Superintendent
Thank you For Entrusting Us With Your Students
There are few things in life as frightening and exciting as the beginning of a new school year. This is especially true for individuals who have been on this planet for a very short amount of time: if you are like four or five years old. Yet, we are wonderfully wired to survive the separation from our primary caretakers, the awe of coming to a big strange building, and sharing our personal space with strangers for the first time. Amidst the tears from young and old (in some cases), schools across the globe welcome the opening of a brand new school year with great excitement.
This new school year at Alum Rock School District brings new opportunities for all:
- On our quest of accelerating English Proficiency for all English Language Learners, we have strengthened our Early Childhood Program. We are grateful our teachers have agreed to provide extended day in TK and K. In addition, we have opened 10 of our sites to students whose 5th birthday extend to January 31. We call this new initiative “T4’s.” In addition, we are looking forward to a new partnership with the City of San Jose, through a promising grant through San Jose Learns. Wish us well as we seek their grant approval. If approved, the grant would provide 6 of our sites with additional services after school for our kinder students. More to come about this.
- We are in the middle of redesigning all our middle schools with state of the art curriculum and instruction. This year Ocala STEAM Academy opened its doors to all students in our community with a brand new Design Lab. Ocala STEAM Academy provides students with Project-Based-Instruction where students will learn how to solve real-life problems with an emphasis on sustainability issues.
- In collaboration with Somos Mayfair, and great parent engagement throughout the district, we have been able to craft an LCAP that allows us to bring a stronger academic program and environment to all our sites. Our goal is to reduce the number of Long-Term English Learners through focused instruction on English Academic Language using Constructing Meaning methodology. In addition, we will monitor and assess students’ academic progress using I-Ready. We have been able to allocate funds for a community liaison in every campus to support and enhance parent/school communication and engagement. The community liaisons will allows us to provide on-site translation and interpretation services.
These are just a few examples of our commitment to provide all your children with the best possible education. I am certain that this new school year is an open door to many successes.
Thank you for your support!
Superintendent's Annual Reports
