On behalf of the board of trustees and our staff, we want to extend a warm welcome to the 2014-15 school year! We look forward to our continued collaborations with our dedicated community in providing a quality educational program for all Sonoma Valley Unified School District (SVUSD) students.
Our educators participated in numerous professional learning opportunities throughout the summer: classes focused on academic preparation coursework for high school students; integrating core subjects (such as math, science and English) with career technical education at the National Academy Foundation conference in Washington, D.C.; learning specific teaching strategies through AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination); integrating science and language (The Exploratorium Project); expanding science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs, and integrating the Common Core State Standards (what children are expected to learn and know) into all of our work. Educators are excited about sharing their new learning with both students and colleagues.
At Sonoma Valley Unified, our educators are leaders across the state in successfully implementing Common Core State Standards in all classrooms and subject areas. Teachers spent the week prior to the start of school working collaboratively with their peers and with professionals from across the state so they can be best prepared in the delivery of the Common Core State Standards to their students. We are proud of the work that is taking place to better serve our students.
The district continues to collaborate with our valued community partnerships to bring the best possible educational opportunities to our students. The Sonoma Valley Education Foundation is providing tremendous support to our schools with a variety of effective programs including Freshman Teams and the SVHS Engineering, Design and Technology Pathway; the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley will continue its focus on increasing the number of students in our community who apply to and gain entrance into college; the Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance is currently supporting more than 450 students with mentors and Sonoma Valley Teen Services continues to provide employment and career resources to our students.
We are also extremely fortunate to have continued strong relationships with the CommonBond Foundation, La Luz Center, Nuestra Voz, Plein Air, Sonoma Community Center, Sonoma Ecology Center, Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, and WillMar Family Grief and Healing Center. We are also excited about the opportunities that our service organizations have provided to the school district and are incredibly thankful to the Kiwanis Club of Sonoma Valley, Rotary Club of Sonoma Valley, and Soroptimist Club of Sonoma Valley, all whom donate generously to programs in our school district.
As many of you are aware, our district vision includes a focus on all students being college and career ready upon graduation from high school. We know that in order for students to reach this goal we must start with our youngest learners. Our critical benchmarks along the way include:
• Completing a 1-2 year quality pre-school experience
• Reading at grade level or above by the end of third grade
• Achieving English and math proficiency or above by the beginning of sixth grade
• Readiness to successfully complete college prep course work by ninth grade
We look forward the continued implementation stage of strategic planning through our SVUSD Mission: Together, with the support of parents, teachers, and the community, students will graduate from the Sonoma Valley Unified School District prepared for success in college, career, and life. SVUSD’s Strategic Plan is a “living” document and it serves as an ongoing reference as we implement and coordinate our collective efforts to best meet the needs of our students. I urge you to take a look at both documents on our website at: svusdca.org.
We have dedicated staff, talented administrators, and a special community that supports our schools. Please remember that your individual and collective involvement in your school makes an enormous difference, and we thank you in advance for your participation!