At their regular meeting on February 13, the Board of Education celebrated those employees honored by Parenting OC in their 10th Annual School Heroes recognition. The Board honored Top 25 Teachers Lori Pro (Benson), Joanne McDermott (Foothill), and Joanna Lane (Tustin), Top 50 Teacher Victoria Miller (Benson) and Top 10 Employee Patty Lee (Tustin).

In addition, the Board celebrated Lindsay Fay (TOSA), Abbey Zinsser (Tustin), Barbara Stachelski (Columbus Tustin), and Jennifer Bruckler (Myford) on their National Board Certification. National Board Certification is the most respected professional certification available in education, designed to develop, retain and recognize accomplished teachers and to generate ongoing improvement in schools nationwide. We commend these educators for their commitment to lifelong learning, our students, families and community.

The Board also celebrated the Foothill Girls Lacrosse team, led by Head Coach Christina Johnson, in celebration of their back to back CIF Division 1 Championship wins. The FHS Girls Lacrosse team is the only back-to-back CIF Champions in the history of Foothill, as well as the only SS CIF Division 1 Girls Lacrosse championship team. Congratulations to players Simone Bibolet, Scout Coughran, Adeline Healy, Alexa Lemerise, Taylor Puma, Maya Weaver, Elena Torres, Mia Marchetti, Zoey Stephens, Tatum Walshe, Courtney Copeland, Brynn Perkins, Lizzy Weaver, Grace Cumming, Katherine de Mahy, Sofia DeGuzman, Grace Fischer, Allison Gallagher, Ali Shimabuku, Prestyn Vickers, Elisa Davalos, Jenna Cardeno, Katherine Chavez, Mikayla Yang, Addison Duvel and Sophia Katnik, along with Assistant Coaches Morgan Fannell, Natalie Novick, Vanessa Tonete, Corinn Valerie and Olivia Ng.

And, Student Board Members Andres Garcia (Beckman), Malaika Fortes (Foothill), Priscilla Gutierrez (Hillview), Jaiden Le (Legacy) and Katie Vu (Tustin) shared recent events from their campuses. Valerie Ontiveras (Tustin) shared an overview of happenings across the district at our elementary and middle schools.

Lastly, Coastline ROP Superintendent Dr. Brian Dozer and TUSD College and Career Coordinator Alita Salazar highlighted Legacy Magnet Academy's Virtual Enterprise course, apart of LMA's Business Management CTE pathway, in this month's Bright Spot.

Sixth grade students at Legacy Magnet Academy focused on space studies and the journal of astronaut Mae Jemison during a recent TIDE Takeover. Jemison is the first Black woman to travel to space. Students were inspired by her words, "Never be limited by other people's limited imaginations; never limit others because of your own limited imagination," as they solved a series of puzzles using picture, number and letter clues through a breakout box activity.

This month, Orchard Hills School welcomed the community to the campus' first International Fair. Hosted by the PTO and made possible through generous support from the community, the event offered families the chance to explore cultures from around the globe. Attendees came in traditional attire and enjoyed activities, entertainment and food from numerous countries. It was a wonderful evening for our Hawks!

In celebration of Career Technical Education (CTE) Month, we continue to highlight one of our secondary schools’ CTE pathway offerings each week. TUSD is proud to offer hands-on, career-ready pathways that allow all students to explore careers while in high school. CTE pathways include working on industry-standard equipment and software, hands-on real-world skill development, industry certifications, and internship opportunities.

One of our newest CTE courses is Virtual Enterprise offered at Legacy Magnet Academy (LMA) in the Business Management pathway. LMA students can also complete pathways in Marketing, Media Arts, Product Development, Production and Managerial Arts, and Systems Design and Utilization. At LMA, CTE is built into the core curriculum, providing all students CTE pathway completion and dual-enrollment opportunities.  For information on all of our CTE pathway programs, please visit the TUSD CTE webpage.

To help make dreams of higher education a reality for TUSD students, the Tustin Public Schools Foundation has joined with generous community members to fund more than a dozen scholarship opportunities available to students from all Tustin Unified high schools. Applications are currently open through March 1. To learn more about TPSF scholarship criteria and to apply, visit the TPSF website.

And, for more news and updates from the Tustin Public Schools Foundation, sign up to receive the TPSF Newsletter. Join the TPSF email list to stay up to date on the many ways they are supporting all TUSD schools.

TK-12th grade students who are new to TUSD for the 2023-24 school year can get a head start on the enrollment process. Begin the enrollment process through the TUSD AIR Portal. AIR enrollment allows parents/guardians to quickly begin the enrollment process online.

Children who will turn five on or before September 1, 2023 are eligible to enter kindergarten in the upcoming 2023-24 school year. Children who will be five between September 2, 2023 and April 2, 2024 are eligible to enter transitional kindergarten.

More information is available for families on our website, including details of our Kindergarten Readiness Program which offers half-day state-subsidized and half-day and full-day fee-based programs.