I have had the opportunity to visit all South San Francisco Unified School District school sites and many classrooms since the beginning of the school year and I find the students to be respectful, studious and highly motivated to learn. Our teachers are engaged with their classes and have been hard at work since the opening of our schools. South San Francisco Unified School District administrators are highly dedicated and committed to their schools. I find that school and district staff members are friendly, hard working and service oriented.

My commitment to you is to build upon the successes that the South San Francisco Unified School District, the Board of Trustees and the staff have created; working with parents, community and employees to do all we can to prepare students to be successful. As wonderful and effective as our past has been, we have much hard work ahead of us in order to meet and exceed the challenges faced by our students, staff, parents and community.

Our District is in Year 2 of not making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). The AYP is how the Federal Government measures the number of our students who are scoring Proficient or Advanced on the annual California Standards Test. The data shows that all of our schools are challenged, in particular, with meeting the learning needs of English Learners, Special Education students, and students considered to be in the low socio-economic class.

Thirty percent of all South San Francisco Unified School District students are scoring below Proficient in the Basic category. This means we, as a District, have to improve learning for all of our students, regardless of ethnicity or income level.

We have work to do. We have to eliminate the achievement gap for the above mentioned groups of students and raise the bar so that each and every South San Francisco Unified School District student is prepared for college, if they so choose, and prepared to begin a productive work-life as they continue to learn throughout their lives. We want every South San Francisco Unified School District student to have high level choices in their lives and to be prepared for work in the 21^st century.

I look forward to working with students, staff, parents and community as we create a Strategic Plan this school year (stay tuned for notification) and as we continue to provide district-wide researched-based practices known to be effective in improving teaching and learning for our students. The South San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education has been very proactive in strongly supporting the use of school and classroom-based student performance data, direct service for improving English Language Learning, and for focused improvement in the South San Francisco Unified School District instructional program.

Toward this end, we welcome two staff members who will work primarily supporting schools and classrooms. David Laird is the Director of Student Performance, Program Evaluation and Instructional Intervention (Assessment and Accountability) and Adolfo Melara is the new Assistant Superintendent for English Learner Services and Student Learning Support. Both staff members come with strong backgrounds. David has been with the District since October 2008 and has a doctoral degree in education and has a strong background in data analysis and instructional improvement. He was formerly the Senior Research Analyst for the Boston Public Schools and provided instructional support for the 143 schools in that district. Adolfo comes from the Stockton Unified School District where he served as Director of Elementary Education and Program Improvement. Adolfo, bilingual in English and Spanish, worked with twenty-four Program Improvement schools and was a key liaison with the Spanish speaking parents and community.

We have much to do. I find the work ahead challenging and exhilarating. South San Francisco Unified School District Board of Trustees and staff are very responsive and eager to meet the challenges ahead. We look forward to engaging with all parents and community members in the South San Francisco Unified School District as we work together improving learning for all students.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell offers parents his Top 10 back-to-school tips to help ease students back into the love of learning following the long summer recess. Parents and Guardians click on the following link to learn more about O’Connell’s Top 10 Tips!