Cluster meetings provide setting for community input on the district's LCAP

As San Diego Unified prepares to conclude the Vision 2020 – Dream Big Together Forums, the focus will turn to engaging school communities through the regularly scheduled monthly cluster meetings. This engagement will provide students, parents, teachers, administrators, support staff and interested community members with the opportunity to provide input towards the development of the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) at the cluster level. All 16 clusters will have the LCAP discussion at an upcoming meeting. Here is the schedule:

Cluster	Date	Time	Location
Clairemont	3/20	5:30 p.m.	Marston Middle School
Crawford	3/17	5:30 p.m.	Mann Middle School
Henry	3/20	4:30 p.m.	Henry High School
Hoover	3/24	5 p.m.	Clark Middle School
Kearny	3/20	4:30 p.m.	Kearny High Complex, Rm. 301
La Jolla	3/20	4 p.m.	Muirlands Middle School
Lincoln	3/24	6 p.m.	Porter Elementary School
Madison	TBD	5 p.m.	Madison High School
Mira Mesa	3/24	5:30 p.m.	Mira Mesa High School
Mission Bay	4/10	6 p.m.	Pacific Beach Middle School
Morse	3/17	5:30 p.m.	Zamorano Elementary
Point Loma	4/7	4:30 p.m.	Correia Middle School
San Diego	3/10	5:30 p.m.	SD High Complex library
Scripps Ranch	3/19	4:30 p.m.	Marshall Middle School
Serra	3/17	4:30 p.m.	Farb Middle School
University City	3/24	4:30 p.m.	UC High School Media Center

As the district continues to develop the Vision 2020 and Quality Schools in Every Neighborhood model of school reform, it continues to engage stakeholders in partnership. If you have a question about the cluster engagement process regarding the LCAP, contact the Office of District Relations at 619-725-7505 or visit the website at www.sandi.net/lcff.

University City community raises $12,000 for local schools

Oktoberfest in University City proved to be a big success for the neighborhood's schools.

The fifth annual event, organized by EdUCate, the University City High School cluster group, broke all attendance and fund-raising records, as more than 1,500 attendees put nearly $12,000 in the till for the cluster's students.

Schools in the University City cluster are University City High School, Standley Middle School, and Curie, Doyle and Spreckels elementary schools. Title sponsor was the University City Community Association.

According to EdUCate, local breweries contributed to the popular beer garden were: AleSmith, Ballast Point Brewing Company, Coronado Brewing Company, Gordon Biersch, Mission Brewery, Monkey Paw Pub and Brewery, Rock Bottom Brewery and Stone Brewing.

Other sponsors included: 3 Steves Winery, Coldwell Banker UC Agents, Ditzler Family Chiropractic, Feerick and Associates, Golden Triangle Optometric, LabDx, Larry Yandel Jr. Memorial Youth Sports Fund, Melanie and Achim David, Patricia Freund and Family, Primerica: Paul & Debbie Hedley, Ruby Huizar and Family, Samala-Gafford Family, The French Gourmet, The Madden Family, The Skillen Family – in honor of Larry Yandel, Tom and Brook Feerick, UC Rugby Club and Wikitiki.

The many fun activities for kids included food, games and entertainment from Standley Middle School and University City High School marching bands.

Oktoberfest also brought out all the school principals for their annual challenge. For this year’s toilet paper rolling event, bragging rights belong to UCHS Principal Jeff Olivero.

 Oktoberfest would not have been possible without the many parent and student volunteers – thanks to all the Curie parents and students that helped out! Big thanks to those who contributed to the Dollar-A-Day (DAD) program, who received special treatment at Oktoberfest.

It’s not too late to participate– go online and contribute at least $180, or $250 gives you and a friend VIP status at EdUCate’s Taste of the Triangle on May 2. For more info or to contribute, go to: http://www.uc-educate.org/

Find out about California's new way of funding schools at upcoming meetings

Leadership from the San Diego Unified School District will be visiting Cluster Committee and other parent meetings over the next several months to discuss California's new school budget plan, called the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF).

LCFF shifts the focus from funding dozens of state-mandated programs to funding based on local district control and student needs,” said Superintendent Cindy Marten, “with extra dollars allotted to low-income children, foster youth and English learners.”

According to the state Department of Education, each district creates a three-year plan not only for funding but for accountability; under the old budget system, district plans covered only funding. The California Department of Education is expected to issue guidelines in January for creation of the Local Control Accountability Plan, which ties student achievement to program funding.

“The funding formula and the local accountability plan in many ways bring the rest of the state into compliance with our district's Vision 2020,” said Dr. John Lee Evans, Board of Education President. “As we have outlined in the Vision 2020, we're making staff more accountable to ensure annual improvement in the education of our students.”

According to Vision 2020:

• Staff will develop both quantitative and qualitative measures to measure the broad range of achievement.
• Such measures will incorporate an individual growth model.
• Such measures will facilitate the improvement of instruction.
• Such measures will be readily available and understandable by students, parents and community members.
• Student achievement will also include measures of personal development and citizenship development.

The community meetings will give San Diego Unified residents the opportunity to hear about the new funding formula, its impact on the district budget and the expectations for the budget development process. If you want to learn more about the Local Control Funding Formula, visit the website at www.sandi.net/lcff or email lcff@sandi.net.

Find Out More

• Schedule of upcoming meetings on the new funding formula and the Local Control Accountability Plan»
• California Department of Education information on Local Control Funding Formula»
• Find out about your local cluster»

Cluster Committees bring schools, parents, community members together

The innovative Cluster Committees revolving around San Diego Unified's high schools and their "feeder" neighborhood schools are inviting parents, guardians and local community members to upcoming meetings.

Established in 2010 as part of the district's Vision 2020 plan to create quality schools in every neighborhood, the clusters help coordinate instruction and activities among a cluster's elementary, middle and high schools. For example, in the Hoover cluster, school communities from Hoover High, Wilson and Clark middle schools, along with elementary schools Adams, Central, Cherokee Point, Edison, Franklin, Hamilton, Joyner, Normal Heights, Parks and Rowan meet monthly to promote continuity, communication and collaboration. Area superintendents share the leadership and coordination of the clusters in their respective learning communities.

According to the Vision 2020, "Curriculum will be coordinated across the K-12 curriculum in each cluster to assure continuity across the curriculum," which ensures that students can move more successfully from elementary to middle to high school. Another goal of Vision 2020 is for schools to extend beyond the school site, not only to home and around the world through technology, but through the cluster committees to the entire community.

Other goals for clusters include:

• Cluster councils will promote the schools in their communities
• Cluster councils will work with schools, community and district staff to improve the quality of their neighborhood schools.
• Cluster councils will be a democratic representation of the school community including teachers, administrators, support staff, students, parents and community members.
• Parents will play an integral role in school site governance councils and cluster councils.
• Community members will participate in cluster councils alongside parents and staff.

For more information on clusters and a schedule of meeting dates and times, visit the cluster website or check with your neighborhood school's principal.