August is upon us and Konocti Unified School District (KUSD) is about to begin another school year. Throughout the summer, many KUSD employees have been working hard to prepare for the return of students and staff. Soon after school ended, the principals began looking to fill any open positions. KUSD takes great pride in its intelligent, talented, hard-working staff and we were unwilling to accept anything but excellence in our new hires. Fortunately, the pool of applicants was very large and we were able to find just what we were looking for ? the best.
The district”s maintenance crews have been doing major repairs and upgrading the facilities while the custodians have been deep cleaning. The groundskeepers have been working diligently to keep the fields green and healthy, giving the schools a park-like atmosphere. The technology staff has been installing new interactive white boards and computers.
A group of dedicated, highly-skilled bus drivers met to develop new routes and work on staggered bell schedules, which will save the district tens of thousands of dollars. Curriculum coaches worked all of last week to improve Konocti”s standards-based report cards. The secretaries put one school year to bed and are preparing for the year ahead.
This summer, KUSD provided enrichment programs for its students that kept staff employed and supported the local community. KUSD held an algebra academy for its incoming eighth-graders that gave them with a vital head start on their algebra skills. The highly successful science and algebra academies for ninth-graders were offered again this summer and the LLHS solar car team repeated as county champs.
Migrant Education held a summer school that culminated with wonderful cultural activities.
In cooperation with the Lake County Community Action Agency, KUSD even had a summer camp for the Highlands Academy students. Highlands students worked on their academic skills, rode horses, learned to swim and engaged in other exciting activities. Maybe the most heartfelt activity that took place over the summer was the federal food distribution program. KUSD served more than 1,000 meals a day to its students. The cooks prepared breakfasts and lunches and distributed them at the schools and other locations, using vans. These vans went to the youth center and trailer parks where we had a high concentration of hungry students. KUSD”s love and care for students was evident throughout the summer. This program helped raise its total free and reduced meal percentages for the year and thus allowed KUSD to net more than $100,000. This money will allow KUSD to purchase high-quality food for next year from local farmers and through the countywide food purchasing consortium.
KUSD has a very exciting year ahead. The general feeling around the district and the county is that Konocti is on the verge of making some huge strides forward. The primary focus for this year must be to improve student academic performance as measured through the STAR tests.
KUSD has enlisted the help of Dennis Parker to make this happen. Parker”s strategic schooling model begins with the development of relationships and ends with strategic test preparation. KUSD has excellent personnel, facilities and technology in place. The district is implementing instructional strategies that have consistently proven to raise test scores. KUSD has eager students in need of academic and physical nurturing. The community is counting on KUSD to keep the kids moving forward through these difficult times. KUSD is primed for success.
William R. MacDougall, Ed.D, Superintendent of the Konocti Unified School District.
