Dear Novato Community,
Thanks to all of you who are sending in nominations for Modeling the Way. Please continue sending them in here https://nusd.org/modeling-the-way/. In November, we celebrated the following exemplary employees. Thank you, Rancho PTA, for donating coffee gift cards and plants!
Congratulations Claudia, Maria, and Tehniat!
Claudia Rodriguez, Lu Sutton Elementary School
Claudia Rodriguez
Claudia is a campus supervisor at Lu Sutton. Her nominator describes her as someone who is always learning new things, comes to work with a smile on her face, and is dedicated to helping others, and taking good care of the students.
Maria Grima
Maria is a TK teacher at San Ramon. Maria is described as a good listener, always available to meet with colleagues, parents, and students, cares deeply for the youngest students in NUSD, encourages everyone to love learning, and she teaches students new things every single day.
Maria Grima, San Ramon Elementary School
Tehniat Cheema
Tehniat is described as an amazing principal, wonderful woman, loving parent, born leader, inspiring role model, fearless “queen” of PBE, and one who cares deeply about the everyone in the Loma Verde community.
North Marin Council – Invitations to Attend PTA Meetings Starting in November 2021
I am delighted to be invited to each PTA/PTO/PTSA meeting to share the upcoming budget reductions and potential Parcel Tax Campaign. I will be attending those meetings as follows as these are the groups that have already set a time to meet through Ellen Christensen-Denton, my Executive Assistant. Here are the dates booked so far:
Loma Verde Elementary School
| Hamilton | Olive 11/10/21 6:30pm | San Jose |
| Loma Verde | Pleasant Valley | Sinaloa |
| Lu Sutton 12/16 6:30 pm | Rancho | Novato High |
| Lynwood | San Ramon 11/10/21 7:30pm | San Marin |
Successful Vaccination Event at Lu Sutton – November 6
Special thanks to Leslie Benjamin, Mira Patel, Golden Gate Pharmacy, and the County of Marin for teaming up to hold a Vaccination Clinic at Lu Sutton on Saturday November 6. Over 80 students were vaccinated from Lu Sutton and there were extra vaccines to share with Lynwood and Loma Verde Schools. Public Health officials selected the schools to be provided with vaccine based on their high poverty index for each district in Marin.
NUSD will have another vaccine site held as follows (though I hear it may be full already!):
- November 20 and 21 at Novato High School, 9 am – 5 pm (1st dose)
- December 18 and 19 at Novato High School, 9 am – 5 pm (2nd dose)
Special Education Advisory Committee Parent Series
School and College Legal Services, in collaboration with the Marin County SELPA, will be holding a virtual webinar parents series beginning in December. The dates are:
- December 7, Procedural Safeguards & Parents Rights
- January 4, Special Education Eligibility & the Continuum of Services/Placements
- February 1, Special Education Questions & Answers
All workshops are 6-7 pm and registration is at https://seacparents.eventbrite.com.
There is also a Special Education Q&A on March 3 at 12 pm – 1 pm. Register at https://seacqa.eventbrite.com
You can find the flyer here: Special Education Advisory Committee Parent Series
TK Task Force Taking Action
Thanks to Leslie Robertson’s suggestion, we now have a TK Task Force as we welcome registration for our youngster students. All students turning 5 by February 1, 2023, are eligible to register, right now, for TK for the 2022-23 school year.
The TK teacher team, along with district staff, are planning the program for the expansion. They will share resources, instructional materials, facilities, and furniture needed, and ideas for strategic implementation as we develop a plan that will be approved by the Board of Trustees this spring.
The ratios are 12:1 or 24:2 which means a teacher and instructional assistant. So, there is a lot of planning to do and a program to design. TK was never designed as a TK/K model, although for funding purposes that is what NUSD elected to do. We will review the numbers to see if we have enough students to continue site specific or regional classes. That configuration will depend on the number of TK students. Special thanks to Angela Williams, who will lead the team, and Jen Larson, Tehniat Cheema, Lois Standring, and Catherine Nam who are supporting as well.
We would love to have one from each school!
- Hamilton – Any chance we can get a TK rep?
- Loma Verde – Laura Robertson
- Lu Sutton – Heidi Joseph
- Lynwood – Robin Pence
- Olive – Emma Donovan, Emily Steffy, and Katie Kelly
- Pleasant Valley – Alyssa Pappas
- Rancho – Kayla Casey
- San Ramon – We would love Maria to join us!
Thanks to the TK Teachers who are on the team!
Substitute Teachers Needed-Subs Need a BA and not a Credential! Spread the Word!
As we are all well-aware, nationally we have a shortage of substitutes. We need your help in encouraging friends and neighbors who may hold a BA and are interested in kindly working with students, to consider subbing in NUSD for $200 a day! You do NOT need a credential to sub, just a BA.
I wanted to share with you the October subs needed due to teacher absences. I am hoping we have some creative ideas to help address the issue. Everyone’s help appreciated. We just have a demand greater than resources available. Ideas and suggestions welcomed. Please see the chart below.
October 2021 Absences for the Month=586 Thanks for any ideas and creativity here!
| Absences for the month of October 2021 | Teacher requested Subs |
Filled |
Unfilled |
Teacher did not request a sub | Percent of Subs Filled | Percent of Subs Unfilled |
| Total: 586
Mon’s – 79 Tues’s – 85 Wed’s – 81 Thur’s – 99 Fri’s – 199 |
465 |
321 | 144 | 121 | 69% |
31% |
Respectfully,
Jan La Torre-Derby, Ed.D.
Superintendent