Welcome back from spring break!

Welcome back from Spring Break, Downey Unified! I hope everyone had a relaxing and fun week. Can you believe that we only have less than two months before the end of the school year?

As we look toward June, there are many exciting events including our promotion and graduation ceremonies. I want to share some great opportunities for our families and the community as our district begins to wind down the year.

As a district, we look forward to hosting events highlighting the hard work of our students and staff.

Beginning with our elementary schools, I want to congratulate all our students who competed in our annual Carnival of Champions at the end of March. We had an incredible turn out and our fourth and fifth grade students showed their positive character throughout the entire event.

Congratulations to Lewis Elementary School for placing first in this year’s competition. A special shout out to Alameda Elementary’s Zoey Finnell for beating the fourth-grade girls’ standing long jump record held since 1994. She jumped 7’2”, breaking the previous record of 6’10.5”. What an incredible accomplishment.

Our annual Robolympics will be held on April 29 at 8:30 a.m. at Warren High School. This is an elementary robotics competition which brings third, fourth and fifth grade students together from across the district to compete. Please join the Board members and our Downey Unified staff as we cheer on our youngest robotics students. It’s an event you can’t miss.

Moving on to our middle schools. Our drama and music programs will be very busy in the next month displaying their work. Everyone is invited to see our talented kids in actions.

From May 3-6, Stauffer Middle School’s Advanced Drama students will be performing “High School Musical.” Showtimes are Wednesday through Friday at 4 and 7 p.m., and Saturday at 2 and 5 p.m.

Doty Middle School will be hosting their Spring Concert at the Downey Civic Theatre on Monday, May 8 at 6:30 p.m.

The Advanced Drama students from Griffiths will be performing “Haphazardly Ever After,” May 11,12, 18 and 19 at 6:30 p.m.

Sussman Middle School’s Advanced Drama students will also take the stage from May 16-18, at 6 p.m. each evening.

To wrap up our middle school performances, our DFEO Musical Conservatory will be showcasing a production of “Beauty and the Beast,” June 1-3. This is a special opportunity to see students from all four of our middle schools performing together.

The performances will take place at Stauffer Middle School, Thursday and Friday at 4 and 7 p.m., and Saturday at 2 and 5 p.m.

Our high schools put on performances continuously throughout the school year ranging from drama and choir, musical theater, dance, marching band and much more.

In case you haven’t had a chance to see a performance yet, you are missing out. There are a few performances left so I encourage you to show your support of our talented students.

On Tuesday, May 9, Warren High School will be holding their Spring Band Concert at the Downey Civic Theatre beginning at 7 p.m. and the following day, Downey High School will be holding their Spring Concert also at the Downey Civic Theatre at 7 p.m.

Lastly, Downey High’s Musical Theatre Department will be presenting “Mamma Mia” on May 19 at 7 p.m. and May 20 at 2 p.m. at the Downey Civic Theatre.

I want to close out by reminding those interested in supporting our students to please make sure to check with each school for accurate ticket information and any updates related to each performance. You can always follow our schools on social media for the most up to date information.

Let’s close out the year Downey Strong!