The FACE Forum

We hope you all have (or had, depending on when you read this!) a wonderful winter break filled with all the things that bring you joy, peace and recharge! As we head into the new 2025 year, we want to thank you for all you've done to support our students, families and community this past year. We are so grateful for each of you and hope that 2025 brings you all that you're hoping for!

Inside this month's FACE Forum newsletter, you'll find information on January workshops for families and staff, upcoming events, food distributions, community resources for families, morale boosters, partnership highlights, and more! While our FACE Forum monthly newsletter is an internal newsletter intended to only be shared with district staff, you are welcome to take any applicable parts of the newsletter that may support families and add to your own site/classroom newsletters and family messaging.

Have a wonderful January and a fantastic 2025 ahead!

Your FACE Friends

Direct to Teacher Grants San Juan Education Foundation

Parent/Family Hub www.sanjuan.edu/parents

Student Hub www.sanjuan.edu/students

FACE Outreach requests (Face Mobile, mini clinics and more!) https://bit.ly/FACEoutreach

FACE Lending Library of Fun https://bit.ly/FACElendingfun

Staff Digital Resource Library (community/district flyers) https://bit.ly/FACEresource

San Juan Unified Volunteer information www.sanjuan.edu/volunteer

FACE department Intranet! (Field trip forms, volunteer flyers and more!) intranet.sanjuan.edu/face

Community Resources www.sanjuan.edu/communityresources

• Food

• Clothing

• Diapers

• Utilities & Housing

• Social & Recreational

• Academic

• Disability & Special Education

• Employment

• Mental Health

• Refugee, Immigrant & Newcomer Supports

• LGBTQIA+

• Domestic Violence

• and more!

Having a family engagement event? FACE offers items for checkout at no cost to support family engagement efforts! Staff and volunteer leaders (PTO/PTA, etc) are welcome to request items on behalf of school family engagement events. We will follow up and confirm in 2-3 business days. Pickup and return of items is at the San Juan Unified District Office during pre-scheduled hours.

For more information, visit our Lending Library of Fun Catalog!

Happy 2025! The past few years have been some of the most challenging ones that any of us have experienced, especially in education. A new year is now upon us, and what better way to enter into it than by continuing some of the nourishing habits of rest, relaxation, recharge, and self-care that the winter break hopefully brought to you!

Though there are still challenges surrounding us as we enter 2025, we can handle them better together when we've got the mental and physical tools to help each of us. Those tools come from nourishing our minds, bodies and souls with small acts of self-care. You've likely heard the ‘fill your cup’ analogy. In order to help others, we first need to fill our own cup. We need to be well ourselves in order to also have the strength and energy to pour into those around us.

For January's Site Morale Booster, we're sending each school some items to help keep your cup full during this month! Hot Chocolate, Tea and Cider are all ways to keep your cup physically full (and help curb the outdoor chill of January!) but you'll also be receiving a Self-Care BINGO/challenge board as a booster idea! Consider doing a self-care challenge with your staff, either using the BINGO board or having them send you a selfie of them practicing their own Self-Care! For every person that completes the self-care challenge, provide them a hot cocoa/tea/cider packet as a warm way to acknowledge their important effort of self-care. Similar Self-Care Challenges can even be done with your students and families as a way to engage your school community and promote important healthy habits together!

You can find more ways to keep your cup full in the link below, as well as the additional resources included in this packet: https://www.hingehealth.com/resources/articles/filling-your-cup-the-importance-of-self-care/

Cheers to a Full Cup in 2025!

With so much to do⁠—students to teach, parents to inform, standards to meet⁠—making time to look after yourself is often the first thing to go and the last thing on your to-do list. Yet, taking care of yourself is critical to being able to address the needs of others, whether that’s students, parents, or colleagues. In an effort to help keep your cup full, our team has compiled a list of self-care & mindfulness resources for you, as well as your students and families! Check them out below!

The apps from Stop, Breathe & Think (iOS & Android) and SB&T Kids, are designed with the idea of peace over perfection. They're here to help kids, teens, and adults develop the emotional strength and confidence to handle whatever comes their way.

The Action for Happiness app is like having a little personal action coach in your pocket who gives you friendly 'nudges' with an action idea each day; sends you inspiring messages to give you a boost, and helps you connect & share ideas with like-minded people! Check out their app (and more awesome resources) at https://www.actionforhappiness.org/app

Feeling ready to embrace a month of mindfulness? Here’s a taster of some of the different ways you can start introducing it into your life. https://www.bupa.co.uk/newsroom/ourviews/a-month-of-mindfulness

Want some resources for your students and families? Check out:

Mind Yeti guided SEL/mindfulness activities for kids: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiaUKiwbiHMQDQLCXoPaMMYotldKlUQCw

https://www.kidsyogastories.com/mindfulness-in-schools/

https://www.secondstep.org/free-sel-resources

January is a month to celebrate the diverse ways in which we communicate and connect with each other. From recognizing the importance of Braille for the visually impaired to honoring cultural celebrations, this month is about understanding and appreciating the various forms of expression that enrich our world.

January 4 – UN: World Braille Day
Celebrates the importance of Braille for the visually impaired.

January 14 – Buddhist: Mahayana New Year
Celebrates the Buddhist New Year in Mahayana traditions.

January 20 – Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Honors the civil rights leader and his contributions to equality.

January 27 – International Day of Commemoration in Memory of Victims of the Holocaust
Remembers the victims of the Holocaust and promotes Holocaust education.

Open Enrollment Information Nights are Happening Now! www.sanjuan.edu/enrollment/visitations

Open Enrollment Lottery Window is now open and closes January 24. www.sanjuan.edu/enrollment/open-enrollment

Kindergarten Enrollment begins February 3! Families with incoming kindergartners can visit www.sanjuan.edu/enrollment to complete their registration.

Transitional Kindergarten (TK) Lottery begins February 10 and closes March 14. Enrollment is due by April 7. Families with incoming TK students can visit www.sanjuan.edu/TK for information.

Visit our Regional Community Care Hubs for free resources! www.sanjuan.edu/communityresources

• January 23, 2:00-4:30 pm at San Juan Central (3700 Garfield Ave., Carmichael)
• January 30, 2:00-4:30 pm at Northridge Elementary School (5150 Cocoa Palm Wy., Fair Oaks)

FREE January Family Workshops! www.sanjuan.edu/familyed

• Jan. 9- Keys to High School Success, 5:30-7:00 pm on Zoom
• Jan. 15- Supporting Read Aloud at Home, 5:30-7:00 pm on Zoom
• Loving Solutions: A Parent Project Series, Wednesdays beginning Jan. 22, 5:45-7:45 pm at Thomas Kelly Elementary (6301 Moraga Dr., Carmichael)
• Your Student is a Digital Citizen- pre-recorded video in our NEW Family Engagement Video Library at www.sanjuan.edu/familyed under the "Family Engagement Video Library" tab

January Staff Professional Development Opportunities

On Zoom - Register through the Staff Portal portal.sanjuan.edu

• Jan. 15- Using Restorative Practices to Improve School-Family Relationships, 3:30-4:30 pm
• Jan. 29- Improving Attendance by Strengthening Home-School Partnership Practices, 3:30-4:30 pm

Mini-Clinics at sites by request (10-15 minutes at staff meetings) https://bit.ly/FACEoutreach

• Field Trip Process
• Volunteer Process & Recruitment
• Conflict Resolution Process
• FACE Resources

Find resources, including monthly parent newsletters, family workshops and volunteer information, as well as staff resources, such as our Lending Library of Fun, Outreach Requests, and Digital Resource Library, on our website at www.sanjuan.edu/familyed.

Find additional internal staff resources & forms on our Intranet at https://intranet.sanjuan.edu/familycommunityengagement

The Open Enrollment Lottery for the 2025-2026 school year closes on January 24 at 5:00 pm. The Open Enrollment Lottery is an annual process that allows families who live within the boundaries of San Juan Unified School District an opportunity to request a school of their choice, provided there is space available at the requested school and families are willing to provide transportation. Available space is determined by defined physical and program capacity of the school after placement of enrolled resident students. To apply, families can submit an online application at www.sanjuan.edu/openenrollment. Open enrollment lottery results will be sent to parents/guardians via email the first week of February 2025.

Kindergarten Enrollment begins February 3! Families with incoming kindergartners can visit www.sanjuan.edu/enrollment to complete their registration.

Transitional Kindergarten (TK) Lottery begins February 10 and closes March 14. Enrollment is due by April 7. Families with incoming TK students can visit www.sanjuan.edu/TK for information.

Copy and paste Family Workshop info direct from www.sanjuan.edu/familyed for Smore, Social Media, Class Dojo, Talking Points and email messaging! Digital content is translatable and accessible for families.

Questions? Call (916) 971-7929

January's NEW Family Engagement Video- Your Student is a Digital Citizen

FACE launched a brand new Family Engagement Video Learning Library on our website where families, staff and community to access pre-recorded learning videos on a variety of topics! These videos are perfect for families who may not be able to attend our regular workshops, but would like to access the learning at a later time, or for colleagues and parent-teacher organizations who want to share the learning with families at their own site meeting or event.

January's video is "Your Student is a Digital Citizen"

• Learn ways to help your student navigate the internet safely
• Develop a deeper understanding of the importance of digital citizenship and role of parents/guardians in supporting
• Explore tools and strategies to help with internet safety, parental controls, and protecting your child online
• Connect with school programs and supports to learn more!

You can view and share the video with your families by visiting our playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHYpvQ2D1fOA5K15Gu7kaTDJjnK6dV5Na

We'll release a new video each month on www.sanjuan.edu/familyed.

Whether you have a 7-year-old or a 17-year-old, research shows that students perform better academically and behaviorally if the student knows their parents are involved and have high expectations.

To support this effort, each month we will feature a new "Helping Children Learn" newsletter that is full of ideas to support learning at home. You can share this free newsletter with families directly from our website!

To access the newsletters in English and Spanish for Elementary, Middle School, and High School, visit www.sanjuan.edu/familyed and click on the "Parent Newsletter" tab.

Using Restorative Practices to Improve School-Family Relationships

January 15, 3:30-4:30 pm on Zoom

Restorative practices aim at developing community, and managing conflict and tensions by repairing harm and restoring relationships with students and families. In this Zoom session, participants will learn the fundamentals of restorative practices, implementation strategies, and the positive effects that these practices have on the school-to-home relationship.

Improving Attendance by Strengthening Home-School

Partnership Practices

January 29, 3:30-4:30 pm on Zoom

Creating a culture of attendance begins by engaging students and families positively, establishing trust, and creating a sense of belonging. This Zoom session focuses on messaging chronic absence positively, utilizing data to establish positive family supports, and exploring concrete strategies to address and reduce chronic absence.

The FACE staff workshops take place on Zoom and are open to all certificated and classified staff members in our district. You can register directly on our FACE course page in the PL Tile (click “FACE” in the "Subjects" section on the Home page).

We are thrilled to invite you to a unique opportunity to learn about one of the most effective family engagement strategies there is-- Parent Teacher Home Visits (PTHV). This interactive learning session is designed to enhance educators' ability to build meaningful relationships with students' families, starting with a voluntary home visit. During the session, you'll discover our five core practices, which are non-negotiable and have proven to drive success.

The session will be led by a diverse team of PTHV members—both parents and teachers—who are directly involved in the practice of this model. They will also reflect the different grade levels and community demographics. All educators, school staff, administrators from pre-K through 12 schools, community leaders, and other stakeholders are encouraged to attend.

We are offering a half day training on Thursday, February 13th, 2025 from 8:00am - 12:00pm at the Sacramento Marriott Rancho Cordova (11211 Point E Drive, Rancho Cordova, California). A networking breakfast is included. Please register via the QR code on the flyer and reach out to FACE if you are planning to send a teacher or colleague who requires a sub and need assistance with securing one.

We hope to see you there!

The FACE Mobile has been out and about in the community bringing at-home learning and community resources to families all across our San Juan Unified district and has launched its new Community Care Hubs, which you can learn about further below!

Our FACE outreach team can come out to help support you with the following:

• FACE Mobile visits

• 15 minute staff trainings on various processes:

(Problem Resolution, Volunteers, Field Trips, Partnerships, Community Resources, Family Ed, Staff Ed, general FACE overview, etc.)

• 15 minute family clinics (parent portal, preparing for parent-teacher conferences, effective school-to-home communication, exploring district and community resources, etc.)

• Volunteer recruitment (fingerprinting available evenings/weekend events only)

• Family resource center/space/bulletin board consultation

To request a FACE Mobile visit for one of your events or outreach item listed about, please click the link below:

https://bit.ly/FACEoutreach

To check out where the FACE Mobile is headed to next, visit our family education website at www.sanjuan.edu/familyed and click the FACE Mobile tab!

Check Out the New Regional Community Care Hubs!

January Community Care Hubs:

Thursday, January 23

2:00 - 4:30 pm

San Juan Central (3700 Garfield Ave., Carmichael)

Thursday, January 30

2:00 - 4:30 pm

Northridge Elementary School, 5150 Cocoa Palm Wy., Fair Oaks)

Join us at the upcoming Community Care Hubs!

Community Care Hubs are free regional pop-up community resource fairs, hosted across various locations in the district to bring together district departments and local community partners to offer valuable information, resources, and services to families and students. It’s a great opportunity to connect, learn, and share essential tools to support student success.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

• Distribute/post the flyers above for families

• Share the Community Care Hub information with your staff and families via Talking Points, school newsletters, social media, etc. Below is a pre-made blurb to help you quickly share the info!

Talking Points Blurb: Receive support and resources at our regional Community Care Hubs! These pop-up events bring together district departments and local community partners to offer valuable resources and services to families and students. It’s a great opportunity to connect and access essential tools to support student success.

Mark your calendar for January Care Hubs on the Thursdays below from 2:00 - 4:30 p.m.

• January 22 @ San Juan Central

• January 29 @ Northridge Elementary School

More information can be found at sanjuan.edu/communityresources

San Juan Central Food Closet

The San Juan Unified food closet is located at the Central Enrollment Center (3700 Garfield Ave. in Carmichael) and serves families, staff and community who are in need of non-perishable food items.

Hours:

Open year round, Monday through Friday (NEW HOURS! 9:00 am-1:00 pm)
Closed on non-school days and holidays.

Need more information on food resources? Visit www.sanjuan.edu/resources/community-resources for more information about our district food closet and community food banks.

We know how challenging and time-consuming it is to search for resources for families, so our team has been building a Digital Resource Library for all sites and departments to have access to. In this library, you'll find flyers and links for district and community resources to assist with housing, clothing, food, health, special education, college and career, community service partners, and more. We'll be adding to this library regularly, so keep checking to see what's new! The link allows anyone in San Juan to view the resources, so please feel free to share the link with your site/ department team members!

To better align our process with the information available in background checks, we are revising the current volunteer statuses to reflect three selections versus the existing six selections.

• The new volunteer clearance levels are as follows:

1. Can volunteer

2. Can volunteer under permanent employee supervision

3. Cannot volunteer

• This mainly affects driving abilities. Those who are classified as “can volunteer” are eligible to drive/chaperone other students on field trips as long as they complete the driving forms and provide a copy of their valid driver's license to the secretary at their school site.

• Those classified as “can volunteer under permanent supervision” and “cannot volunteer” are not eligible to drive other students on field trips.

This table outlines the activities allowed for volunteers under each of the new clearance levels.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at volunteer@sanjuan.edu or call (916) 971-7935.

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays are filling up quickly!

Check the 2024-2025 San Juan Field Trip School Bus Availability Calendar for school bus availability.

See the Field Trips to Consider page for information on popular, local & accessible destinations.

If you find it useful, fill out our feedback survey for a chance to win free transportation for your trip!

If you have any questions, please email fieldtrips@sanjuan.edu or call Emily Red at (916) 979-8937.

Have you recently had a community partner support you with an event or initiative? Celebrate them for the help they provided! A simple photo or shout out goes a long way to make them feel appreciated and valued as partners.

You can submit a shout out for them in our district newsletters by clicking the link here:

Photo of the week submission

In need of community support and not sure where to start? 2-1-1 Sacramento is a great resource. We recently had the opportunity to hear from 2-1-1 and learn about the one-stop online and phone resource center available to our community. Families and community can access information regarding emergency assistance, food, and local resource support. www.211sacramento.org

2-1-1 Sacramento, a program of Community Link Capital Region, is a free confidential information and referral service that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Assistance is available in multiple languages, and services are accessible to people with disabilities. Our Call Specialists speak: Spanish, Hmong, Thai, Lao, Mien and English. Over 200+ additional languages can be assisted 24 hours a day via tele-interpretation. Utilizing a comprehensive computerized database of more than 1,600 nonprofit and public agency programs, trained information and referral specialists give personalized attention to each caller. Specialists can refer callers to a variety of service that best meet their needs.

2-1-1 Sacramento has information on programs for:

Employment and Training
Housing
Financial Assistance
Food Programs
Legal Assistance
Children’s Services
Services for People with Disabilities
Senior Services

Health Care Services
Mental Health Services
Substance Abuse Services
Military and Veteran Services
Homeless Services
Emergency/Crisis Programs
Transportation Information
And More!

Visit https://www.211sacramento.org/211/ to learn more about this incredible community resource!

These standards guide teachers in building stronger connections with families and communities while fostering inclusive, culturally responsive classrooms. Check out Standard 1C, which focuses on teachers using their knowledge of each student to create a learning approach that strengthens participation, engagement, and a sense of belonging. Learn more about the revised standards and their impact on education.

School climate refers to a school’s overall atmosphere, which affects everyone’s experiences in the community. A positive school climate supports healthy youth development, improves mental health, and boosts student motivation and academic success. It can also reduce absenteeism, suspension rates, and behavioral issues, while helping improve family and community engagement.

This step-by-step guide from West Ed and the National Center for School Safety is designed to support educators and administrators in creating a positive and supportive school climate, including conducting a needs assessment, selecting strategies, initiative implementation, and sustaining improvement efforts.

There are so many wonderful student, family and community engagement highlights happening around the district! We'd love to spotlight any of those efforts that your site or department is doing! Send us an email at face@sanjuan.edu and we'll highlight your shoutout in the next FACE Forum newsletter!

Kingswood K-8 hosted a Winter Wonderland for families, filled with make-and-take winter crafts, student performances, a visit with Santa, delicious pancake breakfast, and free coats, shoes and backpacks from some of our incredible community partners, including the Kiwanis Club of Citrus Heights and Del Dayo Elementary School, who collected coats for the Kingswood students! It was a terrific morning of family fun! Way to go, Kingswood Knights!

On Thursday, December 19, district office colleagues hosted an event to raise donations for San Juan Unified students in need. This event invited attendees to pop in for some cocoa and cookies, while dropping off their donations of new toys, new/gently-used coats, and monetary donations to Camp Winthers for scholarships for students. Thanks to everyone's donations, including an incredible $1000 toy donation from our district's California Schools Employee Association (CSEA), we were able to help provide immediate supports for families across our district and have added additional scholarship opportunities to students for summer camp at Camp Winthers! Thank you to all our district office colleagues who helped make this happen and added thanks to Deterding Elementary for providing winter student art to display for the event!

Huge thanks to Del Dayo for helping us collect canned food and shelf-stable food items for our district's food closet at San Juan Central! Thanks to the students, families and staff, the food closet is now fully stocked again and ready to help support our San Juan Unified students, families and community! We appreciate all the generosity and support from our school communities to help keep these resources going for so many in need! Thank you, Del Dayo Dragons!

Click the link below to access December's newsletter and see all the resources, information and supports for you and your school community!

https://secure.smore.com/n/pc54j

Want to receive the monthly FACE Forum newsletters directly to your email inbox during the school year? Our newsletter is now being emailed directly to recipients who have opted in to receiving the monthly newsletter. For those who choose not to opt in to receiving the newsletter via email, you will still be able to access the newsletter in Behind the Scenes (all SJUSD employees), Leadership Reflections (administrators), Secretary Scoop (secretaries), and Elementary/Secondary Updates.

To opt in to receiving The FACE Forum newsletter directly to your Inbox, please complete this brief opt-in here: https://forms.gle/3DQ62CUCZy4HjzGt6

San Juan Unified Family & Community Engagement Department

Email: face@sanjuan.edu

Website: www.sanjuan.edu/face

Intranet: intranet.sanjuan.edu/face
Location: 3738 Walnut Avenue, Carmichael, CA, USA
Phone: (916) 971-7929

Facebook & Instagram- @SanJuanUnifiedFACE