Page 9 - Reedley Exponent 8-23-18 E-edition

The Reedley Exponent PB anorama
Section | Thursday, August 23, 2018 www.reedleyexponent.com
KCUSD students return to school
Families and educators say they are looking forward to the new school year
Local senior citizens taking Tai Chi classes for health See B2
The View From Here
Juanita Adame / The Exponent
ABOVE: Ricardo Reyna and his daughter Deja share an embrace on Aug. 15 in front of T.L. Reed K-8 school before she boards the school bus. Deja will be in fourth grade and said she was nervous, but excited to make some new friends.
By Juanita Adame
The Reedley Exponent
Dressed in a pair of denim shorts with lace trim, a blue T-shirt, and hair neatly braided, fourth grader, Deja Reyna waited alongside her dad, Ricardo Reyna in front of T.L. Reed on the morning of Aug. 15.
With looks of anticipation and nervousness, dad more so than Deja, both waited patiently for a transition bus to take Deja to her new school.
"I'm excited and nervous," she said. "Because I don't know anyone at that school, but I think I'll be good though."
Deja was one of the many Kings Canyon Unified School District stu-
dents to return to school last week. Just like Deja, another student namedMartinGutierrez alsowaited
"The biggest goal today
is to get our new kids acclimated because they're going to be with us for almost 9 years"
– T.L. Reed Principal Rick McCollum
with the same nervous anticipa- tion for a bus to take him to Navelen- cia Middle School.
LEFT: Students in a kindergarten class at T.L. Reed wave at Principal McCol- lum while they form a line to head outside for break.
ABOVE RIGHT: Deputy Superinten- dent Roberto Gutierrez gives stu- dent Martin Gutierrez some words of encouragement as Martin waits for his transfer bus to Navelencia Middle School.
ABOVE CENTER:
Axel Martinez waits at his desk for class to begin at T.L. Reed
BELOW RIGHT: A student waits in line on the first day of school at T.L. Reed.
Juanita Adame / The Exponent
"This is my first year going over there," said Martin. "I feel happy and I feel like if I'm going to have a great time over there, I am looking forward to having friends and hav- ing a good teacher," he said."I don't know who my teacher is yet, but I'm hoping everything goes good."
Deputy Superintendent Roberto Gutierrez stood near Martin and in- troduced himself. "Hey, we have the same last name!" Martin told Gutier- rez. "Yes we do," replied the deputy superintendent. "I hope you have a great day and get good grades."
He gave Martin a few more words of encouragement before Martin set off for the day.
Inside the walls of T.L. Reed stu-
dents were slowly settling in. Many neatly dressed; boys in crisp polo shirts and girls with bouncy curls and brightly colored hair bows sat quietly at their desks, waiting for instructions from their
new teachers.
Teachers worked on introduc-
tions, seating arrangements, class- room rules. "The biggest thing about today is all the excitement, nervous- ness, just getting all the kids accli- mated," said Rick McCollum, princi- pal at T.L. Reed. "Especially students who are new to us."
McCollum, said their main goal on the first day of school is always to make students
feel calm and ac-
Reedley (Fresno County) CA 93654
I would like to say thank you to everyone who has emailed me and sent me letters to welcome me to town! I didn't expect such a warm welcome but thank
you all!
I'd like to let everyone know I
am making my way through each email as well as each beautifully hand written letter, and will re- spond to everyone as soon as I can.
Last week was indeed an ex- citing week for the Kings Can- yon Unified School District with classes starting on Aug. 15.
I had the honor of touring some classrooms at T.L. Reed K-8 school alongside Renee Del- port the Communications officer for the district as well as Deputy Superintendent Roberto Gutier- rez and Reed Principal Rick Mc- Collum.
It's always interesting to see how students and their parents interact on the first day of school.
As I walked up to Reed that morning, I noticed a father and his young daughter sitting at the bus stop.
I was able to snap a picture of them. Daughter was standing behind the bench and had her arms wrapped around dad who was sitting on the bench. Both of them stood quiet, looking out onto Frankwood Avenue, neither say- ing a word.
I could tell dad was a little nervous to let his little girl go on the bus by herself. I went over to "break the ice" and must have startled them. After I introduced myself we got to talking. She told me her name, Deja and dad's name Ricardo. "But, you can call me Rico," he said.
Not long after, Deja's bus arrived. She happily got up to gather her stuff and began to walk toward the bus to board it.
Dad followed behind her and right before she got on the bus he picked her up and gave her a big hug. "I love you baby, " he said. "I love you too, dad."
It was a sweet moment, no more than 30 seconds, but one that I'm sure both will remember for the rest of their lives.
Following that exchange, I met Martin Gutierrez. Also look- ing a little nervous, I learned that he also was waiting for a bus.
His bus would take him to Navelencia Middle School. When I asked if he was nervous, he said a little, but he was hopeful he'd have a nice teacher and wouldn't have any issues making friends.
Martin boarded his bus and was on his way.
I then walked into the school with Renee and Deputy Superin- tendent, Gutierrez. We met with Principal McCollum and began our tour.
A few interesting highlights of the day included a new teacher at Reed named Victoria Tovar.
We walked into her classroom as she began reading a book to her students.
McCollum told me that Victo- ria Tovar was a former student at Reed. He said she was the first teacher to come back and work there.
McCollum said they've have former students come back as teaching assistants or office staff, but Victoria was the first one to come back as a teacher, so congratulations Victoria!
Last week I also stopped by the Reedley Community Center
See COLUMN page B8
Juanita Adame
See REED page B5
School board presented with suspension and expulsion numbers
Juanita Adame / The Reedley Exponent
ABOVE: One of the slides presented during the Expulsion data report to the school board on Aug. 14.
By Juanita Adame
The Exponent
Maryann Carousso, the Stu- dent Services Administrator for the Kings Canyon Unified School District presented the school board with recent data involving Expul- sion Outcomes for the 2017-2018 school year.
Carousso told board members at the Aug. 14 meeting that these numbers are solely for informa- tional purposes and involve a break down of data.
The statistics include: the num- ber of suspensions, expulsions, the locations of the incidents, the grade numbers affected and the proactive programs that are helping students facing challenges.
"If we do more proactive things, there will be less problems we have to deal with later," she said. "The
goal of course, is 'Goal 5' that is, we have to maintain our safe and nur- turingenvironment toensuresocial and emotional success."
Goal 5 is one of the goals falling under the Local Control Account- ability Plan or LCAP.
According to the district web- site, the LCAP is an important com- ponent of the Local Control Funding Formula ( LCFF). Under the LCFF, all Local Educational Agencies (LEA) are required to prepare an LCAP, which describes how they intend to meet annual goals for stu- dents.
Carousso credited various programs the district offers such as Teen Parent Support, Cara Y Corazon as well on site counseling,
See EXPULSION page B8