I would like to thank and acknowledge Deanne Vicedo, Board Clerk, for continuing to enhance the boardroom environment. You will notice more pictures and also a welcome information sheet for new guests to our board meeting.
Welcome to Dr. Joe Fulcher, Assistant Superintendent of Equity, Culture & Support Services and Ana Maria Alvarez, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching & Learning.
The Board of Trustees and I have completed the “50 First Dates” with all middle, jr. high, and high schools in our district. We have learned so much from our conversations around teaching & learning, equity & culture, acknowledged challenges & needed support, as well as the facility tours. We have two adult schools left and two small schools. In addition, we will begin the “50 First Dates” with department directors very soon.
In my professional readings, I wanted to share with district employees and community members that research supports the idea of collaboration and how working together gets the best results. The Journal of Staff Development’s summer edition is all about “Together we can do more – collaboration and teams amplify learning.” According to this edition’s articles, the ultimate goal of collaborative learning is better teaching, better student learning, better results for every learner in schools.
Excellent teams – supported by committed leaders and sustained resources – create a culture where every professional in a school and the district take responsibility for each student. The second reading I want to share is from Educational Leadership magazine from the Association of Supervision & Curriculum Development.
Their theme for the summer is very similar to the Journal of Staff Development– “Improving Schools from Within.” One article entitled, Getting Unstuck, writes about how research shows that working together yields powerful improvement – and lasts longer than solutions from the outside.
Another article, Rewriting the Script in Urban Schools shares how these authors urge an audacious vision: Do not focus on remediation, but build on the strengths of students, teachers, and leaders. Another article states, To Find Solutions, Look Inward – instead of adopting an external improvement program, these two schools made impressive gains by starting an inside look at the systems that are affecting student performance and teacher development. Finally, Out of Mediocrity describes a school where a persistent focus on instruction, rigor, and culture turns an underperforming high school into a top performer.
I continue to meet with internal and external stakeholders: since our last board meeting, I have attended the Imperial Beach Chamber and Chula Vista First Friday breakfasts; Open Houses at Hilltop High and Otay Ranch; met with union leadership, Special Services, HS Principal PLC, SDSU Vice President of Student Affairs and the Compact Director, South County Superintendents; and Chula Vista Community Collaborative Director.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve and support you!