By Sarah Rodriguez
Off Tuolumne Street is a chain-link fence lined with dozens of tiny blue-painted handprints. Each paper reiterates a student’s love for their school — Johnston Cooper Elementary.
The students’ detail their school’s loving community, sense of safety, and above all, its family-like feel.
Source: Cooper Elementary shows off after-school program – Times Herald Online
By Sarah Rodriguez
The fourth and final Vallejo City Unified School District town hall to discuss ongoing school closures and consolidations brought a mirage of fearful, frustrated parents and faculty throughout the district.
In their final attempt to speak out on the district’s second phase of “rightsizing,” dedicated community members took to the mic, citing their school’s robust student populations, improved academics, and supportive relations with neighboring communities.
Source: Final town hall invites mirage of districtwide concerns – Times Herald Online
By Thomas Gase
Amy Gallegos has loved having her children spend time at Johnston Cooper Elementary School. She’s hoping that generations of future families can experience that same feeling.
Gallegos — a PTA member and mother of two — joined with PTA President Veronica Garcia and others Friday to hand out flyers raising awareness about the school’s possible extinction.
In August, a 7-11 committee put together a recommended list of seven schools for closure in the Vallejo City Unified School District, including Cooper. The committee selected Lincoln Elementary, John Finney Education Complex, Pennycook Elementary, and Steffan Manor Elementary as the top four.
Source: Cooper Elementary doesn’t want ‘family’ broken up – Times Herald Online
By Sarah Rodriguez
One look out at the crowd of a town hall or school district-led board meeting, and there is pretty much a guarantee that packed into the stands are people repping blue and yellow.
That is the force of Vallejo’s Steffan Manor Elementary School.
Steffan Manor is one of the seven schools under consideration in the Vallejo City Unified School District’s second phase of school closures and consolidations – a multi-faceted approach to maintain the district’s fiscal solvency.
Source: Steffan Manor Elementary: Where education meets ‘consistency’ – Times Herald Online
By Thomas Gase
The clock is ticking, but officials at ELITE Public Schools are still optimistic it can receive state facilities funding to improve its site on Whitney Drive in Vallejo.
The state’s application deadline to apply is Thursday, but last week the Vallejo City Unified School District made a decision to not bring Resolution No. 5086 to a motion, therefore not adopting the document required by ELITE to move forward with applications for new construction and rehabilitation funding under the state’s Charter School Facilities Program.
Source: ELITE urges leaders for chance to apply for state funds – Times Herald Online
By Sarah Rodriguez
Parents, teachers, and a handful of students gathered at Vallejo High School Monday night, vocalizing concerns over transportation, classroom capacities, and the quality of education for affected schools at a second town hall on the fate of Vallejo schools.
The town hall — the second session in a series of three for the Vallejo City Unified School District — addressed several basic questions, ranging from “Why might the district be in this position?” to “What are the contributing factors of declining enrollment?” One look at the worrisome parents and anxious teachers located at the considered schools for closure or consolidation made the considerable weight of the issues obvious.
Source: Parents voice concerns at second Vallejo school town hall – Times Herald Online
During a meeting Wednesday, the Vallejo City Unified School District’s Board of Education declined to adopt a document that would have allowed Elite Public Schools, a charter school, to apply for state funding to build 13 classrooms.
While allowing Elite to access the funding would not have directly taken money out of the district’s budget, Superintendent Ruben Aurelio recommended against approval at the meeting. Aurelio said that approving the request could cause financial risks for the district, as the funding’s program would require “significant long term obligations.”
Source: Vallejo school board blocks charter school Elite’s push to add classrooms
Sometimes an address perfectly describes the venue.
Such was the case at Wednesday’s celebration of the hard grand opening of the Griffin Technology Academy Gymnasium.“The name alone of this place is a labor of love. I mean, One Positive Place?” said longtime Vallejo educator Joe Jones.
“This is a labor of love for kids, for Vallejo, and all of Vallejo celebrating a grand opening.”
Source: Vallejo gets ‘positive news’ with new gym – The Vacaville Reporter
The application for a $75 million federal grant to build a new Travis Elementary School may be in limbo due to the federal shutdown.
Tiffany Benson, superintendent of the Travis Unified School School District, told the board of trustees this week that a planned site visit as part of the first phase of the application had been set for Nov. 4.
“It has not been cancelled. However, with the federal shutdown, we have not had any confirmation that people will be able to come,” Benson said on Tuesday.
Source: Federal shutdown may slow Travis Elementary rebuild process | News | dailyrepublic.com
By Thomas Gase
The Vallejo City Unified School District will host two additional town halls in October to continue engaging the community around the district’s school closure and consolidation process, including a third session specifically for Spanish-speaking families.
The second Closure and Consolidation Town Hall will take place on Monday, Oct. 20, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Vallejo High School Auditorium (840 Nebraska Street). Families and community members are encouraged to attend and ask questions, as well as share feedback directly with district leadership.
Source: VCUSD adds two more town hall meetings – Times Herald Online
By Zack Haber
The Vallejo City Unified School District could cut 30% of its staff over the next three years as the district struggles to remain fiscally solvent amid declining enrollment.
Superintendent Rubén Aurelio said that the district is considering making large staffing reductions during a school board study session on school closures and consolidations last week.
Source: Vallejo schools could cut 30% of staff over next three years
By Sarah Rodriguez
While final decisions have yet to be made regarding Vallejo’s ongoing school closures and consolidation plans, conversation on Wednesday night pointed to a few possibilities.
The Vallejo City Unified School District Board of Education meeting included the presentation of the initial Equity Impact Analysis (EIA), which took a closer look at the seven schools being considered for potential closure or consolidation. In addition, VCUSD Superintendent Rubén Aurelio shared his preliminary recommendations, including the recommended closure of three schools.
Source: VCUSD advances conversation on potential school closures or consolidations – Times Herald Online
By Sarah Rodriguez
The Vallejo Unified School District unveiled plans on Wednesday to lease the former Franklin Middle School site to Rising Star Nonpublic School.
A Nonpublic Schools — or NPS — is a private school, certified by the state’s Department of Education, to primarily serve special needs students. In repurposing the underutilized school site, the district hopes to generate revenue and breathe new life into its surrounding community.
Source: Rising Star Nonpublic School to lease former Vallejo school site – Times Herald Online
By Janis Mara
Last-minute touches like finalizing lesson plans and preparing for class orientation are underway as the Vallejo City Unified School District gets ready for the first day of the school year coming up Aug. 18.
An estimated 9,000 school children are expected in Vallejo schools for the 2025-2026 school year, and some of them will see improvements at their schools, said spokeswoman Maral Papakhian.
Source: In Vallejo, school’s in! — Almost – Times Herald Online
A Vallejo City Unified School District committee recommended Monday that the district close two elementary schools and relocate the programs currently operating at an education complex.
During a meeting, the committee recommended Lincoln and Pennycook elementary schools for closure, and relocating the programs at the John Finney Education Complex, which hosts small schools for students who face academic challenges, special education students, and others in unique circumstances.
Source: Vallejo school district committee recommends closing two elementary schools
By Richard Bammer
Part of a group of uniformed Mustang cheerleaders at Golden West Middle School, Anisah Johnson, an incoming eighth grader at the Fairfield campus, assessed her feelings about the four just-completed sixth grade classroom buildings that will greet the students when the new Travis Unified school year begins Wednesday.
“I’m a little jealous,” said Johnson, 13, standing near a classroom doorway as groups of people filed into one of the new wood-and-glass buildings after a celebratory 1:30 p.m. ribbon-cutting at the De Ronde Drive campus.
Source: Golden West unveils new wing for sixth graders – The Vacaville Reporter
Seven incoming students to Golden West Middle School – all members of the Mustangs cheerleading squad – gathered at the campus Friday for a long-awaited celebration.
School, city, Travis Air Force Base and project officials sounded off as district Superintendent Tiffany Benson scissored a ribbon to mark the opening of the new $22.8 million, six-building, 15-room sixth-grade wing.
Twenty new staff members were hired, including 17 teachers, two of whom are special education teachers. It brings the total staff count for Golden West to 68, Benson said.
Source: Travis Unified christens new Golden West sixth-grade wing | News | dailyrepublic.com
By Sarah Rodriguez
Lincoln Elementary School has been recommended as the top choice for closure by the Vallejo City Unified School District’s 7-11 Committee.
The committee reconvened earlier this week for its third meeting, which included a legally required public hearing, and advanced its list of seven schools recommended for potential closure or consolidation.
Source: Lincoln Elementary is 7-11 Committee’s top choice for closure – Times Herald Online
The Vallejo City Unified School District announced on Monday that the former Vallejo Charter School campus will become the new home for its Student Services team.
The venue at 2833 Tennessee St. will oversee enrollment, transfer requests, and general concerns, plus the Student Health Clinic (formerly at Pennycook Elementary School).
Source: Ex-Vallejo Charter School campus becomes new home for Student Services team
By Sarah Rodriguez
A citizen-led advisory committee, otherwise known as the 7-11 committee, used a second meeting on school consolidation within the Vallejo City Unified School District to name seven targeted schools that could see a possible closing due to declining student enrollment.
The committee, entering Phase 2 of its series of meetings, said it is evaluating and rank-ordering the following seven school sites for potential closure. It is not known at this time how many, if any, of the schools will be closed.