Human Growth and Development Updates for 2020-2021

UPDATED March 2021

Please contact Steven Kaufman kaufman_steven@cusdk8.org or your school principal with any questions.

Parent Information Session for 8th Grade Parents

March 8, 2021 06:30 PM Pacific Time

Due to school closures in spring 2020 - the current 8th graders did not receive the HGD instruction last year as 7th graders. 8th graders will receive this instruction this year. Please note that parents/guardians may opt their student(s) out of this instruction if they choose to do so. More information about opting out will be shared prior to instruction. 

The California Healthy Youth Act requires that comprehensive sexual health education and HIV prevention education be provided to students at least once in middle school or junior high school and once in high school, starting in grade 7.  Per the California Healthy Youth Act, instruction must be medically accurate, age‐appropriate and inclusive of all students, and must encourage students to communicate with parents, guardians or other trusted adults about human sexuality.

Cupertino Union School District middle schools will be providing comprehensive sexual health education to 8th-grade students using the Positive Prevention Plus Distance Learning curriculum in Spring 2021 Your student’s science teacher will provide more information. Prior to this instruction, parents/guardians will be invited to attend or view a live or recorded webinar to learn about the curriculum.

The webinar content will include

• Learn what your child will be taught and view the curriculum
• Understand how lessons connect to the California Healthy Youth Act 
• Learn tools for supporting your child’s learning at home

Opt-Out:

State law allows parents/guardians to remove (opt-out) their student from this instruction, either selected lessons or the entire program. Students who are not participating in puberty lesson(s) will complete an alternate set of lessons. 

5th grade Puberty Education may be postponed… but puberty is still happening!

Additional resources will be shared as they become available.

In Class Videos and Resources: Puberty Talk Curriculum

Consent for Kids

Jazz: Age 7

PT Trusted Adult Interview Homework

Parent Resource: Lets-Talk.how (Puberty Talk-Health Connected)

Parent Resource: CUSD Lesson Outline for Parents

Puberty Talk curriculum and slides are viewable in your school office

In-Class Videos and Resources:  Positive Prevention Plus Upper Elementary Curriculum

Consent for Kids

Always Changing and Growing up Video by Proctor and Gamble 

PPP Overview of Homework

Parent Resource: 

Parent/guardian Presentation Slides

Parent/guardian CUSD Lesson Outline for Parents

Positive Prevention Plus curriculum and slides are viewable in your school office or here

Resources for Parents

Books for Younger Kids (10 years and under) Do You Have a Secret? by Jennifer Moore-Mallinos (ages 6-9) It’s Not the Stork! A Book About Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families and Friends by Robie Harris (ages 4-8) What Makes a Baby by Cory Silverberg & Fiona Smyth (ages 4-7) Who Has What? All About Girls’ Bodies and Boys’ Bodies by Robie H. Harris (ages 4-7) Ready, Set, Grow (girls): by Lynda Madaras (ages 8-10) On Your Mark, Get Set, Grow (boys): by Lynda Madaras (ages 8-10) 

Books for Pre-teens (ages 10-12 and up) It's Perfectly Normal by Robie H. Harris It’s So Amazing by Robie H. Harris My Body Belongs to Me by Jill Starishevsky SEX is a Funny Word: A Book about Bodies, Feelings, and YOU by Cory Silverberg & Fiona Smith The Period Book: A Girl’s Guide to Growing Up by Karen Gravelle Guy Stuff: The Body Book for Boys by Cara Natterson What's Happening to Me? by Peter Mayle 

Books for Parents Talk to Me First by Debra Roffman But How’d I Get in there in the First Place by Deborah Roffman For Goodness Sex: Changing the Way We talk to Teenagers about Sexuality, Values, and Health by Al Vernacchio How to Talk to You Kids about Pornography by Dina Alexander 

Grade 7

Cupertino Union School District middle schools will be providing comprehensive (see dates above) sexual health education to 7th-grade students using the Positive Prevention Plus program. Your student’s science teacher will provide this instruction and lessons are scheduled for May and June. 

The California Healthy Youth Act requires that comprehensive sexual health education and HIV prevention education be provided to students at least once in middle school or junior high school and once in high school, starting in grade 7.  Per the California Healthy Youth Act, instruction must be medically accurate, age‐appropriate and inclusive of all students, and must encourage students to communicate with parents, guardians or other trusted adults about human sexuality.

If you have questions, please reach out to your child’s 7th-grade science teacher or the school principal. You can also contact Steven Kaufman, Director in Educational Services. Email Steven

Here is a LINK to the parent presentation.

Here are the videos that teachers may use with their students. If you want to know specifically which of these videos your student's teacher will use please contact them directly.

Additional Resources for Parents

FAQ - California Healthy Youth Act

Health Connected Let's Talk  is a program for parents/caregivers and their kids to start important conversations about puberty, etc.

Amaze.org has great videos for parents and provides models for how to talk with your kids about topics within sexuality.

Stanford’s Heart to Heart: This informative, humorous, and lively discussion of puberty, the opposite sex and growing up, sets parents and their pre-teens (aged 10-12) on a course for talking with one another about these topics. An emphasis in the “For Girls” and “For Boys” programs are on communication and the importance of family as the primary resource.