Forming a connection, sharing encouragement, and spreading joy to others is at the center of the new project from Generations Unite, a student club at Westlake High School. As part of their, "Hope Notes" project, the club is putting a call out to the community to share drawings, pictures, or handwritten letters that may be digitally delivered to residents of local senior homes.

When I became Superintendent of the Conejo Valley Unified School District almost three years ago, I shared my vision for doing things “the Conejo Way,” with teamwork, relationship building, trust, and accountability to help ensure ideal academic outcomes for the students we serve. We are now at an unprecedented time in our school district’s history, and over the last two weeks, we as a district, and community, have tested our trust, and our ability to work together, while physically being apart, like never before. As we formally embark in distance learning for our 18,365 students I am beyond proud of the teamwork I have witnessed, and been a part of, and of the growth mindset we, as a community, have embraced in the best interest, and for the safety of our community’s youngest members.

In compliance with the current “stay at home” order, the Board of Education for Conejo Valley Unified School District planned to practice safe social distancing, and conduct its Tuesday, March 24^th Board of Education Meeting by utilizing Zoom, a remote video conferencing service.  Prior to the Board Meeting officially commencing an unknown individual(s) “zoombombed” the video with vulgar content, and inappropriate comments. The Zoom conference, and subsequent video live stream was terminated by District staff as quickly as possible. A formal investigation into the matter with local law enforcement has begun, and the District is doing all it can to determine who was responsible, and to prevent something like this from occurring again.

Kristen Maturo is an exceptional educator, who is dedicated to shaping the lives of students. For nearly a quarter of a century Mrs. Maturo has been a teacher at Sequoia Middle School, where she continues to make a lasting, positive impact on the school’s campus.