Superintendent

2024 - 2025

Embracing the Whole Child

On behalf of the Southern Kern Unified School District Governing Board of Trustees, it is my distinct pleasure to welcome everyone to the 2024-2025 school year. As we approach a new school year, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for everyone’s unwavering dedication to our student’s success. We are optimistic, based on preliminary state test scores, that we will see an increase in Math and English Language Arts. Your support, in all of its forms, has been instrumental in shaping our students’ academic success.

Over the course of the summer, I reflect on what it will take for us to continue the progress we have made recently. I have listened carefully to the feedback from educators, parents and guardians across all of our schools, our Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) committee members, and have read and assessed survey data from parents, students and staff. In analyzing all of this feedback, one of the areas that we know we can and must improve on is our parent/community involvement. In order for us to continue to build on the gains we have made as a school district, we are committing ourselves to strengthening community, collaboration, and communication.

SKUSD takes pride in our Parent and Community Center, located on the campus of Rosamond High Early College Campus. If you have not visited the Parent Center, please do. The center is opened on Monday through Friday from 9:30 am – 5:00 pm. The Parent Center has various resources for parents that address mental health, free library books for students, computer access, and meeting rooms for upcoming classes and events for our parents and students and even a nice coffee bar if you just want to come and browse.

Building community, deepening collaboration and improving communication has the potential to profoundly shape how our schools operate and thrive. By focusing on community, collaboration and communication, we will strengthen academic achievement for all learners, build strong social emotional supports in our schools, empower educators and principals to make wise school-based decisions, and develop long-term fiscal plans that support schools in gauging the academic progress of our students by prioritizing individual student needs.

We continue our work this year, centered on Embracing the Whole Child. The Whole Child approach to learning is achieved when children are immersed in learning environments intended to foster a sense of community, encourage interpersonal skills, problem solving, goal setting, creativity, autonomy, and self-accountability. This focus aims to ensure that each child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported and challenged.

Let’s continue to prioritize attendance, academic performance, and wellness as we aim for a strong year, knowing that your support is a key factor in our success. Student attendance will be highlighted at each site and recognized by the Board of Trustees monthly. Good attendance and learning go hand in hand.

Your time, resources, and contributions make the Southern Kern Unified School District exceptional. Let’s make the 24-25 school year memorable and impactful for our students!

Sincerely,
Barbara E. Gaines
Superintendent, SKUSD