Schools
Novato Unified School District Superintendent Update – MCOE Supports To NUSD, 7-11 Committee Update For May 7
The Board approved this plan and a committee has been formed and will meet weekly.
May 7, 2021
Dear NUSD Family,
Find out what's happening in Novatofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"The first week of May flew by. I hope this week’s updates help to keep you up to date on what is happening within NUSD.
Topics included in today’s update are:
Find out what's happening in Novatofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
- MCOE Supports to NUSD
- 7-11 Committee Update
- Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month
- May is Mental Health Awareness Month
- VLA Newsletters
MCOE Supports to NUSD
The Novato Unified School District is an excellent learning organization. Our students, staff, and schools are exceptional, and we receive tremendous support from our amazing community. In spite of all of this, we are facing significant challenges. On April 27, 2021, I reached out to Marin County Office of Education (MCOE) Superintendent Mary Jane Burke asking for support. I realized that NUSD was facing challenges we did not have the resources to tackle. As Mary Jane and I talked on subsequent days, it became increasingly clear that MCOE could provide us the independent support we needed.
On May 4, 2021, Mary Jane Burke formally asked the NUSD Board to develop a Board subcommittee to work with MCOE with the goal of helping the district find stability. The Board approved this plan and a committee has been formed and will meet weekly.
One of my leadership mantras is that we must model the way. In this case, I am proud of NUSD modeling the way by asking for help when we needed it. I hope the individual members of our team and community will see this and take important steps to ask for help when it is needed. The Board and I embrace this support from MCOE and look forward to leaning into this important work. We will keep you updated on the work of the committee as we can.
7-11 Committee Update
As of this time, the work of the 7-11 Committee is paused. The statement I read to the Board can be found here. I appreciate all of the work that went into the 7-11 Committee process from staff, our volunteer community, and all that gave us feedback throughout the process.
Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month
May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month – a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. A rather broad term, Asian/Pacific encompasses all of the Asian continent and the Pacific islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.
Like most commemorative months, Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month originated with Congress. The month of May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants.
Some NUSD schools are bringing Asian/Pacific American Heritage month into classrooms by highlighting contributions made by Asian Americans in art, social studies, literature, and science as well as hosting a family night to celebrate and share stories.
To learn more, visit https://asianpacificheritage.gov/about/ and the May AAPI Newsletter for local information.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month
The Marin County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services Prevention and Outreach (BHRS) Team has a series of events in honor of May Mental Health Awareness Month. This month was established in 1949 to increase understanding of the importance of mental health and wellness, and to celebrate recovery and hope. Please join the BHRS Team and our community partners as NUSD builds our collective understanding of mental health and well-being in our community. Mental well-being demands we challenge stigma in all places where we live, work, play, learn and pray. Together, we can support one another and fully recognize that mental health *is* health.
Here is a link to view all of the 2021 Virtual Events and Offerings hosted by Marin County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services
Virtual Learning Academy Newsletters
Here are links to this week’s VLA newsletters:
Take care and have a great weekend."
Sincerely,
Kris Cosca
This press release was produced by the Novato Unified School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.
