October 2019 Message from the Superintendent

Safety and Security

When parents send their children off to school in the morning, they entrust us with their most precious loved ones.  So student safety is our highest priority.

Carlsbad Unified—in partnership with Carlsbad Police Department, Carlsbad Fire Department, and Carlsbad Department of Emergency Preparedness—is always working to make sure our campuses are as safe as can be.  Here are some areas where we are accomplishing that.  

School Resource Officers:  In collaboration with the City of Carlsbad, schools in our city now have five dedicated school resource officers (SROs).  Also, we have retained a part-time district safety coordinator, Malcolm Warfield, who also works for the Carlsbad Police Department. I could not be more thankful for the leadership shown by our local law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Measure HH Improvements:  When Carlsbad voters passed Measure HH last year, they enabled us to make new investments in campus safety.  The improvements include:  

• Visitor check-in system:  a new visitor management system is helping us to regulate and keep track of visitors to our campuses when students are present.  The system has been installed in the front office of each school. As our staff becomes trained, the system will be operational at all schools by the end of December.
• Fencing:  Over the course of this year we will install improved eight-foot fencing and gates at Calavera Hills, Hope, Pacific Rim, and Poinsettia Elementary Schools; at Calavera Hills and Valley Middle Schools; and at Carlsbad High School.
• Security cameras:  Security cameras will soon be installed at every school. Elementary schools will have cameras on the school perimeters. And, in the same way our high school already are equipped, middle schools will have both perimeter and line-of-sight camera coverage, including at the entryways of high traffic buildings and bathrooms.
• Knox Boxes:  Outdoor boxes containing emergency materials at the ready for first responders—Knox Boxes—were installed on our campuses over the summer.

Mental health needs:  We maintain strong partnerships with various local agencies to provide intensive mental health supports for students in need  We continue to develop systems and programs in our schools to better meet the needs of all kids.

Vaping:  As you are aware, new information is demonstrating the danger that vaping presents to our students. We are the recipients of a new Prop. 56 grant which has made it possible for our district to collaborate with Carlsbad Police to add an additional School Resource Officer to educate students, staff, and parents about the serious health consequences of tobacco and vaping.

Finally, with so many problems in the world, I think it’s important to remember the kindness and compassion displayed in Carlsbad by our very own Kids for Peace and their annual Great Kindness Challenge. What started with just three schools—Jefferson, Hope, and Kelly Elementary—has now become a worldwide phenomenon with over 13 million students in 50 states and 115 countries!

A kinder world is a safer world. Thank you for all you do to support us in our efforts to keep our students and staff safe.

September 2019 Message from the Superintendent

Welcome, parents, caregivers, teachers, staff, students, and community, to the 2019-20 school year.

Innovation.  Finding new ways to do things to get better results. It takes perseverance, grit, and hard work over time to take something that is already good and make it even better. We aim to do that here at Carlsbad Unified.

We’ve got a lot to be proud of. Our schools are recognized as California Distinguished Schools and National Blue Ribbon Award schools. Sage Creek and Carlsbad High Schools are consistently ranked among the best in California and the nation. Carlsbad educators are regularly honored for excellence—Marisa Thompson, English teacher at Carlsbad High School, was honored as SD CUE’s 2019 Innovative Educator of the Year in San Diego County; and Megan Arias, Director of Secondary Education in Carlsbad Unified, was honored as the 2019 College and Career Pathways Educator of the Year by the Classroom of the Future Foundation.

We are demonstrably moving the needle for all students, including those frequently marginalized by the education system. Carlsbad schools were highlighted among California’s “Positive Outliers” for improving the educational outcomes of Hispanic students in a recent report. We need every one of our students to leave school with the tools to be successful in college, in the military, and in the workforce, and together we’re doing just that. Just last month, the online rankings website Niche gave every one of our schools a grade of A or higher, and Carlsbad Unified was ranked No. 4 in the county.

And those rankings don’t happen by accident. In Carlsbad, our schools are changing to keep up with the demands of a changing economy, changing workforce needs, and changes in what we know about the science of the brain and the science of teaching.

At Carlsbad High School, our Internship Academy places over 100 student interns in local businesses each year. Carlsbad High School’s Film Academy was recently the first program on the West Coast to receive the Linked Learning Gold award, the highest standard for an integrated career preparatory course of study. And CHSTV was recently named the Best Student Daily Broadcast in the Nation for an unprecedented 12th time. 

At Sage Creek High School, we’ve been recognized statewide for the Genius Project, which is a capstone project that each student develops in their 11th grade year and then presents publicly in the style of a TED Talk in their 12th grade year. Also at Sage Creek High School, students participate each year in the annual JIVE Expo, getting exposure to local and regional Job, Internship, Volunteer and Education opportunities.

Our high school students in Carlsbad have many opportunities to develop their leadership skills. The Carlsbad Student Leadership Academy is a partnership with the City of Carlsbad, and The Carlsbad Educational Foundation’s Student Leadership Council provides leadership opportunities and culminates in a public forum with mentors and leaders from the business community.  Student leaders also serve on my Superintendent Student Advisory Council, the Champions program, and ASB on all secondary campuses.

There are a lot of exciting things happening in our middle schools, too. VMSTV, the daily broadcast at Valley Middle School, was recently named the best in the Nation in their age group. Our Project Lead the Way pathway at Calavera Hills Middle School, focuses on science, technology and engineering. We’re offering career exploration opportunities, like the new STEAM elective at Valley Middle School, and a new coding elective at Aviara Oaks Middle School.

Our elementary schools are integrating a variety of programs and services to address the social and emotional needs of all students. And at all campuses we partner with outside agencies to provide intensive mental health supports for students in need. We will continue to develop systems and programs in our schools to better meet the needs of all kids.

With so much going on in our world, I think it’s important to remember all of the kindness and compassion displayed in Carlsbad by our very own Kids for Peace and their annual Great Kindness Challenge. What started with just three schools—Jefferson Elementary, Hope Elementary, and Kelly Elementary—has now become a worldwide phenomenon with over 13 million students in 50 states and 115 countries!

At the most basic level, I think this quote by Mister Rogers sums it up best: “Nothing can replace the influence of unconditional love in the life of a child.” It is because we work together that we are able to provide such great educational outcomes for kids.

I look forward to connecting with you, either in person or on social media. On behalf of our schools, and on behalf of the Carlsbad Unified School District Board of Trustees, thank you.

We are all in this together, partnering to achieve great things for kids.