Welcome to the 2019-20 school year!
The school year began on Thursday, August 15, 2019. Teachers were back hard at work on Tuesday, August 13, starting with professional development in the areas of math, reading, and assessments. We are very excited to continue focusing on the success of our students through continued efforts in the classroom, at the schools, and districtwide. We will continue to build relationships with our students, parents, and community in support of the teaching and learning that occurs every day in our classrooms.
I have the honor of continuing to serve the Board, staff, students, and the community to achieve the best outcomes for all students.
Leading us this year at our sites and in our departments are:
· Dr. Elizabeth Cord, San Juan School, Principal
· Ms. Heather Howell, Aromas School, Principal
· Ms. Angela Crawley, Anzar High School, Principal
· Mr. Anthony Miranda, Special Education Director
· Ms. Cindy Guajardo, Preschool Director
· Ms. Mariana Solomon, Business Manager
· Ms. Marie Barros, Transportation Manager
· Mr. Dan Carrillo, Maintenance and Operations Manager
· Ms. Janie Cecena, Food Services Manager
· Ms. Leonor Cruz, Director of Student and Family Services
· Dr. Jim Pisano, Data Analyst
We welcome a new principal, Ms. Angela Crawley, to Anzar High School. Angela is not new to Anzar High School, as she has been a teacher at the school for the past five years. We are very excited that Angela is joining our already strong, collaborative team to support our students, along with our certificated and classified employees. It is truly a team effort in our District to foster a positive culture and provide academic and social-emotional support to our students.
We believe communication between our schools, teachers, and parents is important. The District successfully implemented a new website this past year to strengthen communication. We will enhance the website through the incorporation of the alert function to allow for information to be pushed out to our parents and students via email, text, phone calls, and social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). Parents will have an opportunity to download the application onto your cellphone or another device to customize how you like to receive information. We offered informational sessions on the District’s website to walk through the new format and obtain feedback and questions from students, staff, parents, and the community. We will continue with these sessions throughout the school year. Please review your school's website for upcoming events.
Our “Superintendent/Principal Coffee Hour” is held at each school site monthly. It’s an opportunity to provide two-way communication for students, parents, and the community to share ideas and hear updates from the District.
New also to the District is Dr. Jim Pisano, Data Analyst. He leads and collects the data districtwide in a manner that supports teaching and learning in the classroom. We are very excited to have available to us this year a new assessment reporting system that will provide a plethora of information to our school site instructional leaders and staff to target our instruction in the areas that will benefit our students the most. The robust information we are now able to glean from the systems we have put in place will support our instructional leaders, teachers, and students. The systems we have put in place are supported by the District’s LCAP.
These assessments support the District’s Goals established in the LCAP related to educational goals, which include staff development, parent involvement, and guidelines to support the District to maximize student achievement and success. The District’s LCAP consists of five Goals, as follows:
1. Provide students with high-quality classroom instruction and curriculum that promote college and career readiness and prepares students for success in the 21st Century global economy.
2. Improve student achievement by implementing district-wide and site-based professional development to effectively implement Common Core State Standards, English Language Development (ELD) Standards, district initiatives, and to respond to student achievement results in a timely manner.
3. Provide effective, researched-based interventions at all levels to increase student achievement and to decrease the achievement gap for all state identified subgroups.
4. Ensure all students experience safe, well maintained, supportive, and inclusive environments so that all students are in their classes ready to learn.
5. Increase parent engagement through effective two-way communication to raise the level of involvement of parents and families in-school programs, student progress, and as valued decision-making partners and school stakeholder leaders.
If you are new to our schools, please stop by the front office and say hello to the front office staff and the Principal. Your teachers are an excellent resource for questions. I look forward to seeing you all at Back-to-School-Night, the dates are:
· Anzar High School – Wednesday, September 4, 2019, from 6:15 pm to 8:00 pm
· Aromas School – Thursday, September 5, 2019, from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
· San Juan School - Thursday, September 5, 2019, from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm
I look forward to seeing you on our campuses and in the classrooms.
Best,
Michele Huntoon
Superintendent
Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.
Martin Luther King