Saugus Union School District Excellence in Elementary Education

 Welcome to the 2018-19 school year in the Saugus Union School District!
It is always exciting at the beginning of the new school year. The buzz begins to build at all of our sites as teachers, classified staff and administrators are busy finalizing lesson plans and preparing the schools and classrooms for the return of your children.
With fifteen award-winning schools serving our communities of Saugus, Valencia, and Canyon Country and more than 100 years of experience and traditions, our Vision (Academic and Personal Success for Every Child) inspires and guides our entire SUSD family to achieve Excellence in Elementary Education. We are a high achieving district that understands the balance between learning and developing a student’s social/emotional needs. Together, our highly qualified teachers and administrators, as well as our dedicated, award-winning PTAs and parent groups, create school environments where students thrive. Visit our district website www.saugususd.org. Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/saugususd.
At Saugus Union School District, we strive to be a central part of the Santa Clarita community – the fabric of your neighborhoods. Whether it is providing Transitional Kindergarten, or before and after school childcare services, or individualized programs through our Independent Study program, or providing specialized programs related to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) or art SUSD schools are meeting the demands of the community through its award winning programs. Our goal remains to be a cornerstone for the people in each neighborhood we serve, and to remain a constant in all of our communities.
We are excited for our new school year. The Saugus Union School District Governing Board selected a new superintendent, Dr. Colleen Hawkins, to lead SUSD into this new year. Her more than 25 years of experience and her dedication to student learning are key to her leadership and are aligned to the Excellence already established in our school district. Please visit our website to see her Welcome message and to view events where she will be meeting parents and other members of the community. as we will celebrate milestone anniversaries in our communities.
We also have a number of exciting anniversaries in the next academic year, as Emblem Academy turns 50 in 2018 and Rio Vista and James Foster turn 50 in 2019; the SUSD District Office turns 25 in 2018; Plum Canyon turns 20 in 2018 and North Park Elementary turns 20 in 2019. These milestones will be recognized throughout all of our communities and will allow us to remind all of our neighbors, those of you with current students, or those who have moved on to the next phase of their education, as well as those of you who haven’t ever (or yet) had students in our schools. We look forward to sharing more information as we move on through the year.
School begins on Thursday, August 16. But the start of school truly begins with our Back-to-School Nights (BTSN) where parents, students, and school site teams will set the stage for another amazing year in SUSD. Please visit our individual school websites for specific dates and times for each event (http://www.saugususd.org/Schools/). We will also be promoting them on our social media channels. Attending BTSN is the first step in becoming a member of your school community and a way to support your child in having a successful school year. Our schools provide events throughout the year to both celebrate our students and to provide information for families to better support their children academically and socially. We encourage you to become part of those events and attend them regularly.
We look forward to seeing our students achieve even greater successes. Our Curriculum and Instruction team leads our work on District Curriculum Goals that include Direct Instruction practices, Gifted and Talented (GATE) for our gifted and talented students, Systematic English Language Development (SELD) for our English Learners, Response to Intervention Programs (RtI) to meet the needs of ALL learners and integration of the Next Generation Science Standards to ensure our students are prepared for 21st Century careers. More information on those standards can be found on the California Department of Education website http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/cc/index.asp. Check it out!
Our Business Services team continues to do an amazing job of monitoring and implementing the state funding formula known as Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). Part of this implementation is ensuring that SUSD is fiscally responsible in its spending practices while providing your children with an excellent education. Managing the precious funding dollars we receive can be seen through examining our Facilities Master Plan, our district budget http://www.saugususd.org/Departments/Business-Services-/index.html and our Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) (http://www.saugususd.org/Parents–Students/LCAP-/index.html) at our website.
All of our campuses have been benefiting from the implementation of Measure EE, allowing for upgrades in safety, technology and 21st Century learning. We have already begun to see the technology upgrades with new Chromebooks and Interactive Flat Panels in all classrooms. The next step will be the addition of new science labs for all 15 schools, as we makeover all of our schools into STEM-enabled schools. As our schools add new Measure EE funded elements, we continue to update the community via our Measure EE Newsletters, available through the District website http://www.saugususd.org/About-SUSD/District-Bond-Measure-EE/index.html.
We encourage you to be involved in your child’s educational experience. Read school newsletters, attend school events and parent/teacher conferences, join the parent association, volunteer in the classroom, follow the district on Facebook (www.facebook.com/saugususd) and most importantly, dialog with your child about his/her everyday school experience. Working as partners, we encourage one another, increase our student successes and celebrate even greater accomplishments.