District News

This year, 18 members of the Campbell Union School District employee family will be retiring. They take with them a combined total of 439 years of experience and memories and are ready to create more. 

As educators and support staff, they have shown our students how to think critically, innovate, collaborate, empathize and be self-directed. Most have been part of our district for more than 20 years, demonstrating perseverance through challenges and changes in the school system and in society. 

Now they can pursue the privledges, both ambitious and relaxing, that retirement brings: Traveling any time of year on any day of the week; relaxing all day by the pool, with a book, on a Tuesday; spending more time with grandchildren; even working part time at a winery. Their hearts are oriented towards giving to others, so many will pursue new ways to make a positive impact, such as volunteering with charities or promoting antiracist change in society.

We hope you will join us in wishing a fond farewell to our 2020-21 school year retirees:

• George Barile, Mechanic, Maintenance & Grounds
• Brad Bruner, Maintenance Worker, Maintenance & Grounds
• David Fletcher, Teacher, Forest Hill School
• Catherine Holley, Teacher/Speech Lang., Forest Hill School
• Edna Laskin, Director, Instructional Services, District Office
• Melanie Lawler, Human Resources Technician, District Office
• Beth Linder, Health Clerk, Rolling Hills Middle School
• Catherine McAvoy, Assistant Principal, Monroe Middle School 
• Karen Nielsen, Teacher, Capri
• Cathy Norman, Teacher, Castlemont
• Rodolfo Ornelas, Maintenance Worker, Maintenance & Grounds
• Martha Prakash, Teacher, Forest Hill School
• Kim Sanchez, Art Teacher, Monroe Middle School
• Dorrie Scamporrino, Teacher, Rolling Hills Middle School
• Loretta Schmoranc, Teacher, Capri
• Carrie Tibbs, STEAM Teacher, Rolling Hills Middle School
• Caitlin Weber, Teacher, Rolling Hills Middle School
• Sylvia Davis, Teacher, Rolling Hills Middle School 

Due to the continuing limitations on gatherings, we are not able to hold our usual garden reception to celebrate our retirees. We will be inviting them back for an event in the spring of next year.

In Campbell Union School District, we have been committed to providing a safe and healthy learning environment long before the COVID-19 pandemic. With the new coronavirus, we gave great attention to reducing the spread of germs in order to make it safe for students and staff to return to campus and the dynamics of in-person instruction. 

During the pandemic, and well before welcoming students back to campus, we monitored public health orders closely and ensured that our staff had the information and training needed. In all cases, our first focus is on what needs to happen to ensure student safety. Next, we do the necessary follow-up procedures and communications.

For everyone’s safety, we implemented the multi-layered measures for reducing the risk of infection: wearing facial covering, physical distancing, small/stable groups, hand washing and schedules that support those efforts. 

Our district nurses, staff in Expanded Learning, Preschool, and Human Resources departments make up our team of tracking and tracing officials. This team has received weekly training with the county public health department all year to ensure processes and protocols are known, understood and implemented. 

When a COVID-19 case comes to our attention, our nurses and Human Resources staff work closely with public health officials to begin a thorough tracking and tracing process. This case-by-case process includes pinpointing the specific dates, times and locations where that person may have exposed others. They upload the information to a secure database shared with public health officials. When it is determined that a student or staff member is a close contact, information is sent directly to  those individuals. The information informs the staff or family of what actions they need to take. It is an extensive, time-consuming and very worthwhile effort. Thankfully, cases of COVID-19 have been few, and, as yet, we have had no internal spread of the virus in our schools and workplaces.  

In late March 2021, we introduced a new COVID-19 dashboard to allow our community to see the numbers of cases and classroom/program closures by site. This was a new endeavor to provide transparency while also balancing the need for medical privacy to individuals as required by law (HIPAA).  As with many new processes, we experienced a few glitches as we attempted to incorporate the most current data into our procedures and work through some behind-the-scenes technical issues. As a stop-gap, we entered confirmed case data manually as we worked through issues with the automated data transfer between ours and Google’s systems.

As of May 24, the dashboard version 2.0 is working well and has some new features to help the viewing public dig into the numbers more easily. It shows how many cases are related to staff vs. students, whether a case was contracted internally or not, and whether exposure resulted in closing a preschool or TK-8 classroom within a 10-day quarantine period. As with all improvement efforts, we have implemented some additional steps to ensure accuracy of the information for those wishing to know. 

The pandemic has affected our families and community in many ways, financially, emotionally, and physically. Experts predict that the impacts will be felt for years to come, especially among children and youth. Through the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, Campbell Union School District will continue to partner with families and the community as we focus efforts on safely educating students to their highest potential.

Throughout the year, there are many special days and weeks recognizing individuals: school nurse day, administrative assistant day, teacher appreciation week, bus driver day, and others. But really, every employee in a school district makes a difference for our students and their families. 

That’s why, in Campbell Union School District, we celebrate ALL of our employees during one special week each year. This week, May 17 through 21, is our district’s Employee Appreciation Week.

Even through the extraordinary challenges of a pandemic, our employees worked together with families and community partners to make the students’ learning experience a positive one. Whether they were teaching students or working in a supporting role, our employees leaned in and continued to focus on safely educating students to their highest potential. 

Please join our Governing Board in expressing appreciation for the commitment and dedication that our hard-working professionals demonstrate every day and the added dedication they showed over the past year.

(Note: Some of the images in the photo above were taken before COVID-19.)

Happy greetings, laughter, elbow bumps, and behind-the-mask smiles were the order of the day on Monday, May 3rd, as students, teachers and staff launched the 5-day in-person-learning schedule at schools this week. This is the schedule they will follow for the remainder of the school year. 

“Monday was a momentous day,” said Superintendent Shelly Viramontez. “After 416 days since learning that we would be closing our school campuses, we finally are able to bring all students back to campus for a full week of in-person learning. It was not an easy undertaking, and I want to thank everyone for working with us to make it possible.”

School and district employees gave careful consideration to precautions, such as spacing of student desks and chairs, placement of acrylic dividers, scheduling breaks, and teaching students the routines for cleaning hands and physical distancing. But it was seeing the students lined up, excitedly waiting to enter the classroom and begin learning that touched parents and faculty alike.

Students were excited to physically see the students from the other cohort.  “This feels like it’s supposed to be,” said one elementary school teacher as she watched students line up to enter the classroom. “Thank you for being here for the kids,” said the parent of a kindergartner. “It’s good!” said a happy second grader as she dashed off for her turn on the slide.

 
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