Dear IUSD Community,
On behalf of the Irvine Unified School District Board of Education, administrators and staff, we are excited to welcome our new and returning students and families to the start of the 2022-23 traditional school year. Additionally, we would like to thank our year round students and families, who began school on July 14, for a smooth start. We have been working diligently throughout the summer in preparation for students returning to school and look forward to making this a wonderful year!
Student Centered Commitment to Continuous Improvement
As many of you know, this year marks IUSD’s 50th anniversary since residents voted to unify our school district in June 1972. At that time, we had six schools and about 6,000 students. In the 50 years that have followed, we have grown to 44 schools and more than 36,000 students.
As we celebrate 50 years of educational excellence, it is a time to recognize and honor the “US” at the center of IUSD, which has enabled our school district to provide the highest quality educational experience we can envision for generations of students. This collective “US” includes our visionary Board of Education and District leadership team, dedicated teachers and support staff, talented and engaged students, committed parents and families, and passionate community partners and leaders.
Together, we have created one of the highest performing school districts in the nation that is student-centered, committed to educational equity and driven by continuous improvement. Throughout this year, we will reflect on this milestone for our District, while also looking forward to the important work still ahead, because we know excellence has no finish line. We will continue to make investments in teaching and learning, academic supports for students, educational equity and mental health and wellness to meet the diverse social, emotional and learning needs of our students so they are prepared for challenging colleges and careers, while becoming engaged citizens.
Setting the Stage for Success
Foundational to this student-centered work and related investments is our commitment to mental health and wellness and educational equity, which are critically important and an integral part of our mission to prepare students for the complex world they will enter. This includes supporting skills that will help them become resilient and resourceful learners, who are able to adapt and demonstrate grit as they face academic and other challenges.
As our partners, you and your children will often hear your teachers and school staff talk about a growth mindset, mental health and wellness, and social-emotional learning. The neuroscience and data behind these principles reaffirms that students, who possess hope, optimism and a sense of connection embrace mistakes as part of the learning process, develop more effective coping skills and become adaptable, resilient and successful learners.
Throughout the year, you will receive information and resources from your schools and the District about these important focus areas. We hope you take a moment to review these and other related communications so we can support you in building and reinforcing the same positive messages that foster growth mindsets and intellectual risk taking.
In the meantime, please visit our Education Services, College and Career Readiness, and Prevention and Intervention webpages for more information about how our IUSD administrators, teachers and staff are helping set the stage for student successes.
Stay Connected to IUSD
Please stay connected to IUSD by regularly visiting our website at iusd.org and our news section iusd.org/News for official District information and news. In addition to checking for email messages from your schools and the District, also like and follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and don’t miss our new monthly publication, IUSD Insights, which provides in-depth information and resources about our District.
Important Reminders
Finally, our District team has compiled some important back to school reminders, including traffic, bike, scooter and helmet safety. Also included is information about IUSD mental health and wellness resources, COVID-19 protocols and procedures, campus safety, free meals for students, IUSD’s Community Liaisons, the Irvine Parent Education Program and our new Parent Center.
We appreciate your partnership and support and look forward to making this a year filled with success, confidence and connectedness for our students.
Sincerely,
Terry L. Walker
Superintendent of Schools
Irvine Unified School District