Super DAC News: March 2024

Hello, Conejo Valley USD Community!

Welcome to this second edition of Super DAC News for the 2023-2024 school year. Super DAC News is a triannual (sent out three times during the school year) newsletter that highlights the work and activities of CVUSD’s six parent district advisory councils and the student district advisory committee. We hope that the information included below is informative and helpful to families, students, staff, community members and community partners.

AADAC has been focused on how best to engage both the parents and students of Conejo Valley to show our students that we SEE them, and to build a greater sense of support & community. We've created the following subcommittees to help us achieve our goals:

• OnBoarding Subcommittee: Created to develop AADAC Onboarding materials for new members outlining AADAC's mission, current goals, and member roles & expectations.
• Black History Month Committee: Created to assist the district and school sites in developing more rich, fun, and engaging activities for Black History Month. Committee suggestions include:
• Taste of Soul- featuring local restaurants specializing in African/ Caribbean/ African American cuisine [HS]
• Historical Figure Presentations- wherein students take on the character of notable figures and give presentations to their classmates, similar to what some schools have done during women’s history month [MS/ES].
• Library Displays [HS/MS/ES]
• 1Shine- Many BSU’s are interested in having the 1Shine program visit their sites. Scheduling is underway at the district.
• High School BSUs invited to January AADAC meeting.
• Social Connection Committee: Created for the purpose of planning and facilitating gatherings & activities to foster cultural engagement & connection. Committee suggestions include:
• Connection via education vs recreation
• Kwanzaa/ Secret Santa Activities via BSU’s
• Social Media Site & Services Directory
• “Black Family Reunion” Type recreational event at a local park
• Black Excellence Awards Committee: Created in alignment with AADAC's goal of supporting our students and making them feel seen, celebrated, and connected to their community. The committee has: Developed a set of criteria for the awards to be voted on. Discussed frequency | nominations vs application process & criteria | formal vs informal (i.e., presented at AADAC meeting vs independent ceremony). These items have been added to the January Agenda for vote.

Our next meeting is Wednesday, March 13, 2024. 5:30pm in the University Multipurpose Room (Atlas Ave).

Click here to visit the AADAC webpage and learn more about us.

Our January meeting featured a presentation by Ms. Kristin Nordstrom, a second-grade teacher at Ladera Stars Academy, on the unique opportunities for learning presented by the construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing and the engaging and interdisciplinary lessons she has created for her students. Part two of the meeting focused on a presentation by staff from the City of Thousand Oaks on the city’s crossing guard program and efforts to increase walking and biking to school, followed by a lively discussion and feedback from DAC members. Families are encouraged to check out www.walk2schoolto.org to learn more about our city’s crossing guard program and potential cuts that may occur in the future.

For our February meeting, the main presentation was about Elementary Reading and Literacy, and DAC members learned about the Science of Reading, the Five Pillars of Reading, intervention strategies and the Wonders curriculum used in CVUSD. Dr. Dena Sellers also shared tips for parents to support literacy at home. Next, we resumed the discussion from our January meeting on the city crossing guard program, and the executive board decided to start an ad hoc committee to focus on increasing walking and biking to school.

Our next meeting is a Super DAC for all the advisory councils on Tuesday, March 12, at 9:00 am, in the University Center Multipurpose Room at 2801 Atlas Avenue in Thousand Oaks, and our main topic will be student progress data.

Please click here to visit the DAC webpage and learn more about us.

The newly adopted Multilingual Learner Master Plan was shared and reviewed with all DELAC members. All members were given a paper copy of the plan. The Special Education Department Directors shared an overview of the Special Education program services. DELAC hosted a potluck to celebrate the return to school after the winter break.

Our next meeting is Tuesday, March 26, 2024 from 10 am to 12 noon at the University Center.

Please click here to visit the DELAC website and learn more about us.

Mrs. Tasha Beaudoin gave a presentation on The Center at Thousand Oaks High School. They will be hosting a zoom information session for freshmen and sophomore families on Thursday, February 8th at 6:30pm. Please visit https://www.tohsthecenter.org/ for more information and to register.

Dr. Dena Sellers, Director of Elementary Education, gave a presentation on the School Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) process and the role our GATE parent representatives play in the development of that plan at their school sites.

Elections for the GATE DAC Executive Board positions will be held at the May 3rd meeting. Anyone interested in being considered for one of these positions (Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Parlimentarian, Member At-Large) should email the Nomination Committee Chair, Rachael Brusseau, at rachael@brusseau.org.

The next GATE-DAC Meeting is May 3, 2024 from 9:15-11:15am at University Center MPR.

Please click here to visit the GATE-DAC webpage and learn more about us.

The LGBTQ+ AC is focusing on inclusivity in the CVUSD curriculum, polices, and practices via district presentations and advisory council representative discussions.

The LGBTQ+ AC has two subcommittees, the Elementary Subcommittee and Secondary Subcommittee (middle and high schools). Representatives of the advisory council are always invited to join, as well as any other interested caregivers. Interested individuals should contact their AC site representative. The AC is also seeking interested parent representatives in anticipation of the 2024-2025 school year.

The LGBTQ AC is discussing ways to recognize Pride Month in June.

The next LGBTQ+AC Meeting is April 24, 2024 at 2801 Atlas Avenue (University MPR).

Please click here to visit the LGBTQ+AC webpage and learn more about us.

We had a great presentation from SELPA on IEP basics and ADR.

Another great presentation was an update on the Strategic Inclusion Plan.

Our committees are meeting working on Transitions, Safety, Curriculum and Inclusion, and the Disability Celebration Toolkit. Check out the Disability Celebration Toolkit here. https://www.smore.com/7cnk3r

The next SEDAC Meeting is Tuesday, March 5th.

Please click here to visit the SEDAC webpage and learn more about us.

Students from TOHS giving SEDAC their first hand descriptions on how Unified Sports and inclusion has affected their lives

SDAC reconvened on January 22nd with a fantastic comprehensive update on the Ethnic Studies course from four high school teachers. They discussed the ways in which the course has evolved as well as some interesting and creative teaching strategies to fit their classroom environments!

We officially approved the amendment to the SDAC bylaws regarding subcommittees and the roles of subcommittee chairs in the efforts to maintain clear guidelines and make our subcommittees as productive and efficient as possible.

Finally, we had a very thorough discussion about the shift of Winter Finals from after Winter Break to before Winter Break. Though there was a variety of feedback, the vast majority of students assrted that they were in support of the schedule shift, citing their reduced stress over the break and ability to start fresh in the New Year!

The next SDAC meeting is Monday March 25 at 4:00 pm in the Board Room.

Please click here to visit the SDAC webpage and learn more about us.

A DAC or district advisory council/committee is a body made up of parent or student representatives that advises district leadership and administration on education programs, policies and procedures related to student achievement, academic performance, overall success and wellbeing. DACs are one avenue for parents, guardians and students to be involved and have a voice about the education of students in CVUSD.

To learn more about the Student District Advisory Committee, check out their webpage.

District advisory council meetings are open to the public, and all are welcome. To see the upcoming meeting dates for all the parent DACs, check out the Master Schedule.

Upcoming DAC meetings and agendas are available on the district website through BoardDocs, which is the same portal for the Board of Education meetings. Access the BoardDocs portal here.

Website: https://www.conejousd.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ConejoValleyUnifiedSchoolDistrict
Twitter: @ConejoValleyUSD