CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR 2024
Natomas High School’s Roberta Silva Named Classified Employee of the Year
Congratulations to Roberta Silva, Secretary II, at Natomas High School for being named the Classified Employee of the Year! Earlier today (Friday, January 19th), school district leaders surprised Silva at her desk with flowers, balloons, and smiles. Superintendent Dr. Robyn Castillo also shared some of the encouraging messages Silva’s co-workers wrote about her on why she should be named the 2024 Classified Employee of the Year such as:
- “Roberta does EVERYTHING for NHS and the front office. She works so hard!”
- “Roberta is overall a great person to work with.”
- “She is amazing. She is wildly competent in her job. She is kind and funny and brings life to the office.”
Silva will now represent our district in Sacramento County Office of Education’s Classified Employee of the Year.
Students Reflect on Martin Luther King Jr.’s Legacy on News10
Excellence, justice, and empowerment are three topics that came to mind for Inderkum High School students when asked about Martin Luther King Junior’s legacy. The school’s Black Student Union was featured in an MLK segment that aired on News10 this past week. Click here to watch the video and learn how MLK’s work is positively impacting these students’ actions today.
Student Musicians Earn Spots in Highly Respected Honor Band
Congratulations to the Natomas Middle School Music Department and its outstanding band students. Their practice and poise has earned some of the band members seats to perform with the California Music Educators Association’s Capitol Section Honor Band! “These students worked hard and did a great job performing with some of the best young musicians in the greater Sacramento Area,” Megan Deems, who leads the school’s music department said.
Families Learn About Natomas Unified’s Forward 5 Goals and More
If you missed the in-person or virtual presentations during the Forward 5 Regional Meetings, you can watch the recorded presentation on our Forward 5 webpage. While there, you can provide your thoughts about our action items for each of the five goals, input on our facilities master plan, and what you believe to be essentials in NUSD’s Graduate Profile. The webpage includes a host of videos, handouts and presentations. To watch some of the highlights from the in-person meetings, take a look at this video.
Due Date Extended: Participate in the Great Kindness Challenge
The Great Kindness Challenge is around the corner! To help us celebrate, we ask the Natomas Unified community to send in messages for #KindCards. Email [email protected] with a kind message to a teacher or staff member, we’ll create a graphic like the one above, and share the message on our platforms on Jan. 22nd – 26th. Send messages by Jan. 24th.
LEAP ACADEMY
Final Cook Off Showcases LEAP Academy Students Cooking Skills
LEAP Academy student chefs who made it to this winter’s Chopped Around the World Challenge cooked their best dishes this past week in the culminating cookoff! Congratulations to all the student chefs who have learned to slice, dice, and fry dishes from around the world. The Chopped Around the World Challenge was a deliciously wonderful way to learn culinary skills and about our diverse community.
PARENTS AS PARTNERS
Families Applauded for Helping Students Reach 95-percent or Higher Attendance Rate
We want to thank our families who help their students achieve academic success by getting their child(ren) to school on time, everyday. Recently, we acknowledged families whose students have a 95-percent or higher attendance rate with the award above through ParentSquare. “We’re doing a lot of work to address chronic absenteeism, but we also want to recognize families who are prioritizing learning,” Anthony Da Marto, Director of Schools of Student Services said.
Diverse Conversations on February 13th: Mental Health & Restorative Practices Topic of Focus
Parent University Presents: Community College or Four Year University
Families have an opportunity to attend our free Parent University presentation on Understanding College Systems. The second session, set for Thursday February 8th, will help families weigh out the decision to attend community college or a 4-year college/university after high school.
Register here. The Zoom link to attend the virtual session will be sent out prior to the February 8th presentation.
Locate similar resources through NUSD’s Parent University. Parent University provides families with helpful advice to navigate the challenging behaviors that may arise with parenting. We offer classes, webinars, podcasts, and short videos to help parents/guardians in the success of their students.
Reservations Filling Up Fast for Parent University Love & Logic Series
Thank you to the families who attended our Love and Logic Parent University workshop at Natomas Park Elementary and Jefferson School this past week! Spots are filling up fast for our Parent University Love and Logic series. If you would like to attend this free 5-week program where parents learn to raise self-confident, motivated, and resilient children, see below for the sites that still have space available.
Dinner and childcare will be provided starting at 5:30 PM, with sessions beginning at 6, ending at 7:30 pm.
Register here.
Cohort 1: Natomas Park Elementary – 1/23, 1/30, 2/6, & 2/13
Cohort 2: Jefferson School – 1/25, 2/1, 2/8, & 2/15
Cohort 3: Bannon Creek School – 2/27, 3/5, 3/12, 3/19, & 3/26
Cohort 4: American Lakes School – 2/29, 3/7, 3/14, 3/21, & 3/28
Cohort 5: Paso Verde School (This series will be conducted in Spanish) – 1/25, 2/1, 2/8, 2/15, & 2/22
Tips and Tricks for Parents on ParentSquare
How to RSVP to events
Staff can use a feature to request RSVPs. It’s an easy way for parents to let their child’s teacher or school staff know if they are attending. With a simple click, parents can reply either “Yes, I will attend,” or, “No, I cannot attend.”
If “Yes, I will attend,” is selected, ParentSquare will send the parent a reminder 24 hours before the event. This is another way, NUSD is helping to support families in the success of their students.
Calling Out Screen Time Overuse Within Our Families
Self-observation and awareness for adults and children are important when recognizing the true impact of screen time overuse. Watch this video from our educational partner, Screenagers, in which Dr. Anna Lembke shares advice on how families can address this potential harm.
SUPERINTENDENT’S CORNER
Dr. Robyn Castillo attended Inderkum’s Girls Basketball game recently and met with some of the players. Here are a couple of photos from her Instagram of Castillo with the student athletes and the players in action! Castillo applauded the athletes on their win, commending their effort.
Follow along on her Instagram journey here, then click “follow”.
STAFF STARS
FBF: Mariana Herrera Dominguez, School Psychologist
Every week, we share a wayback/flashback/throwback photo of our staff members, share a little bit of their story, and why they love working for NUSD.
This newsletter, we feature Mariana Herrera Dominguez, School Psychologist for Bannon Creek School.
Question: What’s the story behind the photo?
Answer: I was 1-year-old in this photo, and we attended my brother’s school presentation.
Question: When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Answer: Physicist/astronaut (I love math). I also love interacting with a lot of people, so laboratory life was not for me.
Question: Why do you like working here at NUSD?
Answer: I love working with diverse communities and connecting with families. I am the only member of this side of my family who lives in the States. I immigrated to the U.S. as an adult from Mexico City. I enjoy connecting with immigrant students and their families.
If you would like to see the latest career opportunities at Natomas Unified, visit natomasunified.org/human-resources.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT (ICYMI)
American Lakes School Recognized for Receiving Official IB World Status
Congratulations to American Lakes School for being the most recent NUSD school to be officially recognized as an International Baccalaureate World School. Read the full story in this week’s Board Highlights.
Pay Increases Approved for Substitute Teachers
The Board approved pay increases for substitute teachers to maintain its competitive edge in securing substitute teachers for daily and long-term positions.
The daily substitute pay has increased from $165 a day to $210 and from $215 a day $260 a day for long-term substitute roles. If you’re interested in becoming a substitute teacher at NUSD, click here.
NUSD Newsroom Hub
The NUSD Newsroom Hub web page is a dedicated place to access current and past NUSD media such as news articles, Board Highlights, newsletters, Last Week’s Wrap Up, videos, and podcasts all produced by the district’s Communications and Family Engagement team known as CAFE. Check out our page here.
