Dixon heads back to class for 2022-23 school year – The Vacaville Reporter

By Nick Sestanovich

All throughout Dixon Unified School District’s six sites Monday, students returned to class after two months of summer vacation.

For most students, it meant returning to the same campus but going to different classrooms. For others, it was a campus they were attending for the first time. For all, it was a new start.

And nowhere was it a newer start than for kindergarteners, who took the first steps of their 13-year educational odyssey that will culminate in them graduating high school in June 2035.

Source: Dixon heads back to class for 2022-23 school year – The Vacaville Reporter

Dixon Unified hosting equipment surplus sale – The Vacaville Reporter

By Nick Sestanovich

As the 2022-23 academic year for Dixon Unified School District inches closer — it’s next Wednesday, kids — the district will be selling off its surplus fixtures.

A chance to help the district get rid of its excess items and walk away with a new piece of furniture for home? That is exactly what will happen when DUSD hosts its Community Sale Aug. 11 to 13.

Held in the multipurpose room of the former CA Jacobs Middle School campus, the district will be selling surplus furniture, equipment and other items, most of which are available for $1, $2 and $5. Only cash will be accepted. DUSD’s goal is for all items to be sold, and items must be completely removed from the premises no later than 5 p.m. Aug. 13. Storage on-site for later pickup is not permitted.

Source: Dixon Unified hosting equipment surplus sale – The Vacaville Reporter

Dixon’s Maine Prairie High mints 30 new grads – The Vacaville Reporter

By Richard Bammer

The power went south throughout Dixon Wednesday night but there was no outage of energy at the Maine Prairie High School Class of 2022.

Held outdoors on the quad at Dixon High as the sun had set, the Dixon Unified continuation high graduated 30 students, who, later tonight will embark on a new life journey, whether it be in college, in the military, at a trade school, or on the job, said Principal Yvette Ramos.

District Superintendent Brian Dolan, lamenting the outage as he spoke to the gradually swelling crowd of graduate families and friends, said, “‘We’re here to celebrate our kids,” a statement that was translated into Spanish just before the delayed 6:30 p.m. ceremony began.

Source: Dixon’s Maine Prairie High mints 30 new grads – The Vacaville Reporter

Celebrate grads in Vacaville, Fairfield, Dixon – The Vacaville Reporter

Graduation season is here, which means it’s time to mark your calendars and gather some goodies in readiness for that special milestone day for your graduate-to-be.

Following is a list of high school graduations in Vacaville, Fairfield and Dixon.

Source: Celebrate grads in Vacaville, Fairfield, Dixon – The Vacaville Reporter

Schools help unload boxes for Wreaths Across America – The Vacaville Reporter

Soon, Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Dixon will become a sea of wreaths as it will be one of more than 2,500 locations participating in Wreaths Across America, an annual holiday event in which boughs are laid on the gravestones of veterans.

Approximately 2,700 wreaths have been packaged and are ready to be bestowed upon the headstones. Local organization Remember a Vet has already gotten a head start on unloading the boxes, and schools were among the various volunteers Friday helping them do so. This included Dixon High School, Buckingham Collegiate Charter Academy’s National Honor Society students and Vanden High School’s baseball team.

Source: Schools help unload boxes for Wreaths Across America – The Vacaville Reporter

Dixon school board to discuss site emergency response plans – The Vacaville Reporter

By Nick Sestanovich

How schools plan to responds to any emergency situation on campus will be just one topic presented at Thursday’s Dixon school board meeting.

By law, schools are required to submit safety plans to ensure that their campuses are prepared for emergencies that may arise on campus. The California Department of Education has a checklist that schools are required to meet.

The safety plan that was included in the agenda packet for Thursday’s meeting was the emergency operations plan for Dixon Unified School District’s three elementary schools, although the middle and high schools have their individual plans as well.

Source: Dixon school board to discuss site emergency response plans – The Vacaville Reporter

Dixon High farm grand opening scheduled for Saturday – The Vacaville Reporter

Since its relocation to College Way in 2007, one thing Dixon High School has lacked has been easy access to a farm for its agriculture students, although establishing one has been a priority for the Dixon Unified School District for the last 14 years.

The wait is nearly over. On Saturday, a grand opening will be held for Dixon High’s farm, its first to ever be located on a Dixon High campus.

At its previous location at 455 East A St., Dixon High students utilized a farm on Sievers Road for Future Farmers of America projects. Since the school’s relocation, students have independently worked on projects at different farms. With funding from a Career Technical Education Facilities grant from the California Department of Education and sale of the Sievers Road farm, DUSD was finally able to get the project going, and a groundbreaking ceremony was held in 2019.

Source: Dixon High farm grand opening scheduled for Saturday – The Vacaville Reporter

Masked and ready, Dixon students, staff return to in-person learning – The Vacaville Reporter

By Richard Bammer

For the first time in nearly 18 months, Dixon Unified students, from kindergarteners to high school seniors, returned to full-time in-person learning Wednesday morning with teachers, staff and students masking up amid the ongoing pandemic.

The day came and went for the 3,100-students as California became the first state in the nation to mandate all teachers and school staff be vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. Announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom, the new requirement, prompted by a surge in infections due to the Delta variant, affects some 320,000 California public school teachers and tens of thousands support staffers.

Source: Masked and ready, Dixon students, staff return to in-person learning – The Vacaville Reporter

Friends of the Dixon May Fair award seven scholarships – The Reporter

By Kimberly K. Fu

Seven Solano County scholars — six from Dixon and one from Vacaville–are sharing $12,000 in college agricultural scholarships awarded by the Friends of the Dixon May Fair.

The Friends, the service-oriented and fundraising arm of the fair, annually awards scholarships to Solano County residents enrolled in an agricultural-related field at either a four-year university or a two-year community college in California. The organization, headed by president Donnie Huffman of Vacaville, has awarded $222,750 in college scholarships since 2003.

Natalie Victorine of Dixon, a 2021 graduate of Dixon High School, received the $3000 Ester Armstrong Scholarship, the top award. She will major in agricultural communications this fall at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

Source: Friends of the Dixon May Fair award seven scholarships – The Reporter

May Fair scholarships awarded to 7 Solano County students – Daily Republic

Natalie Victorine, a 2021 Dixon High graduate, was awarded the top agriculture scholarship from the Friends of the Dixon May Fair.

Victorine, who will major in agricultural communications this fall at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, received the $3,000 Ester Armstrong Scholarship. The award is named after the industry veteran and 2006-09 interim chief executive officer of the Dixon May Fair, who died of cancer.

Six other Solano County students will share the remaining $9,000 in scholarships awarded, the Dixon May Fair group announced in a statement.

Source: May Fair scholarships awarded to 7 Solano County students

Sky’s the limit for Dixon High graduates – The Reporter

By Kimberly K. Fu

Clear blue skies, tropical temperatures and cooling breezes Saturday were a perfect backdrop for Dixon High School’s Class of 2021 graduation.

Gathered at Finney Field, loved ones cheered and foot-stomped as their loved ones entered through a green-and-white balloon arch and took their places on white folding chairs.

An estimated 220 teens were slated to hang up their student status and graduate to academic adulthood, moving on to jobs and careers, the military, college. With their diplomas in hand, every pathway would be open for exploration.

Source: Sky’s the limit for Dixon High graduates – The Reporter

Maine Prairie graduates resilient in more ways than one – The Reporter

By Nick Sestanovich

The graduation ceremonies at Maine Prairie High School are always inspirational events, given all that students have had to accomplish just to reach the stage.

Wednesday’s ceremony was momentous on another level: Students had the added challenge of a global pandemic, and it did not deter their graduations one bit. Some had even graduated early.

“(It’s) a relief,” new graduate Joel Chambers said ahead of the ceremony. “It’s a huge weight off my shoulders.”

Source: Maine Prairie graduates resilient in more ways than one – The Reporter

Dixon High to present farm-to-fork proposal to school board – The Reporter

By Nick Sestanovich

The farm-to-fork movement, which promotes the serving of ingredients often sourced directly from or other food producer at restaurants or school cafeterias, has continued to make gains in recent years. More eateries have adopted farm-to-fork approaches, and even Dixon High School could be offering courses for its students.

At least that’s what Principal Stephanie Marquez and Miranda Will, a career technical education teacher on special assignment are proposing. They will be presenting their proposal at Thursday’s school board meeting.

The farm-to-fork courses would serve as a replacement to the school’s current culinary program, which is currently offered trough the Family Consumer Science Department. The present program has two courses, the first of which teaches students the basics of food and preparing meals and the second of which teaches students to preserve and market foods and even open “businesses” to sell their items to students and teachers, per the DHS 2019-20 school catalog.

Source: Dixon High to present farm-to-fork proposal to school board – The Reporter

SELPA advisory committee recognizes 28 for work with children who have special needs – Daily Republic

Nearly 30 school district staff, community members and one student have been selected for the annual Solano County Community Advisory Committee Recognition Award.

This year’s selections were specifically chosen “for demonstration of outstanding accomplishments and services for individuals with special needs during the 2020-2021 (Covid-19) pandemic.”

Among the qualities attributed to the nominees are “knowledgeable, approachable, welcoming, energetic, enthusiastic and 100% student-focused.”

Source: SELPA advisory committee recognizes 28 for work with children who have special needs

DUSD board to consider new outreach coordinator for district – The Reporter

By Nick Sestanovich

The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a need to further meet Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) goals, have presented a need for increased communication between Dixon Unified School District and the community.

To that end, DUSD is working to establish a new public information officer position — referred to as the coordinator of outreach, engagement and innovation — to serve that function. The Dixon school board will be voting on a job description for this position at its Thursday meeting.

Cindy Nguyen, the district’s executive director of human resources and employee relations, wrote in a staff report that a number of factors necessitated the need for such a role. The first was to meet the district’s third LCAP goal, which aims to “engage families and the community to form active partnerships which ensure the academic and social growth of students.”

Source: DUSD board to consider new outreach coordinator for district – The Reporter

Dixon USD selects Care Solace for enhanced mental healthcare services – The Reporter

Dixon Unified School District is pleased to announce that it has selected Care Solace, an organization determined to streamline mental health care to support behavioral and mental health referrals for our nearly 3,000 students, families and staff members.

Care Solace equips school districts with a web based tools making it easier for students, families and staff to connect with resources and providers in their communities.

“School is more than a place to learn, it’s a place where students come to feel safe and supported. Even with the resources and support provided by our district mental health staff, we see that there’s an unmet need,” Superintendent of Dixon Unified School District Brian Dolan said in a press statement.

Source: Dixon USD selects Care Solace for enhanced mental healthcare services – The Reporter

Dixon school board gathering input on planning for next year – The Reporter

By Nick Sestanovich

With campuses now open on a hybrid schedule, following a year of being closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dixon Unified School District is already looking ahead toward how campuses might look in the 2021-22 academic year.

Following the discussion at the last school board meeting on potential COVID-related funding sources for the district, the board will hold a special meeting Thursday to review the input gathered from family, staff and student surveys.

A presentation at the April 15 meeting highlighted 10 funding sources for DUSD to use over the next three years. One of these is an in-person instruction grant, with $474,354 to be spent starting July 1. Permitted uses for this money outlined in the presentation include COVID-19 testing, ventilation and other site upgrades for health and safety, personal protective equipment, cleaning and disinfecting, salaries for employees providing in-person instruction or services, and social and mental health support provided in accordance with in-person learning.

Source: Dixon school board gathering input on planning for next year – The Reporter

SCOE to honor top 2021-22 educators, school staff – Daily Republic

Seven teachers and eight classified employees have been nominated as the top educators in Solano County for 2021-22.

The certificated educators nominated are:

Kelly Hughes, a fifth-grade teacher in the Benicia School District; Jenny Campbell, a response to intervention and English language development K-3 teacher at Dixon School District; Joseph Arbizu, a math, Algebra II, integrated math and geometry high school teacher in the Fairfield-Suisun School District; Ronald Major, a multiple-subjects (8-12), teacher for the Solano County Office of Education; Kylie Negin, an English and journalism high school teacher in the Travis School District; Laura Roberts, a U.S. history and ethnic studies (11-12) teacher at Vacaville School District; and Vivet Beckford-Nelson, a biology and engineering design and development high school teacher in the Vallejo City School District.

Source: SCOE to honor top 2021-22 educators, school staff

FAFSA Completions Down In CA: How Dixon Area Schools Compare | Dixon, CA Patch

Among the many disruptions caused by the pandemic is a decline in the number of students filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which is used to apply for college financial aid.

FAFSA form completions are often seen as a harbinger of future enrollment. The decline of applications this year, especially among low-income students, has some experts worried.

“This year is clawing back relative to last year, but it’s still not a good FAFSA completion situation,” said Bill DeBaun, director of data and evaluation for the National College Attainment Network.

Source: FAFSA Completions Down In CA: How Dixon Area Schools Compare | Dixon, CA Patch

SCOE names educator nominees of the year – The Reporter

By Richard Bammer

The nominations are in, and the Solano County Office of Education will name the county’s two educators of the year during a virtual celebration on Tuesday.

Every year county school districts nominate one teacher and one classified, or school-support, employee to be recognized as the best of the best for the year.

During the online celebration, which begins at 3 p.m. on the SCOE Facebook page and at www.Solanocoe.net, each nominee for the 2021-2022 awards will be honored.

Source: SCOE names educator nominees of the year – The Reporter