Thanks to a $25,000 grant from Legacy Health Endowment, the popular free summer food program run through the Denair High School and Denair Middle School kitchens will be expanded this year to include adults.

Beginning with the start of summer school on May 27, hundreds of breakfasts, lunches and suppers will be served daily – at no cost – to children, adults and seniors who live in the Denair community.

At Thursday night’s meeting of the Denair Unified School District board, trustees gratefully accepted the grant from Legacy, a nonprofit based in Turlock that seeks to improve the health of all residents in its service area. Providing nutritious and delicious food made from scratch certainly fits with that mission.

The project aims to combat food insecurity during the summer school break, ensuring families have consistent access to healthy meals before the new school year begins.

The summer food program is also funded through state and federal grants. It doesn’t cost the school district anything.

Meal times and locations will be:

• Breakfast: 7:30-9 a.m. at Denair Middle School
• Lunch: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., also at the middle school
• Dinner: 4-6 p.m. at Denair High School

The food program will run Monday through Friday through July 25, with the exception of July 1-4, when the staff will take a break.

In previous years, Food Services Manager Fuentez said about 250 children 18 and younger were served daily during May and June, when summer school was in session. She expects those numbers to dramatically rise this year with the addition of adults and an extra month of service.

Fuentez invited residents to “come and enjoy fresh and homemade happiness served at your local schools.” There will be plenty of space in both dining rooms for people to relax and enjoy their meals.

Typical menus will include homemade protein-rich breakfast burritos and breakfast bowls; lunches will feature tacos, spaghetti and a BBQ every Friday; and suppers will have an  Italian theme on Monday, Mexican on Tuesday and Asian on Thursday. Wednesday supper will be diner food such as meatloaf, roasted chicken, and baked macaroni and cheese. Fridays could be BBQ or a repeat of something popular earlier in the week.

Fuentez and her team of eight employees will do all the cooking.

“Each one has a servant’s heart and cooking soul, ready to create healthy and tasty meals,” she said.

The grant from Legacy Health will cover more than just food.

Students and families also will be eligible for free medical care through Community Health Centers of America. Where necessary, medical services can be provided in the home to ease the burden of travel to a medical facility. A research team is being formed by Legacy Health to determine the impact of the pilot project medically and financially.

In other action Thursday, the board: 

• Joined the audience in applause after Trustee Billy Myers announced at the beginning of the meeting that a former board member – Crystal Sousa – will take over as principal at Denair Elementary Charter Academy for the 2025-26 school year. Sousa was twice elected to the Denair board, but resigned March 14. She will replace Laura Cardenas, who announced in April she would be stepping down to help care for her elderly mother.
• Honored three retiring employees — independent study teacher Betsy Clark, district nurse Teresa Hodges and food service worker Rebecca Sullivan.
• Recognized 12 Denair High students who have earned the State Seal of Biliteracy on their diplomas — Andrea Mendoza, Andrea Padilla, Andrea Vasquez, Araceli Andrade, Ashley Hermosillo, Christopher Vilchis Perez, Darrelle Perez Reyes, Gabriela Verduzco Jacobo, Guillermo Arguelles Bravo, Hillary Perez, Oscar Bautista Ochoa and Vanessa Palacios. All have passed tests certifying they are fluent in English and Spanish.
• Thanked student board member Zachary Christianson for his service the past two years.
• Approved an agreement with the Denair Unified Teachers Association to conclude negotiations for the 2024-25 school year. The agreement includes a one-time payment equal to 4.39% in lieu of an ongoing increase to the salary schedule and increases some stipends that teachers receive based on degrees or credentials held.
• Heard a report from Denair High ag instructor Roger Christianson, who shared that there 141 FFA students in Denair. Of that number, 80 participated in Ag Day on April 17. That event drew about 1,000 students from all the school sites to the high school. For elementary students, the morning activities included three lessons on agriculture, a petting zoo, a tour of the vendors, and a picture with the Easter Bunny. Later, middle school and high school students enjoyed a BBQ lunch while checking out the animals and touring booths set up by nearly two dozen local vendors. Christianson also reported that 33% of the high school FFA members are enrolled in courses that could earn them credits at Modesto Junior College. 

There still is time for parents to enroll their children for the 2025-26 school year at Denair Elementary Charter Academy, but some popular programs only have a few spots left.

Here is what parents should know:

• Transitional kindergarten: This is for students whose fifth birthday occurs between Sept. 2, 2025, and Sept. 1, 2026. TK is almost at capacity and a wait list has been started.
• Traditional kindergarten: Students whose fifth birthday occurs by Sept. 1, 2025, are eligible to enroll in kindergarten. 
• Dual Language Immersion kindergarten: Like transitional kindergarten, this program in which students are taught in English and Spanish is almost full. The same age requirements as traditional kindergarten apply. Parents also must attend a mandatory DLI orientation meeting.
• Preschool: Youngsters who are 3 years old are eligible for preschool.

To begin the registration process, families must complete a two-step prccess.

The first step is to fill out a Google form to request the official registration link. The form is available via a QR code (seen at left). It also can been seen on DECA’s website and social media platforms (Parent Square, Facebook or Instagram). A printed QR code also is available at the DECA office.

Once the Google form is completed and submitted, families will receive an Aeries link to DECA’s enrollment forms. This link will allow families to enroll in Aeries and upload the following required documents:

• Birth certificate
• Current immunization records
• Proof of residence such as a utility bill

The DECA office staff will be available to assist with registration until May 23. Parents with questions are encouraged to call the DECA office at (209) 632-8887.

More about DECA 

At DECA, students are exposed early on to the importance of attending college. There is a wide range of fun and important electives and after school activities, and an emphasis is placed on being safe, responsible, respectful and kind.

All this occurs on a pretty and well-maintained campus under the direction of an experienced staff who are passionate about educating students.

The Dual Language Immersion program will be heading into its 11th year next fall and is available at every grade through Denair Middle School. At Denair High School, dual immersion students continue their instruction in both English and Spanish to ensure they are eligible for the Seal of Biliteracy at graduation. 

At DECA, immersion means just that. In kindergarten, 90% of the instruction is in Spanish, in first grade it drops to 80%, then 70% in second grade, 60% in third grade, and 50% in fourth and fifth grades.

Dual immersion teachers in kindergarten through second grade only speak Spanish in front of their students. English instruction takes place with other teachers.

It’s not just DLI students who learn a second language. Students on the traditional track also receive Spanish instruction one to three times a week in the language lab.

In addition, DECA provides a variety of fun and challenging Academic Adventure electives, such as:

• Drama/Performing Arts
• Technology
• Engineering design
• Health and nutrition
• Art
• Horticulture
• Music
• Science

Denair Charter Academy will host its annual Spring Family Night on Tuesday, April 15 on campus from 5 to 6 p.m.

Family members and friends of the 53 homeschool students in grades K-8 and the 127 independent study high school students are invited to attend. For students, it is a chance to show off projects they’ve worked on or created, play games with other families or their teacher, and enjoy pizza, drinks and music together. 

All students who attend will be entered into a raffle to win cake pops and cookies made by DCA sophomore Eshperancah Brun, who has started her own bakery called Eshpe’s Sweet Tooth.

“It is a great way to build relationships between the families and staff,” said DCA Principal Jamie Pecot.

DCA representatives also will talk about the campus’ many exciting new programs, including floral arrangement, ceramics and science courses.

Social media, videos and podcasts are ubiquitous in the life of today’s teenagers, most of whom have only known a world of ever-evolving multimedia choices. Understanding how to create content and navigate that landscape – while having a little fun doing it – is one of the goals of a popular class at Denair High School.

At Thursday night’s meeting of the the Denair Unified School District board, trustees and the audience got a peek behind the curtain when the teacher and three of his students delivered a fun presentation about the Denair Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (DESPN).

The goal of DESPN is to provide opportunities for the 21 students in the class to practice their communication skills, exercise their creativity and develop shared responsibility through working collectively to create content and promote events for Denair High. All of the skills used are aimed at preparing students for post-secondary opportunities, explained the students and teacher Anthony Armas.

Videos, the “Coyote Crib” podcast and other content are recorded biweekly and available on Spotify, YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. Some content also appears within separate videos produced by the student leadership members and shown to the whole campus each Friday during second period.

As its name suggests, DESPN is a not-to-subtle tribute to ESPN, the global sports broadcasting behemoth based in Connecticut. 

And while the main focus of DESPN is on sports broadcasting, it also has a component on athletic leadership and how sports can have a positive impact on a student’s overall well-being. One video includes a friendly reminder to Denair students about how to treat athletes and fans from other schools. Another discussion centered around favorite foods. Students frequently wear their team uniforms or dress up to portray specific themes, like the pilgrims on Thanksgiving.

It’s clear the students in front of the cameras are having fun, even if the underlying goals are more serious. Students learn about communication skills, video editing, graphics editing, collaborating with classmates, organizational skills and time management – all important traits in whatever career they may pursue later in life.

“I would also say it provides students with an organic way of working on their literacy skills, which is a focus not only at the high school, but across the district,” said DHS Principal Breanne Aguiar.

Armas said all the content is driven by the students, who brainstorm when they meet daily in fifth period. Nothing is off-limits, as long as it’s appropriate for a student audience and not offensive.

“We have a general starting point for each podcast, but try to go wherever the conversation takes us,” he said.

Trustees also heard updates from Daisy Swearingen, the district’s chief business official, on some important building and security projects Thursday night.

She said plans are under way for a major modernization of Denair Elementary Charter Academy. The project includes relocating and upgrading the kitchen and multipurpose room, redesigning the main office, adding new classrooms, fixing existing portable classrooms, and modernizing the older classroom wings shared by DECA and Denair Charter Academy next door. New classrooms also are planned at Denair High School.

Board members also voted unanimously to hire companies to install video security cameras at all campuses, upgrade technology-related cabling throughout the district and create a facilities master plan. 

• EKC Enterprises of Fresno will install cloud-based video surveillance systems at a cost of $304,810.
• GigaKOM of San Diego will do a complete rip-and-replace of all existing cabling infrastructure to ensure reliable network connectivity across all sites. The total project cost is $404,444.
• Caldwell Flores Winters, Inc. (CFW) of Emeryville will develop a comprehensive Facilities Assessment and Implementation Plan, which is required for the district to tap into state construction funds. The plan will cost $50,000 and is due this fall.

Swearingen said the projects will be paid for by the Measure Z school bond passed by local voters last fall as well as a combination of state funding sources.

In other action Thursday, the board: 

• Applauded with the audience after Kathi Dunham-Filson was sworn in as the newest trustee. She replaces Crystal Sousa, who resigned last month. It is a familiar role for Dunham-Filson, who served on the Denair board from 2013 until November 2024, when she lost her re-election bid. She was chosen by the other four trustees earlier this month after public interviews with three finalists who applied to fill out the remainder of Sousa’s term, which ends in November 2026.
• Listened as Superintendent Terry Metzger outlined the district’s summer school plans. At the elementary and middle school level, there will be 23 days of extended learning for 150 students who will be in kindergarten through seventh grade next fall. High school students who need to make up a class they received an “F” in – a process known as credit recovery – will have up to 20 days at DCA. There also will be 20 days of extra instruction for up to 24 qualifying special education students. All the summer school classes begin May 27.
• Unanimously approved the addition of a one-semester ethnic studies class next year at Denair High. In 2021, the California Legislature passed a bill adding ethnic studies to graduation requirements, beginning with the class of 2030. Ethnic studies is an interdisciplinary field that examines the culture, history and experiences of different racial and ethnic groups in the United States, particularly people of color and other historically marginalized groups.
• Hired Merced Fencing to replace and upgrade fencing around the high school baseball field. New gates will provide secure entry down the access road between a new housing development to the west and school property, extending to the ag farm, and will create an additional access gate to the farm. The total project cost is $222,510. Of this, $150,000 will be paid by the developer, with the remainder covered by developer fees and/or Measure Z.
• Designated May 5-9 as the Week of the Teacher and May 18-24 as Week of the Classified School Employee.

Students at Denair Elementary Charter Academy will mark International Day of the Child on Wednesday with an afternoon of fun events to celebrate cultures from around the world.

The event will take place on campus from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Parents, family, friends and community members are invited. There will be games, booths, food and music for all to enjoy.

International Day of the Child was inspired by Children’s Day, which has been celebrated annually in Mexico since 1925 to recognize children as an important part of society and to emphasize loving, accepting and appreciating them. DECA began participating in International Day of the Child about five years ago.

“This event celebrates the wealth of cultures present in our school and community and provides an opportunity to showcase and appreciate our shared similarities,” said DECA Principal Laura Cardenas.

There are several performances involving students scheduled Wednesday.

Denair Middle School’s World Languages Club members will show off their dancing skills in the gym starting at 2 p.m. They will be followed by DECA students in first through fifth grades, who will perform cultural dances from 2:30 to 3 p.m. Kindergarteners from DECA’s dual immersion classes also will sing and put on a cultural fashion show. 

Cardenas said there are multiple classrooms activities throughout the school year that provide important background and context to help students appreciate International Day of the Child.

For instance, she said lessons about social studies and geography expose students to 

different countries, cultures, traditions, customs and global citizenship. Spanish classes include stories or poems inspired by other cultures.

Arts and crafts allow students to create things that represent other ways of life. And learning about and performing music and dances from around the world opens children’s minds to other perspectives.

Finally there is there is an element of social-emotional learning when students participate in discussions about diversity, empathy, understanding and respecting different cultures.