Coastal Voices Guest Editorial: Good news as schools face new year

Congratulations to the hard-working students who can be proud of their efforts to learn last year, and congratulations to the parents who provided their children with support and encouragement and a quiet place to study.

Finally, congratulations to the teachers whose belief in their students’ ability to learn and whose diligent focus on teaching key standards in motivational ways gave students the will and desire to learn. Let’s do it again!

Our local public schools have served Del Norte County’s children for well over 100 years.  Through all those years we have had a seat and a teacher for every child every fall. This year is no exception. Schools will open for registration Aug. 20.  Those new to the community should call now for school enrollment information: 464-0202. 

Students’ first day of school is Tuesday, Sept. 1. We are opening before Labor Day since Labor Day comes so late this year. Students attend classes Tuesday through Friday, Sept. 1-4, followed by a day off for Labor Day on Monday, Sept. 7. Then it’s back to school again Tuesday through Friday, Sept. 8-11, and on through the rest of the year.  Graduation 2010 will be here before we know it!

 We were hoping things would look better in the fall when school began, but we were ready for the worst in case the June budget gloom hadn’t lifted by September. This meant staffing averages of 25 students per teacher for kindergarten through third grade and 35 students per teacher for fourth through 12th grades.  We hoped to be able to reduce those class size averages this fall, but the final state budget leaves us no option but to stay put at those class sizes.

As of today, we have added back most of our laid off teachers and a few of our temporary teachers from last year. A number of our outstanding beginning teachers are still in unemployment limbo as the school year begins.  If enrollments rise, we hope to bring back a few more teachers, but if enrollments drop, we may have to release the ones we’ve brought back.

So we need all children to be enrolled and present on Day 1!  Parents should make sure their children attend the first day both to get them off to the best start and so we can adjust our staffing as needed, either up or down. 

Our school board has articulated a single overarching goal for our schools: to improve student achievement in all areas but especially in reading and in math. We will do that by providing students with safe, clean, attractive places to learn; by supporting teachers in their efforts to work together to fine tune instruction and to collaborate on interventions to help every child make significant progress; and by assuring that by 12th grade our graduates have taken significant steps to prepare for productive, independent lives after high school.

Thanks, Del Norte! We’re grateful to our community for its active support of our academics, athletics, and arts programs. As school keepers, we take our charge seriously and respect the trust parents place in us when they enroll their children in our schools.  Here’s to a great new school year!

If you have questions or concerns, I welcome the opportunity to talk with you and encourage your emails or phone calls:  707-464-0200 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .