At the May 1 meeting of the Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Education, the Board recognized Aanya Seth, a 6th grade student from David Lubin Elementary. Aanya’s teacher, Chloe Williams, writes, “Aanya was born and raised in India until the age of 10. As a young girl, she only knew how to communicate through gestures, her own form of sign, but she had no formal language to express herself. At 10 years old, Aanya faced a monumental change—her family moved halfway across the world to California in the middle of her 4th-grade year. Upon arriving in California, Aanya entered a new world where the language of communication is American Sign Language (ASL). Now a thriving 6th grader, Aanya is not just keeping up; she is excelling. She has a curious nature that drives her to ask questions, dive into new concepts, and learn from every experience. Her kind personality has made her a friend to many, and her leadership skills have blossomed.” Congratulations Aanya!

Out of Closed Session, the Board announced the appointment of Sara Munn as the Principal of Cesar Chavez Elementary School, which will re-open as a brand new campus combining the Edward Kemble Elementary and Cesar Chavez Intermediate School sites in the Fall of 2025.

During the Open Session, informational reports were received by the Board, including:

• SCUSD’s Curriculum & Instruction Department and Sacramento State University presentation of awards to this season’s Mathletes. SCUSD’s Middle School Mathletes engages 7th and 8th grade scholars in challenging math competitions. This year, teams worked with their teacher leaders and teammates to practice and compete monthly. Students earned points for each challenge they completed and schools were declared meet winners each month based on total points earned. Awardees included:
  
  
  Top Scorers from Each School
  Tre Shelby – Albert Einstein Middle School
  McKenna Sigl – California Middle School
  Diego Aispuro – Fern Bacon Middle School
  April Hartzell – Genevieve Didion K-8 School
  Milu Sharpe – Leonardo da Vinci K-8 School
  Callum Macdonald – Miwok Middle School
  Peter Mordwinow – Sam Brannan Middle School
  Sihao Song – Will C Wood Middle School
  
  Highest Overall Scores in 6th/7th and 8th grades (90 points maximum)
  Sihao Song (84 pts) – Will C. Wood Middle School, 7th grade
  Callum Macdonald (90 pts) – Miwok Middle School, 8th grade
  
  School Awards
  First Place – Miwok Middle School
  Second Place (tie) – Genevieve Didion K-8 School
  Second Place (tie) – Will C. Wood Middle School
  Third Place – California Middle School
   
• Sacramento Friends of the Arts presentation of their Heroes of the Arts Award to two SCUSD educators in recognition of their dedication and impact: Alan Cunningham and Jorge Muñoz. Alan Cunningham was honored as he retires after an extraordinary career in elementary music education, having inspired countless students through his passion and leadership. Jorge Muñoz was recognized for his continued efforts to create meaningful and inclusive performance opportunities for students across our district. A special thank you to the C.K. McClatchy Chamber Choir, under the direction of Jorge Munoz, who performed for attendees during the Closed Session intermission.
  
  
  
• A Recognition of School Principals’ Day on May 1 by the Instructional Area Superintendents team. School Principals’ Day, May 1, 2025, the success of every school and student depends on the effectiveness of our school leaders, and National School Principals’ Day is one way we can promote the importance of and investments in school leadership. We need and value our school principals.
   
• A celebration of National School Nurses Day on May 7 by the Health Services Department. National School Nurses Day is a time to celebrate the specialty practice of school nursing. The District applauds and appreciates the contributions school nurses make every day to improve the safety, health and academic success of all our students. The recent increases in childhood illnesses such as diabetes and asthma has highlighted the importance of our school nurses. Now more than ever we see the positive impact that school nurses contribute in removing barriers and keeping our students engaged in school.
   
• Recognition of May as Mental Health Awareness Month. May has been designated as Mental Health Awareness Month and Wednesday, May 7, 2025 is designated as National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day, both dedicated to raising awareness of youth, their families and all community members who experience emotional, behavioral, and mental health challenges. Sacramento City Unified School District continues to support the whole child and address the social and emotional needs of our students, especially as rates of youth mental illness and suicide risk climb nationally. SCUSD recognizes and supports student mental health by sustaining school based mental health supports at every school; providing students, families/caregivers, and staff with care coordination, resources for accessing community-based mental health and substance use treatment; providing ongoing professional development on suicide prevention and support resources for the mental wellbeing of our students, families, staff and community.

For more information about these items please visit https://www.scusd.edu/boe050125.

For more information about the SCUSD Board of Education, including the schedule for future Board meetings and to submit a public comment at future meetings, please visit https://www.scusd.edu/board-education.

The next SCUSD Board meeting will be held on May 15, 2025. The open session of the meeting will begin at 6:00 p.m. at the Serna Center, 5735 47th Avenue, in the Community Room. The meeting can also be viewed online on SCUSD’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@SCUSDofficial/live.