PLACENTIA-YORBA LINDA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT’S COMMUNITY ADVISORY COUNCIL

Monday, April 30, 2018 10:00 a.m. District Education Center Board Room

WELCOME The meeting was called to order at 10:05 a.m. by Deputy Superintendent Candy Plahy. Mrs. Plahy asked the representatives to take a few minutes to reflect and share with their table mates what was the best thing, in their opinion, that happened this year.

ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES The minutes of the March 5, 2018 meeting were accepted as submitted.

GOOD NEWS REPORTS Board of Education Trustee Judi Carmona encouraged the representatives to attend the area music concerts for elementary, middle and high school feeder schools this month, as these are evenings filled with fantastic music performed by our students.

Bryant Ranch Elementary students from the Little Diggers Garden Club started a farmers market on Fridays after school. The harvest includes beautiful flowers and vegetables grown organically and without toxic pesticides.

Fourth grade students simulated the Gold Rush and a journey to . Bryant Ranch celebrated three wonderful student performances of Seussical the Musical partnering with McCoy Rigby Conservatory of the Arts. Students are working hard to finish up a great year at Bryant Ranch!

Community Advisory Council – Kathleen Callahan reminded representatives of the opportunity parents have to nominate a Special Education teacher of the year. Click here for nomination forms: CAC_form_English.pdf CAC_form_Spanish.pdf

In addition, at the next meeting the council will be electing new board members.

Esperanza High School shares that three hydration stations have been installed. The Anatomage table was revealed during the month of April. The table allows students in the Medical Sciences Academy to go beyond the textbooks and animal dissections of years past and learn about anatomy on a virtual cadaver.

In April, 33 Jazz Band students boarded a bus bound for Reno to participate in the Reno Jazz Festival, which features top professional and student musicians across the nation and is one of the finest jazz festivals in the world. Thank you to Brad Davis for continually providing these amazing opportunities to Esperanza’s amazingly talented musicians!

Pitsco Education wrote an article featuring Esperanza’s ABC Teacher Pathway, highlighting a Glenview teacher and her teacher-in-training, Esperanza student Jenna Varner. The teacher Jenna works with was actually her teacher at Glenview in 4th and 5th grade.

The Esperanza Medical Sciences Academy HOSA Chapter successfully competed at the California State Leadership Conference in April. This year Val Easton, Tyler Rex, Frank Perez and Laura Evans took 38 HOSA students to the Anaheim Convention Center, where there were 3,500 attendees from 140 schools, excited to compete in medically-related events. EHS students moved on to round two for all events they competed in. State finalists included Maddy Galvin (Bronze Medal in Medical Math), Priya Patel, Ayesha Shah, Claire Lee and Marianne Hanouneh (4th place finalist in Community Awareness), Maddy Galvin, Emilee Carr, Angel Castro and Dakota Becerra (5th place finalist in Biomedical Debate). Maddy Galvin (Bronze medalist) will be competing at the International Leadership Conference (ILC), which will be held in Dallas,Texas in June. There will be over 10,000 attendees at ILC from every state to compete in over 50 medical-related events. Congratulations to all the finalists and their amazing teachers/advisors!

In his fifth year as Esperanza’s head wrestling coach, Christian Holiday has been named Orange County Coach of the Year. This year, the Aztecs won a CIF championship in addition to the national championship won by sophomore Aaron Nagao. Christian and his staff have done an outstanding job of building a world-class program at EHS. He is a student-first kind of coach and cares deeply about his athletes. Esperanza is fortunate to have him on board.

EHS physics and chemistry teacher Matthew Emrick was recently published in the Journal of Chemical Education published by the American Chemical Society for research entitled “An Integrated, Multipart Experiment: Synthesis, Characterization, and Application of CdS and CdSe Quantum Dots as Sensitizers in Solar Cells.” Congratulations to Matthew; EHS is lucky to have him!

Kevin Kowalski has a very successful pottery business and a huge social media following for his work. He has been included in several national shows and has taught over ten workshops. His pieces are amazing!

Fairmont Elementary sixth grade students spent the week learning science in the outdoors at Emerald Cove in Running Springs, California. Students learned science and also how to be part of a great learning community at camp.

All students and teachers in grades PK - 6 treated parents to an amazing evening of wonderful student work at Open House. Students in fourth grade presented a living history museum, and students in fifth grade gave a state float parade. Lots of imaginative work showing the year’s learning was on display.

Students and their parents enjoyed an evening with the arts. Students’ entries in the Reflections Art contest were recognized, their artwork was showcased and everyone enjoyed refreshments during this wonderful evening organized by PTA Reflections Chairperson, Wendy Reichenthal.

Mothers and students enjoyed muffins, juice and conversations with each other during muffins with moms. PTA turned Fairmont’s blue lunch tables into Pinterest-worthy party tables. Everyone had a lovely time.

Families enjoyed dinner and the movie Coco once the sun went down one Friday evening. Many families spread blankets and lawn chairs in front of an inflatable movie screen and had a wonderful time watching a family movie.

Kraemer Middle School 7th and 8th grade students attended a PTA-sponsored field trip to Long Beach State University. During the field trip they took a tour of the campus, participated in a scavenger hunt, and learned about college life.

Students from Kraemer’s elementary feeder schools visited and watched the color guard, dance team, and orchestra showcase their talents.

Kraemer’s Science Olympiad team finished second in the Southern California State finals. During spring break, ASB leaders attended the California Association of Student Leaders Conference, where they attended workshops, listened to speakers, and presented to other middle school leaders.

Kraemer is looking forward to the school dance, PTA fundraiser night at Jersey Mike’s, and Distinguished School night.

Linda Vista Elementary had a successful book fair and well attended Open House which showcased student artwork and projects. The school carnival was also lots of fun, had tons of prizes, and was very well attended.

Earth Day was celebrated by students creating “trash to treasure” projects, and a color recycle program where dry markers were turned into fuel.

Fifth grade students spent the day participating in over 10 different stations ranging from candle making, butter churning, writing with a feather, making corn husk dolls, tinsmithing, soap whittling and more at the Colonial Day celebration. Students, staff and parents all joined in the fun by dressing up as colonial citizens.

Linda Vista is looking forward to celebrating Teacher and Staff Appreciation week with lots of fun treats for teachers and staff.

The formal dance to be held in May will have a Willy Wonka theme. To kick off the sale of the tickets, the committee sold “Willy Wonka Bars” to students before school. Four bars had “golden tickets” which allowed the lucky winners a free ticket to the dance.

Students who “try out” for the variety show will entertain the school with their one minute performance and a large group of 5th graders will lip sync as a farewell performance.

During LVKN (Linda Vista Kids Network), Principal Mrs. Petrovacki reads aloud the PAWS reports that are written by the students. It is a simple reward to recognize individuals for doing something special or kind. It started off with 1-2 a day and now it is up to 5+ a day and growing.

When students enter the Linda Vista campus before school each day they are greeted with upbeat music, and their fellow students and teachers engage in a group walk around the blacktop area. It is not only a great way to start the day with a little exercise, but it is a fun way to socialize and wake up. Typically parents will even join in on the fun.

Students are encouraged to share acts of kindness observed around campus on the Kindness Board. A student from each grade level is featured on the Kindness Board in the front office for all to see.

One of the 3rd grade teachers (Mrs. Hall) took on a totally new approach to learning this year. She completely overhauled her room and created three different learning spaces to include standing desks, floor desks and regular desks. Students have a choice of seating or using pillows or cushions. A few other teachers made additions too. Students are enjoying couches, wobbly chairs, cushions, pillows, bean bags, big comfy chairs and more in their classrooms. Alternative seating promotes reading and students feel more comfortable in their learning environment, allowing them to be more open to paying attention and growing.

Mabel Paine second graders had a Butterfly Garden in each of their classrooms. Students were able to watch caterpillars work their magic in creating beautiful butterflies and were extremely excited to watch the butterflies emerge, dry out their wings, and fly!

Continuing with new beginnings, Mabel Paine has a new tradition started by a couple of fifth grade students during their “genius hour” projects. The two newcomers to the school came up with the idea of having "New Mustang Student Ambassadors". New students will be given a personal tour by a Mabel Paine Student Ambassador. The ambassador will show them their classroom (their desk, teacher, where to get supplies), restrooms (appropriate for their grade level), lunch tables (specific area for their class), the MPR, their playground (including rules), main and health offices, as well as drop off and pick up valet lines and parking area. During recess, the ambassadors will introduce the new students to small groups of kids in their class and will sit with the student during the beginning of recess. At the end of the day, the new students will be met at the office and the ambassador will escort the new students to the car valet line or through the MPR for pick up. The ambassadors have already provided tours and have helped new students feel welcomed at Mabel Paine.

Last but not least, they had a record-breaking Buy One, Get One Free Book Fair. Students are stocked up on reading materials for the summer!

PTA Council attended the PTA convention and reports that the only resolution passed was to support stabilized funding for education.

PTA installation dinner will be held in May at Alta Vista Country Club.

R.E.A.C.H. Foundation has finished up the year with another successful Shamrock 'n Run, with over 1300 registered runners - by far the largest run to date. The schools with the most registrants were Bernardo Yorba Middle (1st place) with 305; Glenknoll Elementary (2nd place) with 113; and (3rd place) with 60. These schools received a $5 rebate from each registration which goes right back into the athletics programs in their schools. With over $5000 raised, net proceeds helped sponsor the district-wide Middle School Track meet with over 350 student participants. This year the Middle School Track meet was held on March 28. Throughout the year R.E.A.C.H. also sponsored over 20 elementary school jog-a-thons with s $200 sponsorship donation to each.

In April, the district-wide Spelling Bee was held for all eligible 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students. Over 110 students participated. The Foundation thanks the generous sponsors, Placentia Rotary and Yorba Linda Sunrise Rotary, for their continued support of this exciting event. R.E.A.C.H. also recognizes the great work that the Yorba Linda High School Commercial Art class, under the direction of Mrs. Kelly Fritz, accomplished in printing the Spelling Bee T-shirts!

They ended on a great high note with the 23rd Annual ARTWORKS!, a showcase held from April 18-26th, of student art from Preppy K to 12th grade!

More information on all R.E.A.C.H. Events can be found at www.reach4pylusd.org

Rio Vista Elementary updated their PBIS store with new items for students to purchase with PBIS points. New recess activities include board games, hula hoops, badminton, and croquet. 50 new lunch tables were installed at Rio Vista.

Rio Vista celebrates the successful completion of part one of the Love & Logic parent engagement classes. Part two is currently underway.

The PTA has elected a new board for the 2018-2019 school year.

Six teachers and one administrator attended the Computer Using Educators (CUE) conference.

Tuffree Middle School had over 60 students voluntarily take the Nixon Library Geography Test, with 18 perfect or near perfect scores. These students were honored at the Nixon Library in April.

Tuffree had a fun talent show involving about 50 students displaying some wonderful talent; even teachers got involved!

Tuffree has 20 students participating in the AppJam+ program two times a week after school. The big showcase will be at the District Performing Arts Center next month.

Last month, Tuffree jazz bands performed at all the feeder elementary schools for the purpose of recruiting and exposing elementary students to music options.

TMS Falcon Films Studio has recently been set up with all new equipment and is experimenting with it.

Tuffree Middle School celebrates their 50th Anniversary next year. The date has been set for a celebration on Wednesday, November 7th, 2018.

Tynes Elementary staff hosted the annual Volunteer Appreciation Tea in April. There were many volunteers invited to this wonderful gathering. Principal Dr. Silverman gave a beautiful welcome and speech of gratitude, followed by a potluck breakfast made by the staff.

Tynes just received the results of their annual site survey. The results were very positive and encouraging. Students, staff, and parents rated Tynes in the 90th percentile in most areas. Students have been working on preparations for state testing by using technology every day to strengthen their skills.

Tynes wishes the best of luck to their two Science Olympiad teams as they compete and represent the school at the 2018 Orange County Regional Elementary Science Olympiad in May.

Valencia High School congratulates the Speech and Debate club on a commanding performance at Orange County Speech State Qualifiers. In Impromptu, the largest event in the tournament, Senior Akshat Donti narrowly missed advancing to elimination rounds, but still finished as one of the top speakers in the tournament. Freshman Jacqueline Duong advanced to the semifinal round, finishing as the twelfth overall speaker in the competition. Junior Jay Kim advanced to the final round of the tournament, finishing second overall in the competition. Senior Ethan Thio also advanced to the final round of the tournament, finishing first overall and claiming the title of 2018 Orange County League Champion for the third

consecutive year. Ethan Thio's three-year, undefeated run makes him one of the longest tenured champions in league history. And, after his performance last week, Ethan finishes with two league titles in both speech and debate events, and is one of the few double champions in league history.

Brent Shenton and Brady Bilhartz lead the Chemistry Olympiad team to first place. A total of 39 Orange County schools competed this year and the team from Valencia finished first. This is the fourth first-place finish in the past eight years!

Team members are: Aayush Somani Jiwon Jeong Chanson Zhao Ishaan Shah Paige Harakuni

Congratulations to the Drama students who placed in the top ten out of 65 schools at the festival:  Group Comedy play Sylvia: Jordan Dominguez Torres, Diana Rodriguez, and Brooke Yanek, directed by Sheyenne Perez  Comedic monologue from Brighton Beach Memoirs: James Holmgren  3rd place out of 125 entries Serious monologue from Lot’s Daughters: Ana Nguyen

Congratulations to the VHS Concert Band and Symphonic Band for receiving unanimous “superior” ratings from all of the judges and an “excellent” rating for the Wind Ensemble at the District Band Festival.

Valencia High School coordinated an engaging week of Bullying Prevention activities in March. Both the student and staff-led activities were focused on improving school safety and supporting students’ social and emotional health. Following is a list of activities students enjoyed:  Humans of Valencia Lunch Rally  Bullying Video / Anti-Bullying Pledge signed by students  Teen Anxiety and Depression Parent Workshop  Anti-bullying Chalk Art Contest  Anti-bullying Tiger Tube episode and assembly

ASB also ran a corresponding Spirit Week with the following dress up days:  Keep your Head Up (Hat Day)  Be a Hero, Save Lives by Being Kind (Superhero Day)  Play as a Team (Athletic Jersey Day)  Dress for Success, You Matter (College Day)  VHS is Where you Belong (Blue and Gold Friday)

Valencia congratulates Ricky Castillo for being ranked #1 junior golfer in the nation! Ricky is a junior and has long been committed to playing for Florida on a golf scholarship.

Valencia High School fielded two teams to play in the inaugural season of the Orange County High School Esports League. The VHS Blue team, managed by Dwight Osborne, finished the eight-week regular season in 23rd place out of 38 teams. The VHS Gold team, managed by Jason Parker, finished the season in 3rd place. The VHS Gold team, led by Steven Vo, Armaan Uppal, Nick Tang, Parker Poole, and Christian Le, qualified for the eight-team playoffs at the Esports Arena in Santa Ana. They won their first round match against Edison High School and then played Sunny Hills High School in the Quarterfinals, where they lost

the three-game match in heartbreaking fashion. The team will be playing in the PYLUSD Esports tournament in May at the Esports Arena in Santa Ana.

Woodsboro Elementary held an AVID Science and Engineering Night in April with about 90 students attending with their parents, applying AVID skills to Science and Engineering Challenges. Hexbug Nano habitats, mousetrap racers, and tower building were all the rage at Woodsboro’s first AVID Science and Engineering Night. Students from Preppy K to 6th grade came together with parents and teachers to learn about AVID collaboration and inquiry strategies. Enthusiastic students worked collaboratively to tackle fun engineering and design projects. Teachers Michelle Grimsley, Tracy Chung, Gayane Keshishian, Rachel Friedrichs, and Lynn Strohmenger, challenged students to think outside the box and to be super teammates. AVID’s growth mindset was evident in the amazing designs created by these young engineers. Thanks to Woodsboro's AVID Coach, Jodie Hawkins for coordinating this fun night with an academic focus.

Staff held a successful Saturday Institute in March with 80 students in attendance. Students worked on Woodsboro World articles for the online newspaper and played structured games for physical education.

Yorba Linda High School congratulates the following outstanding students in the Class of 2018:  Melody Tang – Valedictorian  Minh-Khoi Tran and Shawyun Foroushani – Class Salutatorians These students were selected from the class of 450 seniors for the number of A’s, Honors, and Advanced Placement classes, a-g course completions and willingness to take classes outside the normal six-period day.

The Board of Education recognized the following students with certificates and PYLUSD Challenge coins:  Nicholas Franklyn – 1st place at the Chapman University Holocaust Art and Writing Contest, with teachers Rich Cadra and Sarah Shay attending the recognition  Jacqueline Pronk, William Russell, and Sydney Baugh with teacher/advisor Kelly Buchan – Orange County Academic Decathlon 1st place winners  Melody Tang and Shawyun Foroushani – National Merit Finalists  Matthew Liao – National Merit Hispanic Recognition  Mikayla Buscaino, Ian Dembek, and Melody Tang – Outstanding High School Seniors for YLHS

YLHS congratulates the following Future Business Leaders of America for their participation in the State Leadership Conference:  Rachel Allsup and Sydnie Chin – 3rd place Digital Video Production  Wayne Chan – 1st place Impromptu Speaking  Sarah Chen, Janet Han, and Alice Ding – 3rd place Introduction to Business Presentation  Dylan Shih – 3rd place Introduction to Financial Math In addition, Emily Remer was inducted as an FBLA State Officer representing the Southern Section of FBLA. Emily will be leading the Southern Section in the 2018-2019 school year as President. Southern Section of FBLA has over 40 high school chapters. Appreciation goes to teacher/advisor Samiya Hai for helping coordinate the YLHS FBLA program. Next step is Nationals in Baltimore, Maryland.

Alexandra Lee was the Directing and Editing Artist of the Year. Her storytelling is courageous and her work with actors is well done. As a performer, she knows how to encourage fellow actors to give performances that serve her filmmaking. She is not just a filmmaker; the 18-

year-old senior from YLHS also played the leading role in a film she wrote and directed, Inside of Hope, which is a moving semi-autobiographical story about a teenage girl who struggles with an eating disorder.

Yorba Linda Middle School ASB is planning a dance for all of the moderate to severe special education middle school students in the entire district in May, to be held at the Tommy Lasorda Field House. Thanks to a generous donation from a business owner in Fullerton, all the pizza and drinks will be provided for the event. They are planning music (lowered volume), wheelchair accessible games, face painting, a photo booth, and a sensory corner.

SUPERINTENDENT’S UPDATES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Dr. Plutko expressed appreciation to the group and shared the following sentiments with them:

As I listen to what some districts are wrestling with, I am so thankful for the good things we do at PYL. Following the tragic shooting in Florida, we have two committees forming to look at our district safety. Six to seven weeks after the shooting was the most challenging, as we tried to balance concern with preparation. We need to match culture, history and tradition in looking at our campus safety. Recently we had two companies give presentations on front office check-in systems to a stakeholder group.

We have accomplished so many amazing things this year. Our students reacted to the national movement on April 20 with thoughtful, measured, respectful thinking. Our level of civil disobedience was respectful and properly handled. Staff was prepared for any situation, and we are thankful that our students made good choices in allowing their voices to be heard.

In regards to the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP), Dr. Plutko thanked Mrs. Plahy for her leadership. According to the County, our LCAP is at the highest level.

As tight as funding is in the state, three years out we are going to have to make some difficult fiscal decisions. Planning our budget is challenging, not knowing how much money we will receive. We need to be future-ready, maintain and grow. In order to help us figure out different ways to provide the best education and make the best decisions for our students, the District has a consultant performing analytics. In addition, we are watching the bills in the Legislature, and we appreciate PTA’s support in asking for stabilized funding of education.

CARDIAC SCREENINGS Executive Director of Instructional Support, Richard McAlindin, shared that Heartfelt Cardiac Projects is offering discounted echocardiogram and electrocardiogram screenings to PYLUSD students/athletes and families. These screenings typically cost $1,500 and are usually not covered by insurance. Heartfelt Cardiac Projects is partnering with the Shauna Ann Stuewe Foundation to offer these screenings for a donation of $85 per person. In addition, the first 50 students/athletes to sign up will receive their screening for a donation of only $35. In the past, PYLUSD has had a significant number of families who found out there was a problem with their child’s heart they were previously not aware of. Click here for the information flyers: Cardiac Screening VALENCIA HS 2018 Screening Flyer.pdf Cardiac Screening YLHS 2018 Screening Flyer.pdf

CHAPMAN HOLOCAUST ART AND WRITING CONTEST Public and Media Relations Specialist, Alyssa Griffiths treated the group to a viewing of two winning films from the Chapman Holocaust Art and Writing Contest. This year’s theme was

“Messenger of Memory”. PYLUSD had many finalists, with two first place winners in the categories of middle and high school film. Yoosung Jung, an 8th grade student at Yorba Linda Middle School produced the winning film Identity. Yoosung’s teacher is Cameron Castaneda. First place winner of the high school film category was Nicholas Franklyn, a 12th grade student at Yorba Linda High School, who produced the film Not Forgotten. Nicholas’ teacher is Richard Cadra.

Again this year, all PYLUSD middle and high schools participated in the contest. Congratulations to all of the PYLUSD students who submitted entries!

FUTURE READY PRESENTATION Director of K-12 Innovation and Technology, Cary Johnson, gave a presentation regarding PYLUSD Future Ready. This is a focus on academic knowledge, critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity, digital citizenship, and technical skills. Programs that support this focus include Advanced Placement, CareerLink Academies, Google Summit for teachers and classified staff, and Appjam+. PYLUSD is proud to have these programs in place to support our students and staff in being future ready.

LCAP UPDATE Candy Plahy shared that the District is in the 2nd year of the LCAP 3-year plan. Input of stakeholders from town hall meetings was helpful in developing the plan. All groups indicated that we need to focus on wellness, specifically in the areas of depression and anxiety. One of the actions in the LCAP calls for setting aside funding resources for wellness. A wellness team will be looking at our plan and prioritizing what we are doing well, where we can improve, and where to put our resources. The wellness team will consist of a core team of mental health clinicians, psychologists, and other staff who will bring recommendations to the Board.

Regarding the LCAP, please feel free to give input as you would like. You may request a hardcopy if you wish by contacting Educational Services.

. ITEMS FROM THE FLOOR Representatives raised several questions from the floor regarding:  Height of swings at George Key  Implementation of sex education curriculum as a result of the California Healthy Youth Act  Mental Health Awareness Team  Dress code standards

ADJOURNMENT Dr. Plutko thanked the representatives for their input and their time this year. As the Board of Education representative to the group, Judi Carmona thanked the group and reminded them that PYLUSD is successful because of three top components working in concert: 1) administrative staff, 2) teaching staff, and 3) parents.

The next meeting is scheduled for fall, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. in the District Board room.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:32 a.m.