#WeAreASJUSD Newsletter November 2024

Dear Parents,

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving holiday break. This month please review this newsletter as I feature a few items of celebration, a look back at some important events, what is coming up and some key reminders.

Sincerely,
    Barbara Dill-Varga, Ed.D
     Superintendent, Aromas-San Juan Bautista USD

Celebration!

Measure D

Measure D Passes!

Thank you to all who voted in support of MEASURE D!  We will officially announce results at our next Board meeting, but I am confident in saying that we secured enough votes for its passage.  Passing this bond secures our future plans that will

  1. Provide funding to complete the plans for San Juan School;

  2. Address maintenance and renovation needs at Aromas and Anzar;

  3. Provide resources for innovative solutions that advance student learning and opportunities at Aromas and Anzar as we continue to build a future focused school system! 

Arts Integration Flipbook

Arts Integration at ASJUSD!

We are excited to have Mrs. Sarah Honeyhume as our TK-8th Grade Visual and Performing Arts Teacher on Special Assignment at Aromas-San Juan Unified. Mrs. Honeyhume has been working with our elementary and middle school teachers on integrating arts into their content learning areas. Check out the Flip Book to see the amazing work the students produced in the fall semester!

The Flip Book features a few of the projects from a variety of grade levels and subject areas.

Why Anzar?

Why ANZAR? (the 4th in a series to appear in the Parent Newsletter, containing information about our flagship school)

Intersession - January Explorations

INTERSESSION is another long standing signature program at Anzar High School. Every January, we offer students a unique opportunity to take mini-courses taught by staff at Anzar.  These courses reflect staff areas of passion and student interest and cover a range of topics. Everything from “Wilderness Survival” to “Introduction to German” is offered during a two week period of time in January. The course selection features opportunities to develop leadership skills and often include opportunities for service learning, one of Anzar’s important tenets.  Intersession is also a wonderful bridge between the Winter Holiday and the beginning of second semester as everyone transitions back to school. Students receive three credit hours for completing Intersession. There are very few schools that offer this type of innovative programming.  It is one more reason why Anzar High should rank high on the list of secondary options in the county!

 This year’s list of courses can be found at this link.

US News Best High School

Looking Back....

Absences Add Up

Chronic Absenteeism

We continue to work on reducing chronic absenteeism. We know that when students are in attendance, their student achievement increases. To date this year, our efforts have paid off as we have accomplished the following milestones:

Attendance Rates as of 11.24.2024

  • Anzar:  95.11%

  • Aromas 95.23%

  • San Juan 94.58%

Coming Up....

Learning Spaces Classroom Renovations Continue

Last Winter break, we transformed 9 classroom spaces and our professional development Studio into more flexible spaces to meet current instructional needs.  This coming winter break we will continue renovating a total of 4 classrooms: two at Anzar and two at Aromas. We are using the results of the pilot we ran last year to inform decisions about these four new projects.  We are currently looking to identify another cohort of classes to renovate during next summer. 

When we return this January, however, students will find new classroom spaces as follows:

  • Aromas - Mrs. Jeannette Taylor’s 5th grade classroom; Mrs. Mantega’s 3rd grade classroom

  • Anzar - Mrs. Hoggatt’s English classroom, Mrs. Smith’s English classroom.


Dolly Parton Imagination Library

County western singer Dolly Parton is a celebrity who cares about literacy. Her foundation, the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, supports sending a book a month to children ages 0 to 5.  By the time a Child turns 6, they will have a library of 60 curated books appropriate to their level!  Imagine that! 

San Benito County Office of Education is working with United Way to take care of the part of the funding Dolly requires the local community to supply. Each elementary school will have forms you can fill out and return to take part in the program. Or you can access them here at the links below. We have worked with the county so that all of our students – even those who live in Monterey County or Santa Cruz county– may participate. If you reside in one of those two counties, please return your completed forms to our district office or your school site office and we will get your entered into the database.

Dolly Parton Imagination Library

ASJUSD Strategic Planning

Now that the Bond has passed and resources are secured for the future, it is time for a gathering of all stakeholders to express their hopes and future dreams for our school district.

Every year the Board works with Fred Van Vleck from The National Center for Executive Leadership and School Board Development during their Board Retreat. This year’s retreat is in early March.  The Board is interested in securing Fred and his team to lead us through a Strategic Planning 3-Day event on March 20, 21, and 22.  This will help us solidify mission and vision and outline next steps important to take as we reclaim our status as a destination district. 

Please watch for an invitation to take part in this process.  We will need parents, community members, employee groups, administrators, board members, and students to be part of the process. It is likely that the Board will meet on the third day (March 22)  and other participants either on March 20 or 21.  If  you are interested, please make a note on  your calendar and watch for future information! This strategic plan will inform decisions and priorities for the next 5 or more years.

School Board Meeting

December 18th Board Meeting

This is our annual Reorganizational Meeting of the Board and also this year a time to recognize the service of two departing board members and the seating of three newly elected board members!

  • We thank Trustee Dan Kerbs and Monica Martinez-Guaracha for their many years of service to our district! 

  • Jessie O’Malley Solis and Jennifer Clayton will be joining us; Casey Powers was reelected to her seat.  

We are excited to continue the good work and direction the Board has set forth! 

Reminders!

Winter Break Reminder: 

Students are on winter break starting Monday December 23. Students return to school on Tuesday, January 14, 2025. January 13, 2025 is a professional development day for all teachers. The District office will be closed the week of December 23, 2024 as well as December 31 and January 1, 2025. 

Important Dates:

  • Next Regular Board Meeting is December 18th, 2024 at 7PM in Anzar Library.