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Future in Focus
Quick tips, brief updates, and reminders about what’s coming up to help families, employees, and our community make the most of our schools.
Benefits of Attending SBCUSD Schools
Did you know that millions of dollars in scholarships are awarded each year specifically to students who graduate from SBCUSD high schools? If you live in San Bernardino and Highland and have a school-age child not already attending our schools, visit your nearest school to enroll today. For help enrolling a student in SBCUSD, please visit www.sbcusd.com or call Enrollment & Placement Services at (909) 889-7576 weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Student Immunization Grace Period
Due to a shortage of immunization doses across the country for required childhood immunizations, SBCUSD is extending the 10-day immunization grace period to a 30-day grace period. That means students have until class starts on Tuesday, September 7, 2021, to provide proof of all necessary immunizations. In the meantime, currently enrolled students can continue to attend in-person and virtual instruction.
By law, newly enrolled students must be up-to-date on childhood immunizations prior to enrollment. Please note, at this time, students are not required to have the COVID-19 vaccine to attend school.
Pure Land Foundation Food Distribution
The next Pure Land Foundation drive-through food distribution is
August 28
9 to Noon (until supplies last)
Pacific High School
1020 Pacific Street, San Bernardino
Free Internet Access for Students
T-Mobile's Project 10Million is offering free internet access over five years (100GB per year) with a T-Mobile hotspot to students participating in the National School Lunch Program.
Sign up today at T-Mobile.com/Project10Million or visit a T-Mobile retail store to receive assistance enrolling online.
Highlights of the Week
Highlights of key news from the week that will help you stay in the know.
School Handbooks Available
School handbooks are now available online. The school handbook is a great way for families to acquaint themselves with the rules and policies of our campuses, especially because these documents provide you with information that is important to students’ education.
School handbooks are reviewed annually since policy and procedure adoption is an ongoing process. Questions that are not answered in the handbook should be referred to the classroom teacher or the school principal.
Check out our handbooks here:
Board of Education Holds Reception for Cabinet Members
The San Bernardino City Unified School District’s executive cabinet has undergone several changes over the past few months, all designed to better serve students and families. The Board of Education held a reception Tuesday, August 17 in honor of the two newest additions to the cabinet and the promotion of Dr. Rachel Monárrez from assistant superintendent to deputy superintendent.
The executive cabinet are the top-level division and department heads directly reporting to the superintendent. They meet regularly to advise the superintendent, and they help run the District’s daily operations.
The newest addition to the cabinet is Dr. Ricardo Esquivel. As the assistant superintendent of Equity, Access, and Innovation, Esquivel is responsible for overseeing the implementation of Superintendent Doc Ervin’s vision of providing equity, access, and innovation for all students.
Esquivel, who holds both a master’s and doctorate degree in Urban Education and Leadership, has several years of experience as an educational leader. Most recently, he served as superintendent of the Elk Hills Elementary School District. Esquivel is filling the assistant superintendent position left open when Dr. Monárrez was promoted to deputy superintendent earlier this year.
Monárrez joined SBCUSD in August 2016 as the assistant superintendent of Student Services, and was later named the assistant superintendent of Continuous Improvement. That position has been renamed to assistant superintendent of Equity, Access, and Innovation.
Monárrez has spent her 27 years in education focusing on the success of students. She spent almost two decades as a classroom teacher and instructional leader. In 2004, she earned recognition as a National Board Certified Teacher, something that only a small percentage of teachers earn and only after proving their effectiveness in the classroom through a rigorous, lengthy process.
In 2020, the California Association of Latino Superintendents and Administrators named Monárrez as the Central Office Administrator of the Year for her distinguished leadership and excellence in advocating on behalf of Latino/Latina/Latinx children.
Harold Sullins, who joined SBCUSD as the associate superintendent of Business, Facilities, and Operations on July 8, 2021, is also new to the District.
Sullins served as the assistant superintendent of Administrative Services for Rosemead School District prior to joining SBCUSD. He has also served as the assistant superintendent of Business Services for Upland Unified School District and the executive director of Business Services for San Jacinto Unified School District.
Sullins earned a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix and has certifications in school management negotiations and as a chief business official.
High School Students: AB 104 Grade Change Requests Due August 31, 2021
Assembly Bill (AB) 104 (2021) authorizes parents/guardians of students who were enrolled in a high school course during the 2020–21 school year (or students, if 18 years old or older) to request a grade change. Eligible students may apply to change the letter grade on the student transcript to Pass or No Pass. Changing a letter grade to Pass or No Pass may improve your overall GPA if the letter grade was significantly lower in value than your overall GPA.
AB 104 also requires the California State University (CSU) and requests the University of California (UC) and private colleges to accept Pass or No Pass grades on a student’s transcript for high school courses taken during the 2020–21 school year.
If you would like to have any letter grades changed to Pass/No Pass please complete this Google form no later than August 31, 2021. San Bernardino City Unified School District may not change student grades after this date. If the student is under 18 this form must be completed by a parent/guardian. Paper copies of the form are also available from all high schools.
Letter to Students/Parents in English and Spanish
Attendance Awareness
Did you know that September is Attendance Awareness Month?
We are looking forward to an amazing 2021-22 school year. Getting to school on time every day is the key to your child’s success. Here are some things you can do to support your child’s attendance:
- Communicate regularly with your child’s school and teacher
- Make school attendance a priority by scheduling doctor appointments outside the school day
- Help your child stay connected and engaged with their education by asking questions about their school day
- Call the school office to excuse your child’s absence as soon as possible
SBCUSD in the News
ParentSquare Corner
Last week alone, the ParentSquare communication platform was the source of more than 1,500 posts about SBCUSD schools, and more than 25,000 ParentSquare direct messages were exchanged.
If you have not already started using ParentSquare, download the app today to make sure you don’t miss out on this great communication tool.
Joining ParentSquare takes a few steps:
- Download ParentSquare from Apple’s App Store or Google Play
- Login with the email or phone number on file with your child’s school
- Start receiving posts relevant to your child
ParentSquare Tip of the Week
How Do I Add a Student Who's Missing in My Account?
If you are missing a child/school, it may be because:
- Your contact information is inconsistent across the school's student information system, also known as Aeries.
- You have more than one ParentSquare account with different contact information.
Solution
Contact your child's school to update your contact information in Aeries. Ensure you have the same email and phone number on file for all children and all schools. Your account will be corrected when ParentSquare syncs with Aeries (daily). If you have multiple accounts: Combine the accounts. You can sign in to learn more about how to merge multiple accounts here.
In the Spotlight
Better Together. Welcome Home.
SBCUSD COVID Dashboard on Temporary Hold
SBCUSD is committed to providing accurate, timely and transparent information regarding COVID-19 cases on our campuses, while also maintaining privacy and confidentiality for our students and staff.
Earlier this week, the SBCUSD COVID-19 dashboard was available to the public for a few hours before we determined that data we reported was incorrect, prompting the dashboard to be taken down. The silver lining is the actual COVID-19 cases across our District appear to be significantly lower than originally reported on the dashboard.
We pledge to thoroughly review the data to ensure it is accurate before making the dashboard public again. Once live, the dashboard will provide daily updates on the total number of reported COVID-19 cases for staff and students participating in in-person instruction on SBCUSD campuses. Users will have the option of filtering down to search specific geographic regions and/or specific schools.
The reported cases come from various sources, such as families and staff self reporting, while remaining home for the safety of our schools. In the event of a positive school case or close contact concerns, families will be notified directly by their child's school. Learn more about the notifications you may receive in this letter from Superintendent Doc Ervin that was posted on ParentSquare and mailed to student homes earlier this week.
As a reminder, numerous safety procedures take place daily on all District campuses to keep our students and staff safe, including wearing facial coverings indoors and increased sanitization. Families are reminded that students must perform at-home health screenings daily and anyone with COVID-19 symptoms should stay home. At the start of the school year, the District provided reusable face coverings for every student and students are expected to bring their face covering with them to school.
For more information about what SBCUSD is doing to safeguard the health of our students, please read the Roadmap to Reopening.