District NewsRoom

 

State Test Scores, Part 2
                                                                                                                          
In my last message, I identified schools with improved or high scores on the State testing program.  The list of schools omitted Westwood Elementary with an Academic Performance Index score of 805 based on an improvement of 43 points.  Congratulations to Westwood.
 
High School Athletics
 
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the need to increase fundraising for competitive high school sports.  The plan for funding athletics in the Mt. Diablo District was not meeting its targets.  Since that time, there has been a tremendous surge of interest in retaining high school sports.

The 5K Run & Walk on October 18 was a huge success.  In an unprecedented show of support and unity, athletes, parents, staff, and community members from each high school participated in the event.  The Concord High School football team pushed wheel chair bound seniors from a nearby rest home over the gravel path of the course inspiring everyone who was present. Congratulations to the United Mt. Diablo Athletic Foundation for their success with this event.
 
Other fundraising activities are also planned.  The United Mt. Diablo Athletic Foundation will soon be sending a request to all parents for small donations to maintain athletics.  I encourage everyone to give what they can afford.  In addition, former Oakland Raider Jeremy Brigham is sponsoring a golf tournament on November 12 at the Callippe Preserve Golf Course to benefit athletics in Mt. Diablo.  Rick Barry, Dave Casper, Dennis Richmond, and others are scheduled to participate. For information go to the Foundation website at http://www.unitedmtdiabloathletics.org/.
 
Staff will present a report of the status of fundraising at the October 27, 2009, School Board meeting.  The Board will review progress on funding athletics at that time. Winter and spring teams do not need to wait to ask for contributions.  Contributions made now will help to ensure that these teams can compete.  One way to show support is to write a check to MDUSD for the requested contribution for a particular sport and give it to the local athletic Boosters. The Boosters can inform us regarding the level of early contributions.  If sports are not continued, then the Boosters can return checks to parents.
 
Based on the surge of contributions from recent events, we expect to be able to recommend continuation of athletics in Mt. Diablo in anticipation of the continued success of planned activities.  We are very fortunate in Mt. Diablo to have such a committed group of parents and community members that are working hard to preserve athletics.
 
H1N1 Flu Status
So far, we have had a limited number of cases of the swine flu or H1N1 in Mt. Diablo.  When probable cases have occurred this year, we notified parents at the school.  The County Health Department now has 7,000 vaccinations. They have scheduled clinics at some elementary schools.  Their first priority is schools where some families have limited access to health care. The County Office of Education lists the schools with shot clinics at http://www.cccoe.k12.ca.us/news/clinics.html.  Additional vaccinations are due soon, and the County will provide them to local doctors when they are available.  In the meantime, good hygiene including frequent hand washing remains very important for everyone.  We want all students to be healthy and attending school every day.
 

 
Dick Nicoll
Interim Superintendent