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Although renowned for its performance during the school year, the work does not stop over the summer break for the San Ramon Valley Unified School District.
This summer, the district has been staying active with a summer school program, various Measure D construction projects, recruiting and hiring new employees, and maintaining the district’s fleet of buses and trucks.
“A lot of people think that because students and teachers are gone, the work ends, but it actually does not,” Elizabeth Graswich, director of communications and community relations, said during an interview Thursday.
In its second year now, the expanded summer school program saw nearly 5,000 SRVUSD students enroll to take classes at Greenbrook, Bollinger, Country Club and Quail Run elementary schools, Pine Valley Middle School, Dougherty Valley High School and Venture.
As part of the SRVUSD personalized learning initiatives, the summer program covers enrichment, advancement and remediation. The district worked with school counselors early in the spring to evaluate student interests and provide an expanded summer program that gave students more options with regard to academic pathways.
According to Graswich, “Superintendents wanted to give students opportunities to open up their schedules to take more electives, take classes at DVC, or do internships outside of school. This adaptability in the modern world is all part of preparing students for the 21st century workforce.”
“We are pleased to see so many students taking advantage of these options. It’s been a very positive summer because students are still engaging in learning opportunities,” Graswich continued.
Another way the school district is working to improve the coming school year for students is summer modernization projects, funded through Measure D, the facilities bond approved by voters in 2012 to modernize local schools.
Facility modernization projects encompass gating and fencing site security improvements; security camera infrastructure and camera installations; classroom upgrades to flooring, lighting, audio visual projection and sound systems; ADA compliant modifications; painting; roofing and dry rot repairs; technology infrastructure updates and HVAC improvements.
The schools currently undergoing routine work are Charlotte Wood Middle School and Golden View, Green Valley, Montevideo, Rancho Romero, Sycamore, Twin Creeks and Vista Grande elementary schools.
The two largest Measure D projects — a new three-story, 52-classroom building at San Ramon Valley High School and a new two-story, 29-classroom building at Stone Valley Middle School — are now being wrapped up and will be ready for students and staff this school year, Graswich said. In fact, the ribbon cutting at SRVHS will take place Aug. 8.
Graswich noted, with the San Ramon Valley being long-established, modernizing school facilities such as science labs is an important part of the district’s job in serving students. She stated that the district is now at the tail end of funding provided by the $260 million bond from Measure D and will soon engage with the community to begin conversations about the next steps.
Recruiting and hiring new employees happens throughout the year, and does not halt for the summer months. This year, the district hired 126 new certificated and 24 classified employees through a process involving screening and interviews.
Earlier this week, the district held an orientation for new administrators in the SRVUSD. Graswich participated in the speaker panel at the event and told DanvilleSanRamon.com, “There are a lot of new administrators this year. We have a great district and they were excited to be part of our team.”
The orientation for new teachers, “New Teacher You,” will take place Aug. 5 to introduce incoming teachers to the district before the school year begins.
Over the summer, the district also works to tune up and repair the vehicles that transport students throughout the school year. Since the SRVUSD is large and geographically distributed, maintaining the buses and trucks is a responsibility that the district takes on every summer.
While school is in session, the classified staff takes professional care of the vehicles as they transport students with special needs and carry out daily district operations, according to Graswich.
Though the district’s summer operations are widely overlooked, “We’re really proud of the work we’ve been doing this summer and it’s nice to give kudos to the people working really hard here (at the district),” Graswich said.
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SRVUSD logo. -
New administrators sit through an orientation hosted by the district to prepare for the upcoming school year. (Photo by Elizabeth Graswich) -
New SRVUSD site administrators and office managers attend a welcome meeting before the official start of the school year. (Photo by Elizabeth Graswich)
