It has been said that the Val Verde Unified School District is “Beating the Odds.” That is, we are demolishing the stereotype that demographics predict student achievement. In fact, under California's brand new accountability system Val Verde USD is NOT under technical assistance. That is significant since 1 in 4 districts across the state did qualify. I am also very proud of the five California Distinguished Schools and the twelve Title 1 Academic Achieving Schools. This statewide recognition is validation of our continuing commitment to quality education.

We are continuing to focus on improving student achievement across the grades with a target of closing the academic gaps that are present. An additional area of focus have been improving upon is the graduation rate and reducing the dropout rate. Currently, our graduation rate is 96.3% (among the highest in Riverside County)

The District has adopted Common Core aligned, K-8 State Board adopted instructional Materials in Mathematics and Language Arts at the elementary and secondary levels. The District has implemented a strategy of Professional Learning Communities which is an interdependent group of people involved in collaboration that is centered on data and leads to continuous improvement in student achievement. As a result of our focus on curriculum and instruction, the students in Val Verde have made remarkable improvement in academic achievement.

The Education Services Division Strategic Plan and LCAP guides our work. We have four major initiatives. They are Articulated Instruction Model (AIM), Close Reading, Depth of Knowledge and Response to Intervention (RtI2). For more information on these district wide initiatives please click here to view our Strategic Plan.

We are also weaving in instructional technology to be used as a force-multiplier to support high quality instruction and personalized learning. To date, we have a student to device ratio of 1:1. We have also been recognized nationally as a Google Reference District to serve as a technology model for others to follow. These are exciting times in education as we encourage students to find their passion and become College and Career Ready!