Partnership Educators,
When I was a young boy growing up on the streets of Redding, I would never have dreamed my path would lead to the Superintendency of Redding, Shasta, and Igo Districts. The city at that time had somewhere around 28,000 people and everyone seemed to know everyone. My family has long roots in the area and that has always been a source of pride for me. My grandfather was a construction worker and came from Nebraska to help build Shasta Dam. My grandmother was a cook and bus driver at Toyon School outside Shasta Lake City. My mother worked for the US Forest Service for 30 years and my father was a Navy veteran and warehousemen for many area companies. It's from them that I learned about work ethic and pride in whatever you do.
Over the years I have come to the realization that it is the value of looking out for others, being a part of bending the arc of history towards public justice, and making sure that the plans we lay support the future of the next generation that means the most. Our partnership exemplifies these values and it makes me proud to be a part of it.
It is tempting to name the CARR fire as the point of reference for the beginning of the year. My memory falls to the early and often communications I was met with from within our organization during that time frame. The numerous offers of housing help, animal support, kind words towards others, and many helping hands. Our partnership nutrition family members coordinated food for families several times at Sequoia School. We helped with a week-long day camp for children at Sequoia. Many of our partnership members helped with household products, clothing, and everything giveaway drive at Turtle Bay. I witnessed cash support from our community to some of our community members who lost everything. I was an observer to one school hosting another school for six months and making it an experience that the students still love to talk about. I watched as our own psychologist community gathered many of their colleagues and supported the students, families and staff members through their darkest moments. These are just some of the many points of reference that I think of when I remember the beginning of the year. These are the actions that define us. The CARR fire was just the catalyst for our shining greatness.
As we move from this school year and begin to enjoy some well deserved time to refresh, please know that I appreciate your continued focused work on your craft even as storms always seemed to be brewing. I am extremely thrilled with the early literacy, direct instructional, and SIPS work over this year and past years. We are certainly making an epic difference in the growth of our students. As one example, we had 30% of our first graders meeting benchmarks in literacy last year and this year 85% met it. We are seeing great growth within all of our grades and across the partnership. This translates to changing access for many more of our students to future opportunities.
Our continued focus on unique language pathways for our students across the district is a point of pride. Music literacy continues to be an effective prize in the lives of those students who learn of its power. I can't list all of the numerous prestigious awards our music programs have helped our students gain as well as recognition with our very own Music YouTube Channel. The road to English/Spanish bi-literacy in our Dual Immersion Program at Sycamore is entering its third year and our students are well on their way to earning an ability to traverse two languages. This year the program has been focused on verbal ability and it shows. The language of technology, particular computer science, is also entering its third year. Watching the growth and understanding of our students as they engage in the language of computing is fantastic. The new California State Standards in Computer Science K-12 will help us to develop our own alignment as we strengthen our pathway with Shasta High School. The Cypress STEAM program is entering its second year and it is kid approved so far. Can't wait to see how far our kids can go as they learn how to engage more and more in the project-based learning opportunities.
We are the New Millenium Partnership of Redding, Shasta, and Igo Schools. We are making a difference in the stories of so many of our students. Enjoy your time off and I can't wait for the new year already. Thanks for your service to others. Being a public servant isn't always easy but Abraham Lincoln said, "To ease another's heartache is to forget one's own."
Thanks again for what you do,
Rob
Superintendent
Redding Elementary School District
New Millennium Partnership
5885 East Bonnyview Rd.
Redding, Ca 96001