Vacaville Unified School District

We get to talk about one of our fantastic parent volunteers, Lacie Lopez. I’ve known Lacie since I first arrived at Alamo 11 years ago. Her scoreboard at Alamo is 12 years down, with four more to go. This is the time when the staff of Alamo thanked Lacie for keeping us employed all these years. Our PTO is an amazing group of parents that carry on traditions from the 60s and 70s and introduce new traditions. I’d love to tell you about these fantastic people, but Lacie, as the PTO president, represents them tonight. This is Lacie’s 4th year as Alamo PTO president. Even though she tries to pass this position on to another parent each year, we know how amazing she is, and we keep talking her into “just one more year!” We suspect Lacie has a life outside of Alamo, but there is no proof. Fun fact, she lives across the street from a school in Vacaville, which only proves that she has had outstanding taste in her educational choices for 16 years. However, she is also a huge Dodgers fan, so she could be better and has room to grow. We want to thank her children for allowing their mother to hang out at Alamo, Ozzie from Alamo, Zoie from Jepson, and Gracie, a senior at Vaca High. Thankfully Jepson and Vaca High haven’t poached her, and we hope you will keep her our secret. We also need to thank her husband, Sam. Our PTO does many events, and Lacie is at every single one, so a big thank you to Sam for sharing her with us, even if he is also a Dodger fan. Thank you, Lacie, for 12 incredible years, and we look forward to 4 more wonderful years, probably as President, since your only weakness seems to be finding someone to take that position.

Maddie White is the kind of student every teacher dreams about having. When I asked her former teachers to describe her, they used words like shining, delightful, diligent, kind, inclusive, and extraordinary. When I asked classmates the same question, they said caring, thoughtful, selfless, intelligent, creative, brave, funny, spunky, tall, generous, a little bit intimidating, and unique. I have been lucky enough to be Maddie’s teacher twice now, once in third and now in sixth, and I can attest to the fact that she is all those things and so much more. Maddie is a one-of-a-kind student who never hesitates to help others. She is willing to help others in the classroom and has become one of the “go-to tutors.” When I asked Maddie what she most wanted people to know about her, she was helpful. She has a big heart for serving others and is generous with her time, attention, and talents. An Alamo student since kindergarten, she goes out of her way to help others, no matter who is in need and the task. She is incredibly bright but is humble about it. She does not brag or boast about her grades but quietly and diligently goes about each day, always trying to give her best. She contributes to class conversations and discussions and never leaves her teacher hanging with no volunteers to call on. Even though she is an excellent reader and has met her AR goal every time Maddie has had one, she loves math most of all because it is fun, and she knows she is good at it. Not only does Maddie currently play the violin, but she has been playing volleyball since third grade. Her favorite part of volleyball is serving because she likes feeling powerful. This is her favorite of all her hobbies, including reading, coloring, and sewing boo-boo packs to sell at craft fairs. When she becomes an adult, Maddie hopes to become a NASA engineer. In that position, she would like to help design the next generation of rovers to explore other planets. She isn’t yet sure where she would like to go to college but hopes to find a school to help her achieve this goal. I cannot think of a better choice to represent Alamo School as an outstanding sixth grader. We are fortunate as a school and district to have Maddie White as an Eagle. Congratulations Maddie!

The Vacaville Unified School District Board of Education recognized Stefanie Perrault as Orchard’s 2022-2023 volunteer of the year. Stefanie Perrault is an indispensable part of our PTC and school community. Stefanie joined our board as a Parliamentarian and her steady presence keeps us in line. In addition to joining the board, she has gone on to take on much more. As a fifth-grade parent, she is helping organize our sixth-grade science camp trip this year in preparation for leading the planning next year. She is thoughtfully finding ways to support our new 4th-grade field trip to Coloma. She always looks for opportunities to make our school a better place -- from researching grant opportunities to running a photo booth at our school carnival.

Andres Pareja is an “Old Timer” at Orchard Elementary School. This means that he has attended Orchard for every grade since kindergarten. Over the years at Orchard he has shown to be truly an ideal student. If you speak his name out loud several teachers will turn and say, “Isn’t he simply a delight to teach.” Past and present teachers all agree that Andres is a great role model who consistently demonstrates qualities of maturity, leadership, insightfulness and integrity. Andres is an exceptional student. He carries out any given task with enthusiasm. He loves to learn new concepts and tackles any challenge whole-heartedly. His generous and patient spirit enables him to share his knowledge with classmates and with our third grade little buddies. Andres is humble, happy, and helpful. He is very humorous, but always knows when it is appropriate to tell a joke or make someone laugh. He never disrupts learning in the classroom, only enhances it. His extra curricular activities include playing the trumpet and working with technology. He is always a Novel Knowledge participant and his team of 5th graders achieved first place at Orchard last year. Andres likes all sports, but especially basketball. His kind and accepting ways have created many opportunities for friendships because he is so respectful of others. His strong sense-of-self has helped him endure his strides for excellence in how he lives his life. We are proud to include Andres Pareja as an Orchard Owl Student of The Year and know there are great successes in his future.

Vacaville Unified School District will conduct a public sale of surplus assets beginning on Friday, November 18, 2022 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and ending on Saturday, November 19, 2022 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Read more for items available.

Career and Technical Education (CTE) is intended to prepare students for high-skill, high-wage, in-demand employment. All students benefit from career connected learning that emphasizes real-world skills within a selected career focus. Students gain practical knowledge while discovering and preparing for success in potential careers.

The Vacaville Unified School District Governing Board approved the appointment of Manolo Garcia, who currently serves as the interim Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, to the role of assistant superintendent, Department of Human Resources, effective November 4, 2022. “Mr. Garcia brings a wealth of experience to Vacaville Unified School District (VUSD), not just in HR, but also as a former teacher and school administrator. Throughout his career, he has made a measurable impact in expanding recruitment and retention initiatives and improving systems, processes and customer service throughout the district,” said Shamieh. “We look forward to his leadership in continuing our efforts to attract experienced educators and support staff to VUSD.” Garcia has 5 years of HR experience as the former Director of Human Resources for the department. In addition to 14 years as a site administrator on various campuses in Yolo and Solano Counties. Garcia served as Principal of Edwin Markham Elementary School for 9 years, and during his time at Ernest Kimme Charter Academy, he wrote the charter to start the independent learning school. Garcia is a graduate of University of California Davis.

Nolan Kenion has been at Fairmont since Kindergarten! Not only is he strong in academics, but also he is great at showing his Fairmont Falcon Wings! He is a student who provides excellent leadership to everyone he is involved with. Nolan always works hard in all he does; he is excellent at including others in all recess games and on projects in the classroom, never giving up until he reaches his intended goal! For example, making a difference by helping make soccer at recess fair and fun! In addition, Nolan is always willing to show kindness by helping students with math problems and assisting them however possible! He is a leader at our school and will also be in the future!

Jerry Parrish is a retired Chief from Travis Air Force base. He served 33 years. He was also a self-employed General Contractor and recently retired from that. He has been married to his wife for 50 years, and they enjoy traveling together. They have three grown & married children (their daughter Heather works for VUSD @ Fairmont). They have eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Their grandchildren have enjoyed many stories that their Papa (Jerry) has shared with them over the years about his adventures while growing up in Fort Worth, Texas. Jerry has worked since he was 13 years old and wanted to spend some of his free time helping students. He has volunteered for Fairfield Suisun Unified School District by doing campus cleanup at Fairfield High School. In addition to Jerry reading to our Fairmont students in the Library and classrooms, Jerry reads with 1st-grade students at Markham Elementary. Jerry enjoys reading to students and helping them improve their reading skills by reading to him. He is excellent at engaging students in discussions about what is being read and their thoughts about the story.

Assembly Member Lori Wilson stopped by Markham Elementary to try out the scratch-made lunch. Calzones, bolognese pasta, fresh fruit, and broccolini were all on the menu. Board Member Michael Kitzes, Superintendent Jane Shamieh, and her executive cabinet joined Asm. Wilson, on her visit and had a great conversation about school facilities and funding for state-of-the-art kitchens.

We had a great turnout of students, families, and community members at the Steve Green Memorial Gymnasium Ribbon Cutting this past Thursday. As everyone walked on campus, they could hear the drum line from the parking lot and see the cheerleaders with their pom poms and spirited dancing. VHS Link Crew was scattered around campus, offering directions to those looking for the ceremony.

The Vacaville Rotary stopped by Alamo Elementary to surprise our library technicians with a check worth more than $1,000! The funding will purchase library books to support Kindergarten through 3rd graders. Our District librarian researched the seven strengths of an elementary school library and came up with the following areas to focus on. The book themes will focus on belonging, friendship, curiosity, hope, courage, kindness, and confidence. Thank you, Vacaville Rotary, for supporting our youngest readers!

The Vacaville Unified School District Board of Trustees is pleased to announce that Ed Santopadre is the next Superintendent of the Vacaville Unified School District. Contract negotiations finished on October 6, 2022 and Mr. Santopadres’ tenure will start July 1, 2023. Mr. Santopadre succeeds Dr. Jane Shamieh who will retire on June 30, 2023 after eight years of exemplary service as the District’s Superintendent.

Measure A Goal: Improve the quality of education in Vacaville USD public schools and ensure all students have access to safe, modern school facilities. Better schools help build stronger communities and support local property values.

We are excited to kick off the 2022-23 school year! The first day of school is Thursday, August 18th. We can’t wait to see you all in person. In an effort to make school-to-home communication more efficient we’ve switched all of our communications methods to one platform. It is our hope that having one place to access all student information will make it easier to keep track of district updates, student progress/grades, school events, and so much more. Below you will find a few updates regarding the changes to this upcoming school year.

The Vacaville Unified School District was thrilled to celebrate graduating students with in-person ceremonies June 1-4, 2022. Please enjoy this collection of photos from the ceremonies.

The Vacaville Unified School District Board of Education named Jose Bermudez Markham’s new Principal during their regular meeting last night.

The Vacaville Unified School District will live stream ceremonies at the Tom Zunino Stadium and the Wildcat Stadium.