Fresno County schools join community partners to help students reach success | Opinion
Embarking on a new calendar year offers a valuable opportunity to reflect on the transformative experiences children are having in Fresno County classrooms.
Over the past year, our 32 school districts and 29 charter schools have increasingly opened their doors to foster community engagement and partnerships. Of note, Fresno County is home to approximately 206,000 students in grades K-12. Because our commitment extends beyond the traditional kindergarten-12 framework and encompasses children from ages 0 to 22, we educators feel a deep responsibility for as many as 370,000 young people across our county.
The vision rooted in the power of shared purpose in Fresno County is to cultivate a brighter future for our children, equipping them for success as they venture on their educational journey and in life. The list of partners is getting longer as we collaborate in service to all of Fresno County’s children, such as the efforts of the Foster Youth Network Improvement Community. In partnership with the Fresno Unified School District and more than 20 other community agencies, the goal of NIC is to improve literacy rates of foster youth students in the Edison, Fresno and McLane regions for grades 3-6. This successful program was the recipient of the 2023 Golden Bell Award by the California School Boards Association.
In realizing this vision in the past year, my office has actively sought collective solutions through cross-sector partnerships, resource alignment, and the strength derived from our shared mission.
Sheriff John Zanoni pledged his commitment to ensuring the safety of our schools, while Fresno Housing president Tyrone Roderick Williams has focused on providing stable, affordable housing to better support families.
Opinion
First 5 Fresno County executive director Fabiola González is dedicated to improving the health and early-care outcomes of our youngest learners, ensuring they enter kindergarten ready to thrive. Fresno State President Dr. Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval has initiated Bulldog Bound, not just as a program leading to college enrollment, but as a philosophy that promotes best practices between home and school, assisting students in achieving their academic goals.
Much of this collaborative work is carried out by leaders who recognize that our collective effectiveness surpasses individual efforts when we work together, from cradle to career.
Success begins with quality early care that nurtures fundamental reading and math skills, along with strong social-emotional development. The next stage is success in school through effective instruction, which leads to reading proficiency by third grade and mastery of math skills, including algebra, by eighth grade. This path helps charter success with rigorous college preparatory coursework and creates diverse career technical experiences and opportunities for post-high school futures.
Barriers related to personal safety, health, food insecurity, language, violence and housing, among others, impact the education of children, but together we are working to find solutions that will help create prosperity in our communities.
It is worth noting that our educators and partners remain committed to discovering inventive solutions to assist our most vulnerable children. Their dedication was reaffirmed last month when the California School Boards Association recognized not only FCSS with the prestigious Golden Bell Award, but also three other Fresno County school districts:
▪ Clovis Unified received recognition for its innovative special education teacher recruitment program
▪ Fresno Unified was lauded for its effective services offered through Parent University
▪ Selma Unified was acknowledged for its efforts in addressing student mental health through the introduction of dog therapy, provided by two charming pups named Jeter and Scout.
We are so proud that Fresno County’s innovative education programs are being recognized at a statewide level — out of nearly 1,000 local educational agencies in the state and 58 counties, earning four awards exemplifies Fresno’s dedication to student success.
The most gratifying aspect of this work is our shared commitment to be accountable to our community. We recognize that everything we do happens within the context of our community, which is why schools consistently report our progress. We acknowledge the importance of effectively sharing the responsibility of nurturing our children so they can flourish in their natural pursuit of growth, learning, and thriving.
Dr. Michele Cantwell-Copher is the Fresno County superintendent of schools
