On a night when they honored all teachers as Teachers of the Year during the challenging pandemic school year, the Del Mar Union School District board approved an off-schedule 4% salary increase for its teachers.
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The Del Mar Union School District teachers have opted to nominate all teachers for 2020-21 Teacher of the Year honors an unconventional idea fitting for a most unusual school year.
As Del Mar teacher Kate Daniel wrote in her nomination letter, on March 13, 2020, the very definition of teaching changed. Heading into Zoom classrooms and distance learning for the first time last spring, what teachers initially thought may just last a couple of weeks ended up stretched to fall, kicking off a school year unlike any other.
“It’s been nearly a year since that Friday in March and, as educators, we have risen to challenges that existed far beyond our wildest imaginations,” Daniel wrote. “Not only have our students continued to receive a world-class, full-time, and in-person education, but we have expanded our incredible program to include an online option that is truly one of a kind. You can pretty much say, ‘We’re killing it’.”
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The Del Mar Heights School rebuild is on hold as the Del Mar Union School District completes additional environmental reviews, stemming from a court decision in the lawsuit against the district by Save the Field.
The district had planned to break ground on the project last summer and for students to be in their new school in August 2021, however, Heights students will continue to attend school off-site in the 2021-22 school year at Ocean Air School and Del Mar Hills Academy.
The project has been slowed by the requirement for a coastal development permit from the City of San Diego and the lawsuit, which alleges the district failed to comply with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) with its “insufficient” Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) that concluded that the rebuild will result in no significant impacts on the environment. At the Feb. 24 meeting, the board vacated its approval of the MND to begin work on a “focused” environmental impact report.
Students discuss world hunger via Zoom
Grauer School students recently received a personal briefing on the problem of world hunger with a member of the United Nations World Food Programme, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020 for its efforts to aid those in conflict zones and areas devastated by natural disasters. Students and teachers participated in a Zoom call with Mirjam Jaring, who is based in Rome, headquarters of the World Food Programme. After Jaring gave a brief presentation and showed a video about the WFP’s work, she took questions from the students and teachers. Juniors and seniors from Grauer’s U.S. history, English and economics classes participated.“The discussion allowed our students to learn about the WFP’s vital work to save lives and change lives around the world, and hopefully it will inspire them to do their part to assist those in need, both during their school careers and after they go out into the world as the leaders of tomorrow,” said Stuart Gr