Telesis Academy Named a 2019 L.A. County
Top Public School for Closing The Achievement Gap for Underserved Students
Telesis Academy Staff Celebrates their Top Public School Award.
Telesis Academy was recognized at a special Top Schools L.A.: Leading the Way on Education Equity celebratory event at USC’s Tutor Center Ballroom on May 4, 2019. Telesis is among 279 schools out of 2,068 traditional schools across Los Angeles, that are closing the achievement gap for low-income African American and Latino students. The list of schools is published in a new study, 2019 L.A. Top Public Schools for Underserved Students , by Innovate Public Schools – Los Angeles , a non-profit committed to helping kids and their families access quality education, and the University of Southern California (USC) .

“ The Board of Education and I are pleased to share this accomplishment and are proud of our team of educators and staff at Telesis Academy for their work on closing the achievement gap for all of our students ,” said Rowland Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Julie Mitchell.

To be a Top Public School, schools must close the achievement gap by exceeding statewide average scores in English language arts and mathematics and setting students on a path for college. At Telesis Academy, 83.5 % of low-income students are Latino and African American.

“ As Principal of Telesis Academy, I am so very proud of our teachers, our staff, and our students. We strive to know each of our students both as people and as learners,” said Telesis Academy Principal Johan Schmitz. “ By holding to our ‘No Excuses University (NEU)’ philosophy that ALL students can achieve and succeed, our students are performing at the highest levels, are excited about learning, and are prepared for college and career .”
Yorbita Cheetahs Are Going to College!
Yorbita Cheetahs participated in the 3rd Annual College Parade this week. Each classroom at Yorbita adopts a college and students are exposed to these colleges throughout their elementary years. The school, students, and families embrace the idea of college with the intent to turn it into a reality. TK through 6th grade students are known as the graduating classes of 2029-2036. Yorbita alumni and current Nogales High School students, Valeria Malvaez, Paola Cortez, Osvaldo Cervantes, Drake Ingram, Daniel Valdez, Jessica Ledesma, Jsherina Mendoza, and Jose Ramirez joined the route of the parade and shared their futures with the Cheetahs.

"Yorbita is so very proud of all past and present students. As part of the national No Excuses University network, Yorbita is preparing students for college and career with the expectation for greatness," said Yorbita Principal Amy Grigsby. "We also want to say a special thank you to Nogales High School Assistant Principal Justin Lopez and Yorbita Teacher Judy Fox for the collaboration on this event. It was an amazing day!"
Yorbita Principal Amy Grigsby introduces former Cheetahs and current Nogales Nobles who are college bound. Students participated in the parade and had fun giving out high five's!
RHS' Future Business Leaders of America Bring Home 6 Awards at State Competition
RHS Raiders Hasan Ismail (third from left) and Dana Hernandez (4th from left) at FBLA State Competition.
By Caroline Manookian and Daniel Luna, RHS Business Education Teachers

Congratulations to the RHS FBLA competitors! Six students placed in the top ten for their events, and Hasan Ismail qualified to compete at Nationals in San Antonio by placing in the top 4 for Personal Finance. This year, the RHS chapter sent 18 competitors to the California State competition April 25-28 in Sacramento. More than 2,100 students from 92 schools competed at the event. Well done Raiders! 
FBLA State Results are below:

Jing Wen Joey Lin, (6th Place) Accounting 1
Eric Fei, (9th Place) Accounting 1
KImberley Cang, (5th Place) Accountng II
Katrina Pan, (9th Place) Accounting II
Hasan Ismail, (4th Place) Personal Finance
Dana Hernandez, (8th Place) Personal Finance
Pictured: Rowland High School FBLA Students from left to right: Dana Hernandez, Katrina Pan, Eric Fei, Joey Lin, Hasan Ismail, and Kimberley Cang.
Nogales Brings Home Awards at Solar Cup Competition
RUSD Superintendent Dr. Mitchell has fun with Nogales Solar Cup students at Lake Skinner in Temecula for the Metropolitan Water District Solar Cup Competition this past weekend.
By Aaron Maldonado, Mathematics Teacher, Nogales High School

Nogales High School participated in the 2019 Solar Cup Competition that was hosted by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California at Lake Skinner in Temecula last weekend, May 17-19. This competition concluded the six-month heavy task of building a solar boat from the bottom up, adding all of the mechanical and electrical components within the boat, writing up various technical reports, attending various inspections and tests, as well as creating a PSA video about water conservation.

Nogales had a team of 40 students since November working on various components of the solar boat for it to be ready for the competition in May. Advisors Ron Hill, Aaron Maldonado, James Hughes, and Thomas Bostick took a team of students to the competition where they set out for the endurance race and the sprint race. Students portrayed a lot of teamwork and effort at the competition, making sure that the boat was in top shape from the moment they arrived at the lake. Students Diana Silvestre and Julian Rodriguez operated the boat as "skippers" and they both gave it their all out on the lake for both races.

At the awards ceremony, Nogales High School received 1st place in the technical reports and 1st place in the PSA video. The video was created and published by student Zachary Silva and his 1st place video will be published on the MWD of SC website. Nogales was proudly sponsored by the Three Valleys MWD: Rowland Water District of the Foothill Division. It was an amazing academic hands-on learning experience in STEM for the students. They really look forward to participating again!

Congratulations to the students who participated last weekend:

Zarahi Alvarez, Anne Garrido, Paulo Gonzalez, Francisco Landa, Arturo Lemus, Andy Liao, Juan Martinez
Axel Ochoa, Salvador Ramirez, Diana Rodriguez, Julian Rodriguez (driver), Zachary Silva (video)
Diana Silvestre (driver), Cedrik Toledo and Michael Villalpando.
Rowland Water District
@RowlandWater
Rowland Water and Rowland El Team Together For Mini Solar Cup Challenge
Above: Rowland El Teacher LaDonna Guzman and her students test their mini solar boats. Pictured below: Rowland El students with Rowland Water Representative Brittnie Van De Car at the NHS pool on May 1.
Two creative forces joined together to create a dynamic engineering and renewable energy project for 5 th grade students at Rowland Elementary. Brittnie Van De Car at Rowland Water teamed with Rowland Elementary Teacher LaDonna Guzman to give students the opportunity to learn about renewable energy and natural resources through a hands-on application of math, science and engineering.
 
“ This cross curricular approach has been enlightening for me as the teacher. Students are not only learning about renewable energy and the impact of non-renewable energy on our environment, but they are reading, writing, researching, applying mathematical concepts, applying engineering concepts, testing, reflecting and presenting,” said Guzman.
 
“ LaDonna made this vision come to life. We are excited to bring this program to more 5 th  grade classes next year so we can have schools compete against each other, rather than just one class competing internally, ” said Van De Car.
 
“Not enough of our youth have access to quality STEM learning opportunities,” said Guzman.  “We, as educators, have an obligation to inspire our students through science, technology, engineering, and math—so they have the chance to reach their full potential and compete in this increasingly complex world.”
LaDonna Guzman
@Rascal Guzman47

I’m showing this to our #minisolarcup kids tomorrow- I’m sure they will be inspired! @RascalPride
Rowland El student design teams have one last chance to modify their "mini solar boat" before placing it in the Nogales High School pool to race. All teams learned if their boat design was a success!
Join Us for String Showcase Tomorrow Night!
REGISTER NOW FOR SUMMER LEARNING & FUN!
June 10 - June 28, 2019
Nogales High School
Open to all students 1st - 8th grades (within and outside of RUSD). Experience three weeks of art, dance and perform drama and music from Mulan Jr.!
8 AM - 3 PM (Lunch, T-Shirt and all supplies included.) Fee $400 +$10 application fee. Location: Nogales High School in La Puente. For more info call RUSD Ed Services at
(626)854-8348 or click HERE .


Fine Arts Day Camp
June 17 -21
Hurley Elementary School

Develop your child's intelligence with the arts! Children love singing games, art classes and storytelling. Full day program for campers 5-14 years old (lunch and snack provided). The songs of ETM (Education through Music) use language, movement, and social interaction to enhance the learning process. Monday - Thursday 9 AM -2:45 PM, Friday 9 a.m. to Noon. For more information call Hurley Elementary at (626)965-2429.



July 8 - July 26, 2019

Open to all students grades 1-6 (within and outside of RUSD). Each day your child will experience MakerSpace (design, build & create with purpose), Arts (painting, drawing & more!) and Introduction to Mandarin & Spanish!
8 AM - 12:30 PM Fee $210. Location: Rorimer Elementary in La Puente.

For more information call RUSD Ed Services at (626)854-8348 or click HERE .
May 23, 2019 Issue Questions? Contact RUSD News Editor gward@rowlandschools.org
Proud to Serve Our Communities of Rowland Heights, La Puente, Walnut & West Covina
www.rowlandschools.org