School District Has Made Progress

I have shared with members of the Ventura Unified School District’s board some of our accomplishments from the past year. The list presented to trustees was 10 pages long, but these will give you an idea of the positive, forward-thinking direction our district is taking:

Scholastic [Assessment] Test scores moved upward, particularly the math scores of female students.

A revised science curriculum using new, hands-on materials in Earth, life and physical science was started in elementary and middle schools.

Schools installed wiring, hardware and software and provided teachers with technology training.

Six schools were awarded $26,000 by the city of Ventura to continue student intervention programs.

The community responded to an ambitious quad renovation project at Anacapa Middle School by donating $64,000 in time, money and labor.

Ventura and Pacific high schools each received a full six-year accreditation.

Several schools have decreased unexcused student absences by one-third over last year.

Balboa Middle School received a technology grant of $35,000.

Our home-schooling program, Homestead School, increased student enrollment sixfold.

We hired 149 new teachers this summer to replace those who have retired and to lower class sizes in first grade. Presently, each of our first-grade classrooms has a pupil-teacher ratio of 20-1.

The Will Rogers Basics Plus School magnet program opened last week with 60 new students from throughout the district joining the existing school population.

This fall, we will focus on finding long-term solutions for our overcrowded schools. The city and the school district have established a committee to develop a long-range school facilities plan. Members [come] from the following segments of the community: parents, city and district staff, Chamber of Commerce, Ventura Educational Partnership, real estate and developers.

JOSEPH P. SPIRITO

Superintendent,

Ventura Unified School District

Ventura