VUSD Forward: Leading with Vision

As we move into the new year, I am thankful for this amazing community, our students and families, our staff and teachers, and our Board of Education. Visionary leadership is necessary to ensure all students receive high quality instruction, and it is vital for the stability and direction of our school district. I am excited to share that our Board of Education was recently recognized by the California School Board Association as Governance Team of the Year. This is an incredible honor and well earned.

This past year, our Board focused on developing foundational policies to move Visalia Unified forward such as our Core Beliefs and Commitments and mission statement, “Every student learning everyday.” This visionary work and commitment to student learning is what earned our Board this CSBA honor.

1. Moving VUSD forward requires a focused and visionary Board of Education and a supportive community–I am thankful to have both. Our community has shown up for our district in incredible ways. Most recently, I watched our teachers, families and community partners from Neighborhood Church come together to relocate students from several classrooms of an elementary school to the church, which was made necessary by an urgent need for repairs. Neighborhood Church not only made this successful transition – literally overnight – but they also went above and beyond to ensure our parents, students, and staff felt welcomed in their temporary space. We are grateful to have so many impactful community partnerships.

   We also have a thriving Extended Learning Opportunity Program that gives thousands of students the ability to participate in after school, weekend, and extended break enrichment programs. Through the actions of our board, we have athletics, visual and performing arts, and other offerings that continue to focus on connecting every student to meaningful activities. We know that when students are connected to extra curricular activities, they have better attendance and academic outcomes. These are just a few examples of our One Visalia Connected initiative in action; working for the betterment of our community, and we should all be immensely proud of this work.Moving forward also requires strategy and plans. To that end, we are developing two plans that will map the future of our district. VUSD Forward 2030: A Community-Driven Blueprint for the Future is our plan that encompasses both a long range plan for facilities and strategic plan for academic growth. Close to 17,000 community members participated in surveys that contributed to the development of these plans. Additionally, the plans will be based on data generated from two recent independent reviews focused on our facilities and academic results that includes how we use our resources. To maintain our commitment to transparency, Information from these reviews will also be shared in forthcoming board meetings.  Below is a high-level summary of the current state of our two plans:

    

   1. Our strategic plan has three themes and twelve focus areas from which specific initiatives and actions will be taken.  The entire plan will be ready for implementation in the 2024-25 school year.  The three themes are:

   ●     High Expectations, High Achievement:  We set clear, consistent, and ambitious expectations for learning that allow us to reach our highest potential, creating opportunities for all students and staff.

   ●     Empowering Students:  We create and maintain learning environments that set every student up for success by supporting their well-being and ensuring they thrive.

   ●     Engaging the Community:  We build trust and partner with our parents, families, and community to create meaningful and lasting relationships to further our mission.

   2. This spring the Long Range Facilities Master Plan (LRFMP) will be developed and will include utilization of facilities, future growth, and community spaces worthy of our community. In March and April, we will be holding community meetings for you to see the ideas generated from this plan and to provide input before any recommendations are made to our Board.

   I am very excited about how we are moving forward and recognize that we have much work to do to ensure our mission is realized. While we see some bright spots in our academic outcomes, overall we continue to lag behind what I know we are capable of achieving.  We will have relentless intentionality on instruction and student connectivity to ensure all students excel at their highest potential. 

   I am confident that with the visionary leadership of our Board, and the development of   our strategic and long-range facilities plans, we will continue to move VUSD forward in a direction that will make us all proud.  Join us this second semester, to help our students finish strong.