Public comments for March 17, 2026 meeting for Juntos program on SSD curriculum pilot

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Three curriculums being piloted:

1)Benchmark Adelante (English & Spanish)

2)Amplify (English & Spanish)

3) Saavas (Spanish)/Emerge McGraw-Hill (English)

Hi, my name is Allison Joe. My daughter, Izzy, is in 5th grade with Maestro Hector Gonzalez and part of the curriculum pilot for the bilingual Juntos program. When I was logging in for this curriculum meeting from my car on our way back from dance class, she groaned and said in her pre-teen voice, “Another curriculum meeting? I’m so sick of these. Can’t we just stay with Amplify? It’s fun, interactive, and clearly the best curriculum, especially the way Maestro Gonzalez teaches it.” She especially liked the Spanish units on the Aztec, Maya, and Inca civilizations and the English unit on oceans was “really fun.” She also liked the “freedom” to go ahead in some areas and come back to other parts at her pace. These comments were unprompted and representative only of my child’s opinion, not meant to replace scientific review or others’ experiences. Being in one of the curriculum pilot classrooms, I have had a chance to explore the curriculums and hear back from teachers, parents, and students. Some feedback is that they like that Amplify is thematic rather than unit based (which was how Benchmark Adelante was organized), e.g. a survival theme that connects concepts across different units and builds on previous knowledge. Their experience is that Amplify is rigorous. The English unit on oceans inspired students’ writing and wanting to become marine biologists. I heard positive feedback on how the Amplify curriculum is integrated and cohesive. It gets away from guided reading to a format that is integrated into the whole class and uses the science of reading. This way it addresses rather than exacerbates the knowledge gap, giving students earlier access to knowledge regardless of their reading level. I would also like to add that our bilingual teachers do a lot of extra work to support bilingual learning. Having a cohesive and integrated curriculum supports teachers, reduces potential for burnout, and helps retain strong teachers with the students that need them. Finally, I want to comment that for students who are part of the piloting project – what a unique and empowering experience for the students to be able to make change and have a sense of ownership over the content and methods of their education. Thank you!

Ripping off the band aid

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I CAN MAKE HARD DECISIONS THAT CENTER THE CHILDREN.

May 1, 2025 SSD Board Meeting: Allison’s public comments for feedback on Juntos program

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Thank you to San Miguel and Columbia Middle School. The Juntos program has been life-changing for my whole family. I’m incredibly grateful for this educational opportunity. It has been a journey. I want to encourage ongoing collaboration between the Sunnyvale School District and Fremont Union High School District. The email from Katherine Armstrong from SSD earlier this week was very informative. Please continue collaborating with Fremont Union High School District to address the trajectory of students and the impact beyond elementary and middle school, on to high school and beyond, for those lives of joy and purpose. Please consider more opportunities for Spanish-centered and Latin American-centered opportunities in high school. There are opportunities to engage historically marginalized students and support academic achievement for all students. Consider high school courses like AP Spanish literature, class for Spanish interpreters, or Latin American history, there is so much potential to center and celebrate students who make up a large demographic of that school. This could benefit both Spanish speakers, non-Spanish speakers, Latino, non-Latino, Juntos and non-Juntos students, and many other students coming from other feeder schools. There is potential for students to feel seen and to feel like they belong, to feel engaged, and to build cultural understanding amongst various student groups. Thank you for all the work you’ve done with the Juntos program. It’s a really special school, and all of our schools are really special. It has been a unique learning experience for my family. I want to also continue to advocate for the Juntos Parent Advisory Committee. Beyond Juntos students, there’s also potential for how this can impact other students that may have similar backgrounds or histories and for closing achievement and opportunity gaps while celebrating the strengths of our community. Thank you very much. 

~7:38pm

 

May 1, 2025 SSD Board meeting: Allison’s public comments on recognition of Danza Folcorica program

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Thank you for recognizing Danza Folclorica, and for recognizing the incredible role of parents like Elsa Nuñez, Dyadyra Moya, Gloria Ramos, and Julie Garcia, for starting and growing Danza Folclorica at both San Miguel and then further on to Columbia Middle School. It has been an amazing experience to see the program grow and develop, starting from a little seed. Seeing the pride in families’ and students’ faces during performances, as well as the family engagement in both PTA and school life that develops from that, has been incredibly powerful. Further, Danza not only supports the Juntos program’s goals of educating students to be bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural, but it also shares the power and the beauty of Mexican and Latin American art, culture, and history – for the participating students and beyond to the greater community. It  benefits both Latino and Spanish-speaking students and non-Latino, non-Spanish-speaking students, and both immigrant families and US-born and raised families in so many beautiful, powerful, and organic ways. I want to encourage anyone who can hear this, please support Danza Folclorica in any way that you can. Thank you so much for recognizing them.

~7:08pm

The Origin Story

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Upcoming League of Women Voters Candidate Forums for City of Sunnyvale, State Assembly District 26, and Cupertino and Sunnyvale School Boards

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Juntos: We’re All In This Together

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Farewell for now and thank you/No es mas que un hasta luego

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Dear supporters, friends, family, colleagues, and community members,

It is with a heavy heart that I’m notifying you all that as a result of the FUHSD redistricting process, I am not able to run in the new north Sunnyvale trustee area for 2024 based on the location of my home. 

The promise of education is being able to realize possibilities previously unimaginable. Your support has helped me to envision possibilities to make a difference in spaces where I had never imagined myself.  

Coming out of the school board vacancy appointment process last May, I realized I could hold my own against political heavyweights, I had a unique perspective to offer, and had the momentum of community support. District elections were at-large with an unconfirmed timeline for the redistricting process at that time. I also understood the financial realities of having to run across a large district coming from a background of small scale school PTA fundraisers and no big political donors when I filed early with many unknowns at the time. 

Coming from a previously non-political background, public service has meant living my progressive values at the level of my family and school community. This past year has taken a lot of personal work to believe I can make a difference on a larger scale, attend bimonthly board meetings, learn the district issues, build relationships, go through the rigorous application to participate in the Emerge program to learn how to get elected and how to serve, and to start to feel like I might belong in this space. Yet I realize there is still so much more to learn.

I am proof that a PTA mom with anti-racist tendencies, living north of El Camino, coming out of a low income Title 1 school, with no prior political connections, no big donors, without even having a district to run in can be a viable candidate. Your words of support, advice, volunteer efforts, showing up, and donations from hundreds of people from diverse economic backgrounds built that potential. My supporters and donors come from historically politically marginalized working class families from my school who know I’ve been serving them and their children and want to see me make a difference at another level, as well as many from north Sunnyvale, south Sunnyvale, Cupertino, professional colleagues, school and college friends, Peace Corps friends, and family members. Every donor had a personal connection to me. You believed in me and wanted to see me on this board this year making a difference for our students. I do not take this for granted and I am humbled and grateful.

Under campaign finance law, donations can roll over for a future run or can be donated to a nonprofit that aligns with my values. My team and I will figure out what to do next. I’m incredibly grateful to my volunteer campaign manager, treasurer, and core team for their unwavering support, guidance, and thought partnership. 

In the meantime, I believe the Juntos Spanish immersion students transitioning to high school this year can be a catalyst for anti-racist change in what the face of academic achievement looks like in the district. Systems change that centers and serves the historically marginalized and underserved combined with high standards of excellence will ultimately benefit all students and strengthen the overall district.

I’m also taking time to be with my family, for my paying job as an occupational therapist, doing things that bring joy, and being in the community that nurtures and inspires my soul.

As they say in Emerge, if you’re not winning, you’re learning. I am grateful for the learning opportunity and the dedicated supporters who have been learning with me. 

Please stay in touch and contact me directly. Please email me at [email protected] or call or text me at (669) 241-0560. I’m always happy to hear from you. If you would like to donate for a future run for school board, you may do so on my website. 

With deepest gratitude,

Allison Joe

 

Estimados seguidores, amigos, familiares, colegas y miembros de la comunidad:

Con gran pesar debo notificarles que, como resultado del proceso de redistribución de distritos de FUHSD, no puedo postular en la nueva área del fideicomisario del norte de Sunnyvale debido a la ubicación de mi casa.

La promesa de la educación es hacer realidad posibilidades antes inimaginables. Su apoyo me ha ayudado a visualizar posibilidades para marcar la diferencia en espacios en los que nunca me imaginé.

Al salir del proceso de nombramiento de una vacante en la junta escolar en mayo pasado, me di cuenta de que podía defenderme de los pesos pesados políticos, que tenía una perspectiva única que ofrecer y que tenía el impulso del apoyo de la comunidad. Las elecciones de distrito eran generales y en ese momento no se había confirmado un cronograma para el proceso de redistribución de distritos. También entendí la diferente realidad financiera de lo que significa hacer una campaña en un distrito grande teniendo tan solo la experiencia de recaudación de fondos de la PTA de nuestra escuela que es de pequeña escala y sin grandes donantes políticos cuando presenté la solicitud temprano con muchas incógnitas en ese momento.

Viniendo de un entorno previamente apolítico, el servicio público para mí ha sido vivir mis valores progresistas a nivel familiar y de mi comunidad escolar. El año pasado requirió mucho trabajo personal para entender que si puedo marcar la diferencia a mayor escala, asistir a reuniones bimensuales de la junta directiva, aprender sobre los problemas del distrito, construir relaciones, pasar por la rigurosa solicitud para participar en el programa Emerge y aprender cómo ser elegido y cómo servir, y comenzar a sentir que podría pertenecer a este espacio. Sin embargo, me doy cuenta de que todavía queda mucho más por aprender.

Soy la prueba de que una madre de la PTA con convicción antirracistas, que vive al norte de El Camino, cuyas hijas asisten de una escuela de Título 1 de bajos ingresos, sin conexiones políticas previas, sin grandes donantes, sin siquiera tener un distrito definido o asignado, puede ser una candidato viable. Sus palabras de apoyo, consejo, esfuerzos voluntarios, asistencia y donaciones de cientos de personas de diversos orígenes económicos construyeron ese potencial en mi. Mis donantes provienen de familias de clase trabajadora históricamente marginadas políticamente de mi escuela que saben que les he estado sirviendo a ellos y a sus hijos, así como muchos donantes de norte de Sunnyvale, sur de Sunnyvale, Cupertino, colegas de trabajo, amigos de la escuela y la universidad , amigos del Cuerpo de Paz y familiares que no viven en esta zona. Cada donante tenía una conexión personal conmigo. Todos ustedes creyeron en mí y querían verme en esta junta escolar este año haciendo una diferencia para nuestros estudiantes. Su apoyo significa mucho para mi y me siento honrada y agradecida.

Según la ley de financiación de campañas, las donaciones pueden acumularse para una campaña futura o pueden donarse a una organización sin fines de lucro que se alinee con mis valores. Junto a mi equipo, evaluaré qué es lo mejor. Estoy increíblemente agradecida con mi directora de campaña, mi tesorero y mi equipo central, todos voluntarios, por su inquebrantable apoyo, guía, y colaboración.

Mientras tanto, creo que los estudiantes de inmersión en español de Juntos que harán la transición a la escuela secundaria este año pueden ser un catalizador para un cambio antirracista en el aspecto del rendimiento académico en el distrito. El cambio de sistemas que centra y sirve a los históricamente marginados y desatendidos, combinado con altos estándares de excelencia, beneficiará en última instancia a todos los estudiantes y fortalecerá al distrito en general.

También me estoy tomando tiempo para estar con mi familia, para mi trabajo remunerado como terapeuta ocupacional, para hacer cosas que me traen alegría y para estar en la comunidad que nutre e inspira mi alma.

Como dicen en Emerge, si no ganas, estás aprendiendo. Estoy infinitamente agradecida por la oportunidad de aprender y por los dedicados seguidores que han estado aprendiendo conmigo.

Por favor manténgase en contacto y contáctese directamente. Pueden escribirme directamente a [email protected] o llamarme o enviarme un mensaje de texto al (669) 241-0560. Siempre estoy feliz de conversar con ustedes. Si desea donar para una futura candidatura a la mesa directiva escolar, puede hacerlo en https://www.allison4fuhsd.com/donate/.

Con gratitud,

Allison Joe

Allison’s public comment at final map hearing 4/24/24

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I’m speaking for those left fallen through the cracks amidst other regional politics.

Last week my daughter’s teacher told me, “Keep fighting for us.”

She’s a US born graduate level educated Latina bilingual educator. She said to me, “I know my place. When I speak up for us Latinos in education I get dismissed or punished. When I need to advocate for bilingual education, I have my White teaching counterpart speak out for us because they’ll take her seriously. Allison, when you speak for us they’ll listen, they’ll believe you, and they’ll know you’re not acting out of self interest but because it’s the right thing to do.”

Mitla is a prehispanic archeological site deep in the Valle Central de Oaxaca, Mexico. This was the political and religious center of the Zapotec and Mixtec people with stone walls adorned with intricate friezes of polished cut stones fitted together without the use of mortar, uniquely only found in this location. During the 16th century Spanish conquest, missionaries built a church in the middle of it, leaving much of the site intact, only destroying “a little bit” of their most sacred place of worship, reusing the stones from the walls of Mitla to build the church and forcing the conversion of the people there. The church is now an integral part of the history and faith of that country, but I saw how locals ignored the hulking structure in the middle of the site when they talked about the significance of Mitla. The harm remains centuries later despite the intentions of that benevolent agenda.

I appreciate the efforts to approximate the Hispanic/Latino priority created by Maps 2-4 in subsequent scenarios, however, all of these come up short of the eliminated map scenario that prioritized Hispanic/Latino voting rights. It was wrong to compromise the district’s most underrepresented protected class under the California Voting Rights Act. Hundreds of Hispanic/Latino voters were left on the cutting room floor before the board could even vote on it.

 It will take a collective shift in our systems, culture, and values to truly invite family engagement and bridge persistent opportunity gaps from underrepresented groups in the district. It can be done – with critical thought, imagination, prioritization, and love. 

Allison’s response to release of Map 8

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I appreciate the many efforts to come close to the prioritized Hispanic/Latino Citizens of Voting Age Population (CVAP) of 28.4% in Maps 2-4, including the recent addition of Map 8 with a Hispanic/Latino CVAP percentage of 28%. 

After the inclusion of Map 8, I am looking at the numbers of actual human Hispanic/Latino voters behind the percentage of Hispanic/Latino CVAP. Given the differences in estimated overall population of CVAP between each map scenario, the numbers of actual Hispanic/Latino citizens of voting age remains below the prioritization captured by the demographer in Map scenarios 2-4 and in the same range as that of Map 5 (528 voters less) and Map 6 (347 voters less) despite the percentage getting closer to 28.4%. Map 8 is still 419 Hispanic/Latino voting humans short of the prioritization created by Maps 2-4. Maps 2-4 were the most legally viable map scenario created by the demographer to maximize Hispanic/Latino voting rights and those maps have been eliminated for the board to vote on. The increase to 28% Hispanic/Latino CVAP only creates the perception of an increase in voting power. Please see my spreadsheet analysis in the two far right highlighted columns.

I acknowledge the efforts it takes to attempt to satisfy the many communities of interest and strong feelings on the topic. As a historically underrepresented protected class under the CVRA, Hispanic/Latino voting rights should be prioritized above other communities of interest such as attendance boundaries, feeder schools, regional politics, and townhome communities. 

Nonetheless, I give a lot of credit to the incredible efforts of the board, staff, and CTAD committee in doing the right thing to improve representation overall for the district. Thank you for your dedication to this difficult endeavor. 

Respectfully,

Allison Joe