OUSD Community Schools Newsletter

The Orange Unified School District received a grant for over 15 million from the California Department of Education in 2022 to create Community Schools at 11 of our elementary sites. A community school is any school serving pre-Kindergarten through high school students using a “whole-child” approach, with “an integrated focus on academics, health and social services, youth and community development, and community engagement".

Each month, OUSD will bring you an update of the Community Schooling initiative occuring at our 11 community schools sites. In February, we will be introducing each of the Community School Leads and giving a brief overview of their work.

To date, each Community School has a full-time mental health counselor and we are currently hiring a full-time Community Schools Lead. Below, you will find a short biography from our hiring Community School Leads and the initiatives they have taken up at each of their sites.

My name is Karime Montes de Oca, I am honored to be the Community School Lead at California iInspire Academy. I began my journey in Orange Unified School District seven years ago. I am thrilled to begin building new connections and continuing past relationships as part of this community.

California is currently offering 50 after-school Enrichment clubs including interventions, drums, dance, art, guitar, robotics, photography, and soccer just to name a few. Through the enrollment process I can interact with families and students to understand more about the community. I am also happy to announce that we just began an English as a Second Language (ESL) Class in partnership with Santiago Canyon College for parents and community members. This English course will run from January 30 through May 29, 2023, and provides parents with an opportunity to communicate with one another. Our community center provides a safe place for training and meetings. We are also working towards having a parent resource center and offering a food distribution location from Second Harvest food bank in the 23/24 school year. I look forward to building relationships and enjoying the amazing families here at California iInspire Academy!

Communication:

Please follow us on social media and/or contact us to find out more about our programs.

• Instagram@ Californiaousd
• Facebook@ Principal Brunasso
• Twitter@ iInspire_CA
• Call: (714) 997-6104
• Website: https://www.orangeusd.org/california-iinspire-academy

My name is Blanca Martinez-Rodriguez. This is my eighth year with OUSD and I am your new Community Lead at Cambridge Elementary--Home of the Cubs. I am very excited to begin this journey and to work alongside our families and build relationships with our wonderful community.

At Cambridge we have various programs we have implemented over the past years while I was the community assistant, including our Monthly Free Farmers Market, Uniform Assistance Program, provided through the Assistance League of Orange, and the Shoes that Fit Program, who partnered with Nike and New Balance to provide a brand new pair of shoes for students in need. These are just a few of the programs we have here at Cambridge! Recently, our school has partnered with the Smile Dental Program-- a group of mobile dentists who offer in-school dental care to all students. Our in-school dental program will save parents time and provide a safe and comfortable place for the child to receive gentle dental care from a licensed professional who will be on our campus Feb 7.

Communication

Below please find additional ways of finding out what programs will be offered on our campus.

• Social Media announcements Follow us on

• Facebook @Cambridge Elementary

• Twitter @cambridge_elem

• Instagram @cambridge_elem

• School Broadcast Messages

• E-mail Correspondence

• Parent Surveys

• Personal Phone Calls & Follow-Ups

• Smore Newsletter

My name is Yesica De Rosas and I am the New Community Site Lead for Handy Elementary. I am a First-Generation Graduate with a degree in Real Estate and was born and raised in Orange County. I spent about four years volunteering at what was once Western Medical Center in Santa Ana where I became President of their Volunteer Program and organized Award Commencements for Doctors and Nurses. I also spent 8+ years working in the hospitality industry coordinating events for Ford in Irvine as well as the Marriot Hotel near Disneyland. My Last three years were spent working in the educational field where I learned to take on many roles from paraprofessional to working in the office handling Enrollments and Attendance.

At Handy we are dedicated to have our PTA involved as much as we can to be able to provide programs that will strengthen family-school partnerships. We are currently in the process of bringing back English Classes back to our Site as well as our Trolly Clementine Food Banks. My goal is to be able to offer more Afterschool programs through our Think Together Program as well as partnering up with the City that offers Uniform & School Supplies drives.

Communication

Below you can find a variety of ways to see the programs that will be offered on our campus.

• Social Media announcements Follow us on

• Facebook @ Handy Elementary School
• Twitter @handyelementary
• Instagram @handyelementary

• School Broadcast Messages
• E-mail Correspondence

• Parent Surveys
• Personal Phone Calls & Follow-Ups
• Smore Newsletter

My name is Karina Tamayo, I have a background as an accountant and have found great joy getting involved in the local community. I have three kids in OUSD schools and two of them attend Jordan Academy of Language and Computer Sciences. I have been a proud member of the Jordan community for almost 4 years, providing support to help develop a strong PTA for our school.

Here at Jordan, we have started our afterschool enrichment programs, in partnership with our Teachers, YMCA, and Teachers from El Modena High School. Currently, we have 15 programs including: Code Club, Digital Art, Soccer, Digital Photography, Ballet Folklorico, and Mariachi among others. We are looking forward to expanding our programs and introducing programs for our parents as well.

My name is Alexa Gonzalez, and I am the Community School Site Lead at Lampson Elementary. I am a Human Services graduate from Cal State Fullerton and a current Social Work graduate student at USC. I was born and raised in the city of Orange and was a student at West Orange, Portola, and Orange High School.

My journey at Lampson Elementary as a lead has been very splendid thus far, and I am excited to continue to work with the families and community. I am thrilled to announce that parent English classes are coming back on campus Monday, February 13, 2023. Aside from our after-school program led by Think Together, we have also launched several enrichment programs such as sports, cheer, art & music classes. My goal is to continue to expand our programs and introduce additional programs that can service our students, parents, and community.

My name is Angel Ayala, and it is an honor to be given the opportunity to be Sycamore Elementary’s new Community Lead. I grew up in the Orange Unified School District as an (ESL) English Second Language student and with a parent who worked two jobs just to give me and my brother the best life possible. I am extremely excited to be a resource that parents can reach out to, and to create an everlasting relationship with the community that will overall benefit every student that walks through the gates of Sycamore.

At Sycamore we currently offer a few after school programs that benefit the students, but also give the parents comfort that their children are in an enriching extra-curricular activity. Our goal here at Sycamore is to have a plethora of on and off campus resources that all parents will have access to, that will help enrich their students' learning abilities. I am currently working on getting an (ESL) English Second Language class set up for parents as well as reaching out to local food vendors to start a local dry pantry that can be easily accessed.

Hello, my name is Layla Ibrahim Hernandez, and this is my first school year with OUSD but my fifth year working with our families at Taft Elementary. Previously, I was the program manager for one of our after-school programs, Boys and Girls Club. I am proud to be Taft’s community site lead and look forward to bringing in new programs for our amazing school community and continuing to connect our families to resources.

Currently, we are working on bringing back ESL classes and will be having a guest speaker from SCC to give our parents more information at our next ELAC meeting on February 10th. I am also working on bringing in a monthly farmers' market and various workshops based on parent feedback and interest. Some programs already at our school are the Healthy Smiles Program, which provides free dental check-ups, dental cleanings, fillings, screenings etc, and teaches children and families the importance of daily care and routine dental visits. Healthy smiles will be at our school on Wednesday February 8th. Operation School Bell is a partnership with the Assistance League of Orange that provides uniforms and other clothing items to our families free of charge.

Additionally, we provide both before and after school programs; Campfire runs our morning program which allows for our students to be dropped off early at 7:00 am. Boys and Girls Club and AYA provide afterschool programming, which runs from the end of the school day until 5:30pm/6:00pm. Our upcoming events are Family Science Night on March 23rd and Family Bingo Night on May 25th where we will be selling pizza to fundraise for our school.

If you are interested in attending any of our events, donating to our school, or partnering with us please reach out via email! Thank you for taking the time to read about the amazing things we are doing at Taft! Go Tigers! 😊

Keep up with all our events on our social media pages:

· Instagram @tafttigersoud

· Facebook @TaftElementary

· Website: www.orangeusd.org/taft-elementary-school

· Smore Newsletter

· Call:(714) 997-6254

· Email: librahim@orangeusd.org

My name is Cindy Krise, and I am the new Community School Site Lead at West Orange Elementary. Before my new role in OUSD, I worked at Yorba Middle School as the A.P. Secretary/ ASB Bookkeeper, the West Orange PTO President, and West Orange SPED Instructional Assistant. For the last 25 years, I have not only been an OUSD parent but have also filled many roles within West Orange Elementary School. I am excited to return to WO, which has provided the foundation for growth in my career.

Currently, I am working on bringing programs, resources, and incentives and maintaining our ELOP after-school programs. Starting on February 6th, we will start our first-ever ESL classes for parents and the community in collaboration with Santiago Canyon College. We also have partnered with the Boys and Girls Club to bring family art classes to parents and students after school. Within the ELOP program, I am working with each program leader to ensure the needs of students are met. Our families can sign up for Culinary, Art, Dance, Soccer, Basketball, Lego, or Piano classes. We are currently serving over 250 students after school. In addition to monitoring the growth and success of the program, I work alongside our office to assist our homeless and foster youth population with aligning resources. I am also thrilled to bring additional family STEAM, ART, and events to our community. This is an exciting new role that as the year progress, I will continue to find additional opportunities for our families to grow.