It was a pleasure to attend Kaiser Theater Group's presentation of PEACE SIGNS at Horrall Elementary School on 4/1/14! Many parents and students attended and learned about interpersonal relationships -  and also enjoyed a delicious dinner!  Thanks for the invite!  I hope that more schools in SMFC can benefit from the wonderful educational shows that are offered.

The Superintendent’s Next Steps Committee has met twice at the District Office and once to tour some of the SMFC schools.

Their next meeting will be on Monday, April 7th from 5:30-7:00 at the SMFC District Office. This discussion will be the first on issues surrounding current “inequities” in our district.

The Public is encouraged to attend these important meetings, as observers, and questions may be posed for further consideration before the close of each meeting.

I hope that you will consider coming to these important meetings to hear the considerations and ideas as we work to identify the best solutions to equity & capacity issues in the San Mateo-Foster City School District!

San Mateo Deputy Mayor, Maureen Freschet, and Councilman, David Lim, joined 625 San Mateo National Little League players and their families at Opening Day Ceremonies for the 2014 Season on Saturday, March 8th at Marten's Field at San Mateo's Lakeshore Park to throw out the FIRST PITCH!  It was a beautiful day and a great start to the season!  Thank you for coming out to support this grand San Mateo National Little League tradition and the hundreds of families who participate and volunteer with their young athletes each year!

If you have not yet heard about the great work being done at the San Mateo County Office of Education in collaboration with Full Circle Fund to develop iZone, an 
initiative 
intended 
to 
foster
 and 
scale 
innovation 
in 
teaching, 
learning,
 assessment
 and 
educational 
leadership, read more here! 

The goal is collaboration and networking with individuals and organizations in all facets of our educational system and our community to promote technology and innovative ways of schooling in the digital age in which we now live.
  

On Thursday, January 16th, I traveled to Sacramento to testify with 4 other SMFC District leaders, including Colleen Sullivan (SMFC School Board, President), Lory Lawson (SMFC School Board, Trustee), Dr. Cynthia Simms (SMFCSD, Superintendent), and Laura Phan (SMFCSD, CBO), before the State Board of Education in support of keeping "local control" in the Governor's Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) regulations.  340 speakers, including students, parents, teachers, school board members, superintendents, and others testified for 7 hours before the State Board.  Testimony was heard from approximately 160 governance teams!  Our team waited 6 hours and we each spoke for ONE minute!  Governor Brown visited the hearing in the morning and shared his thoughts on LCFF and the importance of the regulations, cautioning that they are only intended to provide guidance for true implementation at the local level, which was encouraging.  After hearing all public comments, the State Board unanimously approved implementation of the LCFF regulations on an emergency basis, as well as unanimously approving the beginning of the process to finalize permanent regulations.  It was an inspiring day in Sacramento!

Congratulations to David Lim and Robert Ross on re-election to San Mateo's City Council - and also to Joe Goethals for his election to the open seat on the SM City Council yesterday!  Fellow incoming SMFCSD Board Trustee Appointee, Ed Coady, and I celebrated on election night with David Lim and his campaign team on a well-organized effort!  

On Wednesday, July 31st, I will be officially filing my Declaration of Candidacy with the San Mateo Office of Elections! Thank you so very much to everyone who has been so supportive of my campaign.  We'll be scheduling neighborhood meetings and will be able to distribute campaign materials very soon!  We will be in touch with those of you who have already volunteered very soon!  If you would like to make a monetary contribution to my campaign, that would be terrific! Thank you!!