Visalia Technical Education Center (VTEC), set to open its doors this fall, is currently looking for its first class of students.

If you are a parent or teacher, you have no doubt heard this question barked out, usually in a frustrated tone, coming from your teen or pre-teen as they encounter their first experience with abstract concepts.  As educators, we strive on a daily basis to better understand how people learn in an effort to make learning more meaningful, relevant, and fun.  Learning is way more complex than we are willing to admit; and most of us teach the way we were taught.  As teachers, today’s society creates new demands on us as we compete with unprecedented stimuli coming at kids through mass media, information, and pop culture.

On Thursday, May 13, a group of Visalia Unified School District students will get an inside look at what it’s like to work in a bank.

The Visalia PTA Council made a surprise announcement yesterday that Superintendent Stan Carrizosa will be inducted into the PTA Hall of Fame.  This is a well deserved honor for Mr. Carrizosa, and I hope you can join us!

A group of Visalia Unified School District students will tour several companies in Visalia’s Industrial Park on Thursday, March 4, to explore career opportunities.

This is the time of the season for the theater arts programs in VUSD to kick into full gear.  This past fall, our school bands and choirs performed and competed throughout the state and region collecting championships and awards and connecting hundreds of students to their schools through positive personal relationships!

VUSD has received one-time federal stimulus funds to help backfill lost state funding and invest in improving the efficiency of school systems to reduce costs in the future. It has been odd for our district staff to be experiencing general fund budget cuts and job losses while we are spending federal dollars on restricted projects.

You have no doubt heard or read about the difficult budget cuts facing Visalia Schools.  Our school board has been grappling with a $10M cut in state funding.  We have proposed a two-year plan to try and spread the pain out just a little.

When we read a title with the words “teacher” and “powerful” we may assume the article is going to be about unions.  Not this one.  As we work in Visalia Unified to continue improving teaching and learning, we know there are elements critical to our success.

The VUSD School Board and staff have spent the past several months studying the district budget in an effort to make the best possible recommendations to meet a cut in state funding of $10M.  The Board declared a fiscal emergency last year and has been holding public budget study sessions to allow for community input and involvement in the budget reduction process.  District staff have been holding meetings at all levels including gathering input from teachers, classified staff, principals, and district administrators.