Welcome back!

Over 15,000 students have returned to classrooms in the Yakima School District as we begin the 2012-2013 school year. Each new school year brings anticipation and excitement for what it may bring.

As we all know, there are many challenges and opportunities with each new school year. This year we will be opening a brand new alternative high school, Stanton Academy, located at 802 River Road. This new facility offers our students such amazing educational opportunities through the flexibility of the design and greatly improved technology. In addition, the continued construction of Eisenhower High School and the start of building the new A.C. Davis High School present huge challenges, but also amazing opportunities for our students and the Yakima community. We are also pleased that Phase II of the Yakima Valley Technical Skills Center (YV-TECH) expansion is well underway. Unfunded state and federal mandates, new state mandates, and seeking the resources to continue our technology upgrades are just a number of issues that we will face during the coming year.

We plan to build on our successes; the past school year brought many challenges yet many accomplishments were achieved. We saw increases in our state assessment scores in virtually every subject at each grade level. We are extremely proud of the growth of our students in mathematics over the past year; there was growth in every grade level in the district. Last year we implemented a program called READ 180 in our middle schools and celebrated the great gains our students made in reading over the course of the year. This year those students will continue the program at our Eisenhower and A.C. Davis high schools and Stanton Academy.

Recognizing that today’s children are tomorrow’s leaders, we must remember that our community’s greatest resource is our children. Please resolve to involve yourself in the life of a child. It’s the best investment of time you will ever make. We are proud of the rich tradition of our school district that continues to seek ways to better meet the needs of all our children. Together we can continue the direction of educating each of them for a successful future in a technological and complex global society.

As we begin this school year, I wish the greatest success for all our students, families and staff.

Elaine Beraza, Superintendent
Yakima School District