Sequoia Union High School District

In the spirit of the New Year, I now take stock of some of the work undertaken by the Sequoia Union High School board, the Superintendent, the staff at the district office, and the faculty and staff across all of our schools. We have undertaken a series of initiatives over the past year that put both equity and rigor at the heart of what we believe is mission-critical for our students as they pilot their lives through high school and beyond. 

 

As the board president during this time, I am proud of my board colleagues and the Superintendent for being fearless, particularly when at times it can feel like there are binary options – in that either kids or adults win in the choices that are being made about programs. Navigating to the middle in order to provide benefits to both is particularly challenging, and is also necessary. 

 

We launched a math initiative that opened up classroom doors to an outside observer, Callahan Consulting led by Dr. Patrick Callahan, who is providing a rich experience for our teachers and students in redesigning our Algebra I curriculum. By doing this deep work we believe that the students who have been traditionally locked out of college-prep math pathways by the gates of Algebra I will instead be allowed through, while at the same time enhancing a curriculum that provides all of our students with a more rigorous upper division math experience.

 

We have engaged with the Stanford Graduate School of Education on a research project to explore how we can better understand the K-12 path for our Long-Term English Leaners (LTELs). We believe by understanding the terrain we will be able to partner more effectively with both the Ravenswood School District and the Redwood City School District to forge a road that ensures greater educational success for this group of students.

 

Finally, we are focusing on an equity mind-set to the work of the district, starting with a conversation at  the board level led by Dr. Eric Andrew, a respected leader in equity work. Dr. Andrew also conducted work with our district staff so that we all started learning how to bring an equity lens to our decisions and programs. And the Superintendent and our board have been engaged with the San Mateo County School Boards Association’s equity workshops that are led by Nicole Anderson of Nicole Anderson Consulting whose mission is to “…support educational leaders in the creation of new and equitable schools that intentionally meet the needs of every student in order for them to attain their personal and professional goals and contribute to the transformation of societal constructs and systems.”

 

And with that soaring vision, I end with this reflection from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” We all have a choice to make this so.