Welcome Back to School Year 2016 - 2017!

Dear MUSD Students, Parents, and Community,
 
In 1989 when I came to MUSD to serve as a teacher at Russell Middle School and Calaveras Hills High School, I never imagined that 27 years later I would have this opportunity to serve all of you as Interim Superintendent.  I chose Milpitas all those years ago because it had a reputation for being a leader in education and a district that invested time in developing staff so they could do their best work for kids.  Today, we continue to be a district known for innovation, and a destination for many educators from around the world who are interested in learning how we are striving to personalize learning for every student. We are a community of pioneers, both in the literal and metaphorical sense of the word.  
 
Many of our families are new immigrants coming to Milpitas, while others are second and even third generation MUSD families, all with the same goal in mind, to set a strong foundation for our children.  Our diversity is truly our strength, it creates opportunities to extend our thinking and to create strategies in building learning environments that inspire students, parents and staff alike.  We are a district that values and welcomes parents as partners in educating our children and youth. We are proud of the message our new community collaborative with the Milpitas Police, Milpitas City Council, Santa Clara County Health and Social Services, and service and community-based organizations says to our students: Milpitas Values Youth!
 
Milpitas Unified is a mecca for learning, from early childhood through adult education.  We are proud of the extension of our adult school ESL program, serving parents at Randall and MHS.  We are excited about our joint-venture with the San Jose Evergreen Community College District. We look forward to seeing our high school students take advantage of concurrent enrollment in high school and college courses, while their parents, older siblings, and community members also have the opportunity to advance their own education in the Community College Extension on Escuela Parkway.  Our young families will have additional support in early childhood education and family wellness services through our partnership with the HealthTrust in creating a Family Resource Center open to all families; it will be located at Randall Elementary School.  Our Spanish Dual Immersion Program will provide a rich educational program for our students whose parents want them to increase and/or gain Spanish language skills in reading and math.  Several of our schools have adopted the Summit Public Schools’ Personal Learning Platform, which offers students another means to learn along the personalized learning continuum.  In one way or another, all of our teachers are striving to provide our students with personalized learning experiences through teaching strategies such as Project Based Learning, blended learning, the Sobrato Early Academic Language Model, and collaborative technology tools such as Google Classroom and Khan Academy.  
 
This fall we will have the results of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (Smarter Balance Assessment Tool), and early indicators tell us that our student results will be very strong.  We look forward to sharing the outcome of our students’ hard work with our school community as we continue to build on our innovative strategies for teaching the Common Core Standards.  
 
This year my four priorities will be to:

• Strengthen our sense of community and family;
• Build on our innovative strategies for student learning and academic achievement;
• Intensify authentic family and community engagement; and
• Personalize learning for all.

 
I will be inviting you to join me for Superintendent Coffee Chats so that I can learn more about your hopes for the future of our MUSD Family, watch for invitations as we draw closer to the start of school.
 
I look forward to welcoming our students back to school on August 11th !
 
Warmly,
 
Cheryl Jordan
Interim Superintendent

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