Philosophy
When I decided to run for school board, four years ago, I had concerns about the achievement gaps within our district—and I still do. This is the main reason I decided to run then and now. Like most of the State of California, a majority of our students are not meeting standards in Math and many of them are not meeting standards in Language Arts. I want to be part of a solution in closing the gaps with our student achievement in all areas, but especially math and language arts. Since being on the board, I have seen many of the efforts from administration, teachers and parents to improve students’ achievements and nurture success for all students to function after graduation, whether at college or in a career. I have also had the opportunity to serve as chairperson on the ROP Board. My passion for career technical education and ROP’s motto: Careers by Choice, not by Chance, has instilled in me an appreciation for unique career paths.
With that in mind, I also commit to supporting and continuing to support our high achieving students. They should have plenty of opportunities to enhance their education with AP classes, high-academic clubs such as Robotics and Math, and plenty of internships with our community partners.
The following list is part of my learning philosophy that fits with a traditional academic path as well as a hands-on apprenticeship pathway towards trades careers:
- Students know what they are learning and why
- A blend of individual, collaborative and large group work
- Student work is visible (in the schools, classrooms and online)
- There are multiple forms of feedback and assessment, including self-assessment
- There is more collaboration, mentoring and coaching among teachers
- The physical environment supports learning
- Students have the opportunity to work at their own pace and explore their own interests
- Students use personalized technology for learning
- Students are doing most of the work and the talking
- Test retakes and assignment re-dos are encouraged and supported
We are lucky to live in a community that continues to put education as a top priority. We are fortunate to share this town with one of the nation’s premier science labs, which is also committed, and provides a lot of support, to STEM projects across the district. We are equally privileged to live in a community that appreciates art, music and theater—and the LVPAC offers our students lots of opportunities to experience the arts. The collaboration between these organizations and our children’s education is more than supplemental, it’s essential.
I hope to have an integral part in the future of LVJUSD’s educational goals. I hope to continue to prioritize our students, to support our staff and to energize our parents while fostering sustained relationships with community support.
If you have more questions, feel free to reach out.