Mt. Diablo Unified School District

MDUSD's 3rd Annual Black Family Night Extravaganza will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 29 in the Ygnacio Valley HS multi-use room in Concord. The event is targeted to parents/guardians of MDUSD African American Students, current MDUSD African American students, MDUSD African American staff, MDUSD Community Partners and MDUSD African American Staff Alumni. Attendees will learn about District resources and interventions geared toward bringing about equitable outcomes for African American students, and will meet new team members and community partners. The District will provide food and beverages. Please scan the QR code in the flyer to RSVP. More information about MDUSD's African American Student Achievement outreach is here:https://lnkd.in/gj4QV55T

An MDUSD and City of Walnut Creek Campus and Gun Safety Event for Parents and Caregivers in Walnut Creek will be held from 7-8:30 p.m. TONIGHT (Tuesday, Aug. 27) in the Little Theater at Northgate High School. Campus and Gun Safety Panels are being presented in local communities to educate parents about the city’s and the school district’s work to keep students and families safe from gun violence. Future presentations will be scheduled in other MDUSD cities. At tonight's event, the overall mental and physical health of students will be discussed by a panel including MDUSD Superintendent Dr. Adam Clark, Walnut Creek Chief of Police Jamie Knox, Walnut Creek Mayor Loella Haskew, Northgate HS Principal Kelly Cooper and Northgate HS School Social Work Specialist Merritt Rollins. More information is in the attached flyers.

The MDUSD School Board will meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28th in the District Office Boardroom to appoint a vice principal at College Park HS, receive annual reports from the 2018 Measure J Citizens Bond Oversight Committee and the 2010 Measure C Citizens Bond Oversight Committee, hold a public hearing on a Developer Fee Justification Study Report and adopt a resolution increasing developer fees, and review and potentially approve a Revised 2024-27 Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), among other items. The complete agenda is here: https://lnkd.in/gxdTUjXz

"Pickle autopsy" at Northgate HS turns students into coroners as they master anatomy vocabulary When Corinne Starr started teaching physiology 23 years ago at Northgate High School in Walnut Creek, she wanted to make her anatomy lesson more engaging than simply asking students to memorize vocabulary terms. She decided to challenge students with a hands-on assignment that asks them to perform an autopsy on a pickle, looking for clues about how it died. Then, they write up their findings in a "coroner's report" using the vocabulary terms. You can read about the fun and memorable lesson here: https://lnkd.in/gjAHeHM9

This week's MDUSD Friday Letter spotlights a Northgate High School physiology class "pickle autopsy;" a Telemundo Spanish news story on our Adult Education Parent Classes; a thank you to the Assistance League of Diablo Valley for their continued support through the Operation School Bell program and Riverview Middle School’s return of unused uniforms, which will benefit more children; social media highlights from our elementary, middle and high schools and staff, featuring back-to-school moments, sports events, and other community-building activities from throughout the District; an upcoming gun safety panel at Northgate High School; and more! You can read it here: https://lnkd.in/gUreDXsv

Today, MDUSD Superintendent Dr. Adam Clark updated District parents, staff and community members on the progress of the Measure J Bond project and other funded construction projects that have taken place and are scheduled to continue throughout our District. These include the modernization of three elementary schools, technology infrastructure upgrades, HVAC replacement projects, and other improvements. You can read Dr. Clark's project update here: https://lnkd.in/g2Zn-gGi

Our MDUSD Adult Education classes for parents were recently featured on the Spanish-language TV station Telemundo! A special shout-out to our Parent Education Program Coordinator Irma Toman for explaining the programs so well! https://lnkd.in/gg9hUCzY

Yondr cell phone pouches at MDUSD high schools improve student engagement and interactions When Governor Newsom sent a letter to every school District in the state last week encouraging them to limit cell phone use in schools, reporters starting calling MDUSD to find out about new Yondr cell phone pouches being used at Mt. Diablo HS and Ygnacio Valley HS in Concord this year, after they were successfully piloted at Olympic HS and Prospect HS last year. Superintendent Dr. Adam Clark spoke about the Yondr bags during his report to the School Board on Wednesday, saying the District is piloting the pouches at two new schools this year so that students can have the best experiences possible on the campuses. "If our students spend that time with their faces buried in their phones – texting, online, on TikTok, or whatever – then they re going to miss out on friendships, on the extracurricular activities, and more importantly, on the instruction that’s taking place in their classrooms," he said. "Four or five days into it, it's getting positive results." He said Mt. Diablo HS students are reportedly jumping rope at lunchtime and teachers say their students are more engaged than they were before. You can read more about the Yondr pouches here: https://lnkd.in/gjdBqhBM

As we finish up our first full week of school in MDUSD, we'd like to share some highlights from our first days back last week. The 2024-25 School Year is off to a great start!

Here is our updated list of new and promoted MDUSD District and School Administrators for 2024-25: https://lnkd.in/g2EyhG4a