Together with our community, WE are a Championship Team! MUSD has seen many shining moments in the last half of 2017: Central Coast Section (CCS) MHS Recognition for Top Sportsmanship; Bay Area News Group Student Player of the Year; Santa Clara County Teacher of the Year and Tech Teacher of the Year; CSEA State Area Director; ACSA Region 8 President; CCS Baseball Coach of the Year; MHS Sophomore Speech and Debate Champions (who will be going to the finals in Kentucky); Rancho Girls’ Basketball Team; MHS Girls Volleyball; Milpitas Extreme Robotics #0669; Santa Clara County and State Honor Band Musicians; Science Olympiads; and MHS Football—just to name a few.

Our students continue to flourish in a rich learning environment enhanced by our community partnerships. The Milpitas Community Advisory Commission, for example, recognizes the impact our schools have in Milpitas, and is sponsoring an Educational Showcase on Saturday, Jan. 27 from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. at Curtner Elementary. Teachers, parents, administrators, support staff, and students will be present throughout the morning to share our exemplary programs with our neighbors and future MUSD parents. Our Milpitas Rotary will be sponsoring a speech contest for our high school students later this month, and our Milpitas Kiwanis will again host our annual MUSD Crab Feed & Auction on Friday, Feb. 9 to support our students in need with new school clothes and scholarships.

The community support doesn’t stop at the front door. We have many partnerships that support our teachers and students in the classroom. KLA Tencor brings monthly science lessons to Rose. Cal Hills students learn about medical technology at Cordis. The Milpitas Library co-hosts bi-monthly Love 4 Literacy events for our families at Rose and Randall. And San Jose City College is opening the world of college to our high school and adult learners! (Learn more at our joint MUSD SJECCD Board meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 6:00 p.m. at the SJCC Extension on Escuela Pkwy.)

You, too, can be a part of our ongoing Celebration of Champions. You’re invited to the MHS Football State Championship Bash this Saturday, Jan. 20 at 12:00 p.m. on the MHS football field.

Mabel Mattos Elementary school is beginning to take shape as seen in this photo of its foundation development. We will complete Phase I in time for 238 of our younger learners to attend school in their home neighborhood in August 2018. Mattos Elementary would not have been possible without our community’s support of Measure E 2012 in which we raised $95M. We dedicated $18M of that to supplement developer fees and RDA funds for purchasing the land and building Phase I of the school. We’ve done a tremendous amount of work with our Measure E funds, and the details of how we used the funds to improve our schools can be found in our Citizen’s Bond Oversight Committee reports . While we have completed learning centers at every school, installed wireless internet throughout the District, made energy efficient upgrades at several sites, built a multipurpose room for Pomeroy, renovated locker rooms, the pool area, and athletic fields at MHS, and provided several schools with additional portable classrooms, there is still much more to do. In addition to completing Mabel Mattos Elementary, modernizing Randall Elementary, and expanding our high school capacity, we must address safety upgrades, infrastructure, and other facilities needs. 

Our MUSD family is expanding. We are expected to have 700 more elementary students by 2026, and our high school students need stretching room to accommodate the overcrowding in our classrooms; the current enrollment is close to the 3,368 projected by the year 2030. Milpitas High School sits on 56.5 acres of land, and with remodeling we can add 15-20 more classrooms, rebuild the theater, create a central student assembly area, and add a second gym. Imagine the old Ayer High School site as an educational park providing extended programs and career pathways for our high school students and adult learners. Along Calaveras Blvd. the MUSD Educational Park could include a visual and performing arts center (after all, it was once home to the vibrant Calaveras Repertory Theater). While we don’t have the 55 acres of land available to build a second comprehensive high school for 2,000 students, we do have these two sites that can become so much more if only we reframe our thinking about what we do have. With a vision for the possible, we can build on what has been established, capitalizing on what makes us unique—a community with a core high school program that unites all of us through generations.

We need our neighbors’ help in addressing safety and enrollment growth throughout the district. MUSD is fiscally responsible and community focused. That’s why we innovate in and beyond the classroom. The Board and I welcome your comments, ideas, and questions about how we can best meet our needs for the near and distant future. 

With gratitude for you and our students,
Cheryl Jordan

When the U.S. Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, came to visit us here in Milpitas Unified, we gave ourselves an opportunity to share our mission and vision with the country. As Secretary DeVos walked in to Paul Ngo’s US History class, she heard this dynamic teacher engaging his students in an analysis of the “greatest breakup letter in history,” that is, the Declaration of Independence. As he concluded their discussion, he pulled from his pocket a wrinkled letter that he had read to the students earlier that week. He asked them if they remembered this letter, and the students chuckled, realizing it had the same elements as the Declaration of Independence. They were hooked and ready to dive in to the concepts and events leading to this amazing piece of living history. We left their room, and opened the next classroom door to find World History teacher Stephanie Woodhams, standing amidst a whirlwind of student activity. 

​Ms. Woodhams met with students individually about their progress in mastering the content objectives for learning about Chinese Dynasties. Clusters of students worked together on projects within their Summit Personalized Learning Platform (PLP), while others worked independently on content areas going deeper or broader according to their needs assessment. As in Mr. Ngo’s class, the students worked as a community of learners, commenting on one another’s insights and work. As we departed from Ms. Woodhams’ class and headed towards Barbara Knitter’s AVID class, we learned from the Secretary’s staff that they had not visited a school like Russell Middle School, and they were impressed by both the instruction and overall sense of connection the staff and students shared with one another.  

​This cohesive student learning environment was evident, too, in Joyce Tang’s science class, where students taught Secretary DeVos about dragon DNA. Ms. Tang’s contagious energy was felt in the learning conversations the students had with one another. One student, who is a newcomer from Central America, was able to access the content through the Spanish translation of her PLP. As she conversed en Español with Assistant Superintendent Norma Rodriguez, she stated that she felt valued and included because she was able to understand the same concepts that her English-only peers were tackling alongside her. Personalizing learning is about being inclusive of each learner’s unique learning goals.

​Teaching the whole child, and being responsive to each student’s sense of well-being is integral in the fabric of Milpitas Unified; this is something that Secretary DeVos experienced throughout her visit. Perhaps one of the most connected moments that the Secretary seemed to have was when she was invited by two students to sit between them so that they could teach her how to draw a self-portrait using proportion and scale. The three of them spoke about the intricate details involved in drawing one’s facial features, and the inspiration that art stirs in us. The students listened intently to Secretary DeVos’ description of her friend, and how he was able to have a career based on his passion for art. Creativity in how we learn and teach is a cornerstone of personalized learning for students, and it is another aspect of who we are in Milpitas.  

​Following classroom visits, Secretary DeVos was introduced to 25 of our staff and Board members in a discussion about learning in Milpitas Unified. Representatives from preschool through adult school spoke to different aspects of innovation in MUSD. As math teacher Dawn Hartman said, “we spin gold out of straw” with limited resources and a legacy of pioneering, as educators throughout MUSD seek ways that they can do things differently for kids. The challenge of meeting the needs of our underperforming students, requires that we think differently about interventions and how we provide experiences to bridge the opportunity gap. While this has been a decades-old conversation, it is one that drives our work; every student’s passion for learning should be ignited and nurtured along different pathways ultimately leading to her career.  

Patti Gairaud, MAE transition specialist, spoke to our collaboration efforts between adult school and elementary teachers in partnering adult and young learners with one another so that one can experience the power of community service while the other strengthens his English skills.  Building career pathways for our middle and high school students is integral to how we can deepen our practice in personalizing learning. In our unique partnership with San Jose Evergreen Community College District, we are providing dual enrollment opportunities for our high school students, and within the next four years they will be able to graduate from high school with both a high school diploma and an AA degree. Through our partnership with Silicon Valley Career Tech Education, our students can graduate with career-ready skills in dental, fire, and emergency medical fields, among many others. Secretary DeVos learned about these and other pathways, such as early childhood education and biotech that we have launched this year. As one educator said to Secretary DeVos, “We embrace the diversity of our community, and personalization lets us get what each needs.” 

​All of our staff is committed to building a Culture of We so that our students will lead the world of work for the 22nd century. We believe Secretary DeVos witnessed this in what she saw and heard during her visit. In her words, “I experienced a little bit of what you’re engaged in each day. It was a joy to visit, and I enjoyed all of the classrooms I observed, especially the art class. I hear from you your openness to continue to challenge yourselves, to look to new ways in helping kids learn and take charge of their own learning. You’ll be able to unlock the future for so many kids by the work that you are doing.” 

Yes, we will, and WE will do it together!

En Español
bằng tiếng việt

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The eclipse at the end of August created an opportunity for our students and community to share a sense of wonder about our universe.
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Many of our students and teachers seized this teachable moment to capture the science behind it, as well as ancient cultural beliefs about the sun and moon. This provided our students with an opportunity to delve deeper into how culture and experience filters our perspectives about the world around us. In a similar way, the current events of this first part of September cast their own shadow over our daily interactions and thoughts about our place in the world. 

Many of our students and staff have family and close friends who have been impacted by the natural disasters of the earthquake in Mexico, and the hurricanes and flooding in Texas, India, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, and now Florida.

The President’s announcement that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) may come to an end in six months, unless there is new legislation enacted by our Congress, greatly impacts many of our MUSD graduates as well as the older siblings of our current students. DACA provides our students ages 16+ and our graduates with the ability to gain work visas so that they can live out our MUSD vision, that they are productive contributors to their communities. There is a great deal of uncertainty that our students, staff and their families are grappling with, and I want each to know our MUSD Family is here for all. 

As I remember September 11, 2001 today, I am hopeful that the acts of kindness and love following that devastating event in our history will permeate our work with each other and for our students. It is important that we cultivate our Culture of We, recognizing that our family connections to those impacted by the uncertainty of recent events adds stress to our ability to work and learn at our best. One person who embodied a Culture of We is our 2015 MHS graduate, Alyssa Almogela who passed away last month; many in our community talked about the love she showed for all, particularly those who were suffering. In her memory as well as those who died on 9-11, let us support one another through these difficult times with caring hearts so that our students are inspired and empowered to be role-models for the world.    ​

Space, lighting, furniture, color, and climate impact our mindset and set the stage for how we learn and work.Think about how this is true in different coffee shops around town: some have spacious seating areas and high ceilings, others have quaint interiors with small cubbies for study and soft chatter. Then there are those that are stark and utilitarian, with faucets or toilets that aren’t always in good condition; consequently, they are not inviting spaces for learning and the community.

With the passing of Measure E in 2012, the community support enabled Milpitas Unified School District (MUSD) to create a learning center at every school in which the physical environment is inviting, flexible, and inspiring. When the learning space was opened at Rose Elementary School, Principal Nanci Pass said the students were thrilled and she heard exclamations such as “Wow!” and “We get to learn in here?!” The library at Milpitas High School was transformed and is now a media center with quiet areas and small meeting alcoves, similar to those at our public library on Main Street. These spacious and flexible learning centers inspire collaboration amongst students and offer teams of teachers a place to bring their students together for interdisciplinary projects. Our learning centers mimic the kind of work environment that exists at many companies in Milpitas such as Flex, Cisco, and View Dynamic Glass. In that sense, they are preparing our students for future work requiring creativity and collaboration, and using technology as a tool for learning.  The funds from Measure E provided our students with school improvements and enabled us to address many projects in need of repair or renovation. Additionally, Measure E allowed us to secure land and build Phase I of our 10th elementary school, Mabel Mattos Elementary, scheduled for opening the fall of 2018. View our public service announcement at this link for an overview of all the work we completed with Bond 2012 funding; we are truly grateful for the community’s support!

MUSD is ever evolving and seeking innovative ways that we can improve the conditions for learning and working in our schools. There are many areas of need for the future, and additional infrastructure improvements must be made to maintain our capacity for growth. For example, routers and switches are being replaced this summer so that our staff and students can access the Internet without interruption. However, we will need to replace 50 percent of our student Chromebooks in the next four years, about 4,000 to 5,000 devices. Our upper elementary grade students living in the Mattos Elementary School enrollment area will not be able to attend their home school without the construction of Phases II and III. We are excited about future teaching and learning pathways for our high school students, and we will need to provide them with additional classroom space while renovating existing structures to meet the needs that new opportunities for teaching and learning present.

We are now at the crucial point of opportunity and action. Let’s engage in conversation about how we can think differently about time, space, and place to create a remarkable school learning experience in the future for our Milpitas youth. This summer we will have opportunities for the staff, students, parents, and community to do just that, starting with a Town Hall meeting on June 5 from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Milpitas San Jose Evergreen Community College Extension at Ben Gross Education Park, 1450 Escuela Parkway, to discuss future facilities plans. On August 9, we will have a second Town Hall meeting for those who would like to come but are not able to attend on June 5. Additionally, on August 7 we will hold a MUSD Community Convening to envision a day in the life of our future students; please email Lori Porter at lporter@musd.org if you are interested in attending.
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We are also reaching out to staff, parents, and the community (we have developed a separate survey specific to students) through a survey. Your input will help inform our facilities planning for future repairs, remodeling, and school buildings. Please access the survey by clicking here, and be sure to complete by June 30, 2017. 
Warmly, 

Cheryl Jordan
Superintendent