We Hope You Join Us!

The Start with Hello Planning Guide provides ideas and best practices for teachers, staff, and administrators. The guide provides a planning strategy and sample, easy-to-implement activities —whether you do activities all week or just one day of the national call-to-action week.

Turlock Fire Department

Extension Cords 

• Daisy chain on power strips is not allowed
• “Zip Cords” are not allowed (Zip cords are extension cords that expand outlets)
• Extension cords can only be used temporarily
• Gang plugs that expand outlet quantity are not allowed. Power strips are the only way to expand quantity of outlets. Power strip must have manual reset

Fire Extinguishers

• Fire extinguishers must be 5’-0” above finished floor (ADA requires 4’-0”) at handle
• Extinguisher must be mounted or in enclosure
• All extinguishers must have valid inspection tag
• Extinguishers must be visible and unobstructed at all times 

Emergency Exits and Egress

• Emergency exits must be identifiable
• Path to and through emergency exits must stay clear at all times
• Emergency exits must open to public space
• No locks, chains or bolts can be installed on any emergency exit. Only hardware that requires no special knowledge

Wall Coverings/Decorations: Classroom artwork/teaching material shall be limited to not more than 50% of wall area. Corridor walls shall be limited to not more than 20% coverage of artwork/teaching materials

Marshall Beyer, Coordinator of Educational Technology

Kelly Villalobos, ELD Itinerant Teacher

Newcomer is an umbrella term for foreign-born students who have recently arrived in the United States. Newcomer students may include, but are not limited to, asylees, refugees, unaccompanied youth, undocumented youth, migratory students, and other immigrant children and youth identified by the local educational agencies (LEAs). Newcomer students come from many different countries and diverse cultural backgrounds. (California Department of Education)

Two District Itinerant ELD Teachers and two District Itinerant English Language Development (ELD) Paraprofessionals provide supplemental ELD support to Newcomer students, grades 2-6. Currently, all services are provided virtually. Groups are seen throughout the school day for 30-minute sessions.

Hali Bream, TUSD Farm Coordinator

This past month has been busy for the Farm and elementary sites! At the Farm, we finished the almond harvest and sent lots of fruit to schools in the district. We have one more variety of peaches to come off and then the fruit harvest is done for this season. High school students have been a huge help in harvesting fruit for delivery to sites.

At the elementary sites, “Harvest of the Month” lessons through the UC Cooperative Extension have begun! Students have been learning about stone fruit this month, specifically peaches, and getting to try peach smoothies. I look forward to helping the elementary gardens change out their planters and prepare for the fall/winter crop growing. Farm Clips have been delivered weekly to learn about new gardening lessons…we will move on to other topics in the newer future!

There are no animals at the Farm right now except for the farm cats that are getting big. We should start seeing some cattle in late fall so stay tuned!

Mental Health Clinicians

If you have a student who struggles ADHD learning differences, please see this free Masterclass for parents and educators, offered by ADDitude, featuring instructional videos from the world’s foremost experts in neurodivergent education. It will guide parents and educators through a full syllabus of 51 webinar replays, 72 essential articles, 33 expert Q&As, 39 downloadable resources to share, 17 self-tests, 33 expert Q&As, 15 supplemental videos, and more.

Each lesson revolves around a common challenge for neurodivergent students, including how to help your student stay focused and improve organization and time management, addressing impulsive behaviors such as hitting and interrupting, supporting social skills and encouraging resilience when your student gets discouraged easily.

BCBA/Behaviorist Team

As we begin to get to know the scholars new to our classrooms and develop plans to set all scholars up for success, the self-control plan will be extremely helpful and necessary. Our utilization of a self-control plan, when confronted with challenging situations, is necessary for maintaining critical thinking skills and allows us to make sound decisions while assisting our scholars in their pursuit of independence and education. When using this skill, we also provide an appropriate model for our scholars on how to handle difficulties they face daily. When using self-control, you are allowed time to react with appropriate behavior in both words and actions and focus your energy on meeting the needs of the scholars. What we teach our scholars in these moments will stick with them for a lifetime! 

We as the BCBA/Behaviorist Team look forward to seeing you around campuses, and we will make sure to reinforce the use of your self-control plan when we see it!

The self-control plan is a combination of three quick exercises:

1.   a breathing exercise like a slow and silent breath in and out 

2.   a self-thought exercise like “I chose to be here for the scholars” 

3.   and a grounding exercise like pressing your toes into the bottom of your shoes. 

Domenic Bagnani, Crowell Elementary School

How long have you worked in TUSD? 12 Years, 1 month, 3 days, 27 minutes

What is your job title? Lead Custodian

Where did you work prior to TUSD?

Real Estate, but I have worked several different jobs. Each one building me into who I am today.

Any info you would like to share about your job? Average day? My job is quite interesting. Every day is just a little bit different and can be full of "surprises." I truly enjoy what I do. From being campus caretaker to student interactions. It has been very rewarding working for TUSD.

Things you are most proud of? Growing into a man of integrity and earning my way to where I am in life today.

Challenges? Pfft....Life is easy mode.....Right? Anyone else? No one? Yeah....Me either. Everyone has challenges in life. Some are more difficult than others. My most recent challenge I had to overcome was learning to walk again to get back to not only work, but to enjoy life. Just a little over a year ago I was hospitalized and spent 21 days in the hospital....18 of those days in the ICU, and 13 of those 18 days on the ventilator. I was home by day 22, but I needed a wheelchair to get around and couldn't even stand. I was dependent on my wife and her parents for everything. I worked and fought every day. The struggle, as they say, was real. As challenging as it was for me physically, it was the mental aspect that I struggled with most. Feeling useless, ashamed, embrassed....the list goes on. Fast forward to today....I am on my feet once again. From 100% independent to 100% dependent and back to 100% independent. The real challenges in life come when you least expect them. Your attitude and how you face these challenges will determine your outcome. Like everyone in this world....I just put one foot in front of the other.  Life is short. Enjoy your friends and family. Take nothing for granted. You don't realize how good you have it until you can't do the simplest of things...like scratch your nose.

Favorite memory/story? It was 2002. The Giants had just won the NLCS to go to the World Series. There I was with my father who was a lifelong Giants fan. Who had at one-time ditched high school and took a beating from my grandmother to see Willie Mays practice at John Thurman in Modesto. Seeing the joy on my father's face as we stood in our seats at what was then Pac Bell Park....One of the greatest memories I have. Being able to share that experience with him....I couldn't ask for better....Until I met my wife. But that's a story for another time...

What are you reading? I have been slacking in the reading department. I need to restart "Stormlight Archive" by Brandon Sanderson. New book and it has been far too long...need a refresher. Also need to catch up on "Dresden Files" by Jim Butcher.

Any favorite shows you’re watching on TV? I really really enjoy "The Expanse." Also "Yellowstone."

Fave movies? I have a lot. It would depend on the genre. But if I had to pick--Star Wars. The original trilogy. No other Star Wars movies exist to me.

Anything surprising we may not know about you? To this day I still open the doors, including the car doors, for my wife. Chivalry is not dead, and it was not a ploy while we were dating to sucker her in....I swear! I mean win her over! Also, I have a really good sense of humor.

Fave quote? "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." - Benjamin Franklin

"A good leader has nothing to prove, and everything to prove." - Jocko Willink

Fave memory of someone in education who inspired you? I have to admit that there is a list of them....Mrs. Kuykendall, Mr. Lawrence, Mrs. Gigghia, Ms. McGee, Mrs. Quittmeyer, Mr. Powell, Mr. Gascon, and Mr. Caulkins to name several....all for different reasons. But the one that started me back on the right track was Mrs. Borelli-Silva. My 6^th grade core teacher. The first teacher to recognize I was struggling with things not only in school, but at home. My parents' divorce and other things I was having to deal with were taking a toll on me. I was giving up. Her talks, help, and genuine caring picked me up and turned me from a student achieving a GPA of around 1.4 in the 6^th grade to graduating 8^th grade with a 2.89 GPA. I was awarded "Most Improved Student." Mrs. Borelli-Silva was an amazingly caring teacher who wanted nothing but the best for her students. She set me back on the right track and I am grateful to have had her as an educator.

Anything about your personal you’d like to share? I just recently celebrated my first anniversary with the love of my life, Jennifer, who for some reason or other said "yes." I am grateful to God for bringing her into my life. I also enjoy spending time with my friends playing tabletop strategy war games and....yes, Dungeons and Dragons. I'll admit I enjoy PC gaming as well since that can't be nearly as bad as my previous admissions. Games like Civilizations 6 and the Total War series are what I play mostly....and board games are also one of my jams....Settlers of Catan anyone? Anyone? I know my wife raised her hand!