Get to know your local schools; they are better than ever

Whether or not you have students in our schools, anyone living or working within the 198-square-mile boundaries of Clovis Unified School District is connected to our schools. So, if you are a parent with kids in our schools today, yesterday, or tomorrow; a recent arrival to the community; or someone whose roots are local, I want you to know that the achievements of our Clovis Unified schools are better today than at any time in our 56-plus year history.

In Clovis Unified, we are celebrating the successes of our students and our schools over the past year, and taking a look into what this coming school year holds. This fall you might see information around our community about Clovis Unified that bears the headline, “Better than Ever!”

This celebration reflects the fact that the work of our teachers, our students, our classified and certificated support teams and our governing board has resulted in increasing student performance and local, state and national recognition for our schools and our students.

Though the world around us is changing quickly, and the needs of our students seem to grow more complex and bigger every day, the intentional and careful work taking place in our classrooms is benefiting our children.

I have been blessed to be the superintendent of Clovis Unified for the past five years. Having served in the district for almost 38 years, there has never been a time in my tenure that I have been more proud, and more confident, in the academic and co-curricular achievements we are seeing in our schools.

Our core values remain strong in Clovis Unified, and though our town, our state and our nation look very different than they did in 1960 when seven school districts joined together to create Clovis Unified (which at the time served 5,000 students), some things remain the same.

Our commitment to high standards is still alive and well. Our high standards and strong core values are who we are and what we stand for in Clovis Unified.

Our belief that every child can learn and we can teach every child is lived out daily in our “never give up” attitude. And the knowledge that it’s truly, truly the people in our schools and support roles who are going to make the difference for our kids, is an unwavering driver of our actions like no other time in our history.

Education is a partnership between our schools and our community. Though we are not perfect, I believe we have the finest, hardest working and caring educational team anywhere. Together we are striving to be America’s benchmark for excellence in education. We want to be the best for our kids, because all kids deserve the best.

As the saying goes, “Great schools make great communities, and great communities make great schools.” Toward that end, we are committed to being good partners to you and to our community as a whole, and we want to make you proud to be associated with and served by our school district.

I encourage the community to visit our website at www.cusd.com to learn more about the school district that serves your community. I would especially like to highlight the section titled “Better than Ever!” which offers a great snapshot on the return on your investment into our local schools. If you see something that sparks your interest or brings to mind a question, I would encourage you to reach out to my office or the office of your neighborhood school to share your thoughts.

This story was originally published October 12, 2016 at 9:04 AM with the headline "Get to know your local schools; they are better than ever."