The CUSD Superintendent’s breakfast was well turned out by more than 600 guests the morning of Thursday, Oct. 3. Attendees enjoyed a tasty breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, fresh fruit and fluffy biscuits served with coffee and orange juice.
Clovis North High Chamber Choir and Buchanan High Chamber Choir solemnly and beautifully sang the “Star Spangled Banner” and “America” to the appreciation of all present before Treasurer and Fund Drive Chairman Adam Holt acknowledged the guests and sponsors of the event.
CUSD Superintendent Dr. Eimear O’Farrell addressed the attendees with the 2019 Report to the Community.
She stated, “Our strategic plan is very much a living document, one that will get a closer look this year as part of our three year review to ensure it keeps us pointing in the right direction.”
Thus far, the report shows they have been on target and in the right direction, ensuring the success of Clovis students. Since the state’s new testing methods were implemented five years ago, Clovis Unified scores have steadily increased every year on assessments in math and English/Language Arts. Currently, Clovis Unified test scores, out of the 20 largest school districts in California, are the highest in these two subjects, scoring 73 percent in English/Language Arts and 59 percent in math.
Clovis students can expect to continue on the road to success thanks to the generosity of CUSD’s donors. Through 2018-2019, the Foundation has awarded 45 Classroom, School and Specialty grants, 130 New Teacher Grants and 16 Students of Promise Scholarships.
With the award of the Foundation for Clovis Schools grant for codable robots, second- through sixth-graders at Bud Rank, Copper Hills, Fugman, Mountain View and Riverview Elementary Schools have the opportunity to learn about robots, engineering and computer programming. With a coding strategy known as Blockly, students develop foundational coding skills and can program the robots to perform whatever tasks they wish, from drawing shapes, to moving objects from place to place, or even playing a musical instrument. Learning these skills at an early age will open up scores of career opportunities for these students.
A Clovis Unified alum, who is enjoying a brilliant career in the theater, addressed the breakfast to express his appreciation for the support and inspiration he received as a student before performing a breathtaking rendition of “This is the Moment” from Jekyll and Hyde.
“Had it not been for the incredible schedule I received at Clovis East, during my time at Clovis East, and [had I] not had that creative overexposure I would either be in a completely different career path or way behind in the career that I am in now,” Actor/Singer Constantine Pappas, who portrays Raoul in Phantom of the Opera, said of his instructors. “And it’s through that creative overexposure I had access to some of the most amazing instruction, some of the greatest teachers and professors who I now call ‘colleagues.’ And those teachers intentionally, and even unintentionally, are what helped inspire excellence within me.”