May 7, 2021
#GGUSDPRIDE E-newsletter
The #GGUSDPride E-newsletter features many of the great things happening in GGUSD.  
Send your photos to pio_department@ggusd.us to highlight your school or students in the e-newsletter.
GGUSD Students Commit to Harvard University in the Fall
Los Amigos High School senior Sebastian Lozano was thrilled when he received the news that he was accepted to Harvard University, his dream school. He was one of only 747 students accepted to the Class of 2025 under the early action program from a pool of more than 10,000.

A resident of Santa Ana of Mexican-American descent, Lozano is a first-generation college student with an impressive 4.56 10-11 grade point average. A straight A student for his entire life, Sebastian has attended GGUSD schools since preschool including Russell Elementary, Fitz Intermediate and Los Amigos High School, 
La Quinta High School's Julia Do was accepted to 16 elite universities and has committed to Harvard in the fall. This week, Fox LA and the OC Register highlighted her success and shared her story of hard work and determination. Julia attended Marshall and Allen elementary schools and McGarvin Intermediate School.
Bell Intermediate School Teacher Receives Donation from Helpful Honda
The Helpful Honda Guys made a visit to Bell Intermediate School on Tuesday, May 3, to surprise special education teacher Thuy Tran with $5,000 in classroom supplies, a new washer, dryer, oven range, and a refrigerator, to be used for instruction in her life skills class.  
GGUSD to Host Virtual Exhibit for First Impressions Art Show
Garden Grove Unified School District will host its 43rd annual First Impressions Student Art Exhibit in a virtual format. This year’s exhibit will feature 374 works of art from students in preschool through high school. The virtual exhibit will go live Monday, May 10 at 9 a.m. when it can be viewed at www.ggusd.us/departments/vapa.

Through May, you can also stop by the Village Green park for the annual Art in the Park event that we partner with the city of Garden Grove on each year. Student art work will be displayed in large vinyl prints throughout the park for you to enjoy.
GGUSD Celebrates Our Amazing Employees
The month of May includes many school employee appreciation recognitions and GGUSD is grateful for our amazing and dedicated staff. This week, as part of Better Hearing & Speech Month, we recognized our wonderful speech and language pathologists who make a true difference in helping students improve critical communication skills. We celebrated our fantastic bus drivers on School Bus Drivers' Appreciation Day on May 3 for providing a safe ride to and from school and a warm and welcoming school bus experience. On May 7 for School Lunch Hero Day, we celebrated our wonderful Food Services employees for making delicious and healthy meals for all students and for serving millions of Grab and Go meals that were essential during the pandemic.
Dr. Mafi to Mentor New Group of Students
This week, Superintendent Gabriela Mafi delivered a presentation about her mentorship program to students from Heritage Computer Science Academy and Russell Language Academy. Since becoming superintendent, Dr. Mafi has been mentoring a group of 100 students from sixth grade through high school. Her first group of mentees graduated in 2020 from Santiago and her second group of mentees will graduate high school this year from Los Amigos and Santiago. Dr. Mafi will begin mentoring a new group of sixth graders this year as they prepare to transition to 7th grade in the Fall. It brings her great joy to meet with students each summer and monthly during the school year to teach them scholarly habits and skills for college, career and lifelong success.
GGUSD Schools to Return to 5 Full Days of In-Person Instruction in Fall
All GGUSD schools are open for in-person instruction and in the fall, we will return to 5 FULL days of in-person instruction for all students!
  
Please take a moment to watch this video from Superintendent Dr. Gabriela Mafi to learn more about the importance and safety of in-person instruction! Click here for the video.

Since reopening for in-person instruction, we have seen first-hand the effectiveness of our COVID-19 prevention efforts! Our health and safety protocols are working to keep our students healthy and well! COVID-19 cases are low and isolated and there has been NO on-campus spread of COVID-19.

GGUSD will not offer school-based distance learning in the fall. Families who prefer an online option in the fall must apply for the district's Virtual Learning Academy.
Santiago's Student to Serve on Panel for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
We are proud that GGUSD Board of Education Student Representative William Hin will be one of the voices on an OCDE panel to honor Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

William has attended GGUSD schools since kindergarten, including Clinton Elementary, Doig Intermediate and Santiago High School. An impressive scholar, he has been accepted to both Yale and Stanford universities.

The event, features a diverse panel of Asian American voices on issues including representation, education and recent anti-Asian incidents across the country and reflects the theme “Know My Name, Face and Story.” It will take place from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 12. Teachers, counselors, administrators, parents and others who educate and support students are encouraged to attend. Click here for more information.

GGUSD High Schools Named among America's Best
For the fourth year in a row, all seven of GGUSD's comprehensive high schools earned a spot on the U.S. News and World Report's elite rankings of America's Best High Schools.

On the 2021 list of America’s Best High Schools, GGUSD’s high schools ranked in the top 662 in California, top 266 in the Los Angeles metro area, and top 4,500 nationally from nearly 18,000 ranked schools.
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GGUSD is committed to keeping our community informed about the impact of the coronavirus public health crisis on our school system. All coronavirus related messages or updates from GGUSD to our families are posted here.