Superintendent

Superintendent’s
Monthly Update
Poway Unified
School District
March 2006

Donald A. Phillips, Ed.D.
Superintendent

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Superintendent’s Message
Student Recognition
Staff Recognition
District Recognition
PUSD Safe Schools Website
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Jan/Feb 2006 Issue
Printable Version of this Message

The Importance of Mathematics for Students and their Families

Dear Parents and Community Members,

The Poway Unified School District is proud of the math achievement of its students. Fully 85% of this past year’s second graders were proficient on the state examination. This percentage is among the highest in the state. Our students who take the SAT had an average math reasoning score of 573, more than 50 points above the national average. In addition, only six of the more than 2,000 regular education students on track to graduate this June have not passed the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE), the state’s proficiency requirement to receive a diploma. These statistics point to high percentages of outstanding mathematical achievement among many of our students and general math competence for virtually all of our graduates.

The Poway Unified School District has been reviewing its math curriculum and offerings this year with the goal of providing even better mathematics instruction to our students. New staff development opportunities have been created for teachers. Additional teaching resources have been provided to elementary schools to support the building of basic computational skills among our students. At the secondary level, we have reviewed our course sequences, added courses to better meet the needs of our students while adjusting the math sequence, and implemented basic math skills support classes. Middle school administrators, their math department leaders, and members of our mathematics learning council met to build consistency in terms of instructional materials, common messages regarding math placement of students, and scope and sequence at our five different middle schools. The bottom line is we believe we are becoming more articulate about mathematics, and we hope the experiences of our students will be enhanced because of these efforts.

Parents - Five Places Where You Can Help

Model an Interest in Math – Not all parents love math or enjoyed their math experience in school. Yet, the fact remains that success in math is an excellent predictor of future academic and professional success. Yes, you can be successful without strong math skills, it’s just harder. (The same can be said about writing, but that’s another letter.) Every student in our district should be having math homework on a consistent basis. Spend the time to go over this material with your student. Just as your interest in your favorite sports team or your favorite TV show is not lost on your son or daughter, neither will your modeling an interest and respect for strong math ability go unnoticed.
Understand Your Students’ Test Scores – Every year in late August or early September, you receive your students’ California Standard Test (CST) scores. These scores, while not perfect measures, do indicate how your student is progressing in math. If your child scored at the “proficient” level in math on the CST, that’s very good; however, our goal is for more of our students to score at the “advanced” level on the CST. If your student is in middle school or high school and taking advanced or honors math classes, they should earn an advanced score on this test. If you find your child’s math skills are below the proficient level, talk to his/her teacher about ways to strengthen these skills. Every single one of our schools has intervention programs designed to help students with this profile. We need your strong advocacy and support to make our goal – every student proficient in mathematics – your goal for your student.
Take Math All Four Years of High School – When we have asked colleges for suggestions regarding college success, invariably the first suggestion they have for students is that they take a rigorous schedule of courses their senior year and that they should take math. At the same time, nearly a quarter of our seniors choose not to take math in the 12^th grade. Some students dislike math; others believe they don’t need math for college. Yet virtually every university has a math requirement to graduate or, in the case of community colleges, a math requirement to transfer to a four-year university. If students lack the basic math classes, they join the students who must take remedial non-credit bearing classes before they can move forward and complete their college required math courses. By not taking math during the senior year, students often forget many math concepts and applications, making it less likely they will meet the math proficiency score required at many colleges for entering freshmen. Unlike math courses taken in high school, remedial college classes are not free!
Understand How Math Competence Ties to College Success – College admission is very different from college success. Only 53.4% of students entering four-year colleges earned a B.A. after five years. Yes, there are students who flunk out of college because they fail to devote themselves to their studies, but many, many others simply lack the preparation to do college level work once they are admitted. Math study requires a perseverance, a discipline, and a willingness to fail and struggle through that is absent in many unsuccessful students’ lives. A willingness to work through adversity and academic discipline are precisely the same “habits of mind” researchers have found separate those students who succeed in college from those who do not.
Give the Gift of Math – A Great Present for Your Child – Is there anything that you would not give or do for your child? Yet there are few gifts, if any, greater in value than the academic skills they will need to be successful in life. The toys and X-boxes that our kids enjoy today will soon be outgrown or passed by other diversions. Yet, they only have one great opportunity to master the mathematical skills they will use for the rest of their lives. You can help give them this gift.

Warm regards,

Don Phillips
Superintendent

These are examples of the fine accomplishments occurring at our schools every day.

STUDENT RECOGNITION

The following 19 Poway Unified School District high school seniors are National Merit Scholarship finalists. These students are judged on college entrance exam scores, academic records, evidence of leadership, essays, and recommendations. Nearly one million entrants from more than 20,000 high schools in the United States entered the 2005-2006 National Merit Program by taking the 2004 PSAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test in their junior year, which served as an initial screening of program entrants.

Mt. Carmel High School

Girish Nanjundiah
Efan Wu

Poway High School

Christopher Adams
Michelle Diaz
Jason Jensen
Chris Moon
Alexandra Muir

Westview High School

Michelle Huang
Brian Lao
Katie Melchior

Rancho Bernardo High School

Elizabeth Chang
Liying Huang
Suneel Jain
Kevin Pratt
Hilary Sand
Claire Sampankanpanich
Brian Samuelsen
Grace Tsay
Stephen Wu

Poway High senior Chris Moon and Westview High senior Jonathan Inman have been named as candidates in the 2006 Presidential Scholars Program. The 2,600 candidates were selected from nearly 2.8 million students expected to graduate from U.S. high schools in the year 2006. Inclusion in the Presidential Scholars Program, now in its 42^nd year, is one of the highest honors bestowed upon graduating high school seniors. Scholars are selected on the basis of superior academic and artistic achievements, leadership qualities, strong character, and involvement in community and school activities.
The ACT (American College Testing) is a college entrance exam which assesses high school students' general educational development and their ability to complete college-level work. The multiple-choice tests cover four skill areas: English, mathematics, reading, and science. The Writing Test, which is optional, measures skill in planning and writing a short essay. Poway Unified students in grade 12 who scored 36, the highest possible score in an ACT subject area, include:

English

Jason Jensen, Poway High School

Aditi Joshi, Rancho Bernardo High School

Nam Tran, Rancho Bernardo High School

Mathematics

Timothy Chow, Rancho Bernardo High School

Science

Kevin He, Rancho Bernardo High School

Kevin Huang, Rancho Bernardo High School

Maya Siegel, Westview High School

Marshall Voit, Poway High School

Combined English/Writing

Nam Tran, Rancho Bernardo High School

Reading

Rachel Abbott, Poway High School

Jennifer Barr, Rancho Bernardo High School

Lauren Crosby, Rancho Bernardo High School

Paul Fiechtner, Rancho Bernardo High School

Angela Gaeto, Rancho Bernardo High School

Rebecca Harrington, Rancho Bernardo High School

Kevin He, Rancho Bernardo High School

Suneel Jain, Rancho Bernardo High School

Jason Jensen, Poway High School

Brian Samuelsen, Rancho Bernardo High School

Andrew Shu, Rancho Bernardo High School

Angelica Villicana, Rancho Bernardo High School

Stephen Wu, Rancho Bernardo High School

The 2006 Black History Quiz Bowl Competition sponsored by College Bound San Diego was held in February, with the five finalists earning cash prizes totaling $725.
Champions of the Quiz Bowl are:

First: Erica Duncan, grade 10, Mt. Carmel High School

Second: James Willis, grade 10, Westview High School

Third: Ashley Grisham, grade 10, Rancho Bernardo High School

Fourth: Alanah Grisham, grade 6, Meadowbrook Middle School

Fifth: Lena Vanda, grade 12, Mt. Carmel High School
Members of the California Band Director's Association All-State Honor Band include Bernardo Heights Middle School eighth grade students Nick Pasquale (bassoon), Yuto Ezure (alto sax), and Chris Burgess (tenor sax) and Black Mountain Middle School eighth grader Kenny Morris (trumpet).
Members of the Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association’s All-Southern California Honor Band include Bernardo Heights Middle School eighth grade students Bradley Davis (French horn), Kyle Friedrichs (trombone) and Matt Sumida (percussion) and Black Mountain Middle School eighth grade students Sarita Pulver (French horn) and Kenny Morris (trumpet). Doug Hargis, Black Mountain Middle School, is the only PUSD middle school director ever to have been selected by his peers to be the conductor of the All-Southern California Honor Band.
Middle school students from Poway Unified School District auditioned and qualified to participate in the California Music Educators Association-Southern Border Section 7^th Annual Honor Band.

Bernardo Heights Middle School

Chris Burgess (tenor sax), grade 8
Tyler Hager (trumpet), grade 8
Matt Sumida (percussion), grade 8

Black Mountain Middle School

Kevin Cardenas (French horn), grade 8
Denise Doan (French horn), grade 8
Kenny Morris (trumpet), grade 8
Aaron Woolley (trumpet), grade 6
Kayla Woolley (clarinet), grade 8

Meadowbrook Middle School

Charles Biernacki (French horn),
grade 7
Rex Cooper (tuba), grade 8
Ross Deason (tenor sax), grade 8
Tim Evans (tuba - 1^st chair), grade 8
David Fan (alto sax), grade 8
Olivia Hsu (flute), grade 7
Eric Hwang (tuba), grade 8
Ben Jacobson (euphonium 1^st chair), grade 7
Morgan Kluth (French horn), grade 8
Alex Lange (French horn), grade 8
Nicole Reyes (bassoon), grade 8
Jared Servantez (clarinet), grade 8

Oak Valley Middle School

Minkyung Kim (flute), grade 8
Jay Tumolva (alto sax), grade 8

Mesa Verde Middle School

Felicia Alvarez (alto sax), grade 8
Nichole Barba (bassoon), grade 7
Hedda Bates (flute), grade 7
Brice Burton (percussion), grade 7
Lucy Chen (clarinet), grade 7
Edward Fletcher (alto sax), grade 8
Rose Hill (flute), grade 8
Laura Hord (flue), grade 7
Kiersten Iwai (clarinet), grade 8
Kaelyn Gima (trombone), grade 7
Aaron Gragg (tuba), grade 8
Matthew Kessler (trumpet), grade 7
Katie Knepper (clarinet), grade 8
Casey Lee (clarinet), grade 8
Ryan B. Lee (trombone), grade 6
Dominic Lucisano (baritone), grade 7
Jason Nagata (trumpet), grade 8
Christian Nguyen (alto sax), grade 8
Tori Occiano (flute), grade 7
Da'Neil Olsen (tenor sax), grade 6
Matt Olson (trumpet), grade 8
Kyle Plutchak (trumpet), grade 8
Joanna Rew (bass clarinet), grade 8
Katie Rigby (clarinet), grade 8
Alex Robbins (percussion), grade 8
Justin Satnick (clarinet), grade 7
Eileen Shi (clarinet), grade 8
Keith Skoglund (bari sax), grade 6
Rachel Trumbore (trombone), grade 6
Alyssa Wheelock (clarinet), grade 8
Charles Whitaker (tenor sax), grade 8
Bill Wuehrmann (percussion), grade 8
Lara Xavier (oboe), grade 8

The Oak Valley Middle School Dance Team won first place in the junior high school division of the United Spirit Association Regional Dance Competition on February 4, 2006, in Orange County. The members of dance team are Liz Caramante (grade 7), Rachel Cheng (grade 8), Juliet Elwood (grade 6), Veronica Gough (grade 6), Kristine Krause (grade 7), Shannon Molla (grade 7), Catalina Petersen (grade 8), Marissa Tindall (grade 8), and Bekah Weatherington (grade 7).
The Rancho Bernardo High School Competition Dance Team, Tour de Force, competed at the USA regionals for Southern California teams held at San Pasqual High School. Tour de Force earned first place in the small team division. The members of the dance team are Courtney Alexander (grade 11), Kristin Burbach (grade 9), Michelle Fortier (grade 12), Jillian Jennings (grade 11), Victoria Mahdion (grade 10), Emily Pravlis (grade 11), Courtney Reed (grade 10), McKenzie Ryan (grade 10), and Cassie Sopher-Setilli (grade 10). The Co-Captains are Michelle Fortier and Jillian Jennings. Karen Zinser is the team advisor.
Rancho Bernardo High School junior Jillian Jennings, the RBHS Dance Team Co-Captain, placed second overall in the solo division. More than 40 soloists competed for the solo title. Jillian was recently accepted to attend the 10-day National Student Leadership Conference in Washington, DC, this summer.
Twenty-one San Diego area schools participated in the Mathcounts® competition on February 11. Mathcounts® is a national math enrichment, coaching, and competition program that promotes middle school mathematics achievement. Mesa Verde Middle School students who participated are Christine Li (grade 6), Neil Garde (grade 7), Nina Zhu (grade 7), and eighth graders Tony Casciato, Charles Chen, Noah Horton, Mark Mann, and Karl Yang. Charles Chen earned fourth place in the Countdown Round out of more than 120 students, plus he placed third in the individual competition and will be advancing to the state competition in May.

STAFF RECOGNITION

Tim Purvis, Director of Transportation, was featured in publications being distributed throughout North America. Poway Unified’s success in showing very competitive operation data with natural gas vehicles has resulted in interest from municipal bus fleets in Boston, New York, Atlanta, and Montreal. Articles include, “Natural Gas Vehicles Get High Marks,” and “New Federal Incentives Improve NGV’s Economic Edge”.

Poway Unified School District employees Kim Lundgren Pigorsch, elementary music teacher; Nancy Vogel, special education instructional aide; and Teri Wyness, Extended Student Services; were selected for the Boy Scouts Silver Beaver Awards at their annual dinner February 10.
Molly Schaeffer, Student Systems Supervisor, has been selected by the California Department of Education to serve as the California Local Education Agency (LEA) forum member, representing all California LEA’s. The Forum is an arena where federal and state education representatives and others in the education community discuss issues, address problems, and develop new approaches to create a truly efficient and cooperative elementary and secondary statistics system.
Extended Student Services supervisors Donnie Kirchmeier (Pomerado) and Brigit Fowler (Creekside) along with Lisa Danzer, Pomerado principal, and special day class teacher Pam Keyser will present at the Kids Included Together Conference on March 23 in San Diego. The team will be presenting as a panel to share their collaborative efforts to provide afterschool programs to children with special needs. The session, Not Because We Have to...But Because We Care, will be presented by Extended Student Services.
John Collins, Deputy Superintendent, has been appointed to serve on the California School Boards Association’s School Facilities: Construction Management Task Force. The Task Force will explore the board’s role and responsibilities with respect to appropriate oversightand monitoring.

DISTRICT RECOGNITION

Poway Unified School District received an "Award of Excellence" for the design of Del Sur Elementary School at the annual Coalition for Adequate School Housing (C.A.S.H) Conference held February 21-23 in Sacramento. Only three awards of excellence, the highest award category, were presented for the 109 projects submitted. The award was accepted on behalf of the District by Doug Mann, Executive Director of Facilities, and Sandi Burgoyne, Director of Planning. The architect is NTDStichler. All staff, student, and community members who participated in the "esquisse" process that shaped the design of Del Sur are to be commended for their contribution.

Several PUSD schools were selected as a Cool School by the San Diego County Office of Education in partnership with KFMB Local 8 News to recognize schools that engage students in unique ways and that build public confidence in education. The sites chosen include:

Abraxas High School

Painted Rock Elementary School

Los Peñasquitos Elementary School for the No Excuses University

The San Diego Food Bank recognized schools for collecting food during their annual Holiday Food Drive. Silver Spoon Awards were given to sites for donating more than 2,500 pounds of food and Bronze Fork Awards for collecting more than 1,000 pounds of food.

Silver Spoon Awards:

Rancho Bernardo High School
Westview High School

Bronze Fork Awards:
Sunset Hills Elementary School
Bernardo Heights Middle School
Mt. Carmel High School
Poway High School

More than 1500 students from middle and high schools throughout San Diego County participated in the 22^nd Annual Regional Science Olympiad on February 4. The following schools placed in the competition:

High School Division:

Mt. Carmel High School, Second Place
Rancho Bernardo High School, Fifth Place
Westview High School, Seventh Place

Middle School Division:

Black Mountain Middle School, First Place*

Mesa Verde Middle School, Fifth Place

Oak Valley Middle School, Eighth Place**

Meadowbrook Middle School,
Ninth Place

*Black Mountain Middle School finished first for the ninth consecutive year.

**Oak Valley Middle School finished eighth, the best showing ever for a new school.

Outstanding members of our schools and community were recognized at the Ninth District PTA Founders Day Brunch on February 15.

Keith Koelzer, Rancho Bernard High School math teacher, was acknowledged as one of the San Diego County Teachers of the Year.
Ninth District Honorary Service Award Recipients were Linda Cialeo, and Lorene Joosten for their tireless efforts in advocating for our children statewide.
Adobe Bluffs Elementary PTA was recognized for writing for and receiving a mini-grant of $425.

Poway Unified School District received recognition as ne of the Top Ten School Websites in the Nation from WantToTeach.com. The criteria for selecting the winners included functionality (useful information and ease of access), design (a sharp design designating a sense of pride in one’s school), imagination, and timeliness. Andrea Barnes, PUSD webmaster, designs and maintains Poway Unified’s website and Sharon Raffer, Director of Communications, is the website editor. From the district’s homepage, many web pages are maintained and updated by school site and department webmasters and supported by PUSD’s technology department. All staff who contribute to the website are also commended for this recognition.