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As we continue to plan for improved school facilities to support excellent teaching and learning, please share with us what you think. Review our Facilities Goals for more information, and provide your feedback by email to communications@duarteusd.org or call (626) 599-5037.
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Staff Highlight - Mrs. Wells
Mrs. Cynthia Wells is a passionate and dedicated 1st grade teacher. Even when she was younger, she always loved working with children. And as the oldest child, she had a lot of practice taking care of her younger siblings. Mrs. Wells has a wide range of experience, teaching multiple grade-levels, and working with teachers as a literacy coach. She takes the most pleasure and pride in creating lessons that make learning engaging and fun for her 1st graders. The excitement in their faces brings her joy and motivation. Mrs. Wells’ commitment to individually knowing and connecting with all her students is what makes her a magnificent teacher.
Aside from teaching, Mrs. Wells enjoys learning, especially about the brain. So much so that she is currently pursuing a Ph.D. to learn more about how the brain operates. When she is not teaching and learning, she loves spending time with her 2 daughters, and her 3 year-old granddaughter. -
Campus Highlight - Staff Achievements
Congratulations to Ms. Ogden and Mrs. Leckrone for being the recipients of the Duarte Education Foundation grant for their project: What Life was Like for Early Settlers.
Congratulations to Tammy Fetchick for receiving the Foothill Credit Union teacher grant of $500 for classroom improvement. -
Campus Highlight - Royal Oaks School Garden
In an effort to instill appreciation and respect for nature, the school garden was created in 2014. Students are given the opportunity to work in teams and given ownership of a portion of the bed. The teams devise a plan by researching what might grow best at a particular time of year and what they think their portion can sustain. Along the way students make decisions about their bed and face the challenges of gardening. Many students reflect back on their time in the garden and the opportunity to try different vegetables and herbs that they grew on their own. A culminating project each year is to have a meal from the largest spring harvest. Depending on harvest the meal includes vegetable soup, caprese salad and rosemary rolls.
It truly is a labor of love for the students each year. -
Staff Highlight - Mrs. Marine Dagesyan-Lucha
Mrs. Dagesyan-Lucha has an undeniable passion for teaching and learning. Her drive to advocate for students has brought her to Duarte Unified School District, where she has been a classroom teacher for the past 19 years. Her passion quickly led her to take on multiple leadership roles, including ASB Advisor, Math department chair, DUEA representative and Bargaining Chairperson, School Leadership member, and School Site Council member.
Love for learning and helping others initially led Mrs. Dagesyan-Lucha to pursue a degree in Social Work. But once she began teaching, she fell in love with being a teacher, and ultimately obtained several more degrees: Special Education Credential, Single-Subject Mathematics Credential, Masters in Special Education, and an Administrative Services Credential.
Even after almost two decades, Mrs. Dagesyan-Lucha says, “I really enjoy being a teacher. I look forward to coming to work everyday.” And DUSD has been the perfect district for her to connect with the community and students. She is an advocate for both students and staff. It is passionate and dedicated teachers like Mrs. Dagesyan-Lucha that make Royal Oaks STEAM Academy an awesome learning environment.
Mrs. Dagesyan-Lucha lives in Burbank, California with her husband, and three wonderful children: Daniel (age 7), and Sophia and Victoria (ages 5). She enjoys eating at new restaurants, traveling, and has a great appreciation for music and dance. -
Royal Oaks Awarded the Silver Medal for PBIS Implementation
We are pleased to announce that the California PBIS Coalition has recognized Royal Oaks STEAM Academy for successful PBIS implementation at the SILVER level. Our school is a recipient within the California PBIS Coalition’s System of Recognition, reflecting excellence in the measurement of fidelity as well as our efforts in implementing the core features of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. We sincerely appreciate the hard work done by our PBIS Team and entire learning community to achieve this level of recognition. Thank you for your ongoing commitment to implement PBIS with the fidelity needed to create the conditions to maximize the academic and social behavioral outcomes for ALL of our students. Congratulations Eagles and let's continue to SOAR to even higher levels this year!
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Royal Oaks Recognized for High Achievement in Student Success by a National Campaign of Business and Education Leaders
Royal Oaks STEAM Academy has been named to the 2018 - 2019 Educational Results Partnership Honor Roll for their high achievement in student success. The program, sponsored by the Campaign for Business and Education Excellence (CBEE), is part of a national effort to identify higher-performing schools and districts that are improving student outcomes. Royal Oaks is among 1,834 public schools in California to be recognized and the staff, families and students at each of these schools should be very proud of this accomplishment. The 2018 - 2019 Honor Roll is developed by Educational Results Partnership (ERP), a nonprofit organization that applies data science to help improve student outcomes and career readiness. ERP maintains the nation’s largest database on student achievement and utilizes this data to identify higher-performing schools and districts. Schools that receive the ERP Honor Roll distinction have demonstrated consistent high levels of student academic achievement.
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Royal Oaks National 21st Century Campus Modernization Model
The transition of our facilities from an elementary school campus to a K-8 academy is featured by Gen7 Schools as a national model of success. The construction of innovative, energy-efficient learning spaces, advancement of the arts, integration of cutting-edge technology and engaging instruction of 21st century skills are top priorities for DUSD, and our new Gen7 facilities deliver on every goal. A total of 22 new Gen7 permanent modular classrooms have been installed throughout the district allowing existing programs to be expanded and new ones to be launched. These new learning environments are equipped with flexible furniture for unmatched comfort and performance. We encourage community members to come visit and see the transformation and read the full article at www.gen7schools.com.
