Submitted by Denair Unified School District

A woman with an impressive educational résumé and a man with deep roots in the community are the newest principals in the Denair Unified School District.

Beginning July 1, Alecia Myers will take over at Denair High School and Travis Manley will lead Denair Charter Academy. The district’s board of trustees formally approved their appointments last week.

“I’m very excited. Our district is vibrant and continues to be on a positive trajectory, and these two educators are representative of that,” said Superintendent Aaron Rosander. “We’ve been able to add experience along with a lot of energy. It’s a nice mix.”

Myers comes to Denair from the Milpitas Unified School District in Santa Clara County, where she most recently was director of secondary education overseeing two high schools and two middle schools. Before that, she was principal at Calaveras Hills High School, an alternative campus, as well as assistant principal at Milpitas High. Prior to that, she worked in a San Jose school district.

For the past 16 months, she has been commuting to the Bay Area from her home in central Modesto. In two weeks, those 3 a.m. wake-up calls will be a thing of the past.

“I didn’t plan to commute forever,” said Myers. “Even though I was a director (in Milpitas), I greatly missed the interaction with students. … I’m excited. In Denair, I’m getting the best of both worlds. I’ll have contact and personal input with students and staff. But I’ll also have the district input and be a director.” Continue reading “New Principals Announced for Denair High School and Denair Charter Academy” »

Submitted by Denair Unified School District

Class may be out for the summer, but the staccato beat of drums, the blare of horns and an array of colorful flags are filling the air around two Denair campuses this week.

The Vanguard Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps from Santa Clara once again are using the grassy fields and other facilities in Denair to prepare for the summer competition season. It is the sixth consecutive year the 150-member organization has held a weeklong camp at the adjoining high school and middle school sites.

“The relationship between Denair and Vanguard has been positive and has generated interest to the degree that folks will stop by to watch and inquire,” said Aaron Rosander, superintendent of the Denair Unified School District.

Two years ago, the camp provided a springboard to the Drum Corps International Open Class Championship, which the Bay Area group won for the second time.

“The Vanguard Cadets are honored to once again spend time here in Denair. We have always been treated so wonderfully and want to give much thanks to the district office personnel and school administration,” said Steve Barnhill, the corps’ director.

The connection to Denair was established by Vanguard’s CEO a few years ago, Barnhill said, and has worked out perfectly.

“The facilities are great. We’re right next to the cafeteria. We’re right next to the quad. We have access to football field,” he said. “And it’s quiet and safe at night. … We make a lot of noise, so it’s easy to become a distraction. The people here are really nice; very welcoming.” Continue reading “Vanguard Polishes Performance During Weeklong Camp in Denair” »

Submitted by Denair Unified School District

A barren piece of ground and an empty wall have been transformed into an abundant garden and beautiful mural by an eclectic group of Denair students known as “The Green Team.”

First-year Denair Charter Academy teacher Gynae Jerner gets credit for the concept, which involved dozens of elementary and high school students. An avid gardener, Jerner envisioned it as a way for older students to mentor their younger peers while bringing to life classroom concepts involving science, hard work, responsibility and collaboration. She pitched the idea to leadership team at three campuses last year and the project took off from there.

Kindergarteners through fifth-graders from Denair Elementary School and the Denair Academic Avenues charter school “adopted” one of the 10 plots in their campus’ garden, which sits next to some portable buildings west of the cafeteria. They were paired with about two dozen Denair High School volunteers who were assigned to specific classrooms to uniquely design each space.

Jerner solicited donations of seeds, flowers, tools and other materials, and coordinated all the activity. The Green Teams meet weekly to plant, fertilize, water and weed their plots. Summer and fall flowers and vegetables were sown first before giving way to winter plants. In the spring, the gardens were rotated again with seasonal plants. Today, the gardens still are abloom with 5-foot sunflowers and ripening tomatoes tended to by Jerner and her husband.

“It was an amazing experience for all of the kids and Ms. Jerner did a wonderful job,” praised Sara Michelena, the elementary principal.

The popularity of the project and the positive reaction it generated around campus led to the addition of the mural in May. As pretty as the gardens were, they were bordered on one side by a blank gray wall. What if, Michelena thought, that empty space – roughly 30 feet wide and 12 feet high – could be transformed into something equally attractive? Continue reading “Denair Students Create Unique Garden and Beautiful Mural” »

Submitted by Denair Unified School District

Continued growth in elementary enrollment and a $1 million infusion of extra state money are the key reasons behind the ongoing financial improvement in the Denair Unified School District.

Trustees listened to a presentation and heard public comment about the proposed $11.9 million budget for 2015-16 at their meeting Thursday night, a decrease of $270,000 from the previous year attributed to staffing reductions. Board members will take a final vote at their June 25 meeting.

The best news concerned the number of elementary students. Projections show 481 youngsters in kindergarten through fifth grade at the new Denair Elementary Charter Academy and traditional Denair Elementary School. That’s an increase from 468 in 2014-15.

The growth at the elementary level partially offsets further decline at Denair High School, where enrollment is projected to be 300 in 2015-16 – 36 students less than the year before.

Across the entire district, enrollment is projected to be 1,220, 35 students less than 2014-15.

“Our goal is to grow enrollment (at the lower grades) and push it to the middle school and high school,” Superintendent Aaron Rosander explained.

Denair Unified has six campuses – a high school, middle school, elementary school, two charter schools and a state-sponsored preschool. Projections for the next three budget cycles anticipate a 4% annual enrollment decline, but Rosander said the district will work hard to retain students within its boundaries and attract others to its charter programs.

The improving California economy is the reason behind the additional state funding, Chief Business Officer Linda Covello told trustees. In his May budget revision, Gov. Jerry Brown proposed pumping $6 billion more into K-12 schools than the plan he announced in January. Continue reading “State Funding Boost to Buoy Proposed 2015-16 Denair Budget” »