District News

Dear Blackford Families:

I am writing to share changes that will be coming to Blackford School for next school year. 

As you likely have heard, Principal Anne Ajlouni has decided to retire at the end of the school year, and we thank her for her tireless 35 years of service to the students, staff and families in our district and wish her all the best in her next chapter.  While change is often hard, I am pleased to announce Blackford’s new principal will be Veronica Valencia.

   Veronica Valencia

Mrs. Valencia has worked in Campbell Union School District for 16 years, first as a classroom teacher and then in various leadership positions. Some of you may already know her, as an administrator at Monroe Middle School for the past six years.

She has demonstrated unwavering focus on student success and working with the many staff involved in supporting and meeting students’ needs. 

In addition to her teaching credentials, Mrs. Valencia holds two degrees from Santa Clara University, a Bachelor of Arts degree and Master's in Interdisciplinary Education. Her expertise includes English Language Development (ELD) instruction, leading collaborative processes to advance district initiatives in equity, safe school climate, community building with local partners, and leading professional development regarding multi-tiered systems of support and crisis response.

Please join me in welcoming Mrs. Valencia as Blackford’s next principal and in wishing Mrs. Ajlouni a wonderful retirement. I know Mrs. Valencia and Mrs. Smith will continue to build upon the many wonderful community and learning events for our Blackford families.

 Sincerely,

Shelly Viramontez, Ed.D.
Superintendent

Our survey data showed that parents and students want more art and hands-on learning in schools. Teachers want more time for planning and collaboration to bring effective and engaging instruction to students.

We heard you, and launched the Arts & Innovation Collaboration pilot program this year at two schools, Blackford and Rosemary, then expanded it to some grade levels at Lynhaven. Our team of talented Innovation Specialists facilitate engaging innovation and art experiences with students, giving classroom teachers time during the school day to collaborate as professional learning communities. 

Positive Feedback

Teachers at both Blackford and Rosemary report that the ongoing collaboration time has been crucial for planning next steps for targeted instruction to support students’  learning. According to the survey provided to participating teachers, "It has given us time and a structure to really dig into our data so we can make strategic instructional choices that will move students forward.”

“We are building ongoing access to innovation and the arts for and with our community,” said Coordinator of Innovation, Teaching, and Learning Julie Goo. 

Families worked together at the Innovation Showcase.

Two Innovation Showcases in April highlighted the work at the two elementary schools. Students and parents were happily problem solving and discovering solutions to such challenges as coding mini robots to travel a path, building prototypes with raw materials,  making freehand digital art, collaborating with Minecraft, and more. Displays of student work included their reflections about what they learned in the process.

“Innovation is one of our Profile of a Graduate competencies, and we focus on tapping into students’ natural curiosity and desire to learn,” said Superintendent Shelly Viramontez. “Their future workplaces will demand our competency skills of self direction, critical thinking, collaboration, empathy and innovation, and this is part of  preparing  them for success now and in their future.”

Plans to Expand

With the overwhelmingly positive feedback from our two-school pilot this year, we are planning to expand our Innovation Specialist team to bring the program to more schools. We are building teams to provide experiences of arts, innovation and music. We are planning  to provide these experiences for K - 5 students and through lunch clubs for our 6-8 grade students.

Learn more about what students have been up to in the Innovation program this year on the Innovation Blog. 

The COVID-19 pandemic and closure of in-person schooling impacted students across the country. In a recent report to the Campbell Union School District Governing Board, Superintendent Viramontez outlined how the district used Elementary & Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSR) Funds to address the impacts to our students and staff. 

“We were able to combine ESSR, other one-time funds, and some General Fund dollars to increase academic and social emotional support for students and staff,” she said. Over three school years, 2020-21 through 2022-23, the district expenditures per student increased by $3,401. The average spending per student will increase again in 2023-24 to almost $19,000 per student, an increase of more than $4,000 per student since 2020-21. The State’s average per student expenditure is $13,686.

“We looked closely at our data to see which programs are having the greatest positive impact on students and directed the funding there,” Viramontez said, as she presented a year-by-year list of the allocations. 

Since receiving the ESSR funds in the 2020-21 school year, CUSD has increased professional counselors and behaviorists, instructional specialists for math, reading, special education, and English language development. To attract qualified employee candidates, the district also increased employee wages and pay for substitute teachers and support staff.

While not part of the April 20 report, the district also used the funds for extensive expenditures to enhance facilities’ COVID-19 safety, such as HVAC upgrades and additional outdoor learning spaces. Click to see the April 20, 2023, report to the Board. 

“The Innovation Grant program encourages students to take ownership of their education and school experience,” said Campbell Union School District Superintendent Shelly Viramontez.

Through the grant program, 10 student teams are using the design-thinking process to generate, test and implement ideas for two areas identified in our student survey data as needs: campus cleanliness and building a sense of belonging at their schools. 

“When we provide students with real-world challenges, they see the connections to what they learn in school and recognize they have the ability to make a difference in their everyday lives,” Viramontez added. 

Here are stories of progress at two schools.

Rosemary School:

The two Innovation Grant teams want to create a better school experience for their classmates.

The Refreshing Remix team, 23 students in grades 3 through 5, are creating activities that encourage all students to take responsibility for keeping their school clean and behaviors positive. Working with Teacher Jonathan Natividad, they created a schedule for students to support cleaning target areas for trash, they introduced motion sensor messages by restrooms to remind students to keep them clean, and delivered SEL supports to help students stay calm and in their classroom.

The Arcade team, 24 fourth-grade students at Rosemary and Blackford schools, are using their survey data to learn computer science, design videogames and create 3-D models of other activities for students to enjoy. Their aim is to create an arcade and student clubs at lunch and afterschool for having fun while learning computer programming. Students participate in the Arcade Club during the school day at lunchtime and after school as part of the Campbell Care program. Students share ideas and resources as they design independent solutions to create engaging spaces for Computer Science.

“Computer science dominates the careers of tomorrow, while opportunities to learn computer programming are only still emerging nationwide,” said Teacher Jason Pittman. “By making a place for computer science where fun and engagement leads, we hope to expand the ways to make learning computer science fun.”

Castlemont School:

The Castlemont team, led by teachers Kelli Sorich and Coriann Snyder, is reimagining the school’s 5th grade science experience so it is affordable, meaningful, and able to be replicated by other schools that choose to do so. 

Their design envisions a full-day science camp experience, that costs less than $78 per student, filled with fun, outdoor and team-building activities connected to their science lessons. 

Together, they planned and created activities, prepared a presentation to inform and promote the science camp day to classmates, and enjoyed sharing science and nature activities with students at Sanborn Park.

“Our students are working to find a way for every student to have access to this kind of enriching educational experience,” said Castlemont Principal Kristen Prindle. 

To learn more about this year’s 10 Innovation Grant projects, click here, or listen to the students talk about their projects on the Our Design Journey podcast.