Eye on our Schools: School is back in session

Hi everyone. The answers from last month’s game will be listed at the bottom of this article. No games this month.

It’s August and it was named in honor of Augustus Caesar, the first Roman emperor. The word describes something esteemed or regal, entitled to honor and respect….something everyone deserves every month.  But you know what IS the BEST thing about August for us?  SCHOOL IS BACK IN SESSION!  Yep, it started August 14th.  For many of you, it’s that time again when you are out running errands, whether it’s in the morning or late afternoon, to be on the lookout for 22,000 children crossing the streets, riding bikes or skateboards, and parents eagerly heading to school to drop off or pick up.  And parents, if you see a legal parking spot a block away from the school, and the weather is agreeable, think about parking and walking up to drop-off or meet your child at the front of school.

What’s also great about school starting is that we have over 100 new hires, both teaching and non-teaching positions, who are ready to be part of our Downey Unified family.  The first day of school for our students was August 14th but for this group, they had a few days of training before that date to get them ready.

There was a new teacher orientation on August 1st, that started with a light breakfast as everyone got to know each other.  I saw a lot of smiling faces as everyone had a great time chatting, meeting staff and other newcomers to our district. During orientation, they got acquainted with the school district, including meeting our board members and administrators, hearing about our district vision and mission and learning our annual Board Goals. I had the pleasure of meeting and welcoming them to our family alongside board vice-president Linda Saldaña.  And yes, I truly feel like we are a family, and everyone has the same focus… doing what’s best for our kids.

On their next training day, they completed a CliftonStrengths assessment and attended a Strengths training session related to this assessment. In a nutshell, almost all our employees, as well as several student groups, have had this Strengths training.  It’s a very positive way to help our staff learn their own talents, as well as each other, and inspires them to maximize their potential and work more cohesively. We implemented this several years ago with great success.

On August 8th and 9th, we provided one more professional development day focused on “Capturing Kid’s Hearts” strategies. This is another training that we have been doing in the district for several years, which provides strategies and training for middle and high school teachers to strengthen relationships with the students and colleagues, fostering trust which helps reduce negative behaviors, improves school culture, and boosts academic performance.

I know I mentioned summer school in last month’s article, but as I wrap up, I have to share a bit more because there were some fantastic things happening at the schools over the summer that you might not have heard about. There was a 90+ minute presentation during the last board meeting that outlined the positive impact our summer programs had on our students at all levels.  They put in a lot of effort to make summer school engaging and inspiring for our students, and I think they deserve recognition. So, out of respect and gratitude for their hard work, I want to thank the countless employees across all the schools who created the curriculum, ordered supplies, organized college visits, fed the students breakfast and lunch, kept the grounds safe and clean, taught the enrichment math and ELA classes, shared facts about the current Olympics, had the students participate in dance, art, engineering, farm to table gardening, PE, AVID, Spanish, active fitness, culinary arts, geography, robotics, music, dance, study skills, online safety, assemblies, kickball tournaments, PTA Helps food drive, photography, “7 Habits” leadership workshop, Character Counts!, extended school year for our students with special needs, staffed the wellness centers, graduated 19 more high school students, helped our high school students earn a total of 26,425 credits to get each of them closer to graduation, and provided online enrichment for 2,620 middle school students.  I am incredibly proud or our classified and certificated employees who dedicated 4-6 weeks of their summer to support our students. 

I also want to extend my gratitude to the administration, both at our schools and the district, for their unwavering support of our 22,000+ students throughout the year. If our leadership were to falter, then our students would ultimately be the ones to suffer. That’s why we live by our motto, “Our Kids Deserve the Best...” and we are committed to hiring top-notch employees in all positions to make sure we deliver on our promise.

That’s it for this month.  Here are some Shout Outs and Important Reminders:

Shout Out:

Congratulations to Alejandro Santos from Sussman Middle School – He is our Los Angeles County Office of Education’s 2024 Teacher of the Year.

The 19 students from Columbus High who worked hard this summer to catch up on credits and were able to graduate as well as the staff at Columbus who support to make this happen.

The 199 students who participated in the Summer Apprenticeship program and presented their findings on July 31st and the Bayha Group for supporting their efforts every year and this program every year.

Important Reminders:

October 11th, State of the Schools

October 25th, Downey vs Warren Football game.  This year the game will be hosted by WHS.

Take the Time to be KIND,

Nancy Swenson
President, Downey Unified Board of Education

Answers to last month’s questions:

Math Questions:
Percent of students enrolled in summer school – 36.4%

Percent of elementary schools holding summer schools – 38.5%

How many elementary schools did not hold summer school – 8

Bonus – Denominator: 13

Number of non-classified employees – 1,380

What is the percent of non-classified employees – 58%

Misspellings: *Just a quick note, there were only 7 misspelled words last month  

Wrong – elementary; Correct – elementary

Wrong – Alemeda; Correct – Alameda

Wrong – Staufer; Correct – Stauffer

Wrong – employes; Correct – employees

Wrong – sesion; Correct – session

Wrong – concreat; Correct – concrete

Wrong – Downy; Correct – Downey