"Every kid is just one caring adult away from being a success story." ~Josh Shipp
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Alice Solis, Director of English Learners, Assessment, and Special Programs
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Marjorie Bettencourt, Interim Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Accountability
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The 2018-2019 LCAP Executive Summary is now posted on the TUSD website. On the website you can also find the full LCAP report as well as a Table of Contents that includes the 2018-2019 LCAP Goals and Actions. The five 2018-2019 LCAP goals are as follows:
- Goal 1: Curriculum & Instruction: Provide guaranteed and viable learning, using effective instructional practices, from highly qualified teachers who have the necessary resources to implement CCSS successfully. (p.54)
- Goal 2: Safety & Security: Provide and maintain consistent policies, procedures, and facilities that reflect a safe, secure environment & culture. (p.70)
- Goal 3: Academic Achievement: Increase student academic achievement and utilize a multi-tiered system of supports to promote college and career readiness among all students. (p.86)
- Goal 4: Parent Involvement: Expand opportunities to increase parental involvement, collaboration, and partnerships with families and the community to support district initiatives. (p.122)
- Goal 5: Social/Emotional Supports: Support students’ social success to live a healthy life-style and become self-motivated, responsible citizens. (p.131)
The first meeting of the LCAP Steering Committee will be next month on November 16. A survey for the 2019-2020 LCAP actions and services will be available January 2019.
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Turlock Lions Club Harvest Bowl
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Congratulations to the Turlock High School Bulldogs on their sweep of the 15th Annual Turlock Lions Club Harvest Bowl: Freshmen 21-14, Junior-Varsity 41-0, and Varsity 33-0. Good luck to both the Bulldog and Pride varsity football teams in this week's play-offs. You got this!
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Shellie Santos, Director of Curriculum and Instruction and Megan Bernard, ELA/ELD Instructional Coach
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Congratulations to the 46 teachers who have been certified as BeGLAD instructors as part of the Summer/Fall 2018 cohort. Teachers were trained for a total of six days. Two days of theory and research and four days of classroom demonstrations. Thank you to Wendy Langford and Molly Farrar, Crowell teachers, for opening up your classrooms as our demonstration rooms. Teachers were able to observe the integration of ELA/ELD and NGSS standards using BeGLAD strategies.
Be Glad is a professional development model in the area of academic language acquisition and literacy. The benefits of using BeGLAD has proven to be effective for all students by:
- Providing a common set of highly effective teaching strategies
- Tools to check for efficacy
- Improved pedagogy with consistent instructional routines
- Addresses all content standards
- Creates a school environment responsive to diversity with an inclusive learning environment
- Students are problem solvers and cross-cultural respect is evident
TUSD instructional coaches Megan Bernard and Natalie Hayes will attend training in December to become trainer of trainers for the District. If you are interested in joining the Spring 2019 cohort to become BeGLAD certified, please email Shellie Santos.
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Laura Brem, Coordinator of Applied Horticulture and Environmental Studies
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October is National Farm to School Month and the TUSD Farm is excited to participate by providing a single serving snack of almonds, grown at our farm, to every student in the District! After the almonds were harvested in August, they were taken to a huller and then on to a processor where they were pasteurized and made ready for consumption. From there, they were dropped off at Child Nutrition Education Center for packaging. This week the almonds will be delivered to every school site for students to try. It is fun to see Farm to School in action!
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Happy fall from TUSD Farm! The farm has been bustling with activities as several groups of students participated in irrigation and civil engineering labs, the swine building construction got underway, the farm and garden were prepped for winter, and guests were welcomed at the TUSD Harvest Festival.
Saturday, October 13, the TUSD Farm hosted its first Harvest Festival! There was a wonderful turnout as students, staff and community members mingled throughout the barn and participated in fun fall activities like pumpkin and face painting, ring toss, photo booth and corn hole - to just name a few! Also, visitors tried sweet treats prepared by THS and PHS Culinary Arts and Foods classes, purchased beautiful holiday wreaths made by THS’s Ag students, and participated in fun, health-related activities organized by PHS/THS HOSA - Future Health Professionals students. Thank you for all that came out to enjoy the afternoon with us! We look forward to many more opportunities to host community events in the future. A huge thank you to Maintenance and Operations staff and the Farm Management team for their tireless work in making sure the farm was ready to welcome guests - it couldn’t have happened without their efforts!
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Jennie Backstrom has been teaching English as a Second Language classes at Turlock Adult School for 13 years. Each fall, one of her favorite things to do with her students is carve pumpkins. Most of her ESL students have never experienced the sliminess of scooping out the innards of a pumpkin! This year, TUSD Farm Coordinator Laura Brem donated 8 pumpkins for Jennie’s students to carve. They definitely had a spooky good time!
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Catching Up with Krystal Montez
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What schools did you attend in TUSD?
Brown and Crowell Elementary School, Turlock Junior High School, and Turlock High School
What year did you graduate?
2009
What schools did you attend after high school?
I went to Modesto Junior College, I didn’t graduate instead I ended up getting my Real Estate License.
What are your ca
reer goals/career?
I tried a few different career paths before I turned 22. After I moved to Texas to help with my family’s restaurants I convinced a radio company to hire me—they hired me to sell radio but my dream was to be a DJ. After 3 months of selling, I somehow convinced them to put me in front of a microphone. I was fortunate enough to have people see I wanted to learn the art of radio and was given opportunities to learn and grow. Less than 3 years of being on the air and doing production work full-time I got a phone call with a great job offer in Louisiana. I’m now a Creative Services Director at a 6-station group in Shreveport and on the air in Shreveport, Louisiana and in Central Texas.
What teachers/classes made an impact on you?
- Ms. Mary Krupka, she was my golf coach. Junior high was horrible time for me. I lost my mom my 8th grade year and I became careless. My carelessness carried into my freshman year of high school. Coach Krupka pulled me aside one day when she found out I couldn’t play sports because of my GPA. She reminded me that what I did mattered, and challenged me to make grades so I could be more active in school. It was the kick in the butt I needed. After that, I drastically improved my GPA until I graduated.
- Mrs. Michele VanNieuwenhuyzen pushed me to get out of my comfort zone. I'm convinced radio is a giant game of "Freeze." Thinking on your feet is crucial when you're live on the air or in front of a crowd on stage.
- Mr. Brian Wright taught me to shut up and put it on paper. Part of my job consists of blogging twice a day. Mr. Wright used to make us keep a journal. We would write for a few minutes a day and it's a habit I have kept up with. Sometimes you just have to take a pen to paper.
- Mr. Ryan Tribble. I didn't know how wonderful and difficult psychology would be when I signed up for the class. Mr. Tribble challenged us all to be better humans in the most loving and encouraging ways. I am biased when I say I had the best class ever, but we all grew so close with each other. It was my first dose of "People don't always think the way you do and that's okay.”
- Ms. Jennifer Cullum’s leadership class prepared me for my dream job. From planning rallies, hosting rallies, promoting events, we were all challenged to learn time management and to think outside the box. Student Leadership was by far the most fun I had ever had in a classroom; little did I know that class would help me out tremendously in my career field.
Any advice for students?
Treat everyone as if they matter because they do. From the barista at Starbucks to the janitor at your school or work. Learn people’s names, and say "Hi.” Hard work is hard to ignore. I have quickly learned there will always be someone smarter and more talented than me, so I rely on work ethic. If you don’t have the skills or the education others do, ask a lot of questions. Stay late. Learn from anyone who will teach you. Always try to find solutions instead of focusing on problems. Most importantly be the hardest worker in the room and always have a goal in mind.
Hobbies? Things you enjoy in your spare time?
I love to jog and run marathons! I'm totally lying—last time I ran was because my dog ran off and I thought I was going to die after a mile. I do however travel quite a bit. I love seeing new places and checking out happy hours in different towns. I am lucky enough to be able to go to concerts as part of my job, so live music is always a part of my weekend plans if possible.
What are you watching or reading these days?
Making a Murderer
—I’m a sucker for true crime. I just finished reading
Unstoppable Attitude
by Duane Marino. It was a good reminder that a great attitude can help you reach your goals.
Anything else you’d like to share?
I remember sitting at lunch my freshman year and I swore to myself that I would make high school the best experience ever. I joined theatre, Mock Trial, FFA, golf, debate, and Student Leadership. There were so many things I said “yes” to and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. High school is what you make of it. I always had something coming up that I looked forward to making life and school exciting.
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School Spotlight: Roselawn
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We’re visiting Roselawn Continuation High School today! Here are some facts about their school:
☑️ Est. 1975
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Principal: Felipe Meraz
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10 Teachers
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1 Counselor
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8 Classified Staff
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179 Students
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Mascot: Dragon
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Fun Fact: Former site of Roselawn High School built in 1912.
Have a great year Dragons!
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Red Ribbon Week in FULL EFFECT at Roselawn Continuation High School. Counselor Rachel Moran arranged for a visit from the Denair Fire Department as part of the fun activities going on all week at lunch!
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Blake Souza, Custodian/Groundskeeper
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How long have you worked in TUSD?
About 3 years.
What is your job title?
Custodian/Groundskeeper at Turlock High School
Where did you work prior to TUSD?
I was a butcher for about 11 years at a local grocery store.
What's an average day like on your job?
On any given day I’m usually fixing something or working on a project with a coworker. Also helping the staff, making their days easier so they can focus on the kid’s learning experience.
Things you are most proud of?
I’m proud of myself for making it to TUSD. I had to work VERY hard to get to where I am today and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Challenges?
Every day I face new challenges/obstacles that test my patience and my sanity but usually after I ask a couple questions I usually get it all figured out. Sometimes you just have to step back, take a breath, and think about the problem at hand because usually 9 times out of 10 it is a simple fix.
Favorite memory/story?
I was working out in the JV baseball field and I was trying to find a bad valve that wasn’t communicating with my pump. After racking my brain trying to find the dead line, I asked my supervisor if he had any ideas. He came back with a line tracer . . . sooooo I took the tracer and plugged it into the pump box to fix the dead line . . . after walking what it felt like forever ALL OVER the field I had flagged about 10 different places to dig...so I started to dig the first hole and after I was about 3 ft down I couldn’t find the line . . . I went to the next hole and did the same thing and so on an so forth. I got to the 10th hole and dug it up and . . . NOTHING . . . so I went back to the box did some trouble shooting with my supervisor and ran the detector again and traced for like 5 minutes and FOUND IT! It was about 20 ft from the pump box the WHOLE time! I found 3 more valves that were ran right next to each other. My co-worker and I had to dig a HUGE hole to expose all 3 to fix them. So moral of the story is . . . as easy as the job looks to complete, most of time it’s not!
What are you reading?
The directions!
Any favorite shows you’re watching on TV?
Locked Up
but I’m not really a TV watcher myself.
Anything surprising we may not know about you?
I had perfect attendance from kindergarten ALL THE WAY to my junior year at Turlock High School then I got senioritis . . . bad!
Anything else you'd like to share?
I love riding my Harley and working on my bikes as well when I have time.
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Focus on a Photographer: Roselawn
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Halloween came early to Cunningham Elementary School! Thank you to the Kiwanis Club of Greater Turlock for your generous donation of 600 pumpkins from R.A.M. Farms for our Cunningham students! Did you know this is the 25th year Kiwanis has donated pumpkins? All treat, no tricks!
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Collaboration for Best Practices
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Welcome back Miss Tina, Owner and Founder of the School of Etiquette and Decorum, to TUSD! 64 site clerical staff attended one of two 1/2 day workshops. Topics on the agenda:
- The Importance and Benefits of Exhibiting Proper Etiquette Behaviors
- Self-Presentation Skills in the Workplace
- Job Etiquette and Good Work Ethics
- 5 Star Customer Service
- Phone Etiquette in the Workplace
Excited our outstanding TUSD clerical staff had the opportunity to further hone their skills with Miss Tina! Is there anything higher than Rock Stars?!
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In its 3rd year, the Mayor’s Youth Conference provided nearly 70 TUSD 7-12 students the opportunity to learn about various services offered by the City of Turlock as well as gaining insight into Turlock’s governance through a mock City Council meeting. TUSD students were highly engaged in the day, seeking clarification regarding current road projects, traffic control decisions, and upcoming restaurant/entertainment/retail openings. They also enjoyed a demonstration from the Turlock Fire Department and Turlock Police Department. Maybe one of these students will become our future Mayor of Turlock someday!
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Share Your Awesome!
Marie Russell
Chief Communication Coordinator
mrussell@turlock.k12.ca.us
209.648.0968
@tusd_mrussell
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We would love to have ALL staff help share our TUSD story to the world, but if that is not really your thing, just click on link below to download an opt-out form and return to "Marie Russell, D.O." via district mail.
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