Issue: #72                                                     
September
 2016
In This Issue
Featured Article
Genentech partnership brings real-world STEM experience to SSF schools.
Housing Conference Focuses on Opportunities for School Districts
 
 
As  affordable places to live in the Bay Area become increasingly scarce, workforce housing has become a hot topic in school districts across San Mateo County. Several districts in the county are already in the process of exploring ways to build affordable housing on surplus lands on their campuses.

School district administrators and school board members will have the opportunity to learn about the possibilities house-icon.gif and challenges of building affordable housing, and best practices from those who have done it at a San Mateo County conference October 14, 2016 to be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the College of San Mateo.

Jointly sponsored by the San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE), San Mateo County Manager's Office, San Mateo School Boards Association and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the conference, entitled "Breaking Ground on Workforce Housing," is part of the county's annual Housing Leadership Day and will feature a joint plenary session with San Mateo County housing leadership as well as separate breakout sessions for school districts on such topics as "The Scope of the Challenge and What Can Be Done,"  "From Concept to Groundbreaking: Finance, Construction and Property Management," "Understanding Employee Needs and Talking About Housing,"  and "Legal, Tax and Zoning Issues." There will also be a session on case studies, time for one-on-one technical assistance and networking.

"This is an opportunity to bring school district leaders together to learn how to move forward on housing development," notes Josh Abrams, housing policy consultant with Baird + Driskell Community Planning, and an organizer of the event. "These leaders are educators, not housing developers, but they have an important resource--land--and school district employees have the means to pay moderate rent, so housing development presents a great opportunity. The conference is all about answering the questions 'What do we do now and where do we go from here?'"

The conference grew out of a county-wide task force on housing convened by the Board of Supervisors in the spring of 2015. Members of the community including County Superintendent Anne Campbell; major employers such as Facebook, Google, and LinkedIn; representatives from SamTrans, city and county government, all came together to address the housing crisis. They came up with an action plan that included the development of a "Home for All, San Mateo County" PR campaign and website,  a plan to engage the community at large in this issue, and convening meetings for school districts and other public agencies to provide tools to help them take action.  This conference will be the first to educate school officials in San Mateo County on this important issue.

Online registration for the conference is available here.

 
 
New Year, New Faces Join
Instructional Services Division

  
It was a busy summer in the Instructional Services Division at the San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE).  Among other tasks, the division successfully hired staff in a number of key management positions in the Instructional Services Division (ISD),  filling one new grant-funded position and replacing staff that moved on to other responsibilities both internally and in local districts.

The new hires are: Suzanne Burrows, Coordinator CA Math/Science Project;  Mary Yung, Education Specialist
(l.to r.) Mary Yung, Suzanne Burrows and Kim Bambao are three of the new additions to the Instructional Services Division.
Induction Coordinator;  Gwenn Lei, English Language Arts (ELA) Coordinator; and Kim Bambao, Mathematics Coordinator.  All of these individuals are new to SMCOE except for Bambao, who previously served as the Early Learning Mathematics Coordinator at the SMCOE STEM Center. 

Burrows has both an education and business background. She previously taught high schoool sciences  in several Peninsula districts.  Additionally, she has worked at Hewlett Packard and Veritas, and was a coach and consultant for Pivot Learning.  Suzanne joins the ISD team with a rich background and body of experience in science education. She jumped into her new position just in time to be a key part of SMCOE's first week-long teacher summer institute for the Partnership for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in S.T.E.M. (PETALS) Project.

Gwenn Lei joins the ISD team as the English/Language-Arts Coordinator.  She most recently served as the ELL Coordinator in the Millbrae School District and regional co-director of the California Reading and Literature Project (CRLP).  She has served as a BTSA support provider, middle school teacher and lecturer at San Francisco State University and brings a wealth of experience to her new role of supporting districts in English/Language-Arts.

Mary Yung, Ed Specialist Induction Coordinator, brings 15 years of experience to her new position. She has been a special day class teacher in Redwood City, a special education and general education teacher in Palo Alto, a summer school principal, and community college instructor.  Mary is no stranger to the SMCOE Induction program as she has served as a mentor in the program and previously served in an interim capacity in that role.

"I'm exceptionally proud of the caliber of staff that we have at the San Mateo County Office of Education and our newest additions will add great value to their respective teams," notes Dr. Gary Waddell, Deputy Superintendent. "They each come to their work with a rich bank of experience, positive track records in schools and districts, and a collaborative, service orientation."
 

 
  
SMCOE Receives First 5 San Mateo
Family Engagement Grant
 

The Early Childhood Language Development Institute (ECLDI), a program of Early Learning Support Services (ELSS) at the San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE) received good news this summer--the awarding of a $460,000 grant from First 5 San Mateo County to support its continuing work in family engagement.

ECLDI is a SMCOE program with a professional development model that supports home language, second language acquisition, and authentic family engagement. The goal is to expand
The Parent Cafe has been a successful strategy to build family leadership and engagement.
on the family engagement component of ECLDI through this grant.

"This grant allows us to build on the work we've been doing in the county that we know is so important," notes Jean-Marie Houston, Director of ELSS.

The grant focuses on the implementation of three complementary strategies. The first is expanding Parent Cafes--a family engagement model already in use in the county designed to build parent leadership skills, reduce social isolation, enhance and strengthen the relationship between families and schools. The plan is to build the capacity of family leaders and family engagement practitioners through professional development, particularly in the seven Big Lift communities, and to implement and grow Parent Cafés.

Bringing Friday Cafe--a new strategy and an innovative professional learning model for family engagement providers that began in Connecticut schools and communities--to practitioners in San Mateo County, is the second strategy. The Friday Café provides a venue for family engagement practitioners to network, learn from each other and share resources.

The third strategy is to develop leadership/professional development modules for program directors through ECLDI. These trainings will engage directors in self-reflection about meaningful family engagement policies and practices through a program-wide lens.

"This is really a three-tiered approach," adds Soodie Ansari, ECLDI and Early Learning Dual Language Support Coordinator. "We are supporting family leaders, family engagement practitioners and early learning program directors to deepen their family engagement work with the goal of being more meaningful, particularly in diverse communities."

ECLDI is working with two local subcontractors, the Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center and Family Connections, in implementing these grant-funded strategies. Both organizations have strong ties and experience working with families and providers in low-income, immigrant, dual language communities.

The First 5 grant aligns closely with the ECLDI family engagement work currently in place, thanks to a three-year grant from the Kellogg Foundation, and allows SMCOE to build on this important and impactful work.

Since family engagement is a component emphasized in both California's Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) and the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Jean-Marie Houston encourages school districts that are interested in creating authentic family engagement strategies to contact Soodie Ansari at sansari@smcoe.org to access its resources and learn more about the ongoing work of these grants.
 



SSF School District's Genentech Partnership Inspires Students to Embrace STEM

 
It's not every day that elementary school students get to interact with mentors at a biotech company and get homework help in the company's cafeteria, but that happens every week at Genentech when students from South San Francisco elementary schools are bused over to receive tutoring from Genentech employees, many of whom are research scientists.

That's just one part of a successful partnership called "Futurelab" that began as a small tutoring program in 2008 between Genentech and South San Francisco Unified School District, and has blossomed into a program today that involves 9,300 elementary, middle and high school students,  1,300 Genentech employees who volunteer 25,000 hours annually, and the company's philanthropic investment that will have contributed $18 million over four years, including the building of a biotech science lab now in process at South San Francisco High School.

The partnership now has three
South San Francisco students explore STEM concepts through a partnership with Genentech..
signature components: Gene Academy, a weekly mentoring program for elementary students; Helix Cup, an annual science competition for middle school students; and Science Garage, a newly co-created curriculum in biotechnology for high school students that fulfills A-G requirements and empowers them to pursue careers in science.

In addition, Genentech supports teacher development for all science teachers; provides buses, funding and employee-chaperones for more than 3,800 students to go on science field trips every year; in-kind donations of computers and iPads; and helps fund classroom projects through DonorsChoose.org   with a $500 grant for all public school teachers in South San Francisco.

The program was recently recognized with a Kent award from the San Mateo County School Boards Association and by US 2020 with the STEM Mentor award for excellence in public/private partnership.

At the September 13, 2016 quarterly meeting of The Big Lift, community partners had the opportunity to hear all about the innovative partnership from Dr. Ann Lee-Karlon, Senior Vice-President at Genentech. She spoke about how the partnership exemplifies the company's values in action and helps to recruit and retain employees who embrace social responsibility to work for their company.

"Our employees consider this 'recess for adults,'" added Ragnar von Schiber, Associate Director, Corporate Giving at Genentech. "They can leave their day-to-day job, connect with other employees and recharge by being with these kids."

For South San Francisco students, the partnership gives them a window into the real world of science and opens up future career possibilities. Genentech's financial commitment is a huge boost for a district that has limited funds and doesn't have its own education foundation.

"It's been a whirlwind for SSFUSD and it's been great," says Superintendent Dr. Shawnterra Moore.  "It has been a collaborative effort that benefits our kids and inspires them to embrace STEM careers."

 
    

Respect! 24/7 Conference Slated
For October  17 at SMCOE

With the theme "Inclusive and Resilient Communities," the fourth annual Respect! 24/7 Conference at the San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE) on October 17, 2016 will bring together school districts and community partners to learn about best practices for meeting the social, emotional and mental health needs of students.

The keynote speaker is Micah Jacobson, an expert on school climate and co-founder of The Boomerang Project, which produces the internationally known middle and high school transition programs Link Crew and WEB. Collectively, The Boomerang Project annually impacts over 2 million students in the US and Canada. Respect! 24/7 logo He frequently speaks on the topic of student leadership and guides teachers, administrators and students to reflect on their own sense of potential, challenging them to become more than they thought they could be.

The conference, which will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., will also include breakout sessions on serving foster youth and gender diverse students, student engagement and leadership, establishing a positive school climate, and addressing the mental health and wellness of students.

"Our hope is to inspire attention to the social and emotional needs of students," says Jeneeʹ Littrell, Administrator, Safe and Supportive Schools at SMCOE. The conference, which began four years ago as a way to address bullying in schools, has evolved to meet current needs of school districts and students. Historically it has been held once a year but this year additional mini-trainings will be scheduled throughout the school year. "We want to keep the momentum going and build a community of practice," notes Littrell.

Registration is limited to 200 participants and those interested are urged to preregister soon on the SMCOE website here.
 


Virtual Inclusion Collaborative State Conference Comes to SMCOE in October


General and Special Education teams, administrators, teachers, parents and support staff are all invited to attend the third annual Virtual Inclusion Collaborative State Conference at the San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE) on October 27 and 28, 2016.

 With the theme "Harvesting kids_friends.jpg Equity for All Children and Youth," SMCOE's third annual conference will provide the opportunity to join nationally recognized educators and researchers to learn and share innovative, evidence-based strategies, tools and models to support full inclusion of young children with disabilities in diverse settings.

The focus of SMCOE's event will be on the early years from birth through third grade. Virtual sessions will be streamed live from the Santa Clara Office of Education--the main regional host for the event. In addition SMCOE will host in-person sessions, Q & A, opportunities to ask questions online of the presenters, and time to reflect, and discuss with other professionals and community members from San Mateo County.

Jean-Marie Houston, Director, Early Learning Support Services at SMCOE, has been working closely with the planning team including representatives from the Child Care Partnership Council, 4Cs, Gatepath, First 5 San Mateo County, the Institute for Human and Social Development (IHSD), StarVista and the Santa Clara Office of Education, to provide an engaging program for participants.

"We anticipate that there will be great opportunities to hear from nationally recognized speakers, network with peers, have in-depth conversations and problem solve," notes Houston. In addition, through communities of practice there will be an extended opportunity throughout the year for participants to get together and continue the work they've begun at the conference.

The fee for the conference is $30 for one day or $60 for two days including light breakfast and lunch. Register online here

 
 
 
Check Us Out on Facebook

   

The San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE) now has a page on Facebook. We'll be providing frequent updfacebook logoates on SMCOE events and education news of interest, adding groups of interest, and linking to other education organizations. Check us out and "like" us today on Facebook!  
  
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About the San Mateo County Office of Education
  
The San Mateo County Office of Education provides a variety of instructional, business and consulting services to the County's 23 public school districts, charter schools, the Community College District and County Office of Education staff. 
  
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