Goals keep us focused

My visit to Reagan Elementary on November 18 started like my visits to other Clovis Unified campuses. Beautiful, expansive school buildings? Check. Clean, well maintained campus? Check. Vividly colored motivational signs in plain sight? Check. Teachers on task, students engaged? Check.

The mere fact that I could make such a check list about every Clovis Unified school I have visited is incredible; and I hope that no one in our community, me included, ever forgets how fortunate we are in this district to have such learning environments. I also hope we always remember just how easy it would be to slip away from the core values that have created these wonderful Clovis Unified schools, and by remembering, keep it from ever happening.

So in addition to this check list of excellence what stood out about my visit to Reagan Elementary School? Focused instruction. The school recently began its 900 campaign, in which the teachers, students and support staff are striving to surpass 900 on California’s Academic Performance Index (API). This year, the school’s API hit 855, far higher than the State’s target of 800; and with that in mind, Principal Robb Christopherson and his school community have staked a claim on passing 900.

In some school districts this might be seen as overly focusing on the numbers. I believe if handled correctly, it allows our students to have a clear understanding of how they personally can improve; and of course, Reagan Elementary is doing it correctly!

Every student that I spoke to at the school knew what they personally need to do to increase their own academic achievement. They knew where they needed to improve, and how their teacher was going to help them to do just that. Every staff member I spoke to at the school was in touch with the individual needs of their students, and what it would take to help each of those students achieve.

Say what you want about test scores, when they allow teachers, students and parents (never forget the important role parents play in a student’s academic success) to have a common conversation about the academic needs of a child, they’re good for kids.

Don't lose sight of the extraordinary

I think it is human nature, when living day-to-day in the extraordinary, to become so accustomed to greatness that we begin to think “extraordinary” is just “ordinary”. I say this because my eyes are new to Clovis Unified, and I continue to be bowled over by the extraordinary educational environment that has been created for students in this district. In contrast, those who have been “living in the system” for years seem to accept as natural the very things that make Clovis Unified astoundingly different than the vast majority of school districts in the nation.

This was apparent to me when I visited Alta Sierra on November 17. Here again, like at the other CUSD intermediate schools at which I have spent time, kids were polite, the campus clean, and students were on task and focused on their education. This is not typically the case! In my experiences at other California intermediate schools, the norm has been the exact opposite: kids are not polite, the campus is less than clean, and there is a war being waged between staff and students to stay on task academically.

Maybe you have to have these other experiences, or maybe you just need to hear it from someone who has “been there, done that,” to fully appreciate what takes place at our schools in Clovis Unified. I’m not saying our schools are perfect, far from it. We still grapple with challenges of keeping students academically engaged in a technological age. But, I think our school staffs have, through hard work, creativity and pure refusal to give up, created environments in which the vast majority of students connect with learning.

A simple example of this creativity is the fact that Alta Sierra still offers students woodshop, using Buchanan High’s shop classroom. This allows students who learn through using their hands to connect with their core academic classes like math and science, and continue to see the value and purpose of their education.

I would imagine that most anyone who is reading this blog has visited a Clovis Unified school. I would challenge you, now, to find an opportunity to visit another school outside of the District. After your visit you may well find that your eyes have been re-opened to just how extraordinary Clovis Unified schools are for our kids!

Community Day teachers stand in the gap

It’s pretty easy to say, “No child left behind.” It’s another thing entirely to actually do it. Yet that is what’s happening every day at our Clovis Community Day School. Many of you might not even know Clovis Community Day exists. They don’t have a football team or a band. What they do have, however, are a group of extremely dedicated teachers working hard every day to help at risk students complete their education.

The school serves a changing population of students in grades 4-12 who have through their actions jeopardized their place on one of our comprehensive school campuses. It is our goal that these students do not stay at Community Day, but instead work with the school’s staff to get back on track and return to their home school to ultimately graduate.

It isn’t an easy job – for either the students or the staff. I started my November 12 visit to the school at a great staff meeting, where the team was working on various scenarios as to how best to work with students and get them re-focused on their education. Wow. What a great group of adults, willing to go the extra mile to reach our students!

In the Freshman Academy English language arts class I saw some high level instruction taking place as the students conducted literary criticisms of the work of Edgar Allen Poe. Clearly, instructional standards are still intense at this school. Also while I was there, I was interviewed by a journalism student for their school newspaper and I can’t wait to see how the article turns out.

It’s easy to say that we’re going to teach every child, but sometimes the choices that those children make and the circumstances from which they come present seemingly insurmountable challenges. That’s why my visit to Clovis Community Day School meant so much. Seeing a group of teachers and support staff focused on reaching those very students, and succeeding, was incredible!

Reyburn students set quite an example

I don’t know about you, but without meaning anything against “tweens” and teens, most junior high students I know aren’t the neatest of individuals.

It’s understandable really; they have a lot going on, socially, emotionally and mentally, and for a young person poised on the brink of adulthood that’s just a lot to handle. Therefore, if something has to give in order to juggle all of these crazy balls in the air, why wouldn’t it be neatness?

That (along with the mood swings) is one of the many reasons I have a lot of respect for intermediate school teachers, and, for that matter, the parents of intermediate school students! Having taught at the middle school level earlier in my educational career, I can say first hand that they have their job cut out for them. That’s why I was amazed by my visit to Reyburn Intermediate School on November 10. While at the school, I was hard-pressed to find even a scrap of litter, a smudged window or an apparently disorganized student.

Instead, the students that I encountered were well-prepared and well-behaved; and engaged in their studies. They, like so many of the students I meet on our Clovis Unified campuses, had pride in their school and their work.

This was definitely true of the math and English classes I visited, where it was obvious that the Reyburn teachers work closely with each other to ensure students are exposed to academic content that is relevant and rigorous. But, it was equally true of the outstanding orchestra rehearsal I listened in on, and the visual arts classes where I watched students use art to give shape to their imaginations.

I’ve said it before, and I’m sure I will say it again; this is the type of educational experience that every student in our nation’s schools deserves. I am so very proud of our Clovis Unified teachers for taking the extra time, effort and thought to connect with their students. And I’m proud of the fact that our community has invested in providing school facilities that allow our students to understand that they are our most important resource – and then treat their education with the seriousness it deserves.

Every student in every desk deserves our best

In my 21 years in education, I have seen how easy it is to categorize students. You have quick learners, slow learners, English language learners, special needs learners and many others. You also have various educational strategies designed to address the needs of these “groups.”
While this approach may still result in student learning, it does not allow educators to connect individually with children. And yet, individual connections are the very things that allow teachers to tap into students’ passions and encourage personal success.

When I visited Mickey Cox Elementary on October 28, I saw this powerful approach to learning in action. This dynamic group of teachers and leaders were focused on getting the right resources into the hands of every student on their campus. As I talked to teachers and to Principal Cheryl Floth, it was clear that the Mickey Cox staff didn’t just see their students in generic groups. Instead, I saw a team focused on every single student in every single desk.

November marks the start of my fourth month in Clovis Unified, and while I am still learning a lot about our schools, I have come to an early and firm conclusion that they represent what is wonderful about education. As I have traveled from school to school I’ve seen many unique classrooms and communities, but I have also seen great similarities in the passion and dedication of our teachers and support staffs for the success of our students.

This combination of effort customized to the individual community and supported by shared core values makes Clovis Unified School District unique. I sincerely hope that our community is aware of just how lucky we are to have these absolute jewel-like schools for our children. It really is incredible!

Fancher Creek Elementary is one big happy family

You’ve probably felt it before – when you enter a school campus and it feels like a little community unto itself. It could be because you remember your own school experience, and the comforting traditions that occurred from season to season; or it could be because you’ve seen your own child experience this sense of quiet continuity that comes with a well run school community.

Whatever the reason, it is an incredible feeling to walk onto a school site, like I did at Fancher Creek on Tuesday, Oct. 27, and get that immediate sense of community that makes you feel at home. It’s what makes school become so much more than a chore; and develops in students a sense of responsibility toward their own learning and toward each other. Now, more than ever before, our students need to experience that feeling.

My visit started with a great staff meeting at which the faculty was discussing professional learning communities, and how best to motivate students to achieve. To my “first-time visitor” eyes, this group behaved like a family, bound together by shared experiences, trust and respect.

As I visited each classroom I saw this same sense of commitment to each other; from the first grade students working together to sing the Pumpkin Song, to those writing essays on responsibility and their role in the Fancher Creek family, to the sixth grade students creating their own grading rubric for a writing assignment.

I was particularly impressed with the way the sixth-graders were engaged in a lively discussion about what types of language in an essay best meets California’s writing standards. While this may seem a relatively simple task, what the students may (or may not) realize is that their participation in the creation of the standard to which their writing is measured increases their own sense of personal responsibility to meet that standard. Simple genius on the part of the teacher, and one of the reasons Fancher Creek students are continuing to increase their academic performance!

Last Friday I discovered a lost art at Kastner

When I visited Kastner Intermediate on October 23 I was pleasantly surprised to see students engaged it what is becoming in many schools around the nation a lost art: woodworking. In years past, woodshop was practically a rite of passage to young men in America but over time this class has disappeared from many campuses; pushed aside by financial limitations and an emphasis on core academic classes.

However, for many students the ability to process core math and science concepts through the use of their hands is vital to their mastery of important academic skills. It was refreshing to see students in Kastner’s woodshop demonstrating their understanding of science and math through the creation of handcrafted pieces and I am pleased to see our schools still understand the part hands-on classes like this play in academics.

Because the school pulls students from neighborhoods as varied as the small community of Pinedale and the exclusive Woodward Lakes area, for many of its students Kastner Intermediate is their first encounter with a greatly diversity population. Recognizing the challenges inherent in bringing a diverse group of people together in a closed environment, Kastner staff emphasizes the importance of building respectful relationships. I saw this in action as students were individually greeted by teachers as they entered class, and in the high expectations educators at the school have for students’ behavior.

It was obvious to me during my visit that the Kastner staff knows what teamwork is all about, and what it takes to help students grow into productive citizens of our nation; including the rousing rendition of the Star Spangled Banner I heard while visiting the music room!