By Nick McConnell

The Vacaville Unified School District’s enrollment numbers are up over last year by over 100 students, Superintendent Ed Santopadre announced last week at the September VUSD board of trustees meeting.

Without counting charter school students, the district has a total of 11,345 students this fall, up from 11,181 last year, marking an increase of 164 students.

Vacaville High School reported 2,030 students this year, and Will C. Wood reported 1,701.

Source: VUSD releases 2023-24 enrollment data – The Vacaville Reporter

By Nick McConnell

The Vacaville Unified School District Board of Trustees met Thursday night for its regular September meeting to discuss fentanyl prevention in schools, enrollment numbers and plans for a new centralized kitchen facility for the district.

Superintendent Ed Santopadre started off his comments with introductions for two new staff members. Isabell Ott a new lead mental health clinician, is committed to the development of students’ emotional needs, and Laura Roberts will serve as assistant principal at Callison Elementary this year, focused on fostering positive relationships between students, families and teachers.

Enrollment numbers are up this year for VUSD, Santopadre said. Without counting charter school students, the district has a total of 11,345 students this fall, up from 11,181 last year, marking an increase of 164 students.

Source: VUSD trustees discuss fentanyl prevention, centralized kitchen plans – The Vacaville Reporter

By Nick McConnell

Students and parents at Vacaville High School might have noticed new solar arrays above the parking lot this fall, and while the shade they provide is nice, they’re doing a lot more than just keeping cars cool, according to district officials.

Kelly Burks, Associate Superintendent of the Vacaville Unified School District, said the district has added the arrays to 15 of its sites and made updates to much of its HVAC equipment at a total cost of $28.5 million. While that might seem steep, she said, the project will actually save the district almost $55 million over the coming 30 years, as they help combat rising utility costs from Pacific Gas and Electric.

Source: Solar panels to save VUSD 55 million – The Vacaville Reporter

By Nick McConnell

Armed with a new set of flyers and connections with a statewide group, members of Vacaville Parents United are canvassing outside of several city public schools and school events in the home stretch of the Vacaville Unified Trustee Area 4 special vacancy election.

Kathy Bettencourt, an administrator for the Vacaville Parents United Facebook Group, said her organization has been handing out two different flyers over recent weeks, looking to increase voter turnout and inform voters about their group’s endorsed candidate, Lindsay Kelly, an insurance claims adjuster. The group, which distributes the flyers outside schools at student pick-up times, gathered Tuesday evening to distribute them outside a back-to-school-night event at Browns Valley Elementary.

Vacaville Unified School District officials declined to comment regarding the distribution of these flyers.

Source: Parents group members distribute flyers for VUSD school board election – The Vacaville Reporter

Solano residents appear to be finding work outside the county – or are they?

There were 143,500 jobs within Solano County in July, down from the prior month’s total of 144,800, the EDD reported. However, there were 1,000 more residents working – 192,600 in July compared to 191,600 in June, the Labor Market Information Division of the state Employment Development Department reported.

The job decline inside the county is due to the seasonal drop in local education jobs for the month prior to school gearing back up, again.

In fact, if the drop of 1,800 local education jobs is factored out, the local market actually created 500 new jobs, the EDD reported.

Source: Seasonal dip in education jobs skew local job picture | News | dailyrepublic.com

By Nick McConnell

If Vacaville parents found their morning particularly hectic as classes resumed at Vacaville Unified School District campuses on Thursday, they should try new Superintendent Ed Santopadre’s schedule on for size.

Doing his best to hit the ground running, Santopadre and other district staff toured five of the district’s schools one after another as they met with administrators, supported teachers and encouraged students to have a good year—all before the school year’s first break for lunch.

Source: New VUSD superintendent welcomes back students – The Vacaville Reporter

Students of Vacaville Unified School District returned to campuses across the community on Thursday.

The seniors at Will C. Wood welcomed each other with hugs, handshakes and smiles.

Senior Emmanuel Morando, 17, talked about his busy summer in the early-morning AP Science/History class.

“I quit my job to focus on my volunteer work instead,” he said.

Source: Will C. Wood welcomes students back for a new year | Education | dailyrepublic.com

By Nick McConnell

Change is inevitable with each new school year. Students advance a grade or graduate. Teachers wonder what will the district think of next in regards to curriculum. And administrators have to remember students are bound to make mistakes, some more than others.

Summer ends Thursday when the Vacaville Unified School District welcomes back students. At four schools, students will be in for a surprise when they get sent to the the office because the principal will be new.

Source: Go to the new principal’s office – The Vacaville Reporter

By Nick McConnell

Vacaville High School students will not have to walk to their classrooms to get their first history lesson next week. It will be waiting for them in the main hallway of the school.

Principal Adam Wight teamed up with former Vacaville High history teacher and wrestling coach Richard Penaluna to create a set of six informative displays in the school’s main hallway that outline the school’s storied history in the community.

“It’s an essential part of our identity,” Wight said of the school’s history.

Source: Vacaville High School decks the hall with history – The Vacaville Reporter

By Cecil Conley

Guilt struck Randy Henry on Thursday evening as he plowed his fork through spaghetti and sipped a glass of wine. His wife Toni was prepared when he came home to Lake of the Pines after working in Vacaville.

She knew when he would arrive, Henry said, because the couple track each other on their phones. Toni had followed him from Jepson Middle School and Interstate 80 to Highway 49 and the Combie Road exit.

Source: Former principal now a pinch hitter – The Vacaville Reporter