'We're all really excited': What Visalia families can expect for the new school year

VISALIA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Families successful the South Valley tin expect caller changes for the 2025-2026 schoolhouse year.

Visalia Unified District leadership, the School Board of Trustees, and the Visalia Police Department gave an update Monday astatine La Joya Middle School. 

According to Executive Director of Student Support Natalie Garza, the territory volition statesman enforcing an updated compartment telephone argumentation this year.

"Students volition beryllium expected to support phones disconnected and distant during instructional time. Progressive steps volition beryllium taken if students bash not travel this expectation, opening with reminders and genitor contact," she said. "We cognize phones are a portion of life, but successful the classroom, learning is the focus."

Additional changes see a caller schoolroom exertion bundle for each classrooms and accrued entree to online grading systems for parents.

For families funny successful after-school programs, Deputy Superintendent Mark Thompson says much accusation is connected the way.

"We person been moving connected enrichment programs that spell beyond the schoolhouse day," helium said.  "Mark the calendar [for] August 8^th. Each schoolhouse website volition diagnostic a database of after-school precocious learning opportunities. These programs are hands-on, engaging, and designed to assistance students research their interests and deepen their learning."

Superintendent Kirk Shrum highlighted a fewer of the district's achievements past twelvemonth and provided details astir their new strategic plan. 

"We reclassified implicit 851 English connection learners. That's treble the fig from the erstwhile year. That means that galore much students are English proficient and person much accidental to instrumentality courses successful classes. That's conscionable a sampling of immoderate of the highlights from this past twelvemonth that we're looking guardant to expanding and gathering upon for this year," helium explained. "Part of the mode we're going to bash that is done the motorboat of our strategical plan, Visalia Forward 2030, a community-driven blueprint for the future."

Shrum says 1 of the things showcased successful the program is simply a caller vocation acquisition class, which is the district's first-ever mediate schoolhouse pathway class. 

"We're each truly excited," helium said. "We person astir 500 students already signed up!"

Dr. Amy Frame is the Middle School CTE programme manager for VUSD and says the people is offered arsenic an elective for 7^th and 8^th graders.

"Students volition beryllium rotating done a bid of hands-on labs," she said. "They subordinate to circumstantial jobs that volition beryllium disposable to them erstwhile they graduate. And the kids get to not conscionable perceive astir the occupation but really effort it. Maybe they similar learning with moving with electrical ligament oregon integer printers oregon HVAC systems oregon engines."

Officials anticipation the hands-on acquisition volition let kids to get the cognition they request for the future.

"Students volition beryllium capable to recognize a overmuch wider assortment of antithetic vocation and acquisition options and however those careers tin lend to not lone their ain happiness and well-being but to lend to that assemblage arsenic well," Frame explained