Newhall School District Superintendent Paul Cordeiro sat down with KHTS Tuesday afternoon to discuss new state standards and district priorities for the 2017-18 school year, among other topics.

Cordeiro discussed a number of goals and issues facing Newhall School District officials, one of which being the new California School Dashboard, which monitors school performance based on state and county indicators.

“The new Dashboard will be publically available by next month, and with the board’s approval of our own local indicators, we feel that the new website really goes into areas of improving student engagement and parent involvement,” said Cordeiro. “We’ve prepared a lot for this in terms of parent involvement (and) we came out of the gate by conducting the California Healthy Kids survey, which asks 5th grade students questions such as, ‘How safe do you feel?’; ‘Do your teachers listen to you?’; ‘Do you feel engaged?’ All these things have been included in our Dashboard and we believe we’re going to have a very complete website in terms of entries.”

The California School Dashboard is designed to show how local educational agencies and schools are performing on the indicators included in California’s new school accountability system.   

“The Newhall School District has an expectation of excellence, which presents itself in our test scores,” continued Cordeiro. “The Dashboard will help us tell our story and the product we market, which is this culture of continued excellence.”

Sacramento officials have planned for the California School Dashboard to be implemented statewide by the end of the 2017-2018 school year “based on feedback during the field test,” according to the program’s official website.

The complete 2017-18 rollout of the new state website is not the only priority for Newhall School District officials in terms of the next school year, according to Cordeiro.

“We’re doing a lot of support to assist students that are English learners, as well as elaborating our math and English programs through providing schools with special teachers and consultants,” said Cordeiro. “As for science, the types of things we’re teaching in the classroom are ahead of the curve and we’re being proactive, as opposed to reactionary, to Next Generation Science Standards.”

The Newhall Theater for Performing Arts. Photo courtesy of the Newhall School District.

Cordeiro also took time to note a number of building projects the district has finished under Measure E, including the completion of the Newhall Family Theater for Performing Arts. The $4.8 million renovation project for the theater on Newhall Elementary’s campus was designed to improve the facility’s ability to act as a district and community theater for the city’s youth.

“The theater is complete with a new theater manager who is working with the board right now on the mechanical use of theaters designed for public use,” said Cordeiro. “And while this theater is going to be used by our district schools, we also designed it to be a community theater where youth from around the district can utilize it.”

The Newhall School District superintendent pointed out that the Newhall Theater for Performing Arts has been developing a “robust programming schedule for the next six months” that services kids and parents in the community.

Cordeiro concluded his KHTS interview by highlighting areas in which he believes schools, families and community-serving entities can work together and begin making preemptive steps to issues facing students that may occur in the future.

“While less specific to our particular school district and more about kids in general, but the environment we’re currently in is challenging for families in terms of housing costs and rental housing,” stated Cordeiro. “This puts a lot of pressure on families to adequately house themselves and properly clothe and feed their kids.”

The superintendent stated that families in school districts across the state and nation are already living in crisis, and that these external factors have a major impact on a student’s performance in the classroom.

“At some point, districts, schools and cities need to come together and generate assessments on the larger aspects affecting students, and how we can all better serve our kids and their families,” said Cordeiro. “Call it a ‘Community Report Card’ that analyzes the diverse demographics, housing situations and community services available to our families in our schools.”

“Our District’s approach, in anything we do, has always been to look and anticipate what’s on the horizon,” concluded Cordeiro. “Not only do we want to anticipate, but also demonstrate our ability to proactively respond to what is coming in the future.”

For more information on the “California School Dashboard” or the Newhall School District in general, visit NSD’s website here.

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