The San Diego Unified School District kicked off major campus work Tuesday at 62-year-old Holmes Elementary School, part of a district-wide push for site modernizations.

Students at the two-time California Distinguished School joined Board of Education President Shana Hazan, Vice President Cody Petterson, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and others Tuesday to mark the groundbreaking on the construction, funded by local school bonds.

“Holmes Elementary staff have been devoted to students and the neighboring community for more than six decades, contributing to high test scores and academic success,” Hazan said. “With local voters approving our bond measures, we can match that success with high-quality, modern facilities, like the ones we will see here.”

Once completed, the project is slated to add an upper-grade classroom facility, a student services facility, a Universal Transitional Kindergarten classroom building, two kindergarten classrooms, a joint-use grass play field and other improvements, according to the district.

Existing upper-grade and kindergarten classrooms will be modernized to include new paint, flooring, finishes and white boards.

“With new housing underway down the street, now is the time to re-invigorate our campus so that it is ready to serve all neighborhood students,” Holmes Principal Jonathan Saipe said.

According to the district, additional improvements include the modernization of three classroom buildings, expansion of the food services kitchen, conversion of the student services facility into educational spaces, creation of a new parking lot with a student drop-off and pick-up area and enhancements to safety, security and exterior hard court areas.

The joint-use grass play field will feature a walking and running track, a drinking fountain, new trees, fencing and gates to separate the field from the main campus. As part of a partnership with the city, the field will be accessible to the community as a neighborhood park after school hours and during school breaks.

Construction on the project is estimated to be completed in late 2026.

City News Service contributed to this article.

The San Diego Unified School District on Thursday canceled the majority of teacher layoff notices that officials issued in March.

Based on the financial information available at the time and because of required deadlines, 234 preliminary layoff notices were issued to educators in March. The district, in partnership with the San Diego Education Association, rescinded 225 of those notices on Thursday.

SDUSD Board of Education President Shana Hazan said the district “developed a fiscally sound budget with limited impacts on our tremendous educators.”

“I am grateful for the diligent work of our fiscal and instructional teams, and the support of the San Diego Education Association, in developing a thoughtful plan to maintain stability at our schools by supporting our students and educators in the next school year,” Hazan said.

Following the March notices, educators around the district put up flyers opposing the layoffs, which they described as “shortsighted and unnecessary.”

The district avoided most of the layoffs by reviewing both finances and expected departures, identifying which teachers were retiring or resigning.

This likely means a hiring freeze or slowdown for the district, the second largest in the state, as it reels from COVID-19 funds running dry and attendance figures continuing to dip.

The district is working with principals to finalize staffing plans for the upcoming school year.

– City News Service

Qualified graduates from the San Diego Unified School District now have a guaranteed spot at Cal State University San Marcos through a new partnership that includes college prep and support for students and families starting in middle school.

Approved by the SDUSD Board of Education on Tuesday, the partnership will allow all San Diego Unified grads who meet certain criteria a spot at the North County institution.

“San Diego Unified is committed to giving every student a path to college, as well as the resources they need to prepare for a successful transition to higher education,” Deputy Superintendent Fabiola Bagula said. “We are so grateful to Cal State San Marcos for this partnership, which provides our students with access to a world class university.”

To qualify, students must have been enrolled in SDUSD schools from at least ninth grade — with exceptions for homeless, foster youth, and military dependents — have completed all A-G course work as required through the California State University system, meet minimum CSU eligibility requirements and graduate with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.

To help meet these requirements, San Diego Unified will prepare students with:

— A Common Core state standards-aligned mathematics curriculum for grades 6-12;

— Additional high school mathematics electives that prepare students with skills to pass college entrance exams or to meet college course requirements;

— Summer school opportunities for basic skills preparation; and

— Increased opportunities for 11th and 12th graders to experience university-level academic work at all high schools.

SDUSD will also offer expanded intervention and credit-recovery opportunities for students and submit the required Cal Grant GPA Verification by March 2 of their senior year.

“Getting into college often feels like a random lottery for so many students,” said Blessyn Lavender Williams, a student Board of Education member and senior at Lincoln High School. “This agreement gives students at every San Diego Unified high school the ability to plan for college without the stress and uncertainty of increasingly competitive college admissions.”

According to the district, beginning in seventh grade, students, families and staff will receive notifications about the partnership and how to meet eligibility criteria. The district will also lay out criteria for identifying and supporting incoming seventh graders who are at risk of not meeting the admission requirements.

Tours and orientations at CSUSM — along with transportation — will be organized by the district.

“The admission pipeline to Cal State San Marcos provides an incredible opportunity to students at every San Diego Unified high school by providing them with a clear path to college,” Board of Education President Shana Hazan said. “This alliance shows the shared commitment of both institutions to enhance and expand educational opportunities that benefit our students, families, and the entire community.”

CSUSM has pledged to assign a recruitment and outreach officer to SDUSD schools who will, “among other things, promote college awareness, preparation, and access” to the university.

The class of 2025 will be eligible to apply for admission to CSUSM under the compact.

— City News Service

San Diego Unified School District Tuesday began work on one of the region’s first schools, part of an effort to modernize the district’s oldest campuses.

Roosevelt Middle School, adjacent to the San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park, was opened in September 1922 as Roosevelt Junior High School, second only to Memorial Junior High School as one of the first junior high schools in San Diego.

The project begun Tuesday is a campus renovation that will include a new student services and classroom facility, converting existing offices to classrooms, creating a south parking lot with a student drop-off and pick-up area and enhancing security and sustainability, according to a district statement.

“We look forward to new facilities that will enhance student learning,” Roosevelt Principal Bernard Steinberger said. “Every student deserves a safe and secure campus and classrooms that inspire them to learn and succeed.”

Jazz and orchestra students greeted parents and district leaders Tuesday morning to celebrate the start of the project, estimated to be completed in summer 2026.

According to the district, Roosevelt is an International Baccalaureate school and offers courses in Spanish language immersion, world languages, integrated math for high school credit, and community-minded projects for eighth-grade students, with electives in band, orchestra, digital music, art, Gateway to Technology, ASB and yearbook.

“San Diego Unified is proud to offer Dual Language and IB Programs like the one here at Roosevelt, giving all students the chance to learn a new language,” Superintendent Lamont Jackson said.

The main campus entryway along Upas Street in North Park will include new student services, a classroom facility and a visitor parking area. The student services building will be renovated and converted into classrooms with new furniture and flooring, LED lighting, mechanical systems, roofing and modern technology.

Site security improvements are planned to include perimeter fencing, cameras, a public address system, and fire alarm equipment will be added throughout the campus. Solar panels will be installed in a new parking lot along Zoo Drive. A student drop-off and pick-up area will be created in the new parking lot.

The project follows a campus modernization project at the city’s oldest high school, San Diego High School. The 142-year-old campus started construction in late 2021 to transform the campus frontage on Park Boulevard, expand the central quad and renovate classrooms and student support spaces.

“San Diegans continue to invest in our schools by passing local bond measures that greatly impact our students,” Board of Education Trustee Richard Barrera said. “Soon, two of our longest-standing schools will have facilities that will make families, students, and alumni proud.”

According to the district, San Diego Unified’s capital projects are funded by the district’s Propositions S and Z, and Measures YY and U, local bond measures approved by San Diego voters to repair, renovate and revitalize neighborhood schools.

City News Service contributed to this article.

Students, parents, staff and San Diego Unified School District officials this week dedicated new campus facilities at John Muir Language Academy in the Clairemont neighborhood.

The Spanish language-immersion magnet school serves students in universal transitional kindergarten through eighth grade, and attracts children from all across San Diego, according to a SDUSD news release.

The Wednesday celebration featured Spanish dance and music performances. There were also  remarks from students, district leaders, and the school principal. The celebration included a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new two-story classroom and student services facility, along with a new kindergarten classroom building.

The upgrade includes a new locker building with a basketball pavilion; staff parking lot; a rearranged visitor parking lot with a drop-off and pick-up spot; and renovations to classrooms, restrooms, the multi-purpose building/kitchen and exterior playground, according to the district. Construction crews removed older portable classrooms.

Principal NeTassha Rendon, who started at Muir in November, said there were “a lot of people who invested their time and vision in this school to bring it to what it is today, and it shows.”

“I came to Muir when these facilities had already come to fruition and I was blown away,” Rendon added.

“We are proud of the fact that Muir and our robust dual-language programs create opportunities for students to learn and honor diversity in people and use the classroom experience as an opportunity to connect socially and academically,”  said Dr. Lamont Jackson, SDUSD superintendent.

Sabrina Bazzo, a SDUSD board of education trustee, said the district wants to close the achievement gap and boost enrollment, and “these stunning facilities and modern learning spaces are helping us get there.”

Built in 1961, the campus was previously known as Anderson Elementary before turning into the John Muir School in 2005, officials said.

In 2016, the district replaced the school’s decomposed granite field with a synthetic turf soccer field. In late 2020, construction began on the campus transformation, officials said.

Other district magnet schools offer communications and community leadership; creative, visual and performing arts; global citizenship, international studies and internal baccalaureate; and programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, along with a STEM one that also includes the arts.

–City News Service

More than 150 people ages 16 to 24 attended the second Youth-Led Career Expo in the East Village neighborhood Tuesday, officials said.

The youth fair was held “to introduce young people to careers in construction, computer science, food service, transportation, government, nonprofits and more,” the city said in an earlier statement.

The expo was held at UC San Diego Park & Market on Market Street and included more than 30 prospective employers, including several city departments, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, ACE Parking, Hawthorne Cat, San Diego Futures Foundation and Chick-fil-A.

“It was a really good day and people were very happy with it,” a San Diego official said Tuesday.

Participants represented schools in the San Diego Unified School District and elsewhere in the county, and took professional head shots, according to the city.

Job seekers were encouraged to bring a draft resume for a free review and mock interview. The expo featured two panels of young professionals who offered “insights into their career paths and industry lessons,” according to the city.

Christina Bibler, the city’s Economic Development Department director, said following the success of the first Youth Expo, “there was no question” about holding a second one.

“Our department has recruited some of the best companies who want to hire youth within the Promise Zone and set them on the path to employment,” Bibler said.

In 2016, San Diego became one of 22 federally designated Promise Zones in the United States and one of only four in California. The Promise Zone covers a 6.4-square-mile area that includes the East Village and Barrio Logan east to Encanto, “and brings together more than 85 organizations to provide comprehensive support to more than 80,000 San Diegans,” according to the city.

City News Service contributed to this article.

Classics 4 Kids will produce an orchestra concert titled “Danza Cubana” this week to benefit more than 2,000 elementary students throughout San Diego County.

The program features conductor Dana Zimbric, the Classics Philharmonic Orchestra, special guest artist Juan Carlos Blanco from the Center for World Music and the Sabrosas Latin Orchestra.

The majority of the 2,394 students (67%) who will attend hail from low-income schools. Classics 4 Kids is covering all of the transportation costs for 21 school buses.

Classics 4 Kids is a nonprofit educational performing arts organization dedicated for more than 30 years to inspiring children through the experience of music. The organization reached over 40,000 students throughout the nation during the 2022-2023 school year.

This season, Classics 4 Kids has expanded its reach to include two performances at the Joan B. Kroc Theatre in Rolando Park, selected because it is within a 10-mile radius of 11 of the San Diego Unified School District’s most disadvantaged schools.

Those shows takes place Tuesday with two more to follow Friday at the downtown Balboa Theatre.

Students will hear music by classical composers Cervantes (Cuban), Marquez (Mexican) and Granada (Spanish) who all borrowed musical ideas from Afro-Cuban rhythms and dance. Spanish/English narration will deepen the students’ understanding of the art form’s rich cultural history. 

“For our young audiences, seeing themselves reflected on the stage through our diverse guest artists opens their minds and fosters a sense of belonging,” Zimbric said. “It is my hope that by amplifying voices that are representative of our students, they will be inspired to express themselves creatively in ways they may not have previously imagined.”

Blanco, a teaching artist with Center for World Music, will showcase his talents as a master Cuban dancer and percussionist. He also serves as the artistic director of Omo Aché Cuban Cultural Arts, a San Diego-based organization dedicated to preserving and presenting Cuba’s rich cultural heritage of music and dance.

The Sabrosas Latin Orchestra is the first all-female salsa band in San Diego. Sabrosas seeks to encourage women to grow their talents in music.

The program is partially funded by California Arts Council, San Diego Foundation – Jay Kahn Endowment Fund, the Rice Family Foundation and the Max & Victoria Dreyfus Foundation.

 San Diego Padres third-baseman Manny Machado and the San Diego Unified School District have teamed up for a public service campaign on the importance of school attendance, it was announced Friday.

To help promote strong attendance, the Padres will provide tickets to students, staff and families at the school that increases attendance the most this spring, among the elementary schools most impacted by absenteeism.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, chronic absenteeism has hit the nation’s schools hard, particularly amongst those serving less-affluent areas. Locally, it is no different.

“Being on the field every day develops my skills as a player. Being in the classroom every day develops your skills as a student. This way you, too, can achieve your dreams. The sky’s the limit,” Machado tells students in a PSA. “So remember to be like a pro, always go.”

Elementary students at every school in San Diego Unified that improves attendance will have the opportunity to enter an opportunity drawing for tickets to a Padres game, a district statement reads.

San Diego Unified schools will share the PSA during the attendance contest throughout March and April. The results will be announced in May.

“For our students to thrive, they need to be in school every day,” Superintendent Lamont Jackson said. “When our students are in school, they have access to academics and counseling services, free nutritious meals, support from their peers and from caring school staff.

“Even for our youngest learners, it is important to attend school regularly,” Jackson said.

Research cited by the district shows that missing 10% of kindergarten is associated with lower academic performance in first grade, especially among Latino students, according to the nonprofit organization, Attendance Counts. For students from socioeconomically disadvantaged families, the academic impact of missing 10% of kindergarten can extend through fifth grade.

COVID-19 and other illnesses, mental health needs, housing and food insecurities, unmet transportation needs, and inflation, all contribute to chronic absenteeism, the district statement read.

According to the district, “San Diego Unified is committed to identifying the root causes of chronic absenteeism, and is working to implement solutions and strategies to support families so all students can regularly attend school and thrive.”

–City News Service

San Diego Unified School District leaders Monday broke ground on the second phase of Mira Mesa High School‘s site modernization project, intended to enhance campus security, build a new student services and classroom facility, and remove all remaining portable classrooms, among other changes.

“At San Diego Unified, we are committed to creating schools where all students can thrive and feel a sense of belonging,” said Lamont Jackson, superintendent of San Diego Unified School District. “I’m excited about all that Mira Mesa High School will offer students and staff with these exciting renovations to its campus.”

Other improvements on the project — set to be completed in summer 2027 — include converting the existing student services facility into classrooms, renovating aging classrooms and common areas, adding a new visitor and administrator parking lot and constructing shaded lunch court areas.

Monday’s groundbreaking included a performance from the “Sapphire Sound” drumline. The school has served its community for 49 years, where it offers hands-on college, career, and technical education programs in arts, media, and entertainment, engineering, health sciences, hospitality, manufacturing and product development and transportation.

“Our students work hard year-round and we are thrilled to give them facilities that will complement their hard work,” said Jeff Sabins, principal of Mira Mesa High School.

Last spring, the district completed construction on a renovated baseball field, including new grass infield and outfield, foul ball fencing, a CIF regulation backstop at the baseball field, a new public address system and drinking fountain, replacement of the announcers’ booth, repairs to the dugouts and batting cages, and upgrades to grading and irrigation, a district statement read.

The field followed the completion of the first phase of the Mira Mesa High School site modernization project. That phase included construction of a music building, renovations to existing classrooms and upgrades to workspaces in the media center.

“My children grew up in Mira Mesa and attended this high school, so it’s especially exciting to see these projects come to fruition,” said Sabrina Bazzo, SDUSD Board of Education trustee. “This is just one of many schools in my sub-district receiving campus upgrades. It’s wonderful to see the positive impact these projects have on students and families.”

City News Service contributed to this article.

Six San Diego Unified School District schools with at least 10% military-connected students were named Wednesday recipients of a $2 million grant for math strategies.

The U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity awarded San Diego Unified the grant to collaborate with San Diego Enhanced Mathematics in modernizing mathematics in grades 3-8. The funds are part of the Operation Learning Experiences Advancing Academic Progress program.

“San Diego Enhanced Mathematics is excited to support the Operation LEAAP grant by collaborating with selected school sites to modernize math instruction,” Julie Garcia, SDUSD senior director of STEM, said in a statement. “Through implementing a broad and challenging curriculum that includes engaging instructional strategies, we hope to promote hands-on learning experiences that help students find success and joy in their mathematics classrooms.”

According to the DoD, the approach being funded is intended to expand and enhance problem-based classroom instruction and student-centered instructional strategies that incorporate hands-on experiences.

Among other things, the grant will create community partnerships and provide tutoring for students as well as professional development opportunities for teachers at Crown Point Junior Academy, Fletcher Elementary, Hancock Elementary, Miller Elementary, Perry Elementary and Taft Middle School.

It is expected that 82 elementary school teachers and five middle school teachers from the identified campuses will benefit from grant-funded professional development, aligned with district goals, during the grant period, according to an SDUSD statement.

City News Service contributed to this article.