prioritize the mental health of students.  It will take all of us working together to fulfill these priorities, and I want to appreciate those who participated in Wednesday’s meeting. Your voices matter. As we look towards the future, we will work on increasing ways to partner with families in this work and aligning our spending to the concerns of our community.  This week, I experienced a death in the family which, while painful, helped me to reflect on and better appreciate the brevity of life and what is truly essential for me. I am working on prioritizing some of the most important things in my life and trying to truly listen to and connect with my children, friends, and family without distractions. I’ve been reminded that if I’m not intentional, months turn into years and eventually, those moments will simply pass me by. None of us signed up for the pandemic we all experienced, nor did we think we’d be dealing with this level of impact on the mental health and wellbeing of our community. However, we are in this together and cannot be successful alone. I am proud to announce that PCS just applied for and received a $200,000 Community Wellness grant. This grant allows us to explore adding wellness centers on our campuses so students have a safe place to go to seek help and connect with caring adults. In addition, we are slowly beginning to receive information about the  mental health dollars  we were promised from the State. These are welcomed new sources of funding that will be used to support the mental health and wellbeing of our students and staff. In partnership, Matthew Harris Superintendent, Petaluma City Schools PCS IN THE NEWS Casa Grande girls softball team young, but experienced Maite Iturri receives Spirit of Sonoma County Award for uplifting women, marginalized communities Pitching the strength of VVAL defending champion of Petaluma Petaluma High School’s Mr. McHugh dies after long cancer battle Third straight VVAL pennant for Casa Grande wrestlers The Chalkboard: Featuring Grant Elementary and PACS (Petaluma Accelerated Charter School) 2023 Dairy Princess candidates announced STUDENT AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT One thing is for sure, our students and families are engaged! From augmented reality, to mosquito science, simple circuits, culinary, student awards, collaborative school field trips, Town Hall and parent listening circles, we’re doing it all!  High School Nation Visits PCS Students! High School Nation and Step’s Money101 Program visited Casa Grande’s campus last Friday (3/11) and this Friday (3/17)! They provide students with free resources for their financial literacy education. The goal is to get our students to start thinking about their financial futures today! TODAY! Looking for a FREE Fun Family Activity This Afternoon?  Head over to Sonoma State's Weill Hall for marimba, food trucks, a concert, and more! Check out the offerings and schedule which have something for everyone to enjoy! Get Connected with all the PCS Happenings on Social Media! There are so many incredible things happening within our PCS community. We enjoy sharing these magical moments with you on social media to give you a glimpse of what’s going on.  HEALTH & WELLNESS CORNER Where Do I Go For Help? The Petaluma City Schools website has a Health & Wellness section full of school and community resources for all PCS students and families to access. Watch the video below to see exactly where to go.                                                     Save the Date: Upcoming Parent Workshops Parent "Emotional Resiliency" Workshop & Connection Circle Petaluma City Schools has partnered with the Society for Social Health & Well-Being to offer a monthly series of Social-Emotional Health Workshops and Parent Discussion Groups to provide more support, opportunities to grow & connect as parents (with each other) and foster a greater sense of community. Each month we will have a theme to be discussed and professionally facilitated discussion and support on areas such as: Managing the Screen & Digital Well-being or Fostering Health Social Connections for Kids (and us parents) New Communication Tools to engage your kids in ways they want to connect Addressing Mental and Emotional Health Challenges Head on Aaron Kahlow, a local expert, will be providing educational materials, hands-on practice, and then he will be opening up discussion groups and support circles for parents to share their challenges and their triumphs so we can all learn and grow together. RSVP  Now for our March Connection Circle!  This is a wonderful way for you as a parent to become more emotionally equipped to support your children (and yourselves), feel supported by other PCS parents, and begin to grow a community of parents you can connect with for years to come! Where: Kenilworth Junior High (800 Riesling Rd., Petaluma) When: Monday, March 20, 2023  6:00 - 7:30 PM. Childcare and translation services will be provided! Petaluma Health Care Partnership at McDowell EDUCATIONAL SERVICES TEAM UPDATE LCAP Advisory Meeting At our February LCAP meeting, we held an in-person listening session from panelists representing our parents, students, and staff. It was a thought-provoking session, that will help inform how we allocate our resources. Our next LCAP Advisory meeting is scheduled for March 22nd from 4:00 - 5:30 PM. This meeting will be virtual, focusing on data such as our most recent Youth Truth data. If you would like to participate in our next LCAP meeting, please  join us on Zoom ! Latino Family Educational Summit - April 15th The  Latino Family Educational Summit  is intended for 7th - 12th grade students and their families. There are three main workshop paths: middle school, high school, and parents. For younger children who attend with their families, activities and a carnival will be available to keep everyone engaged throughout the event.The summit will support students and families with the following: Learn how to prepare for college through presentations and workshops for middle school and high school students. Next Step Presentations for students who have been admitted into college and looking for skills and resources to guide them.  Workshops for parents to learn about how to support their student in attending college and financial resources. Resource fair showcasing SSU departments, student support programs and Sonoma County community partners. To register for this free event, please complete the  Latino Family Educational Summit form . If you need assistance with transportation, please email Assistant Superintendent, Tony Hua ( thua@petk12.org ). Ethnic Studies Ethnic studies examines the histories, experiences, and cultures of various racial and ethnic groups. Per  AB101 , beginning with the graduating class of 2030, all California high school students will be  required to complete a semester-long course in ethnic studies  to earn a high school diploma. No later than the 2025-26 school year, all high schools must start offering ethnic studies. In case you missed our Informational Night on Ethnic Studies for our PCS community,  here  is a recording of the event. Youth Truth Thank you to all who participated in the Youth Truth survey this year!  As mentioned in the last newsletter, we will use these results to guide improvements to our student experience. We are encouraged that staff and families reported that they feel more engaged with Petaluma City Schools this year, than in 2022!  We know engaging our community is essential to student success and want to continue this trend.  The full YouthTruth survey results for both PCS and Sonoma County are linked on our  website . WORK AT PCS, WHERE EDUCATION IS NOT JUST WHAT WE DO, IT'S WHO WE ARE. If you are interested in making a difference and impacting our community’s future, Petaluma City Schools is the place to be. We are looking for new team members who are ready to make a difference in the lives of our student scholars. It is our mission to recruit, retain, and support a diverse, qualified workforce in order to support success for all students. We do this by fostering a service-oriented environment of teamwork, mutual respect, and continuous improvement.  We have multiple openings in a variety of jobs throughout our District, including both full-time and part-time opportunities. Linked here is a list of our  Open Positions . You can also find our  Jobs on Indeed . Check out this week's highlighted jobs below: Principal, Casa Grande High School Principal, Grant Elementary  Maintenance Specialist, HVAC Senior Secretary, Maintenance and Operations Athletic Trainer, Casa Grande High School If you have any questions regarding any of our open positions, please contact our Human Resources Department at 707-778-4795 or email  hrinfo@petk12.org . IT'S ALMOST SPRING BREAK! APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN! 7TH-GRADE DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION ACADEMY! Applications are now open on  SchoolMint  for the Dual Language Immersion program at McDowell Elementary. Join us next Wednesday, March 8th for an Information Night to learn more! Give your child the gift of a second language, positioning them to be leaders in our global society. Starting in the Fall, PCS is opening a new school called the Dual Language Immersion Academy, designed to deliver a rigorous and bilingual curriculum to incoming 7th graders that will expand to serve 8th graders the following year. This new middle school model will be housed on the McDowell School campus, where there is already an existing dual language immersion program in the lower-grades. If your child has a background in Spanish, and is ready to begin the journey of becoming bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural in an innovative and supportive Dual Language Immersion Program,  fill out an application today ! THIS SPRING BREAK, VISIT CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOR FREE! Visit CA State Parks for Free with Sonoma County Your Library Card!     Did you know that your library card helps get you into over 200 California State Parks for free? Use your Sonoma County Library card to check out a California State Parks Pass!   Day-use passes can be checked out for 21 days; request one at any library branch or  through the library catalog .    To view an interactive map and list of participating state parks, visit  www.parks.ca.gov .    See you on the trails! Click here to  learn more . Breakfast and Lunch Menus You can always find our breakfast and lunch menus on the  PCS Food Services Department website .

Saturday, Mar 18 2023

student walk-in assemblies at our comprehensive high...

Dear PCS Community, Happy Wednesday! We hope you are enjoying the sunshine today before the rain comes back tomorrow. Speaking of sunshine, I just witnessed a bright spot in my week as our high school students at both Casa Grande and Petaluma High Schools organized, led, and participated in a “walk-in” assembly, focusing on unity and promoting school safety. Across the District, our students and staff are united in efforts to create safe school environments and in protest of campus violence. I am particularly proud that we were able to provide a safe space for students and staff to share their thoughts and concerns with one another.  I want to thank our students, teachers, staff, and administrators for their collaboration in planning such thoughtful school activities. It was incredible to see our PCS community standing together in a peaceful, positive, and productive way. The big takeaway for me was that we are all in this together in keeping each other safe. As a reminder, we have several opportunities for our parents and caregivers to get involved in strengthening our community, where our students know the adults around them are listening and willing to provide support when needed.  I hope you’ll join us at one or all of the following events ( Spanish interpretation available at all events) : March 13th  from 6:00 - 8:00 PM:  “What I Wish My Parents Knew”  viewing at Petaluma High School. Dinner included. March 15th  from 5:00 - 6:30 PM:  Town Hall Meeting with our Educational Partners  at McDowell School. Childcare provided. March 20th  from 6:00 - 7:30 PM:  Parent "Emotional Resiliency" Workshop & Connection Circle  at Kenilworth Junior High School. Childcare and snacks provided.  In partnership, Matthew Harris Superintendent, Petaluma City Schools

Thursday, Mar 09 2023

PCS Newsletter March 3, 2023

PCS Newsletter Dear PCS Community, The senseless tragedy at Montgomery High School has been weighing heavily on me, and I want to convey our District’s solidarity with the students, staff, and families of Santa Rosa City Schools as they mourn. We are all one Sonoma County educational community and are ready to support in any way we can. We, who live in Sonoma County, have endured years of traumatic events now, beginning with the 2017 wildfires, and we’ve all felt the cumulative impact on our community as a whole and certainly on our students. I am feeling deeply concerned about our students. Our own PCS schools experienced several altercations in this past week, and one troubling result of these recent events is that some students and staff have expressed they don’t feel safe in the classroom. Some students are exhibiting a lack of coping and problem solving skills or that they aren’t turning to trusted adults to help them make better decisions. Simultaneously, we are seeing an  increase in screen time and online bullying linked to social media , an  increase in students who are experiencing anxiety and depression , and an  increase in chronic absenteeism .  School staff across the nation are suffering from stress and are leaving the profession at alarming rates .  In this post-lockdown world, these issues are prevalent across the country, and they are not problems our schools can solve in isolation. I am the first to admit that I do not have all the answers; however, by looking at the data and working as a collective team, I know we can affect positive change for students and staff. It is easy for us to blame the students when these things happen, but our first step is to recognize that our students aren’t broken; they are in crisis. Our moral imperative is to support and care for our students. It’s hard to face this reality, but facing the reality and committing to concrete steps in pursuit of change will move us forward. First and foremost, we need to start by listening to what our students and staff are telling us. In looking at our annual  YouthTruth survey  data, we see some clear trends to address (please note that I have included elementary data wherever possible): Following a  nationwide trend , the number one reason PCS students report as making it hard to do their best in school is feeling depressed, stressed, or anxious. In fact, 48% of our middle school students and 51% of our high school students reported feeling depressed, stressed, or anxious at some point this year.  Over the past twelve months, 29% of our middle school students and 35% of our high school students have felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more that they stopped doing some usual activities. Over the past twelve months, 35% of our elementary students, 48% of our middle school students, and 46% of our high school students feel welcome at school and have collaborative relationships with their classmates.  Over the past twelve months, 74% of our elementary students, 41% of our middle school students, and 31% of our high school students report having strong, supportive relationships with their teachers.   While, in general, our rates are slightly better than the average in Sonoma County, these are more than just percentages. These are our children and our students and we must do much better to support their mental health as well as that of our staff.  Recently, I reached out to two of our phenomenal Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFTs) in PCS, Linda Walsh and Nikki Jackson, to get their perspective on what we can do to better reach our students and help them to feel safe and more connected at school. Ms. Walsh shared, “Our students need us to reach out to them in-person and directly ask them what they need to feel safe at school.” She went on to state, “One caring adult in their life makes a HUGE difference. We have wonderful, caring adults at our schools and in our school community who can provide support for our students and their emotional wellbeing.” Lastly, Ms. Walsh shared, “Students want to know that we are being proactive about keeping them safe. They know we can’t predict everything, but they want reassurance from their principal and from their teachers and the staff that the adults are taking care of them.” Ms. Jackson shared, “It’s all about relationships. Students need to know that they matter and they are important.” Ms. Jackson went on to state, “The world is a scary and chaotic place right now. As adults, we are adjusting to this new normal. As students, it’s been this way from a very young age.” Ms. Jackson went on to share that, “Stress levels are through the roof right now. More than ever, schools are being asked to do everything from feeding students, taking care of their mental health, and providing medical care - schools have become all encompassing and we are now being tasked with students’ social-emotional learning. Our staff needs to be healthy and feel supported to be able to do this. Students desire connection and they want to be seen, heard, and valued. And they deserve grace when they make mistakes.” While we partner with you to work on these issues in our schools, we recommend the following three things:  Talk to your children in age appropriate ways about how the most recent events are impacting them. I’ve included some resources to help in the process.  How to Talk to Your Child About Their Mental Health | NAMI   Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Parents and Teachers    Maintain routines as much as possible because this provides reassurance and security.  Listen to their needs and concerns and pay attention to your own needs. I am sharing this information with you all because the more minds we have working on a solution, the better. To be sure, there are some bright spots on the horizon and we are anticipating receiving a  large block grant dedicated to mental health .  Please join us with our educational partners in a Town Hall meeting on March 15th from 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM in the McDowell School multi to be part of the solution. Childcare will be available.  The time is now for us to take collective action for our children. Together we can be the role models, the mentors, and the support that our children deserve. In partnership, Matthew Harris Superintendent, Petaluma City Schools PCS IN THE NEWS Photos: A look back at Sonoma County high schools in the ‘60s 4 Sonoma County soccer team, 3 basketball squads make NorCal playoffs Casa Grande girls beat Maria Carillo to win NCS soccer championship Student-run fish hatchery in Petaluma gets sizable grant from coastal commission Petaluma’s Berncich earns spot in state wrestling championships State of Arts Education event planned for March 7 ‘What I Wish My Parents Knew’ to screen at Petaluma High School EMERGENCY SCHOOL CLOSURE MAKE-UP DAYS Thankfully, we did not have to close schools this year for a power shutdown, with the exception of a 2-day closure at Casa Grande and Sonoma Mountain High Schools. This means our spring break will extend into the week that was scheduled to be used in the event of a power shutdown, with the exception of Casa Grande and Sonoma Mountain High Schools who will have class on Thursday, April 6th and 7th. Please see the spring break schedules below and remember that our school  calendars  are always available on the  PCS website . IN LOVING MEMORY James “Jim” McHugh Mr. McHugh worked for Petaluma City Schools for 36 years. As his wife, Kathleen, put it best,  “We have lost a truly amazing friend, colleague, leader and fan of all students.”  Mr. McHugh’s obituary  highlights many of his life accomplishments, which include a love of numbers, football, and summers on the lake.  Mr. McHugh shared his love of Jimmy Buffet with his students as he often played the Jimmy Buffet radio station in his classroom. He was a gifted storyteller and engaged in conversations with others wherever he traveled. Mr. McHugh, you will truly be missed.  The McHugh family will be hosting a Celebration of Life for Jim on Sunday, March 19th from 1:00 - 5:00 PM at the Petaluma Community Center, at Lucchesi Park. Mitchell “Mitch” Samios Mitch worked for PCS for over 38 years in various roles. He started out as the Head Custodian at McNear Elementary and was then hired into the Maintenance Department as the Journeyman Locksmith. In addition to being a master locksmith, Mitch was known for his painting expertise and he was exceptionally skilled at cutting down large trees that were a safety concern, had fallen on a building or two, or were a fire hazard due to disease or drought.   Mitch was not only an essential member of the Maintenance Team, he was a friend, a mentor, a big brother, and a father figure to many of the maintenance and grounds crew over the years. He was known as a “good listener” who not only helped his teammates develop solid maintenance skills, but also life skills. Mitch loved chocolate chips, coffee, and animals - especially dogs. You will be missed, Mitch. A Celebration of Life will be held on March 18, 2023 1:30 PM at 6015 Bodega Ave Petaluma (Ranch). Please Note: Parking is limited – please carpool and RSVP to Pam (707) 799-4917. STUDENT AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT Conditionals, algorithms, and loops, oh my! PCS's brand new After-School Coding Clubs are now under way! Nearly 70 students at McDowell, Penngrove, Mary Collins at Cherry Valley, and Valley Vista schools are learning coding with  Scratch , a popular coding platform developed by the  Lifelong Kindergarten  group at MIT Media Lab. In addition to engaging students in computer programming in a fun, age-appropriate way, Scratch also promotes computational thinking, problem solving, creativity, self-expression, and collaboration. Student volunteers from Casa Grande and Petaluma High Schools are leading the 6-week clubs, using curriculum from the  Creative Computing Lab  at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, as well as their own experiences as Scratch enthusiasts and computer science students.  Laura Bradley, PCS's Educational Technology Teacher on Special Assignment, organized these clubs with two goals in mind: to inspire curiosity and engagement in coding for elementary students; and to provide opportunities for high school students to give back to their community, share their computer science knowledge, and gain leadership experience. Plans are underway to bring the Coding Clubs to all of our elementary schools. PCS Film Festival It's time for our annual PCS Film Festival! This year, our theme is Identity. We have intentionally matched our theme to the  Sonoma County Office of Education’s film festival  so that students can enter their films in both festivals if they so choose. For students who are interested in making a film, here’s your chance!  To participate, students create (as individuals or in groups) short videos connected to the theme Identity. Films will be judged by an esteemed panel of judges on the following criteria: Connection to the Identity theme Storytelling Educational content Creativity The top films will be showcased at the Petaluma City Schools’ red carpet event on Saturday, March 18th. The location and time of this event will be disclosed at a later date. Guidelines: Films can be any length up to 5 minutes long, including credits. All submissions must be student-created and abide by  Copyright and Fair Use Policy .  Students may submit only one individual film, although additional participation in group submissions is permitted.  All films must be uploaded to YouTube. Each film submission should also include a movie poster. While the films will not be judged on the poster, all posters will be displayed at the PCS red carpet event to celebrate the incredible work of our students. Posters should be 11” x 17” in size and submitted in PDF format. All films must be submitted using  the registration form  by 11:59 PM on Friday, March 10th. In order to fill out the registration form, you will need to log into a Gmail account. Student @petk12.org email addresses will work as they are Google emails.  We look forward to receiving your entries! WELLNESS CORNER ‘What I Wish My Parents Knew’ to Screen at Petaluma High School Join us on March 13th from 6:00 - 8:00 PM for this powerful event featuring guest speaker  Jason Reid , founder of  Tell My Story . This free event includes a pizza dinner, film screening, and time for discussion and Q&A. To learn more, visit the March 1st feature in the  Argus Courier . SAVE THESE DATES: PARENT WORKSHOPS LATINO FAMILY EDUCATIONAL SUMMIT - APRIL 15TH The  Latino Family Educational Summit  is intended for 7th - 12th grade students and their families. There are three main workshop paths: middle school, high school, and parents. For younger children who attend with their families, activities and a carnival will be available to keep everyone engaged throughout the event.  The summit will support students and families with the following: Learn how to prepare for college through presentations and workshops for middle school and high school students. Next Step Presentations for students who have been admitted into college and are looking for skills and resources to guide them.  Workshops for parents to learn about how to support their student in attending college and financial resources. Resource fair showcasing SSU departments, student support programs and Sonoma County community partners. To register for this free event, please complete the  Latino Family Educational Summit form . WORK AT PCS, WE'VE GOT IT GOIN' ON! If you are interested in making a difference and impacting our community’s future, Petaluma City Schools is the place to be. We are looking for new team members who are ready to make a difference in the lives of our student scholars. It is our mission to recruit, retain, and support a diverse, qualified workforce in order to support success for all students. We do this by fostering a service-oriented environment of teamwork, mutual respect, and continuous improvement.  We have multiple openings in a variety of jobs throughout our District, including both full-time and part-time opportunities. Linked here is a list of our  Open Positions . You can also find our  Jobs on Indeed . Check out this week's highlighted jobs below: Dual Immersion Spanish Language 7th Grade Teacher 2023-2024 School Year Dual Immersion Spanish Language Elementary Teacher 2023-2024 School Year Adapted Physical Education Specialist - South County Consortium Bilingual Instructional Assistant - Kenilworth Junior High Playground Supervisor - McDowell Elementary Campus Security Supervisor - Petaluma High  If you have any questions regarding any of our open positions, please contact our Human Resources Department at 707-778-4795 or email  hrinfo@petk12.org . APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN! 7TH-GRADE DUAL IMMERSION ACADEMY Applications are now open on  SchoolMint  for the Dual Language Immersion program at  McDowell School . Join us next Wednesday, March 8th for an Information Night to learn more!  Give your child the gift of a second language, positioning them to be leaders in our global society. Starting in the Fall, PCS is opening a new school called the Dual Language Immersion Academy, designed to deliver a rigorous and bilingual curriculum to incoming 7th graders that will expand to serve 8th graders the following year.  This new middle school model will be housed on the McDowell School campus, where there is already an existing dual language immersion program in the lower-grades. If your child has a background in Spanish, and is ready to begin the journey of becoming bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural in an innovative and supportive Dual Language Immersion Program,  fill out an application today ! COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITIES Last Call: After-School Art Classes (it's not too late to join) After a successful Fall session, local comic creator, illustrator, and educator Gio Benedetti is offering another round of after school enrichment this Spring. Focused on comics, manga, and cartooning styles of art, as well as developing basic drawing and story-telling skills, Gio wants to make sure all art and drawing lovers know they are welcome regardless of experience. All art supplies are provided. Classes will run for 10 weeks beginning the week of February 26th (break for Spring Break) and ending the week of May 14. Classes will be once per week, one hour per meeting from 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM or 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM, with the exception of a Wednesday afternoon class at Valley Vista from 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM to take advantage of the early dismissal. These classes are open to all students from all Petaluma City Schools locations and the meeting locations for classes are as follows: Classes for 7th - 8th graders will meet either on Tuesdays at Kenilworth Junior High School or on Wednesdays at Petaluma Junior High School. Classes for 4th - 6th graders will meet at one of three elementary schools: Monday classes will be at McDowell Elementary, Wednesday classes will be at Valley Vista Elementary, and Thursday classes will be at McKinley Elementary.   Suggested donation:  $70 per student. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. These classes are funded and supported by Petaluma City Schools and available to current students of PCS schools. To register, please complete the  after school enrichment registration form . Breakfast and Lunch Menus You can always find our breakfast and lunch menus on the  PCS Food Services Department website . Sharing Magical Moments Across PCS via Social Media  There are so many incredible things happening within our PCS community. We enjoy sharing these magical moments to give you a glimpse of what we’re all about.  We’re here! Be here with us! Follow Petaluma City Schools on social media.  

Saturday, Mar 04 2023

Student Violence at Montgomery High School in Santa ...

Dear PCS Community, It is with a heavy heart that I share the following news with our PCS community: this afternoon, at Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa City Schools, a  student fight, involving a knife, turned deadly . As a superintendent and educator, this is a worst case scenario. As a father, I am completely devastated. Today, a family lost a son to a senseless act of student violence at school and my heart goes out to the students, families, and staff of Montgomery High.  If you or your child is impacted by this tragic event, our school counselors and mental health providers are available for support. Please call (707) 778-4959 and leave a message - someone will get back to you. Alternatively, you can reach out directly to your child’s principal or the  PCS Mental Health Services Team , who are on-site at every campus supporting students. For community services, we encourage you to reach out to your healthcare provider or  Petaluma People Services Center . Additionally, our  health and wellness hub  provides further resources, such as  CareSolace  that offers 24/7 mental health support, free of charge.  Today and every day, we must all hold each other with a little more care and grace than usual - be sure to give an extra long hug to your child this evening. Please keep the students, families, and staff at Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa in our hearts.  In partnership,   Matthew Harris Superintendent, Petaluma City Schools

Thursday, Mar 02 2023

Community Message re: School Safety

Dear Petaluma City Schools Community, I am sending this message to the entire PCS community so that everyone has access to the same information and to invite our community into better understanding the District’s safety efforts.  After school on Thursday, February 16th, a fight occurred on Casa Grande’s campus between two pairs of Casa Grande students. The next morning, on Friday, February 17th, as site administrators were investigating the fight from the prior afternoon, one of those same students and another student put on masks, entered a classroom, and assaulted one of the other students in retaliation for the fight they were involved in on February 16th. The assailant students were in the classroom for approximately sixty seconds. The teacher and the other students in the classroom helped break up the assault, and the assailants ran out of the classroom and returned to their own classrooms. The student who was assaulted did not need medical attention.  To say that this is shocking behavior is an understatement. In my eleven years in Petaluma City Schools, I have never heard of such a brazen and disturbing assault inside a classroom on any of our campuses. As soon as the assault occurred, Casa Grande staff called the Petaluma Police Department, and multiple officers were on the campus within ninety seconds. After reviewing video footage and investigating, our administrative team was able to positively identify the two students responsible for the assault. The boys were taken into police custody and will be held responsible for their actions.  Please know that we take any violation of our campus safety very seriously, and eliminating this type of unacceptable behavior is a top priority. After school on the day of the assault, I joined an all-staff meeting at Casa Grande to review the incident and the response and to discuss how we can improve our response to safety incidents moving forward. Several suggestions were raised that are currently being implemented.  On the day of the assault, and in the days that followed, several messages went out to the Casa Grande community. Some have asked for faster communication, and we certainly understand this need. We will do our best to notify staff, students, and families as soon as we have concrete and accurate information to share. Our first priority will always be the safety of our students and staff. Following that, we commit to implementing a communication plan to keep staff, students, and families informed.  If there is an immediate danger to a campus, our protocol is typically to initiate a lockdown. During the February 17th event on the Casa Grande Campus, site administrators did not initiate a lockdown because they believed the assault threat was isolated to the same students involved in the fight that took place the prior evening and because of how quickly the incident was over. Following a review of the incident, we have concluded that it is justified to initiate a lockdown in the future if something like this were to happen again on one of our campuses, because we want to be abundantly cautious when it comes to the safety of our students and staff. This year, we have organized a District Safety Committee, composed of students, families, staff, and community partners (e.g. City of Petaluma Emergency Manager and staff, Petaluma Health Care District, Petaluma Police Department, Petaluma Fire Department, Petaluma People Services, etc.).  If you are interested in joining our District Safety Committee, please email Assistant Superintendent of Student Services, Maité Iturri at  miturri@petk12.org .  The goals of this committee include: Improving the Comprehensive School Safety Plans (CSSPs) that each of our school sites are required to develop and maintain. These CSSPs address campus risks, help sites to be prepared for emergencies, and support a safe, secure learning environment for all students and staff. Strengthening relationships with our community partners and exploring how we can all work together during emergencies. Visiting school facilities to see how we can increase the physical safety at each of our school sites. The District Safety Committee’s initial focus was on improving our  Comprehensive School Safety Plans , which are all being brought for approval at tomorrow’s  Board meeting,  under Item 12.4.1. As always, the Board members and I welcome community input and feedback if you have an interest in attending tomorrow’s Board meeting. In partnership, Matthew Harris  Superintendent, Petaluma City Schools 

Tuesday, Feb 28 2023