July 13, 2021
Dear Warner Parents,
As the 2020-21 school year has come to a close, I want to thank you for being patient with us as we navigated the ever-changing COVID-19 guidance from the State and County of San Diego health departments. I want to thank the teachers for coming to school each day with a smile on their faces (even though it was behind masks) and continuing to teach not only in person but online as well. I also want to thank the classified staff who were on the front lines each day: driving, feeding, cleaning, and pitching in wherever needed.
I am proud of our proactive team response and established safety protocols as we had zero transmissions on campus as we opened the school to all students. We were one of the first school districts to open up in San Diego County and we provided parents with choices regarding what was best for their families. We worked hard at closing the digital divide and getting out hotspots to those who needed them. We also delivered thousands of meals to our families in each neighborhood during this time. I am very proud of how the Warner Team handled this pandemic crisis.
Next year will still have some of the challenges that COVID-19 has forced upon the world of education. Warner Unified will be consistent with the best guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, California Department of Public Health, and the San Diego County Public Health Department. As of right now masks are still required by all students and staff in an indoor setting. We will be lifting all the other requirements such as temperature screening and social distancing. For more information please see CDC's K-12 Schools Guidance.
While I am hoping things will feel more normal next year regarding COVID-19, they will definitely look a bit different as we adjust to some long-time staff members retiring or moving on.
Our Cafeteria Manager/Bus Driver, Carla Holt has retired after 30 years in the district.
Our Cafeteria Assistant/Bus Driver, Azalia King has retired after 28 years in the district.
Our Librarian/Bus Driver, Sabrina Finn has retired after 22 years in the district.
Our PE teacher/Coach, Dobbie Madeyski has retired after 8 years in the district.
Our Custodian, Donnie Holt has retired after 5 years in the district.
Our first-grade teacher Ms. Rudloff is moving to Illinois.
Our SPED teacher James Proby accepted a position in another district closer to home.
We thank all of these staff members for their dedicated service to our school and to our students. We wish them the best of luck in the next chapter of their lives. We had to search far and wide to replace the knowledge and experience that is leaving with them.
Thankfully we have found some amazing people who will join the Warner team.
Nick Lawson is moving from Indiana and is excited to be our 4th-grade teacher.
Jennifer Blackwell is from Ramona and will be our new PE teacher. She finished her student teaching at Ramona High School.
Nikki Mahani is moving from Central Coast and is excited to be our 5th-grade teacher.
Ashlyn Windsor is from Julian and will be our new Cafeteria Manager. She has experience in running commercial kitchens in the Coast Guard.
Brigette Spinks who has been a long-term substitute will now be our 8th-grade teacher. She did a great job long-term subbing for 4th grade and High School Math.
Ernesto Reyes will be rejoining Warner Unified to be our new Librarian. We are extremely happy to have him back at Warner Unified.
Maribel Reyes, a former graduate who is working towards her teaching credential, will be our new Career Technical Education Instructional Aide.
One of our parents, Andrea Graham will be our new Cafeteria Assistant. She will be serving up smiles and meals to the students each day.
Haley Destefani will be joining us as our middle/high school intervention pull-out teacher. She has 3 years of experience in intervention classrooms.
Taylor Narabemi is our new Special Education Teacher. He recently bought a property in the area to fulfill a dream of living among oak trees, when he saw the position was available.
Minda Streamer, a local graduate who went to UCLA and later earned her Master’s in Social Work in Chicago will be returning to the school as our new social worker. We will be sharing her with Borrego Springs Unified.
With the changes, our teacher lineup for 2021-22 will be as follows:
Preschool: Leticia Keane
TK/Kinder: Tiffany Lenfers
1st & 2nd Grade: Michelle Mahood
3rd Grade: Chermaine Osuna
4th Grade: Nick Lawson
5th Grade: Nikki Mahani
6th Grade: Christi Feezell
7th Grade: Carl Foracelli
8th Grade Brigette Spinks
HS Math: Hannah Dimitrov
HS Social Studies: Scott Loefke
HS English: Julia Grigorian
HS Spanish: Lourdes Martinez
HS Science: Dani (Zurcher) Upson
Art: Jan Krasowski
PE: Jennifer Blackwell
Computers: Patrick Humphrey
Elementary Intervention Pull-out Teacher: Holly Pawlicki
Middle/High School Intervention Pull-out Teacher: Haley Destefani
Special Education Teacher: Taylor Narabemi
We completed our Local Control Accountability Plan for the coming school year. Based on the feedback we received from parents and community members in the town hall virtual meeting and from our survey we are focusing our efforts on the following for the coming school year:
Mental Health. We will add a part-time social worker to our existing programs (Vista Hill, Indian Health, Care Solace, School Counselor, School Psychologist). The Social Worker will provide Social Emotional Lessons as well as group work.
Communication. In addition to our current communication platforms (Twitter, Class Dojo, Facebook, and our Live Feed on our website) our teachers will reach out more frequently to our parents for more in-person conversations. We will also be changing our Student Information System from Synergy to ALMA. This change should give a lot more access to information for students and parents including easier access to grades, attendance, and quicker and easier enrollment.
Enrollment is now open. It is completely paperless and should be much easier than before. Once your information is inputted, it is saved, making the enrollment for upcoming years even easier! To enroll, please go to this link and create an account. https://wusd.almastart.com/ Please contact the district office if you need assistance at 760-782-3517. Please have all of your children enrolled by August 1.
We thank everyone that provided feedback and suggestions. If you ever have questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me. 760-782-3517 or email david.macleod@warnerusd.net. We look forward to the next school year. Enjoy your summer.
Sincerely,
David MacLeod
Superintendent/Principal
Warner Unified School District