Volume 04 December 17, 2019
Message from the Superintendent
EVERYBODY Needs Recess…Enjoy the Winter Break!

Breaks are important! They give us the time to recharge, to rest, to enjoy other activities or learn new ones, to spend more time with family, friends, and loved ones, and to simply do nothing. Just like our scholars need breaks, we all need them too in order to give our best. 

It’s also a good reminder that we need to take breaks in our day-to-day lives as well. One of my favorite things to do to re-energize during the work-week is to try to take a recess break with students and spend even a few minutes with them playing. Along with some good kickball moves, they can teach us adults the importance of taking breaks and of simply being silly. I also have a simple meditation I do every morning for about 15 minutes. I really notice the difference when I do it every day; it helps get me focused for the day. There are a number of ways our young people can benefit from meditation or mindfulness and it’s a great tool for them to use in daily life or when they are feeling stress. If you are interested in finding ways for your scholars to relax using meditation , either in your classroom or in your home, Common Sense Media is a great resource. They have a list of kid-friendly apps and videos for meditation . You can find them here: 


I wish you all a wonderful holiday season and a *true* break. Breaks are important for everybody, so please allow yourself to have that break in whatever way works best for you! 

Warm regards,

Janet


Janet Schulze, Ed.D.
Superintendent, Pittsburg Unified School District 
Lizzo meets 2nd-graders behind viral 'Truth Hurts' video

Some very lucky -- and talented -- elementary school students in California recently got the chance of a lifetime to meet music superstar Lizzo after their epic, kid-friendly rendition of "Truth Hurts" went viral.

Read more
abcnews.go.com
Photo: Mothers and Fathers from Father Figure and MARIPOSA (Mother) Workshop Series
Family Engagement
In December we wrapped up our Father Figure Series and our MARIPOSA (Mother) Series. These workshops were supported by our Parent Liaisons and centered around parent involvement and strengthening parent-child communication to support a child's education. 

The Father Talk series concluded with participants creating their own personal goal to raise their level of individual parent engagement. The group of Dads also came up with a shared goal to clean up a park in our community.

The MARIPOSA (Mother) series also concluded with participants creating their own personal goal to raise their level of individual parent engagement and a shared goal of organizing an event for senior citizens in our community.

If you are interested in participating in an upcoming parent workshop, please reach out to a parent liaison at your child's school. Coming up in 2020, the Father Talk Series and Mother Talk (Triple P Series) will both be offered. See registration links below for details. Workshops include dinner and childcare; however, participants must register for the workshop in advance.



Photo: Parents who participated in MARIPOSA
Photo: Parents from Father Figure Series
"I am grateful for our partnership with the C.O.P.E. Family Support Center (who facilitates the parent series of workshops) and our Parent Liaisons for hosting and supporting the sessions," said Leticia Preciado, Family Engagement Coordinator. " It is great to hear, through parent testimonials, how these programs have had a positive impact in the lives of our district’s parents and scholars."
Photo: Melanie Moseley with Facilitators from C.O.P.E. and PUSD Parents
"Congratulations to all of our parent participants who made the commitment to pick up new tools to support their students." said Preciado . "Our PUSD parents are amazing! Both the moms and dads came up with great Action Plans to support their own individual parent engagement and then shared Action Plans to support parent activism within our beautiful City of Pittsburg."
Photo: Five couples who took the two different series together (one for moms and one for dads) #ACTIVEPARENTSMATTER
LCAP 2019 2020

PUSD LCAP Survey/Encuesta LCAP Please choose your preferred language for this survey! Por favor escoja la idioma que prefiera para esta Encuesta! There are only 9 questions to answer in the survey. Thank you. Solo hay 9 preguntas para responder...

Read more
www.surveymonkey.com
LCAP Survey - We Want Your Input
Dear PUSD Community,

We value your feedback and need your input as we continue to align our goals and financial resources. Please take a few minutes (less than 10 minutes) to take a short LCAP (Local Control and Accountability Plan) survey for us. Your responses are anonymous and will help us make important decisions. This survey is different from the process we’ve done in the past.

We thank you in advance for taking a few minutes to respond.


- Pittsburg Unified School District
Tuesday, December 17:

5:30pm
Citizens Budget Advisory Committee Meeting - at District Office Board Room, 2000 Railroad Avenue, Pittsburg

Wednesday, December 18:

5:30pm
Winter Performance by F oothill Elementary and Heights Elementary - at Pittsburg High's Creative Arts Building (CAB), 250 School Street, Pittsburg

Wednesday, December 18 - Friday, December 20:

  • Finals at Pittsburg High School
Photo: School Board recognized Hillview's Leadership students, December 11, 2019
Photo: Stoneman students enjoying KIDS of the Bay lesson on the Food Chain, December 9, 2019
Photo: Ms. Yorkel's class at Los Medanos worked on a "Turkey Trap" STEM project, November 22, 2019
Photo: Principal Nelson reads "Gracias, the Thanksgiving Turkey" to students, November 22, 2019
#ActiveParentsMatter float created by our Student Services Department and Parent Liaisons received "Best Float" in the City of Pittsburg's Holiday Parade, December 14, 2019
Photo: Marina Vista's 1st Trimester Awards, November 21, 2019
December 23 - January 6:

  • Winter Recess - No School. Students return to school on Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Wednesday, January 8:

6:00pm

6:30pm

Friday, January 17:

6:00pm
Martin Luther King Jr. Spoken Word Event - at Pittsburg High's Creative Arts Building (CAB), 250 School Street, Pittsburg

Monday, January 20:

  • School Holiday - No School, Observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Tuesday, January 21:

5:30pm - 7:00pm
  • DAC Meeting - at District Office, 2000 Railroad Avenue, Pittsburg


Wednesday, January 22:

6:00pm

6:30pm

Thursday, January 23:

7:00pm
  • PHS Marching Show Band Awards Night - at Pittsburg High Creative Arts Building (CAB), 250 School Street, Pittsburg

Thursday, January 30:

7:00pm
  • PUSD Jazz Band Concert - at Pittsburg High Creative Arts Building (CAB), 250 School Street, Pittsburg
Ms. Alejandra (Ale) Esqueda, MTSS Specialist
Meet, Ms. Ale Esqueda,
MTSS Specialist at Los Medanos and Willow Cove

Ale is featured in our Pittsburg Pride blog for the month of December. Besides her full time position at Willow Cove and Los Medanos, Ale also coaches cheer-leading in the after school program at Los Medanos. She is super passionate about her job and being a role model for her students. Below is a quote from her blog post.

"I truly believe in the potential and future of every person. Something I remind others is that our youth are not “just kids” as some describe them. Our youth are young people with great potential; they are future adults who can bring something special to others. I want others to also know this and I model it by setting high expectations for our youth. I help guide them in their journeys by teaching them about hard work. I seek to inspire youth by reminding them that I believe in them and that they can do anything they put their minds and hearts into. I make sure the students know that I care for them and their future."

To read more about Ms. Ale, check out her blog post on our website . Thanks, Ms. Ale, for sharing your Pittsburg Pride with us!
Athletics Spotlight
Public School North Coast Section Champions,
Pittsburg High School Varsity Football Team

Congrats to the Pittsburg High School varsity football team and coaching staff. The Bay Valley Athletic League champs finished 11-2, with a final loss to De La Salle. Here's what head coach, Victor Galli had to say about the season.

“We’re the public school champions this year,” Galli said. “Proud of the seniors. They fought hard, and we have a good group coming back.The cupboards are full. We went undefeated in league. Looking forward to getting back to work after the holidays.” - Quote from San Jose Mercury News article .
Pittsburg High's Football Program Stats for 2019

  • The Pittsburg High School Football program finished the regular season with a combined record of 27-3
  • Each level went 9-1 this season
  • Each team was crowned BVAL Champions as they all went 5-0 for a combined program record of 15-0 versus the BVAL! 
Girls Golf:

Junior golfer Mya Miles earned 1st Team All-BVAL Honors in golf. She is the first Lady Pirate golfer to earn 1 st Team All-BVAL Honors. Based on her finish in league, she qualified to participate in the North Coast Section Playoff Qualifier, again a Lady Pirate first. She then added another first as she placed high enough in the qualifying tournament to move on to compete in the North Coast Section Golf Championships. 
(Pictured Above: L: Miles and R Coach Fox)
Boys & Girls Cross Country:

Girls Cross Country - 2nd Place in BVAL, and All-BVAL Runner, (Freshman) Gabriella Hernandez ( Hernandez pictured on right in above photo )

Boys Cross Country - 9th Place in BVAL, and All-BVAL Runner, (Junior) Abel Avalos 
(Avalos pictured on left in above photo)
Girls Cross Country:

Gabriella Hernandez finished 4th at the North Coast Section meet, which earned her a trip to the State Cross Country Championships. She is the first PHS freshman Lady Cross Country runner to ever do this!
(Hernandez is pictured on far left in above photo)
Cheer:

Cheer took 2nd place at the Spirit Spectacular at Whitney High School in Rocklin, CA. This was their first cheer competition of the year. (Pictured Above: Pittsburg High Cheerleaders)
Boys Varsity Soccer:

The Boys Varsity Soccer team received 1st place at the Inderkum Soccer Tournament. They defeated Nevada Union High School 2-0 in the Championship Game. (Pictured Above: Pittsburg High's Boys Varsity Soccer team) 
Girls JV Basketball:

The Girls JV Basketball team took 1st place at the Jesse Bethel Holiday Classic Basketball Tournament. (Pictured Above: Pittsburg High's Girls Junior Varsity Basketball team) 
School Board Reorganization
December 11, 2019

Mr. George Miller was named Board President and Dr. Laura Canciamilla was elected Vice-President for 2020. They were sworn in by Pittsburg Mayor, Mr. Jelani Killings.
December 11, 2019

Members of the School Board thanked Mr. Duane Smith for his service and dedication as Board President over the past year.
School Board Resolution
Special Education Appreciation Day
On December 2, 2019, PUSD schools recognized Special Education teachers and staff. This day of recognition was in support of a School Board resolution.

Read more about School Board resolutions on our website.
Photo: Willow Cove Special Education teachers and staff recognized for Special Education Appreciation Day , December 2, 2019
Photo: Parent assisted with tie for 1st grade student prior to Ms. Nesta's annual etiquette lesson and meal at Parkside, November 21, 2019
Photo: Pittsburg Adult Education Center’s (PAEC) first Administrative Medical Assistant students (with Instructor, Ana Ronquillo-Stephens) will be finishing their 18-week program in January 2020
Photo: Reclassified students celebrated at Heights, November 2019
Photo: Stoneman's music program performs Winter Concerts for parents and families, December 4, 2019
Photo: Successful Parent/Teacher conferences at Black Diamond. Taj and family posed for a picture with Principal Wilson, Mr. Pyle, and Mrs. Wallen, November 14, 2019
Photo: Highlands' Spirit Squad wins "King Pirate" award at the City of Pittsburg's Holiday Parade, December 14, 2019
Photo: Rancho's Winter Concert, December 12, 2019
Photo: Pittsburg High's Unified PE and Unified Dance had a blast at the  U.S.ARMY  Challenge, December 3, 2019
Photo: Hillview bands and choir performed "A Winter Concert," December 5, 2019
Photo: Marina Vista musicians perform in Fall Concert, November 20, 2019
Photo: Willow Cove musicians perform at Winter Concert, December 5, 2019
Employment Opportunities
PUSD has job openings! We post all of our open positions online, so be sure to check out postings regularly. All open positions are posted on  Edjoin.org and applicants must apply via Edjoin.
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