All language subtitles for SMMUSD_CC_ENG

Hello. I am Nathan.

Castanaza of the current Santa monica
High School, ASB

Student Board Member.

I'm excited to say
that I have been elected

associate student body
president for the upcoming school year.

Welcome to the Santa monica Malibu Unified
School District, State of our schools.

Thank you for joining us today.

It is no secret that the past two years
have been unconventional school years.

The student experience has been filled with unknowns and unexpected turns.

We have had to navigate distance
learning, hybrid learning,

return to in-person learning,
and everything in between.

Though we have endured all of these
challenges, one thing has become clear

The Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District has some of the most resilient

and inspiring people.

And it feels good to see the light
at the end of the tunnel.

Before the pandemic,
we were already strong.

Our programs are flourishing and
our students were excelling academically.

We took a hit in regards

to what we were able to do
and we had a question, everything.

Now that we've had the time to reflect
about our choices, programs

and procedures, I am sure that we are
emerging stronger than we were before.

Those days of uncertainty are over
and we have come together

as one community to celebrate the things
we may have once taken for granted.

Emerging stronger after a two year
long pandemic means a lot to me.

eing able to give students an amazing education and support them

through some of our community's toughest times shows resiliency.

Today is the start of National Teacher Appreciation Week,

and I would like to give a special thanks to all of our educators and staff

who've adapted to the uncertainty, and continue to work hard

and continue to work hard and be there for
us as students.

(Applause)

All across the country,

people will be showing gratitude
to the individuals

who have kept our growth
and learning

at the forefront of their concerns
despite all the other issues.

Thank you to all the teachers in the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School

District who show up
and give their best each day.

Today, I have a sense of relief
that the worst is over

and the best is yet to come. Thank you.

(Applause)

Please rise for the Samohi Choir to sing our national anthem.

Oh. Say, can you see?

by the dawn's early light
what so proudly we hailed

at the twilight's last gleaming

Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,

o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air

gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave

(Applause)

Thank you, Samohi Choir.

Now I'd like to introduce SMMUSD's Superintendent, Dr. Ben Drati.

Now I'd like to introduce SMMUSD's Superintendent, Dr. Ben Drati.

Good evening. My name is Ben
Geraghty, as you heard.

And I'm the superintendent of Santa
monica, Malibu Unified School District.

Welcome to our State of Our Schools event themed "emerging stronger".

It's been a tough two years.

I'm really proud
of how the community came together

and continue to support each other
as we move forward in our ongoing quest

to ensure that each student succeeds
and meets their full potential.

We are coming to you via live stream

from our beautiful Samohi Discovery Building,

And we want to thank our parents,
staff, students and community members

who have joined us,
including those who are here in person.

So give yourself... extend a hand of applause.

(Applause)

We have an informative and

entertaining program planned for you
where we will reflect on this past year

and take on a journey into next year with regard to academic

and student support programs such as our family engagement programs,

social justice, anti education... anti-bias education programs,

our visual arts and performing arts,

athletic programs.

Early learning project based learning
and career technical education programs.

Our modernization projects and more.

You will see how we are emerging stronger

from the challenging two years we just experienced,

and we will continue to... As we continue to monitor COVID-19

viruses, the virus and impacts on our families and staff.

We are incredibly fortunate
to have an amazing staff.

Our teachers, support staff
and administration

have been pushed to extremes
these past few years between distance

learning and implementation
of health and safety protocols.

They have risen to the occasion

and continue to only educate our students... Not only educate our students,

but support social emotional well-being as well.

Thank you to our SMMCTA

President Mrs. Claudia Bautista,

and all the certificated staff

for continuing to focus on
what is best for all students.

(Applause)

Our classified staff

has also been stretched like never before due to staffing shortages

and additional requirements
brought on by pandemic protocols.

They have persevered
and proven to be very resilient.

Thank you to our SEIU Chief Steward

and all classified staff for your continued hard work

(Applause)

Speaking of resilience, our management
team has been incredibly supportive

and have proven to be inspiring
and dedicated leaders with big hearts.

This has been a tough few years

and I'm proud of the work, students success and all we have accomplished.

And as a reflection

of our great work and student success, U.S. News

and World Report released their 2022 rankings of public high schools,

and Santa monica High School and Malibu
High are ranked in the top 6% nationally.

(Applause)
That's huge.

By the way, that is a reflection of the work that happens in all of our elementary

and middle schools as well.

So anytime we talk about the success
of our high schools,

we have to also mention how they inherited great students

and the results coming from the elementary
and middle schools.

Additionally, McKinley

Elementary School was recently presented
a California Pivotal Practice

Award for engagement and well-being
programs during distance learning.

This new award replaced the State Distinguished School Award

that we are accustomed to seeing our school billboards.

So congratulations to McKinley
and all the staff and parents.

We have several speakers
during this program,

some live and some on video
to tell you about the past

and what is in store for our students in the coming year.

But first, I want you to take a moment to think about what emerging stronger

means to you and to watch what it means

to some in our SMMUSD family.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.
Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

When I think of emerging stronger,

I automatically think of going through struggle and encountering difficult times.

And certainly the pandemic over the last two years has been a struggle.

It's been difficult.

And now that we're finally back together, laughing and enjoying each other's companies,

we no longer take for granted that this is not something that we necessarily

had in the last two years.

But now that we are here,
now that we're back,

I believe we are stronger and we have re-emerged in a better place.

Emerging stronger,

to me, means coming out of a very challenging time,

like the pandemic. Coming together as a community on the other side,

coming out stronger with more sense
of belonging to a bigger meaning and a bigger group,

Sharing ideas, learning
and growing together and moving forward.

Good evening.

I'm Dr. Jacqueline Mora, the Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services

for the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District

Thank you for joining us this evening
and for providing me with the opportunity

to highlight the amazing work
and commitment of our administrators,

teachers, support
staff, students and families.

As Dr. Drati mentioned,

we have experienced some very
challenging times as a community.

They have emerged stronger as individuals
and as a collective.

These past couple of years,
I have witnessed how love,

care and unwavering commitment of our SMMUSD family

has allowed for the strengthening
of relationships, the development

and facilitation of programs and services
that met our students where they were.

The creation of learning spaces

where students were seen and valued
for their unique gifts

and supported to meet their potential
in a relevant and meaningful way.

Throughout the various transitions

we faced, we came together as a community
to problem solve

and figure out how to best support
our students, families and staff.

Through this work,
we were able to develop a distance

learning program that surpassed
that of surrounding districts.

As we move forward
with the implementation,

we also facilitated

in-person learning experiences
for our most vulnerable students,

our English learners, our low income students, our homeless

and foster youth, and our students with unique needs.

All of this was accomplished under the most challenging of times -

times where health and safety protocols changed every week.

Yet we persevered

and maintained our focus
on providing the best learning experiences

for our students and amidst
the most ambiguous of circumstances,

the commitment of our staff, students
and families allowed us

to maintain the academic excellence
that we are known for.

Through the use of multiple
local measures, our students demonstrated

that they were progressing and mastering
the essential learning outcomes

that our teachers identified
as grade level and content level teams.

Not only were our students
demonstrating consistent growth -

as a district, we outperformed the state
in the percentage of English learners

we reclassified for the
2020-21 school year.

We reclassified any 181 English learner students, and this year

we have reclassified 90 thus far.

We are so proud of the academic progress
our students have made,

and although we know there is still work
to be done, it is appropriate

to celebrate the progress we have made
in the most difficult of times.

In addition to providing a rigorous
and meaningful distance learning,

hybrid and in-person
learning experiences to our students,

our SMMUSD family continued to innovate and re-imagine

teaching and learning with the goal
of meeting the needs of all students.

It was during this time that we developed
our academic support program

that provides personalized,
targeted instruction

to our most vulnerable students
in first through eighth grade.

We appreciate the collaborative efforts
of our coordinators, site administrators,

teachers, bilingual community
liaisons and community partners.

This program would not be possible
without your support

and commitment to meeting the needs
of our students.

As part of this innovation,
we also revamped

our independent study program
to ensure that all families

had an educational opportunity
that would meet their needs

as we transition into full, in-person
learning this past year.

Our independent study program provided
more than 200 students

with learning opportunities that met
their academic and social emotional needs.

And we are pleased to share
that this option

will continue to be available
for our families.

Thank you to our independent study program
administrators, teachers

and support staff
for coming together to reimagine

and expand this learning opportunity
for our students and families.

Our parents have received
enrollment instructions

so that they can continue
to prepare for next year.

Although we face many challenges
with staffing shortages,

specifically teacher substitutes,
our coordinators and teachers

came together to continue
the work of integrating

the social justice standards
within their practice,

sharing best practices and strengthening
their implementation of meaningful

and relevant real world
project based learning experiences

and content specific teams
at the elementary and secondary level

came together to unpack the elementary
next generation science standards

and history standards

and the secondary world language
standards, with the goal of evaluating

curricula, resources, and recommending
to our school board the adoption

of new instructional materials to augment
the learning experiences of our students.

The progress we have made during
the past two years would not be possible

without the support of our families
and of our broader community.

The input we received from families
during the various committee committees

that we formed permitted us
to move forward in the best way possible.

We appreciate the input provided by our DELAC,

PUENTE, BAA PAC, SEDAC and PTSA members that maintain

the needs of our most vulnerable students
at the forefront while encouraging us

to continue moving forward
despite the challenges.

It has truly been a partnership.

I am so proud of the accomplishments
that I have shared with you this evening.

But the most important accomplishment
that we have made

is approaching this work with love,
care and empathy.

Our administrators, teachers
and support staff

showed up every day with an open heart
and a smile on their faces

to greet our students and families
and let them know that they are valued.

And for this, I extend my
deepest gratitude. Thank you.

(Applause)

At this time. It is my pleasure to introduce

Dr. Satinder Hawkins, Coordinator of American Cultures and Ethnic Studies

One of the things that make me really proud to be part of Santa Monica

Malibu is the district-wide commitment

to social justice education.

The district shows its commitment
in a variety of ways,

and one of these is the systematic efforts

to integrate social justice
learning into the curriculum.

Grades K through 12.

Because we live in an increasingly

diverse community
and an increasingly diverse world,

the district has committed
to honoring and celebrating

that diversity in our area.

One of the ways they do
that is by providing teachers

opportunities for
professional development,

which gives them a chance to really think

about the different cultural assets
that students bring to the table

, and providing the teachers
with opportunities

to think about their teaching practices
and to think about ways

that they can integrate a better
understanding of these diverse cultures

into the way they deliver
instruction to students,

which ultimately will have the effect
of increasing our student outcomes

even higher than what they already are.

The district provides
lots of opportunities

for students to be successful,

sometimes in the form of specialized
programs such as young collegians,

where we help students enroll
in college classes and we support them.

It's a dual enrollment type of program.

The district provides support for students
in a variety of ways.

For example, there is a
young collegians program

and that provides students with support

in taking dual enrollment classes
at Santa Monica City College.

And so these are students who we know

may slip through the cracks
but are high potential.

And so we help them enroll in classes
and we provide them

with counseling and guidance
while they're in these college classes.

And another example is AVID,

which is Advancement Via Individual Determination.

Again, students with high potential
that may not necessarily

be given services.

And so we take them
through this AVID program,

which is a college prep program, and

we are very proud in our AVID program.

For the last two years,
100% of our seniors

have applied for
and been accepted to four year colleges.

It is an honor to introduce

Dr. Devon Smith, coordinator for Learning and Innovation.

A few of the great things
that our department has done this year.

We oversee all of the project based
learning initiatives in the district,

making sure that we are building
teacher capacity, broad scale

throughout the district
for elementary and secondary.

We are also supporting the CTE,
which is Career Technical

Education, building the emerging academies.

We have three that are going to be

launching in the fall
at one of our high schools.

And the other is to support
our Santa monica

high project based learning pathway,
which is in its third year

in our various career technical education
and project based learning approaches,

students really can look forward
to increased opportunities with local

industry partners, greater opportunities
and work-based learning,

early college credit and
increased opportunities through

integrated curriculum.

So it's going to be very exciting
for students moving forward.

Emerging stronger.
Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

What emerging stronger means to me
is that we're able to maneuver

through challenging situations together,

by communicating, by being adaptable.

And I think the key thing is
that we're working smarter

to really focus on what matters
most in our learning community.

We have definitely emerged stronger.

Nursing was really put to the test
over the past two years.

And so were all of our community members, our school district,

and we had to come together, work together
and collaborate nonstop.

And I think we're emerging stronger
because the team

dynamic that was created
during the pandemic between the parents

and Health Services and Administration
and the teachers

is really something
that I think will propel us forward.

We're working together in new ways now,

and we are certainly stronger
than we were two years ago.

I'm really happy to be a part of this team
marching stronger.

To me, that means during the pandemic,
we all had a really hard time.

But we learned so much.

We learned how resilient our students were
and our teachers and our parents.

And with that knowledge,
we're now moving forward

to make it a better district
than it ever was before.

I am pleased to introduce

Ms. Deanna Sinfield,
our Director of Special Education.

We have really tailored our programs
to meet the needs of our current students.

So, for example,

we knew we needed a program for executive
functioning skills in middle school

and we initiated that this year
and it's been going really well.

We also changed our program in Malibu
from being a life skills program

for elementary to being a social skills
program, because that seemed to be

what our students needed.

And we want to accommodate and be flexible
and really think about

the needs of our students.

And then as they get older,
we do have students

who require more assistance
and we are able to provide that to

to include independent skills, job skills.

We have a workability program.
We place students in jobs.

We work on what's going to happen
after high school.

And then there is a population of students
that stays with us till age 22.

And during that time
they work again on independent skills,

how they can live on their own,
how they can work on their own.

And then we do place them in jobs as well.

We have Transitional K starting this year
and so we want to make sure

our students with IEPs are served
appropriately within those programs.

We also have a large group of preschoolers
moving into kindergarten,

so we will be realigning our programs,
adding a new program for social skills

to accommodate our students coming up.

I am pleased to introduce

Dr. Susan Samarge-Powell, our Director of Early Learning.

I am really excited to share that.

Santa Monica Malibu Unified really believes

genuinely that early learning
is a priority for our school district.

I'm excited to share that we have infant

and toddler programs all the way up
through transitional kindergarten

going into kindergarten.

In our elementary schools,
we have infant and toddlers, preschoolers,

transitional kindergarten as what we call
a vertically aligned experience.

It really makes me happy to share
that we are enrolling at all levels

our infant toddlers,
our preschool programs,

our transitional kindergarten programs
and kindergarten up

through every grade
we have in Santa Monica Malibu.

This is something that is super important
to our school district

so that families understand we're here
to support you from the very beginning.

We have enrollment
in preschools and part day

programs, full day programs,
extended day programs.

We support students in general education.

And we have collaborative experiences with
general education and special education.

So whatever your need is, our early learning environments are here to support you.

So we've had transitional kindergarten

in our school district
since the very beginning.

Transitioning to kindergarten,

from what everyone understands,
was a very small time

frame from which students
turn to a certain age

and they could enroll
in transitional kindergarten.

The state has determined
that early childhood

is an important place to put our efforts,
and so they're expanding

transitional kindergarten.

So students this year
and then over the next three years

will have opportunities to participate
in transitional kindergarten.

It is still dependent upon your age.

And so we actually have that information
on our district website

as to where students and families can find

if they're age appropriate
for transitional kindergarten.

But we will be expanding
from our current six classrooms up

to whatever that need is for our residents
in Santa Monica and Malibu.

And I'm excited because our transitional
kindergarten programs really align

very closely between our preschools
and our kindergarten experiences.

The staff work together and they really
help one another throughout this process.

And so the expansion
will occur over the next three years.

But we are absolutely ready

for any transitional kindergarten age
appropriate child to be with us.

As for all people,
COVID has really been a challenge

for us in our school district broadly,
but specifically in early childhood.

As we all know, children under the age of
five have not been able to be vaccinated.

And so we've wanted to make sure
that our environments

we're not only wonderful to learn in,
but safe places to be.

So we've had to make sure that we've
spaced our classrooms appropriately.

We've worked with our district
to make sure that our facilities were well

kept and clean, that we had the right
appropriate tools for children to use,

and that our teachers
were really well trained

in understanding how to support students.

And while it has been a lot
for everyone to work with,

our families have been wonderful
in working with us

and we've been able to maintain
our open environments for families

and students at the youngest ages,
all of whom have the biggest challenges

by not having that vaccination
status for themselves.

So we've been really proud of the work
that we've done together,

and we really appreciate the community
for supporting us and making it happen.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger

means to Webster School,
building community,

a focus on social and emotional
well-being for our students,

and a return to rigorous and academic excellence.

The last few years have been difficult
for the Malibu community,

given the Woolsey fire
and a global pandemic.

But we have emerged stronger
building community and getting back

to the great work that our teachers
and our students do every day.

What emerging stronger means to me
is I love the direction

that our district is going into
with diversity, equity and inclusion

and social emotional learning
and really honoring each other.

We are different.
We are similar. Let's celebrate.

And to me, collaborating and different
students really giving their input

and child led learning, experiential based
learning, purposeful play.

I think all of these things
where children are really invested

in their day and really invested
in their classroom.

I believe that that these things together
are what emerging stronger means.

Also the adults working together,
really checking in

for kindness, for happiness,
and for building our day together

and building our strong community together which reaches from our classroom

out to the world.

Emerging stronger to me means
that we have a system of educators

and a community of learners,
including parents, teachers, staff,

administrators, students
and our community.

I understand the importance of adjusting

and adapting our instructional
practices to better schools

and valuable lessons from the pandemic

to be open to new ideas
and innovative ways of teaching content,

as well as assessing student
learning and outcomes.

I believe as a district,

the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District, that we have

emerged stronger and are in a better position as a community of learners.

So emerging stronger makes me
think of the ideas of persevering,

being resilient, overcoming challenges
and difficult situations, and working

together as a community
to use those skills

to develop a stronger vision.

Set goals for ultimately
a brighter future.

I am pleased to introduce

Mr. Tom Whaley, Coordinator of Visual and Performing Arts.

(Applause)

Thank you. I was wondering how
that would work.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Tom Whaley,

I'm the Visual and Performing Arts
Coordinator for the district.

And it's my pleasure
to speak to you tonight.

At this event emerging stronger,
the visual performing arts

referred to as VAPA programs
in the SMMUSD are extra special,

and our district has arguably
the most respected programs

and opportunities for VAPA students
in the state and the nation.

I would just like to offer
a few highlights from this past year.

The district was recently named
the Best Communities for Music Education

Award from the National Association of
Music Merchants, otherwise known as NAMM

for the 20th consecutive year.

That's more years than any school
district in the state, by the way.

I'd just like to throw that in.

To qualify for the award, a district
must have a deep offering of music classes

like choir, band, orchestra,
marching band, jazz band,

mariachi, taught by highly qualified
certificated staff,

a demonstrated level of financial support
from the district and community and music

instructional aides and accompanists paid by the district. At Samohi alone,

we have seven orchestras,
ive concert bands,

135 member marching band, five choirs, two jazz bands, and a piano class.

900 students at Samohi
earned the music program.

(Applause)

And our Malibu Middle and

High School music program is thriving as well,
The district continued...

Number two, the district continued
this year to build the mariachi program,

which started at the elementary level

four years ago and will finally reach
the high school in the fall.

We will hear from our middle school
mariachis later in this program.

In addition to mariachi, number three, we started a fantastic new

Ballet Folklorico dance program in January with dances, with classes meeting

twice a week at Edison Language Academy

in McKinley for students in grades
three through five.

On May 7th and 8th, this is a plug,
we will host Magico Mexico,

which is a two day festival
consisting of professional ballet

folklorico dance groups
in Barnum Hall at 7 p.m.

on May 7th, as well as our new SMMUSD Ballet Folklorico

dancers on Sunday May 8th at noon here in the Greek Theater.

I hope you can join
us for a colorful celebration.

Number four, this year

we also opened the new temporary

art gallery here at Samohi called
the Roberts Art Gallery.

And the Samohi Art Department's exhibit will be on display on May 12,

so please come see the wonderful
works of art on display.

There will be photography, digital design,

ceramics, film, painting
and drawing pieces on display.

A permanent new 21st century
art gallery will be coming

upon completion of the new building at Samohi.

And another highlight
this year was the opening

of the new Performing Arts Center
at John Adams Middle School.

This theater and accompanying
instructional spaces are state of the art

and provide the opportunity for our music,
theater and visual arts programs

to showcase their talents
as well as our outstanding music programs.

At John Adams.
Six...

Also this year at Malibu High School,
we added three new career

technical education pathways, film, video
and multimedia journalism.

In addition to the full breadth of visual
arts classes provided

at Malibu Middle and High School,
and I'm almost done.

Last month, the district once again
continued the tradition

of showcasing the district's
outstanding music program

by holding the 71st Stairway to the Stars concert in the Samohi

Greek Theater with a sold out crowd.

After two years of hiatus due to the COVID
outbreak, more than 800 students

from all schools

in Malibu and Santa Monica participated
with over 3000 audience members.

It was sold out.

We have so much to be thankful for in the SMMUSD, but I absolutely need

to give one final special thank you
to the Santa Monica Education Foundation.

The Santa Monica Education Foundation
works hard all year to fundraise

for the funds that provide dream
strings, winds and voice

teachers that are Title I schools
and Santa Monica middle schools,

music folders for all elementary
and middle school students,

recorders and recorder books
for all third graders that they can keep

and torture their families with those recordings.
I added that part, just ad-lib.

It's an inside joke.

They also provide hip hop dances,
classes at our middle

schools, fifth grade dance classes
for fifth graders in Santa Monica.

And of course, P.S.

Arts visual arts classes for all students
in Santa Monica.

The Education Foundation also manages
the Peggy Bergman Endowment,

which provides 200 SMMUSD qualified students, free music lessons

and instruments that students may not be able to afford.

If you have donated to the SMEF, a huge thank you to you.

And if you haven't yet,
I encourage you to do so

because even a small amount helps
our students to have the programs

that make SMMUSD the District for the Arts.

Thank you and enjoy
the rest of the evening.

Thank you. And also,
one more thing. Sorry.

We appreciate the fundraising
efforts in Malibu.

Also for our Malibu schools.

To our Malibu community, please give generously to our Malibu PTAs and the Shark Fund

to ensure Malibu students continue
to receive high quality music education.

And in case you didn't know,

that was the jazz combo that performed
probably before many of you arrived.

Those are my students.

And we had our choir performed
Star-Spangled Banner,

and we're about ready to hear from the
amazing Santa Monica Orchestra program.

They just did a concert on Friday night.

Imagine this. A high school concert that had over a thousand people there.

A thousand people.

And it was a stunning, stunning event.

So I'm not sure if they're coming up right
now. Are they coming now?

Great! Perfect. Thank you.
(Applause)

(Applause)

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger

Emerging stronger to me means working as a connected community to make

those brave choices that positively impact
all of our students.

Emerging stronger means to me...

We've been through a lot
these last couple of years.

And with the resilience
that we've shown as a community,

I think we'll come out stronger
and better on the other side.

Emerging stronger means to me
that students, teachers,

faculty all came together
through the hardships of the pandemic.

And there is a sense of happiness
and achievement getting through COVID

and really having empathy for one another.

I've also learned
that students are so resilient.

I can't imagine being a kid
going through COVID

and these students show up every day ready to learn, giving it their all.

Hello. Good afternoon.

I'm Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein,

Vice President of the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District's

Board of Education. Here in Santa Monica, Malibu, our district's vision is strong.

It's a vision that places
our thousands of students front and center

so they can explore
and discover who they are

and what it means to be lifelong learners.

It's a vision where barriers are
deconstructed and global citizens rise.

It's a vision where caring teachers
and dedicated staff, along with engaged

parents, can nurture an environment
where achievement and growth flourish.

Here in Santa Monica Malibu,
we proudly stand for social justice.

What this means is that we are thoroughly
committed to equity and inclusion.

And while the pandemic has posed
once unimaginable struggles

for families, the district
and our larger community and the world,

those struggles have not derailed
us or dulled our vision.

Ours is a vision where student
achievement, character development

and exploration and inquiry is a path
toward personal growth.

Our front and center
for all of our students

Here in Santa Monica Malibu, we believe that through our student learning teams,

our engagement of project based
learning at all levels of education,

our teaching of American cultures
and ethnic studies,

and our unwavering commitment
to social justice learning standards.

We are realizing our vision

and making great contributions
for our community and for our world.

It's with this vision
that together we emerge stronger.

Please welcome my friend and President of the school board, Maria Leon-Vasquez.

Tweak it for us short people.

Good evening to my SMMUSD family.

Buenas noches, familia.

Doesn't it feel great to be
in this great building?

I mean, for the first time
we're gathering,

at least some of us are gathering for the State of Our Schools.

But this great building is such it's

so interesting because if you're here
during the day and you see the students.

Happy and learning.

And that's what you see in
this building is so it's

such a great building
fit for 21st century learning.

Let me begin with a heartfelt
thank you to all of our teachers

for your heroic feat
in pivoting your teaching to virtual mode,

to hybrid, to face to face
all within a year and a half.

And also to the staff and administrators

for their continued support
of our teachers and to our nursing staff.

Without them, I don't think many of us
would be healthy and be here today.

And for the students and parents
who handle the situation

with as much patience
as could be expected.

Was a support perfect?

Of course not. But, you know,
we all were trying to tread water

and to stay afloat
under this whole pandemic.

However, I will say that
if it wasn't for

the SMMUSD family of teachers that never gave up, despite the many grave challenges,

our district would not be in
the good place it is today.

We truly emerge stronger.

So for that alone,
my million, thanks to all of you.

For the whole family here, the SMMUSD family,

de nuevo mil gracias.

The transition to remote

learning required
a pivot to make education work,

and we had to become more resourceful,
especially in the use of tech.

Who knew what Zoom was? I know I didn't.

And I still don't know how to manipulate it that well. Oh, well.

But you know. You know, but the teachers had to adapt.

And they did, and especially
with a lot of our education programs

that they needed to implement online.

And to be able to teach to continue
to teach their students.

Well, we all had to learn pretty quickly. And we did.

But thank you to all of us for the support that they received.

All us non-techies that received the support.

We had our Sarah who helped navigate
the new realm of online board meetings.

hank you, Sarah, because without you, there's no way that we'd have continued

to do all the great work.
You are a great support for this district.

(Applause)

And to the many other tech leaders In this district.

mil gracias. Familia and family

played an important role
during the global event.

As most of us retreated to our homes
with family and friends

who gave us the support
we needed to get through this all.

As a grandparent, I struggled.

My son and his family,
especially my only grandson, hibernated

in their apartment with Facetime.

You know, as you all know,
it was their only method of visual communication.

But, you know, I think
the closure of all this,

all I know is I became a grandma
for the second time in February.

So if anything, there was
a lot of new birth that came from that.

And as I walk through my neighborhood,
I walk through a lot of my friends

who were former teachers

who are now enjoying being grandparents
for the first time, too. So we love it.

That was our new role as grandparents.

However, education continued

our excellent visual and performing arts
aces restorative justice.

The Michelle and Barack Obama for Inquiry and Exploration,

Spanish dual-immersion, PBL, Project Lead The Way,

Avid, Young Collegians.

High school academies and dual enrollment programing

continued providing courses and support for our students.

Meanwhile, we continue to successfully navigate

the challenges COVID-19
presented to our district.

While we planned for the recovery
phase of the pandemic.

SMMUSD has and will continue to do what it takes

to maintain and build upon our tradition of excellence.

But we still need a paradigm shift
to 21st century learning.

What does that mean.

For me, 21st century learning
is about authentic learning experiences

achieved through deep engagement
with high interest, relevant

real world curriculum
related assignments and projects

throughout the students journey
in our district beginning in pre-K.

21st century learning means
our students are able to demonstrate

their knowledge and skills
authentically in internships.

Product demonstrations.

and exhibitions.

21st century, learning
experiences are interdisciplinary

and or interest based
with differentiation in instruction.

And content. All of this is driven
by the interest and inquiry

of our students and the teachers
awareness of students strengths and needs.

21st century learning means we prepare
our students to graduate high school,

ready for the global marketplace
of products, information and ideas

as they move on to college certification
or work experience.

Our schools are already on the path
to 21st century learning.

But what do we need to truly arrive?

I will be working with my board colleagues
in a retreat this summer

to discuss the board's role in the shift
to 21st century education

and what the process will be that involves
students, families,

teachers, administrators, staff,
and our two communities.

I want to leave this
afternoon with a visual.

I think it's up,

That to me summarizes
how we begin the discussion

of SMMUSD's Mission in the 21st Century.

The word equity has been used
rather loosely

by some in our community in ways that seem
to benefit their points and perspectives.

But that undercut the real
meaning of equity.

Equity has to be understood
in the context of a history

and legacy of socioeconomic inequality.

And racism that continues

to impact the lives and learning
experiences of our SMMUSD students.

Equity requires

us to remove the barriers to access...

Barriers to access

and inclusion that hurt our students.

We as an SMMUSD family need to work together

to take down the barriers
of exclusion that remain.

And at this point, I really want to thank Sarah Rodriguez

and Nathan Fulcher for your direction this year and the changes

that are going to be taking place at Samohi,

because you broke down
those barriers for us.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

Of course, SMMUSD is a work in progress.

21st century approach to education
and excellence to equity requires

that we commit to ongoing conversations
that help us understand

how our decisions and actions
build or remove those barriers.

After the conversations, we must
then also take action.

So I look forward to working with
many of you to have those robust,

heartfelt and constructive conversations
that will follow

then with the appropriate actions
that we will need to take.

Thank you to all.

Mi gracias,

muchisimas gracias to this whole family, because we wouldn't be where we are today.

And I'll leave you with this. As my mentor, Dolores Huerta

who's 92 years young today,
or was about two weeks ago,

si se puede.
Thank you very much and good evening.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger,
especially in these times,

is something that I think we all aspire to
and we all hope for.

But it is quite difficult right now.

We've seen a pandemic that has wreaked
havoc on our kids.

We've been separated for two years
from our children.

But even within those circumstances,
our teachers have really done their best

to bring their best every day,
to learn new skills,

to figure out how to teach in hybrid mode,
to teacher, to figure out new programs

so that they can reach out to kids
that were not in class .

And I think in that

our teachers have emerged stronger
because they have a new tool box

that they're using to make sure
that every kid has a chance at success.

I feel like emerging stronger

is like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

The teachers have always been strong,
but the pandemic really challenged us.

We had to redefine how we teach.

We had to think outside the box.

We had to find new ways
to connect with our students.

So we've always been strong,
but in the end, all the new tools

and things that we got made us stronger.

Thank you, I'm Antonio Shelton.

I'm the principal here in the school
that you're sitting in.

(Applause)

As they say, this is my crib
and these are my students.

But good evening to everyone.

Today was decision day
for many of our students and

and it was awesome to see, I have to say this, to see all of our kids up on the hill

and to see some of the schools that
they're going to, you would be so proud.

Fordham Dartmouth, Boston University, Colgate,

Syracuse, Santa Barbara,

Berkeley, UCLA, FSU,

USC, Brown, Washington,

George Washington University, Pace, and Princeton.

And for instance,

that was just some of the pictures
that I was able to take of the students.

That's because of this community

and that's because of the foundation
that our elementary schools,

middle schools all have done
and supported our school community.

As Principal of Samohi, I'm excited about what we have done this school year.

We started our school year off
with a new addition to our campus

as you are sitting in it.

The Discovery Building has allowed allowed
us to extend our instructional practices

into spaces designed
to support the learning of our students.

We have embraced the ability
to collaboratively

explore new ideas
and concepts for learning.

Our students have had
the opportunity to utilize

the new technology in the learning spaces
and experience learning at a deeper level

because of the access that they now
have in the educational spaces

that support their experiential learning.

Our students have continued to excel
academically despite the pandemic.

Our talented staff and students
have proven that they are resilient

and can achieve at all levels.

For example, we are excited to have both National Merit Semifinalists

and committed students in the Class of 2022.

Our students are now on a seven year
winning streak for the Ocean Science Bowl.

Our engineering students are more creative
than ever before,

as they have now begun
to work in their new interim space

that they're would be able to create
even more than they have already.

And next week, I know this week
they have a show.

Next year, all of our incoming
ninth graders will be introduced

to physics of the universe.

And more importantly,
we will also embark on a journey

to create a rich academic experience
as we revamp and implement

a stronger, more inclusive ninth
and 10th grade English course.

These two courses...

(Applause)

These two courses will

allow our students of our diverse student population,

and I say this because this is true. Our diverse student population

with diverse perspectives in the same classroom,

just like we're sitting, they're able to have a conversation, just as adults

would with differing opinions, is what we need to teach our students.

They will have the best experience
with all thoughts and students

involved in in-depth
real world discussions,

collaborative projects
that our teachers are working toward

and a stronger emphasis
on differentiation, ensuring

the success of every student
that enters into the classroom.

Our students. It is our goal
to help to develop young people

who are well-rounded,
social justice minded global citizens

who will be the future
leaders of this nation.

We believe through the small groups
that meet weekly,

that support them socially
and emotionally.

These groups meet weekly
through our restorative practices

that are infused within our school
community that we can achieve our goal

of ensuring that students
feel supported and connected.

The wonderful thing about Samohi is that the students

have time built in during the school day
twice a week called flex time

to get academic support
from their teachers .

We also use this time to support students
socially and emotionally

by offering a variety of options

that teach students how to balance
their educational experience,

cook a healthy meal,
and make good financial decisions.

These are just a few of the opportunities
offered throughout the year,

and this is with collaboration between LACOE and our community schools resources.

Not to mention, we have a
thriving arts program.

As you can already
see, those are my students.

Where our students continue

to demonstrate their ability to play, sing
and make beautiful music.

They also are
some of the most creative thinkers,

performers and artists in our community.

We're proud of our arts programs,
and we appreciate your support.

Last but not least,
we offer many extracurricular sports

that over 900 of our students
participate in each year.

Just last week, Kyle Kim set a Samohi record in the 50 free.

I had to figure out what a 50 free was - it's in the pool.

(Applause & Laughterl)

And also Daniela Petran set a Samohi record

in the 200 intermediate, I think it's called.
In the Pool,

and that's new as well. 55 meters.

Our teaching staff continues
to grow their professional portfolio

by requesting professional development
in the areas of differentiation, workshops

and data analysis.

These educational practices are key
to our continued success and achievement

as we move to create
an equitable education for all.

We believe Samohi is a wonderful school

that will continue to excel in all areas,
not just some, but in all areas,

and are thankful for your support
to our district, our district leadership,

our school board, and also all of our
parents who made this building possible.

And now, go Vikings!

And now I would like to...
(Applause)

And now I would like to introduce my colleague

from Malibu High School, Principal Patrick Miller, who was unable to join us

in person this evening due to another another

education related commitment. And also followed by Patrick,

we will hear from Shuli Lotan, our mental health coordinator.

Emerging stronger for me

means getting back to the important work
of teaching and learning.

Getting kids reconnected
and reengaged, not just with,

you know, school activities,
but also an interaction with each other,

which I felt was significantly missing
during the pandemic.

All sorts of great things
going on at Malibu High lately.

One, we've returned to a brand new physical plant.

Behind me is our new admin building, library building.

We've also occupied a new middle school
building with a large courtyard

where kids are able to play
and socialize and hang out.

But also, you know, as far as getting back

to our school activities,
we recently had our mass talent show.

Tonight is our student
production of Charlie Brown,

the concerts, the athletic events,
all those things that bring kids

to school and allow them
to develop their interests and passions

have been on full display
throughout the entire year.

And that's where we've really seen the
kids be the happiest and at their best.

I think it is important to acknowledge
that there is definitely

an increased student need in regards
to social emotional well-being.

I think we have seen a decrease
in grade level maturity,

but we've been really fortunate at Malibu
High School to have the ability to

refer students and families
to the wellness center,

which is a partnership
with our Malibu Boys and Girls Club,

not only through referrals,
but we've partnered with them

to have our classroom programing
through the wellness center.

In addition to our partnership
with the Malibu Boys and Girls Club

Wellness Center, we've had NAMI come in
and do classroom presentations

and workshops as well as we do
our best to meet the need that is present.

A great thing about Malibu High

is that close to 70% of our students
participate in CIF sports this year.

We've had a lot of great success.

Our boys volleyball team this past week,
one league, our boys basketball team

went to the third round of the CIF state playoffs,

losing only in overtime
to a school of well over 2000 students.

We only have about 425,
but across the board in our girls sports

and our boys sports, just getting the kids
back on the playing field

with their friends
competing has been really fun to watch.

This year. We've been able to revitalize
our service learning program.

Pre-pandemic, the service learning program
was really a signature program, Malibu

High, moving beyond
just required numbers of hours, but

integrating projects into coursework
and connecting students

with a number of community,
nonprofit and service groups.

And so this year Ms. Azarian

has been rehired as our service learning coordinator and has done a great job

revitalizing that program.

And some of our service learning programs,
our service clubs, our interest

based clubs have really allowed students
to connect with each other and really help

develop and foster a real positive school
climate and increase school price

I'm part of the Student Services Department,

And we really have tried

since I've been in this role
and even prior to form a lot of really

solid relationships with community
mental health agencies in the district.

When I started, I also created
an intern supervision program.

So we work with social work students
who are in their second year

of graduate school, getting their masters
to provide mental health

services to students at school, on campus
during the school day.

So we do an array of prevention
and then intervention services,

a lot of which focus on group counseling
and individual counseling for students

who are struggling
with an array of issues, whether it be

anxiety, depression,
trauma, family issues.

And since the pandemic, of course,
we've seen an increase in students needs.

I think we've had the privilege
of also getting some additional funding

through COVID relief money.

So we've been able to expand on
what we've already had been offering

prior to the pandemic.

So really looking at specific things that
students might need more support with.

We've seen a lot of need around
just social connection and social support.

So trying to do more group counseling,
maybe some specific topics like eating

disorders, acceptance
and commitment therapy,

different types of specific models

where we've been able to contract
with folks who can provide those services.

We've also you know,
we know that the adults in our systems,

both staff and parents in our homes,
really need a lot of support, too.

So we've been able to expand reflective
parenting programs, for example,

co-parenting, online classes and trying

as much as we can to offer support
to teachers both for their own needs, but

also helping them really integrate social
emotional learning into the classroom.

Our department was able to create
a new position called

Social Emotional Learning TOSA, or Teacher On Special Assignment.

So we've been working closely with Kim
Marshall, who has been really working

across the district with with teachers
and with staff and with administration

to really make sure that we are

not only focusing on the academic
needs of our students,

but really making sure
that we're addressing the whole child

curriculum like responsive classroom
or restorative justice.

And we've gotten a few schools trained in
what's called the ruler model,

which is something out of the Yale Center
for Emotional Intelligence,

just a way to kind of manage
and help students become more aware

of their feelings
and manage their emotions

day-to-day so that they can really focus on their job as students.

So every school does have
an array of services

that are available to our students,
but it depends on funding and capacity.

So at this point in the school year,
it's pretty hard to find an on

campus spot as well as find
an off campus spot.

Most therapists in the community

have waitlists as well, but come fall
we are going to have more capacity.

So the best way to get connected
if you can't find something off

campus through your own
insurance is to talk to your principal

or administrator at the elementary level
and middle or high schoolers,

talk to your academic counselor
and your grade level counselor,

and they can help

you get a referral put in for our school
based mental health services.

In the coming year,
we're going to be expanding upon

what we already have in place.

So there will be a wide variety of,
you know, therapists

coming to our schools to provide
individual and group counseling.

We are, for the second year in a row,
going to be providing supports

during summer school
for students that are enrolled there.

And we're really hoping to just expand
on our time in front of students

in the classrooms and maybe get back to
some of those bigger assemblies as COVID

restrictions ease up and really

be able to do a lot more prevention
work to I think we have

a lot of work to do
still on decreasing stigma

and making sure that kids are comfortable
talking about mental health and knowing

who to go to for support
when they need it.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger means to me,

focusing on and deepening
our social emotional learning.

It means letting go of some things
while continuing and keeping

skills like resilience and flexibility

and using technology
to enhance our instruction.

Emerging stronger means to me.

Learning from our experiences
to adapt instruction.

To be as engaging as possible.

What is emerging stronger mean to me?

It means that we acknowledge the difficult
and a once in a lifetime transformation

of life experience the whole world
went through with the COVID 19 pandemic.

During the pandemic,
the societal, political

and economic challenges and inequities
that has always existed

in the world was further magnified
and illuminated for the world to see.

The world will now have to take audit

and take the lessons that they have
learned from that experience

and apply the new innovations
to make the world better.

From the district's perspective, we,
the parent, students and staff

showed great resilience and adaptability,
and we will emerge stronger

based on the lessons
that we hold. We also learn.

I am really looking forward
to the future of the district.

It is my pleasure to introduce

Ms. Tara Brown, Director of Student Services.

During this time of a national pandemic
with COVID 19, student services,

top priority has been keeping students,
staff and community members safe.

One of the first things that we did when COVID-19 started back in March 2020

was we emphasized
that following the protocols

was the very best way to mitigate COVID-19.

Some of the protocols
that we asked students, staff

and community members
to follow were masking,

daily response testing, weekly
surveillance testing, entry screening

using our health screening link,

and doing temperature
checks on a daily basis.

In addition, we asked people
to social distance at least six feet.

One thing that we are very proud of is
we were the first District in L.A.

County to return to in-person instruction
in April of 2021.

One thing we did to prepare for this was
we asked parents to fill out a survey

and fill out a decision form

to let us know if they wanted
their students to come back in-person

or they wanted their students
to stay in distance learning.

For the elementary
students that stayed in distance learning.

They stayed with one teacher
that worked with them during that time.

And our secondary students,
they kept with their regular schedule.

However, they were able to use Zoom
to access the distance learning option.

The rest of the students
did return to in-person learning

and had a wonderful experience.

Something else that we did in the fall was
we wanted to make sure

that our special education students and students with 504's

had their plans reviewed,

that counselors were able to talk
to families, invite families in,

and just make sure that our students
were being served and their needs

were being met in the appropriate manner
in regards to their education.

In addition, we reopened after school care
in order to better help families

have students go
to school and for families

and parents to be able to go back to work.

We did reopen fully in the fall of 2021.

And one thing that our board members did

was they adopted two resolutions,
one for students and one for employees.

The resolution for students was a resolution requiring universal

indoor and outdoor masking and regular testing. For employees,

there was a resolution requiring COVID-19 vaccination of all district employees,

universal indoor and outdoor
masking and regular testing.

These measures were extremely helpful

in us mitigating the spread of COVID-19 when we fully returned

to school in fall 2020.

Something else that was extremely helpful
in helping mitigate

the spread of COVID-19 was our exceptional
SMMUSD nursing team.

They are an amazing team of nurses

with quite a bit of knowledge
that may vary regularly every week,

multiple times a week
to just hone their knowledge,

to share with each other, to network
and to share best practices

so that we were able as a district
to go forward with educating our students.

They led the contact tracing.

They led testing for all staff
and students once per week.

They helped us in researching
our testing companies and we ended up

settling on Malcolm Medical Group for PCR,

Dr. Now for PCR and then COVID Testing MD

for antigen testing.

In addition, our Health and Safety DAC also was instrumental in helping us

research our testing companies
and to inform our nurses

and our staff members
and our management team on best practices.

In addition, our exceptional nursing team
also led the COVID-19

team at their school sites.

And then we also had a district, COVID-19 team as well.

And these teams would meet weekly
to determine at the school sites

how best to move forward,
what activities to approve,

who should be on campus,
who shouldn't be on campus.

Just monitoring visitors
and all activities on campus to make sure

they were compliant with the protocols
that were set forward by the L.A.

County Department of Public Health.

In addition, something that our district

wanted to make sure of
was that our community members were

well informed and our parents were
well informed every step of the way.

The protocols constantly
kept changing and were getting revised,

and we wanted to make sure
that we were keeping

our community informed and on best practices

and also informed about why we were doing
what we were doing every step of the way.

Something that helped with that was our virtual health symposiums.

We had multiple symposiums.

The symposiums had a panel of experts

each time that included doctors
from our community.

They included our Senator, Ben Allen,

And he helped facilitate the symposiums
and bring up topics

that many parents were wondering about
and needed answers to.

And I believe that these symposiums
really helped move our district forward

and our community forward
and our staff members forward

in understanding why we were doing
what we were doing every step of the way.

Because a lot of times
these mitigating measures

and protocols that we needed to
follow were difficult,

and they were difficult to implement
and not always easily understood.

So these symposiums helped with that.

In order to help keep our

parents, our staff,
our students and our community informed.

Regarding the spread of COVID-19,
on each school campus,

we created and posted a COVID-19 dashboard on our SMMUSD website.

The purpose of this dashboard was
so that people could automatically look

and see how many cases were positive
at their school site every week.

This dashboard was kept up to date

by information from our school nurses
and our testing companies.

That had the information in regards
to the positive cases on each school site.

And we know that this has been very,
very helpful in keeping

folks informed of
what is going on in our school sites

in relation to poverty,
positivity cases of COVID-19.

Going forward, we continue to follow the instructions of the L.A. County Department of Public Health.

Our goal, as always, is to mitigate
the spread of COVID-19

and keep all students, staff
and community members safe

so that we can maximize learning
in the classroom.

And educational minutes are not lost.

(Applause)

Hello. Hi. I'm Carey Upton and

I'm the Chief Operations Officer for the school district

and I manage everything
that is facilities.

On March 13th, 2020,
we closed our facilities for the pandemic,

and at that time the facility team
immediately started asking the question,

How do we get back open?

How do we get our students
back into our space and our custodians,

our operations people,
all of our maintenance technicians?

They were the first ones
back in the schools. They immediately

came back to start preparing
and getting those facilities ready.

Throughout the entire pandemic,
we were listening to the L.A.

County Department of Public Health
and the reopening protocols, which

changed, it seems, sometimes almost weekly
as to what we were going to do.

And we adapted from,
Oh, well, let's wipe down everything too.

Let's make sure,

you know, it's like we were constantly

changing distances and everything
just so we could get school

back open and we were able to get school
back open in April.

And I really want to thank our team
for all that they did

because we really showed very low levels
of spread here at the school

because of all that was done.

So that included enhanced
cleaning practices which continued.

Our custodians wipe down
so many things, everything

all through that time, increased signage
so everyone knew what to do.

Hand-washing stations,
sanitizing stations, the screening

so that when students came in,
we knew what they were screened for,

temperature checks,
everything else that connected them.

Also, I want to say a big
shout out to our food service

department that from the day

they were continuing to provide food
for those people who needed it.

So those students who needed it
from the first day of the pandemic,

we were continuing to provide food
and food services.

So that happened.

We learned very quickly
that one of the important parts of how

this pandemic spreads is through
ventilation and through the air.

So we did so much
to enhance our ventilation.

We completed a lot of our air
conditioning and ventilation processes

where we didn't have the enhanced

ventilation. We went in and added
air scrubbers, HEPA filters.

We did everything to make sure

that we had the maximum airflow
so we could keep our spaces clean.

We're able to back off a little bit of
that as the protocols are changing,

but we're ready to go back in
if ever it comes back,

and our facilities
will be ready to maintain and keep us safe

and clean space so that we
can keep kids in the school.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.
Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger means that
we've kind of been given an opportunity

to step back, think, recalibrate,
look at what's working and what hasn't.

And use that thoughtfulness to direct your next steps

going forward and emerge stronger
and do better and

emerging stronger means

that we are better together than apart.

We have strong connections
with one another,

whether we are teachers,
students, parents.

We are an incredible community

and I'm so proud to be a part of it.

Hello. I'm back to talk
now about our facilities

and it is a great story.

Before the pandemic, I would say education
is changing and we all knew that.

But now we've seen
how much completely that it has changed.

And our teachers proved that they can
teach in a lot of different settings.

But we also know that if we provide
the best facilities for those teachers

for that learning to occur,
that they are helped by that.

And so education is said
is the third teacher,

you know, after the students,
after the teachers,

the facilities sorry,
the facilities is is the third teacher.

And because we know that that's a space
where really things can happen

and we know that
we're trying to adapt and change

and make sure those facilities
are the very best that they can be.

One of our really great programs
we've been very excited about

is our modernization,
particularly of our elementary schools.

We looked at our facilities and
they were getting a little tired and sad.

And so we went in
and we replaced flooring,

we replaced we paint it,
you know, added some new paint.

We fixed the windows,
which we know provides better lighting

and and daylighting
into the space window screens.

We did roller shades,
new doors, interior exterior paint,

accessibility, improvements, everything

to try to make those facilities the best
so that when kids are sitting in there

and they're they're both clean and safe,
but they're also great spaces to be in.

One of the small projects
that really it's a small project for us,

but it was so huge
was our furniture project.

We went in, we replaced
all of the classroom furniture

in all of our classrooms.

It makes such a big difference from some.

I used to say that some of our desks
were heavier than the children

and older than their parents,
and it was really great to now put them in

flexible seating that can adapt and change
to the way our teachers are changing

and our teaching,

the way that the education
and the learning spaces are occurring.

We've completed our almost completed
our air conditioning project.

It was getting a little hot
in those classrooms.

And so it was really important
for engagement, for attention,

so that we actually make
all of our spaces better.

But also we improved the indoor
air quality so that there is just

more air, better oxygen,
because we know that impacts learning.

One of our projects we were working on
that we're very excited about

was we opened we opened the John Adams
Middle School Performing Arts Center.

(Applause)

Tom Whaley already spoke of that.

I was able to catch a little bit of our
first musical in there, Annie, which was

which happened over the weekend.

And it is a great space for our community.

We can't wait for you to be in that space
and to share it.

It was a collaboration between us
and Santa Monica College,

but it really is also really a space
for the community.

We keep planning a grand opening,
but we keep having COVID

keeps getting in the way.

Maybe in September we're hoping to have
a grand opening of that space

at our elementary and middle schools.

We have continued
campus planning, so we developed

working with our education
services team, asking our educators,

what do our facilities
need to be to teach our students today?

How is it different?

How are these facilities different?

We used that as a guide
to take a look at all of our facilities

to start asking the question,
how can they change?

And we've been working on that process

and we're very excited
about what's coming next.

Is that and many of our elementary schools
and our middle schools,

we have projects starting next summer,
not this summer, but

next summer that will add
all sorts of new things.

At Grant, at Rogers,
we're still working on some things.

I mean, at Lincoln, Roosevelt,
we're still developing plans

and we're looking forward to what we need
to do to really make our facilities

best for learning.

At Malibu High School,
we were able to open

finally our classroom, library
and admin building.

Mr. Miller Patrick spoke of that building.

You can see there's some transformation on
that campus as far as what is happening.

But what we're really excited about,

the next thing that's happening is we're
already making a lot of site preparation

and because we've done some deep campus
planning to really look at that campus

to ask what those facilities need to be
for that school, for that community.

Part of that is really taking a look

at the middle school
and the high school have separate spaces.

And so with the new building,
we call it the AB building, that building

along with the middle school building

will create the foundation
of the middle school campus .

And we're getting ready to demolish the

one Cabrillo Elementary School campus.

And that will be the new high school
space, this high school

building, which has been designed
to really fit in this community.

When you look at it, it really sort of
feels like, wow, that feels like Malibu.

But it also it's built to be a progressive
educational space

that fits the needs of these students.

And it's really we're
very excited about it.

We hope to be moving forward, demoing
and then breaking ground on that

in the fall and hope and the planned
opening is in August of 2024.

Here at Santa Monica High School,

We've also been doing quite a bit.
We opened the Discovery Building.

If you haven't seen it,
please let me know. We'll give you a tour.

We want you to see it

because we want you to experience
what the students have experienced,

that it is a progressive educational space
that really supports.

I appreciate what
Dr. Shelton said about it.

And you see that
when you come into this space

and, you know, it's
got lots of different parts,

lots of different pieces,
you know, the food services, the pool,

the special education, life skills space.

But it is a space
that is very transformative

to the educational experience.

We now have 3/5 of our
of our academic classes in new buildings.

But then we're also working on our newest
our phase three of our campus plan,

which is our exploration building
and also the new gold gym.

So those are we're just starting
construction on those that are beginning.

They're also planned for August of 24
and we were moving forward.

Those the exploration
building will be both

a visual and media are media arts studios.

That really will be so much better
for what they're teaching,

but also our academies,
which are career tech spaces.

We're very excited about what
that's going to provide for that.

And then the gymnasium,
which will have full two courts,

an auxiliary court,
a dance studio, also yoga, fitness spaces.

It really will be transformative
and it also is part of our

community use experience
with our facility use department.

We've just renewed our master facility
agreement with the city of Santa monica.

Which allows for our elementary school
playgrounds to be used, our middle schools

for athletics, our high school spaces

for athletics and for recreation.

We're working with the city to get
the pool open for the community here.

So all of those things
are happening in Malibu.

We're also about to renew
that master facilities agreement.

So that's coming along really well.

We're very excited
about what we're doing with facilities

and how it's impacting the students
and how our facilities really are

the center of the civic centers
for our communities.

As we've been doing this, though,
we've always been looking towards what

we're doing to be even more sustainable
and recreating a sustainable community,

sustainable facilities.

So I'm now going to introduce Austin Toyama who is our Manager

of Facilities, to talk... Who's our manager... I'm now getting to the end

And now I'm stuttering

who's our manager of sustainability
to talk about that program. Thank you.

The Sustainability
Department came about from the.

The districts need to

lead as a as a green
environmental leader in the city

the Santa Monica and SoCal area.

There were initiatives before
that were important to the district,

but they grew into what
became the sustainability plan.

And in 2019, that was formally adopted
by the Board of Education.

Since then, I've been the lead
sustainability manager to carry out

the sustainability plan
and with our eight different focus areas,

we've had several types of environmental
and sustainable initiatives.

This year we've been working on
the Will Rogers Farm.

We're also developing gardens and farms
at other schools.

Webster Elementary recently got
their garden revitalized in working order.

We're working on getting aquaponics

installed on the rooftop of Santa Monica's
Discovery Building.

It's a new program, and we continue
to work on energy management.

That's an ongoing effort,
as well as utilities management.

So water, gas, electricity and solar.

We try to conserve where we can
by communicating with staff and students

and as well as keeping a sharp eye on our

are utilities spend and usage
volume and cost.

So that's that's what
we've been working on in the coming years.

we'll continue to do Earth Day events, bike it, walk it events.

try to maximize our recycling at sites,
conserve our utilities as we go

and work with student
groups along the way.

Just spreading the word and trying
to maintain the culture of sustainability

in the district.

(Applause)

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

Emerging stronger.

together means we work collaboratively
as a team to support our students

so that they have
as much in front of them as possible.

And that means that we are creating safe
and healthy learning environments

while also creating experiences
that are rich in learning experiences

for students, and that we also have
an opportunity to support them

in every avenue that they want
so that as they grow,

they are able to do
whatever they want in their lives.

Emerging stronger means to me
that at the beginning of this year

we were all kind
of coming to school, not knowing

how COVID was going to affect us
and what was going to happen.

But now we're a lot more sure

of where we are so...

There are two very important

and essential functions
of the district staff and school board,

and that is to address on an annual basis
that alignment of district resources.

Here I'm talking about financial
as well as relational capital

to support our mission of providing
an extraordinary academic achievement

for all students while simultaneously
closing that achievement opportunity gap.

First of the functions
is to continue to foster and cultivate

the great partnerships we have
with the community partners and volunteer

parents such as the City of Santa Monica and Malibu,

Santa Monica, Education
Foundation. Shark Fund.

Malibu and Santa Monica.

Boys and Girls Clubs.

Santa Monica College.

Check the Santa Monica Chamber.

Rotary, Kiwanis, PTA - all 800 members, DELAC...

Yeah, you can clap.
(Applause)

BEPAC, Puente. And so many other of our advisory committees.

And you will see you see a lot of them
indicated here on their on the screen.

These partnerships are essential
to our success as a district.

And I'm standing here
representing the staff and school board

in thanking you for your support
and graciousness

as we muddle through some tough times
and the past two years.

We look forward.

Two more, more creative
and continuous ways to work

on providing great education
for our students and community.

The second of the two functions

is to establish and serve
as responsible steward,

responsible and innovative
fiscal stewards while managing

and addressing the complex issues
that come our way

inherent in democratic institutions
such as education,

and also with a limited resource
we are dealt with from a state.

Prior to and during the pandemic.

SMMUSD continue to utilize the fiscal resources

in creative ways to meet
the changing demands for instruction.

And to provide support and equipment to students

and staff to ensure the highest levels
of safety and health protectiveness

while continuing to provide
exceptional education for our students.

As a result, we have
and continue to receive positive budget

certifications by the Los Angeles
County Office of Education.

LACOE is another term for it.
And LACOE is the authority

that either approves or denies
the budget in a yearly basis.

I mean, they are the bane of existence for our fiscal team

because each year
they have to make sure they

make those marks
and we have done it successfully.

We have also consistently earned either a Triple-A or a Double-A plus

credit rating by the leading
credit rating agencies in the nation.

We successfully passed measures SMS and measure M

by a margin of 72% with the voters

of Santa Monica and Malibu, respectively.

Let's give some applause for that one. (Applause)

Not too many districts passed bonds at that rate.

Thank you to the voters.

And we recognize that
the 72% passage rate, it

represents the confidence
the community has in the school district.

And we will continue to serve
as responsible stewards of the district

finances while showcasing
the great success of our students.

Thank you, all of you,
for your great support of the district.

I would now like to introduce

Malibu High School ASB President Linda Morazan.

Thank you, Dr. Drati.

Good evening. I am Linda Morazan,
Malibu High School's ASB President,

And for me, emerging stronger
means being able

to come together
as one community and group together,

even with difficult times and hardships
in the way we as a community

have been able to stick together

with each other and work together
to remain a strong group.

We were able to grow and learn
about each other and help one another grow

and be together.

We have a lot to look forward to as we
finish up the remainder of the school year

while we set our expectations

and goals for continued
student success in the future.

We want to thank you for

joining us this evening

and appreciate your ongoing support
of our school district.

Whether you are whether you are a parent,
student, teacher, staff

member or community member.

Together we are emerging stronger.

Please join us on our various platforms and stay connected to SMMUSD.

We hope you enjoyed the state of schools,
the state of our schools event.

Now to close our program,
we have our talented middle school,

Mariachi Perla del Oeste. Good night. (Applause)

So one last thing
before we finish up tonight.

So our program went from 75 students
to about 20 TO 25 students

over the course of the last few years
because of the pandemic.

So it's our first... It's our students first,

one of our first performances in

two years. So you know. (Applause)