Vine Hill Elementary School

Dear Scotts Valley Community,

Congratulations are to be extended to our entire educational community; students, teachers, counselors, support staff, administrators, parents, and families are completing an incredibly challenging yet successful school year!  I am pleased to inform you that we have reached an agreement with the teachers union and have settled negotiations on a positive note.

Looking back, we were all stunned during the 2020-21 school year and we were not sure what to expect going into 2021-22.  We experienced similar challenges, but with even fewer staff in place than ever before. The COVID roller coaster ride remained steady but we were able to continue moving forward - never hitting neutral, stop, or reverse - and we kept our schools open all year!

I am proud of the perseverance, creativity, and dedication of our staff as they continue to demonstrate their commitment to the students in our district. We too are lifelong learners and strive to improve to best serve our kids.  We did experience loss and heartache this year. We also experienced sadness, grief, and frustration.  We will continue to learn from and reflect on our experiences.

There have been frustrations, disappointments, and societal angst for a variety of reasons this year, and even with that, we kept our focus on supporting and educating our students. We acknowledge there is always room for growth and improvement, and we will continue to work to improve ourselves and our school communities.

What doesn’t always get district-wide or community acknowledgment are all of the wonderful celebrations, successes, amazing learning opportunities, and simply beautiful moments with kids that not everyone gets to see that occur at our schools.

More than ever, it has become evident that a student's success is greatly improved with a strong partnership between schools and families. We continue to strive to improve upon those partnerships. Despite the challenges of COVID that have extended throughout the school year, our students have made amazing gains and have demonstrated their resilience. Local data measures have shown students’ growth in reading and math to be significant, closing gaps from full-time virtual learning.

Our student assessment scores demonstrate academic growth beyond our expectations, especially noted at the elementary levels, but the social, emotional, and behavioral challenges were greater district-wide than we had anticipated. I am very pleased that the Board has supported hiring key positions to better support school sites with student services-related programs.  

Our students have demonstrated their incredible talents throughout the year to include participation in a variety of County-wide contests and initiatives. We have seen and celebrated the diverse gifts they bring to our school communities through arts, math, science, drama, music, and so much more. 

We are looking forward to our work together as a new District Office team, working and planning over the summer. We are continuing with the same areas of focus and will also be expanding upon a few during 2022-23.

• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging 

• Social-Emotional Learning/PBIS/Mental Health Focus for Students and Staff

• Mathematics focus TK-12th Grade 

• Environmental Literacy and “Green” Focus 

As many of you know, there will be a change in the administration at SVHS.  Both Mr. Hanson and Mr. Aratin are taking on different roles in the district next year.  We are pleased to announce that we have hired Mrs. Sarah Gialdini to be our next SVHS Principal. Mrs. Gialdini is coming to us from Fremont Unified School District where she has most recently been serving in the role of Assistant Principal. 

As you recall, we started school earlier this year in August thus ending the school year this week, at the end of May.

Our fifth-grade promotion celebrations will be held this Thursday at Vine Hill and Brook Knoll, and our High School Graduation will be held in the afternoon on the football field “per normal“. Scotts Valley Middle School‘s eighth-grade promotion will also be held at the high school on Friday the 27th.

The teacher's last workday is this upcoming Friday, May 27th, and schools will start to close out the following week. Our schools are closed over the summer and they will reopen in early August. You will be hearing specifics from each of your respective school sites.  The District Office will be open all summer and closed on Fridays.]

I hope the summer provides opportunities for rejuvenation and the ability to take in some of the beauty in the world. I too hope that health and safety remain regulated so that we are able to start the next school year as “normal“ as possible.

Cheers and caps off to the conclusion of the 2021-22 school year!

Warmly,

Tanya Krause, 

Superintendent