Setting the standard: Duke becomes the first Millennium male athlete to sign with D1 college

https://www.recordnet.com/story/sports/high-school/baseball/2020/11/14/millenniums-caden-duke-signs-pacific-baseball/6281563002/

TRACY —  Caden Duke has set a standard in many things at Millennium High School. 

As a freshman quarterback, he was handed the keys to the football program.

It only took seven games into his freshman baseball season before he was called up to the varsity team. 

And Duke excelled academically, being the top academic male student at the school, according to Drew Reyes, Duke’s baseball and football coach. 

“When you think about what you want in a male athlete, or any type of athlete, you want a student who takes academics seriously as they take athletics, a team player who makes their teammates better,” Reyes said. “You want all of that and he brings all of that to the table and he has done it for four years.” 

Duke added to his list of standards when he became the first male athlete at Millennium to sign with a Division I school. On Thursday he signed a national letter of intent to play baseball at University of the Pacific. 

“I have been looking forward to this ever since I began talking to UOP’s coach (Chris Rodriguez),” Duke said. “Since freshman year I always hoped to get that offer, especially leading up to this signing day. And it is pretty cool to be the first signing day on our school campus.”

Reyes, who has been the head baseball coach at Millennium for 12 years, said he has never had a better player at the school than Duke. 

After those seven games on junior varsity to begin his freshman year, Reyes said he had no choice but to move Duke to varsity to face tougher competition.

Reyes added that Major League organizations, including the San Diego Padres, had Duke on their radar and “checked in” on his development during his sophomore year. 

It was that early success that gave Duke aspirations of college baseball. 

“Seeing that and how I performed against better competition at a young age, I could see myself continuing to get better and actually being able to do something with it,” he said. 

Pacific offered numerous opportunities, including the opportunity to play close to home. 

“Just the first day, when I met the coach (Rodriguez), I felt involved already,” he said.  “The fact that they are a high academic school and so local, so my family and friends can come watch. Just the fact that I can play on a really solid team, also get a good education and it’s close, I just kind of put the pieces together.”

Last season, the Tigers were 8-9 before the novel coronavirus pandemic shut down the remainder of the year.

Duke said he and his family decided to skip his senior football season, because of COVID-19’s impact on the season. With football season starting so close to baseball, he didn’t want to risk an injury. 

As Duke heads off to Pacific, he said he will have a chance to pitch and play first base next season at Pacific. He said his primary goal for his freshman year is to find his way into the Tigers’ everyday lineup.

And when returns to visit Millennium, he will do so knowing his impact on the Falcons’ athletic standards. 

“I’m kind of proud of myself for pushing, knowing that coming into this school and it is more of an academic school and not really all sports,” Duke said. “It shows that even if you go here you can still make something out of it.”

Dear Tracy Learning Center Parents

As the Thanksgiving and Winter Break Holidays approach, we would like to take a moment to express our gratitude to all our TLC families for their unwavering support and optimism this school year despite all the challenges created by COVID-19.

Like many traditions and celebrations impending by the pandemic, we all know the Holidays may need to be approached a little differently this year.  We are concerned about protecting the health and safety of everyone in our school community, so we encourage you to be “safety-smart” with regards to your Thanksgiving and Winter Break plans and activities.  In particular, the CDC has published Thanksgiving/Holiday specific COVID-19 guidance cautioning against “higher-risk” activities, which include the following:

• Going shopping in crowded stores just before, on, or after Thanksgiving
• Participating or being a spectator at a crowded event
• Attending crowded parades
• Attending large indoor gatherings with people from outside of your household

To review the full text of the CDC’s Thanksgiving/Holiday specific please reference the following links:

CDC Celebrating

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/holidays/thanksgiving.html

CDC Holiday Celebrations and Small Gatherings:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/holidays.html

As a final note, if you DO choose to travel outside of your local area for the holidays and/or participate in large gatherings/activities with others from outside your household circle, we respectfully request that you keep your child(ren) at home from school for 14 days upon returning or verification of a negative COVID test.  The students will be placed on distance learning during this period.  We understand this may pose an inconvenience, but we are committed to following the best practices outlined by the CDC and continuing to do our best to limit COVID-19 exposure within our school community.

Again, we greatly appreciate everyone’s cooperation and partnership during this holiday season.  We wish everyone a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

Virginia Stewart

Executive Director 

We will enter the final phase of returning students to school with the reopening of Millennium High School.  Students will return in person for the first time on Monday, November 16, 2020.  

The first phase of reopening will continue until January in which time we will allow more students to return to our campus in all three schools.  We have elected a slow and careful plan for returning to school that has been quite successful.  We appreciate how well our parents and students have followed our guidelines.  We also appreciate your patience as we work through some car drop off hitches.  We appreciate your comments and suggestions.

As we move forward, it is important that we remember some important safety guidelines.

• Masks are essential.  Wear masks when you drop off and pick up your children.
• Wash cloth masks often.
• Keep hand sanitizer readily available in your car and use it frequently.
• Wash hands whenever returning to home from any place.
• Keep social distance as much as possible.  
• Keep your child home when he or she is not feeling well with a cold etc.

It is our sincere hope that as we move forward all students will be back to school by mid March.  By following simple rules, we can all be safer and the plan can move forward.

However, there is concern that our county will slip back into the Purple tier if the numbers do not improve.  If this happens, our schools are qualified to remain open.  We will comply with county expectations and will close if the county requires it.   The data regarding students and COVID indicates that county-wide less than 20 students have contracted COVID and in tracing it, it does not appear that is was contracted by other students.  Again, all we can do to protect all of us is follow the requirements for masks, hand sanitizing and social distancing.

PCS

We must thank our parents for your patience and understanding with our carline.  Now that Discovery students are back on campus (and Millennium is back today), we have had to make some changes to our process.  We will continue to ensure that all students arrive and depart campus as quickly as possible while allowing for our important safety procedures

MHS

We are back!  Our staff understands the decision to come back to campus is a big one and we want to reassure you our campus will make sure we follow all safety protocols and procedures.

Everything you need to know about going back to MHS in these adventurous times is below. If you have a more specific question, feel free to email us at: tlclearning@tracylc.net

Arrival Times:

0 Period:      Back gate will be open from 7:15 – 7:30

1st Period:   Back gate will be open from 8:00 – 8:30

For students who are tardy and all other arrival times, students will need to check in through the front gate located next to M-1. We will be performing temperature checks for all students on a daily basis so we ask that you arrive early in each window to help facilitate this process; we thank you in advance for your cooperation!

Departure:

Due to our later start time, our last class period now ends at 4:30. All students will exit through the M-1 gate located in the front of the school. Please do not use the front drive through to pick-up your student. We will use the back gate for all vehicle pick-ups/drop-offs.

Back Gate Arrival/Temp. Check

We will be using the back gate for morning arrival. This is the gate located off of Holly Dr. If dropping off a student, you may use this area as a drive through. A walk up path will be identified with cones.

Several teachers will be outside taking temperature checks.

We ask that you keep students with fevers, colds, etc. at home.

Students showing a temperature of 100.4 or higher will be sent home.

Once temperatures are verified, students will be sent to line-up just outside their first class of the day.

Six Foot Rule

All staff and students are expected to maintain a minimum of six feet of distance at all times when possible.

Masks

Masks will be worn both inside and outside of class by everybody. Doors will be kept open to improve circulation and to limit touching of door handles.

With a proper doctors note, the use of face shields are permitted.

We will have extra cloth masks available for unexpected situations.

Students will not be permitted to enter campus without a mask on.

Social Distancing Markers

Social distancing markers will be placed outside of each classroom so that students know where to line-up in between classes.

Directional arrows will be in place to keep the flow of traffic moving in one direction and away from students who might be standing in line.

Assigned Seats

Students will have assigned seats in every class. These spaces will be sprayed or wiped with  disinfected between class periods. If possible, incoming students will be seated in chairs unused during the previous class period.

Lunch

Lunches may be brought to school.

Our food services are making lunch for students but you will have to pre-pay through school lunch accounts with on- line payment. No cash will be exchanged for individual lunches.  Students who are purchasing lunch at school will order them electronically during 1st or 2nd period.

Lunches will be delivered to students in their 3rd period classes.

BackPacks

Backpacks are permitted.

We ask that you keep the material you bring to school limited to essentials such as pencils, pens, a binder, and some paper.

Laptops/Chromebooks

Students are allowed to bring their own laptop or chromebook for use in class when needed.  The school is not responsible for lost, damaged or stolen property. If you borrowed a Chromebook, it must come back to school on the first day.

Millennium High School 

November 16th Reopening Procedures

Everything you need to know about going back to MHS in these adventurous times is below. If you have a more specific question, feel free to email us at: tlclearning@tracylc.net

Arrival Times: 

0 Period:      Back gate will be open from 7:15 – 7:30

1st Period:   Back gate will be open from 8:00 – 8:30

For students who are tardy and all other arrival times, students will need to check in through the front gate located next to M-1. We will be performing temperature checks for all students on a daily basis so we ask that you arrive early in each window to help facilitate this process; we thank you in advance for your cooperation!

Departure: 

Due to our later start time, our last class period now ends at 4:30. All students will exit through the M-1 gate located in the front of the school. Please do not use the front drive through to pick-up your student. We will use the back gate for all vehicle pick-ups/drop-offs.

Back Gate Arrival/Temp. Check

We will be using the back gate for morning arrival. This is the gate located off of Holly Dr. If dropping off a student, you may use this area as a drive through. A walk up path will be identified with cones.

Several teachers will be outside taking temperature checks. 

We ask that you keep students with fevers, colds, etc. at home. 

Students showing a temperature of 100.4 or higher will be sent home.

Once temperatures are verified, students will be sent to line-up just outside their first class of the day.

Six Foot Rule

All staff and students are expected to maintain a minimum of six feet of distance at all times when possible. 

Masks

Masks will be worn both inside and outside of class by everybody. Doors will be kept open to improve circulation and to limit touching of door handles. 

With a proper doctors note, the use of face shields are permitted.

We will have extra cloth masks available for unexpected situations.

Students will not be permitted to enter campus without a mask on.

Social Distancing Markers

Social distancing markers will be placed outside of each classroom so that students know where to line-up in between classes. 

Directional arrows will be in place to keep the flow of traffic moving in one direction and away from students who might be standing in line.

Assigned Seats

Students will have assigned seats in every class. These spaces will be sprayed or wiped with  disinfected between class periods. If possible, incoming students will be seated in chairs unused during the previous class period. 

Lunch

Lunches may be brought to school.

Our food services are making lunch for students but you will have to pre-pay through school lunch accounts with on- line payment. No cash will be exchanged for individual lunches.  Students who are purchasing lunch at school will order them electronically during 1st or 2nd period. 

Lunches will be delivered to students in their 3rd period classes.

BackPacks

Backpacks are permitted. 

We ask that you keep the material you bring to school limited to essentials such as pencils, pens, a binder, and some paper.

Laptops/Chromebooks

Students are allowed to bring their own laptop or chromebook for use in class when needed.  The school is not responsible for lost, damaged or stolen property. If you borrowed a Chromebook, it must come back to school on the first day. 

Hello Discovery Parents!

Wow! What a whirlwind of a start to Trimester 2 and our first 2 days of hybrid on-campus/online teaching and learning! While today, Veteran’s Day, is a day to remember our military men and women who’ve served during times of war, it’s also a nice fall day to rest up and take a moment to regroup. 

With that in mind, Mrs. Cerezo and I (Mrs. Prescott) wanted to also take a moment to thank ALL the families and staff who worked so hard to make the first two days back run as smoothly as possible! Slowly returning to full-time campus & distance learning would not be possible without everyone’s collective support! 

We have, however, learned a thing or two that we know needs more clarification.

CARLINE: (for those bringing students to campus)

–For both AM drop-off and PM pick-up, we ask, for everyone’s health and safety, that all people in the car please wear a mask. 

–When arriving to carline we ask that everyone drive down E. Emerson Ave. and then make a right down Mae Ave. Please do not park or try to cut through using Lowell Ave. A single flow of traffic from Emerson Ave. to Mae Ave. will create the smoothest flow of traffic. 

–In the morning, Primary siblings cannot be dropped off before 8am. Their teachers are not out and ready to monitor them. You may either drop off your DCS student and drive back around or try to drop off both PCS and DCS siblings between 8:00-8:10am. (DCS students will not be marked late during this time frame.)

–In the afternoon, Discovery carline will begin promptly at 3:50pm. Please DO NOT get into carline while PCS is still dismissing their students. They will ask you to drive back around to avoid slowing down the flow of their dismissal. We know that Monday afternoon carline was long, however, with a few modifications and everyone’s cooperation we finished MUCH faster on Tuesday!

Computers and Chromebooks:

—IF you chose to have your on-campus student bring their own laptop or Chromebook to and from school we ask that use a small case, not a large backpack, to carry it in.

–All other on-campus students should have been issued a school Chromebook for their use on campus and at home, as needed. If your student brings it home, please make sure they remember to also bring the charger back and forth and charge it while home.

Lunch:

–If you want to have your student purchase lunch from school you can load money on to their accounts using this link  https://www.mymealtime.com/. If they come to school with cash or a check we will send them to the front office with it. 

–If your student is bringing a lunch, please know that we no longer have microwaves available for heating up their food.  

Online students:

–If your teacher needs to take a day off and has a substitute teacher on-campus, online students will NOT have to log into Zoom for that day. Your teacher will post an announcement and assignments in the Google Classroom.

If you or your student have any other questions or need anything else clarified please feel free to email me (kprescott@tracylc.net) or Mrs. Cerezo (acerezo@tracylc.net) at any time!

Take care and stay well!

Next week marks the return of those DCS students who wish to attend in-person classes.   Our amazing staff has been working hard all week to prepare and we have some important information to share.

REMINDER: All schools will be off next Wednesday in honor of Veterans Day November 11th).

PCS

PCS parents:  We are excited to welcome back some of our DCS students on Monday.   Please note that the DCS carline will run from 7:30-8:00, in the same area as the Primary carline.  If you are a Primary parent in the Discovery carline, you will be asked to get out of line and re-enter the carline at the designated Primary time, which is 8:00-8:30.  Thank you for your understanding and patience!

If you are dropping off both DCS and PCS students, you can drop off DCS students in PCS carline between 8:00-8:10.  DCS students will not be marked late until after 8:10.

Padres de PCS: Estamos emocionados de dar la bienvenida a algunos de nuestros estudiantes de DCS el lunes. La línea de automóviles DCS funcionará de 7:30 a 8:00, en la misma zona que la línea principal. Si usted es un padre primario en la línea de automóviles Discovery, se le pedirá que se salga de la línea y vuelva a ingresar a la línea de automóviles a la hora designada de la Primaria, que es de 8:00-8:30. Gracias por su comprensión y paciencia!

Si está dejando a estudiantes de DCS y PCS, puede dejar a los estudiantes de DCS en la línea de autos de PCS entre las 8:00-8:10. Los estudiantes del DCS no se marcarán tarde hasta después de las 8:10.

DCS

We have emailed out student schedules in case you need it.  It can also be found in AERIES (https://sisweb.tusd.net/parentportal/LoginParent.aspx)

On November 9th many of our DCS students will be returning back to campus! We are so looking forward to being able to move into our second trimester and begin to welcome students back to in-person learning. Before we do that we wanted to be sure that you and your student are as ready as possible for trimester two, whether you are remaining online or returning to in-person instruction.

Starting on November 9th classes will resume their usual 8am-4PM school day schedule. You should have received this schedule via email earlier in the week. Both online students and in-person students need to know this schedule so that they can be successful on their first day. Please note, now that we are transitioning back into on campus learning there will be shorter passing periods between classes. There are no longer ten minute breaks between classes.

Finally, please remember that every Friday is Asynchronous and this means that students do not go to campus and online students do not need to log into an actual virtual session. Instead teachers will post activities/assignments for students to complete on this day. These assignments will need to be completed and submitted on that same Friday for attendance credit.

If your student is remaining online, please read the following information:

Students should be logged in beginning at 8am and their attendance will be taken. They will continue to follow their schedule all day by logging into each class (as according to the schedule provided). There are a few exceptions to this. Online students do not need to log in to workroom class (they should however, use this time to complete their work, as if they were in person) or their Reinforcement Lab class (if they have one). If your student has a Reinforcement Lab class, the teacher for that class will post assignments on their Google Classroom to be complete ( such as IXL practice time or other review activities).

The other class that students online do not need to sign on via Zoom for is PE. Online students will be required to complete activities that are posted to their teachers Google Classroom page. There will be a modified version for Physical Education for both on campus and distance learners. This class is mandatory and will be graded.

Students must sign up for all of their Google Classroom pages by Monday 11/9.

If your student is returning in person, please read the following information:

When students arrive on campus between 7:30-8:00am they must be dropped off via carline. There are NO walkups allowed. When you arrive in carline every person in the car must have a mask on. Once you’ve come to a stop one of the teachers will take your student’s temperature while still in the car and ask them the following questions: Do you have any symptoms? Have you come into contact with anyone who has tested positive? If your students answers “no” to both questions and has a normal temperature (less than 100.4) then they will walk toward the gate, sanitize their hands and go up to their homeroom where they will stay for all of their classes (with the exception of PE, as well as lunch and recess).

If you have a DCS and PCS student, please time your arrival at carline as close to 8:00am as possible so that you can drop off both students and that both students have proper supervision. If you arrive prior to 8:00am with your PCS student we will ask you to loop around and get back into carline to drop off the PCS student when their teachers are ready to receive them.

We are encouraging students as much as possible to bring only disposable items to school (plastic water bottles, disposable lunch items, etc). We are hoping to limit the number of items that go to and from school and so backpacks will not be allowed. If your student is bringing their own laptop we do understand that they may need to use a carrying case, though we ask that that case be wiped down before coming to campus. Small items such as feminine products etc.  can be stored in a lunch bag or kept discreetly at the students desk (there will be a small bin for their supplies). If your student must bring a cellphone to campus, it must remain in their pocket. DCS has a firm policy against cell phone usage at school and will maintain that.

Your student will be supplied with notebooks, pens, pencils, and anything else that they may need to fully participate in their classes. These items will remain at their specific desk and will be available for them to use all day long. Teachers will have extra supplies of these items in case something needs to be replaced. We ask you to carefully consider what your student needs to bring to school and to be as selective as possible as we do our best to limit exposure or cross contamination.

For students who plan to buy lunch at school, you can have money put on their account prior to the first day back using the following link https://www.mymealtime.com/. Any cash or checks will need to be turned in to the front office.

Within the first few weeks of school your student will come home with a name placard to be placed in your car window to facilitate end of the day pickup. At the end of the day we will call students from their classroom to be dismissed for the day once their car arrives to limit crowds and grouping.

Reminder!  No classes tomorrow – Friday, November 6th for DCS as teachers are on campus prepping their classrooms.

MHS

We have one more week for many students online.  Next week’s schedule includes two days off.  Wednesday, Nov 11th is Veterans day and Friday will be no school for any student as teachers prepare their classrooms for those students who are returning to campus.

We will continue to send out information as we move closer to hybrid (in-person and distance learning) learning.  As always, if you have any questions please reach out via email – tlclearning@tracylc.net.

Welcome to the additional 45 Primary students who have chosen to come in person with our second phase opening on November 2.  Primary has been very successful because of the great cooperation we have had from our parents.  Car line has never been smoother.  We appreciate all you are doing to keep our children safe.

As I reflect on the past months, I now know how much easier it was to close the schools and begin the high learning curve for distance learning.  Closing is so much easier than reopening.  I am pleased that we are able to slowing phase reopening.  I believe this allow us to manage safety better and to learn as each school begins the return process.  We appreciate your response to the parent surveys.  The meeting last Monday about reopening was great.  We appreciated your questions and your response to our process.  Thank you for your continued support.

DCS

Parents/Guardians/Students,