Families in the Fullerton School District can now access clothing and backpacks for free with the opening of an on-campus resource center.
On Monday, Oct. 9, the Hub officially opened its doors with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and guided tours to introduce its services to the community. Filled with hygiene products, school supplies and other essential items, the new facility is open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., enabling students and their guardians to pick up any items they may need and receive assistance from district staff.
Serving more than 11,600 students at 21 schools, the district utilized funds from the American Rescue Plan for Homeless Children and Youth to update the new space and purchase supplies to fill the center alongside donations made by community members and staff.
“We are excited to share this moment with you and showcase how the Hub will serve as a beacon of hope and catalyst for positive change,” said Rossana Fonseca, director of social-emotional learning and family supports for the district. “Together, let’s make a difference in the lives of families in need.”
The resource center is located at Valencia Park Elementary School. District families can make appointments with school site staff or district community liaisons to visit, and donations can be made to the Hub through monetary support or goods.
Here are the other stories we’ve been following this week:
- From Tuscan chicken pasta to shake ramen, nutrition services staff from Orange County school districts are highlighting their most popular dishes in celebration of National School Lunch Week.
- A 50-foot-wide billboard showcasing artwork by Brea Olinda High School senior Grace Yoo was recently unveiled at The Outlets at Orange as part of the countywide Mental Health Awareness Student Art Contest organized by College Hospital Costa Mesa in collaboration with OCDE and NAMI OC.
- Approximately 1,000 Friday Night Live students and advisors gathered to discuss strategies on substance use prevention, project planning and leadership at the 2023 FNL Youth Summit.
- In his latest column, OCDE Deputy Superintendent Dr. Ramon Miramontes emphasized the importance of ensuring students feel connected to their campus while promoting two OCDE programs that have historically engaged OC students for more than 50 years.
- With guidance from their teachers, eighth-graders in the Fullerton School District are designing and constructing a 192-square-foot tiny home for a local family in need.
- Students involved in the Green Team at Huntington Beach’s Kinetic Academy West are helping to beautify their campus through lessons focused on tending to their campus garden and looking after the environment.
- Three California schools — two of which are in the Anaheim Union High School District — were recently granted the Civic Learning Award of Excellence by Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero.
- Laguna Beach High School opened its new campus well space, known as The Wave, to offer students additional mental health supports and options for healthy coping strategies.
- At a summit hosted by the California Department of Education, State Superintendent Tony Thurmond proposed the development of a paid statewide internship program to help students explore career pathways.
- The Orange County Register reported that the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District Board of Education voted to adopt a policy that allows a designated school counselor to inform a student’s family “when they have reasonable cause to believe that doing so will avert a clear and present danger to the health, safety or welfare” of students.
- In honor of National Manufacturing Day, 25 students from Buena Park High School and Santa Ana’s Middle College High School were invited to tour the Johnson & Johnson MedTech campus in Irvine, hear from company leaders and learn from laboratory technicians.
- The Los Angeles Times reported that a coalition of Jewish advocacy groups has filed a lawsuit against the Santa Ana Unified School District over two ethnic studies courses that feature lessons on the decades-long struggle between Israelis and Palestinians.
- About $110 million was raised for California public schools thanks to ticket sales for the recent $1.73 billion Powerball jackpot, reported by KTLA.
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