2016 was a good year for Merced City schools

I recently edited a short video capturing just a few of the 2016 highlights for the Merced City School District, and it gave me a chance to think about all of the incredible programs, student success stories, innovative teaching and community support I’ve witnessed in just my first nine months with this great team.

It seems the first week of the new year is a perfect time to look back at some of those moments and also to share a few of the many things we’re looking forward to in 2017.

Shortly after I joined the district, we celebrated the dedication of Rivera Elementary School, which was built adjacent to Rivera Middle School to serve students in the Northwest portion of Merced. Months later, a new preschool was added to complete the campus. Several other facilities projects ramped up over the summer, including major Measure M modernization work at Burbank and Chenoweth elementary schools as well as Hoover Middle School.

Crews have not slowed down since then with additional improvement projects underway at numerous campuses.

We also broke ground on a cutting-edge STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) Center in October. The foundation was poured over the winter break, and the project is going full “steam” ahead, despite some wet weather in recent weeks. When it’s complete, the state-of-the-art facility will offer 21st century learning opportunities for all of the students in our district, and it will also serve as a high-tech training space for teachers.

The STEAM Center is an exciting addition to our district’s comprehensive STEAM program, which won a 2016 Golden Bell Award from the California School Boards Association. The program involves several different initiatives, including the districtwide STEAM Fair, the engineering-based Summer Academy, and the Every Kid in a Park program, which allows all of our fourth-grade students to visit Yosemite. All of those enriching experiences will be coming up again this year, along with the second annual “Spotlight” show in February. That program will take place at the historic Merced Theatre and will feature student performances from each of our 18 campuses.

Other highlights from 2016 include the addition of engaging new English language arts/English language development materials. The texts, videos and online resources are designed to help students become critical thinkers and provide other tools for sustained success. Change can always be challenging, but our teachers have done an excellent job of embracing the new multimedia system and helping our students to do the same. We really do have incredible educators throughout the district. One (preschool teacher Nancy Xiong) was even honored as the Merced County Teacher of the Year in October.

Our students also shined in many ways throughout the past year. We were all so proud when they swept the top three spots at the countywide spelling bee for seventh- and eighth-graders and finished first in the elementary competition. They also excelled in writing contests, sports tournaments, musical performances, and much more. Overall scores on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress improved from 2015 as well.

And finally, I must mention the tremendous community support the district received throughout the past year. Partnerships with businesses, nonprofit organizations, and other educational agencies opened up invaluable opportunities for our students. A few that come to mind immediately are the field trips our eighth-graders took to the Field of Honor at Merced College, the dictionaries donated to all third-graders, and the thousands of books we were able to send home with students through our Fill the Bus book drive.

Yes, 2016 was definitely a great year, and we’re truly excited for all that lies ahead in 2017.

This story was originally published January 6, 2017 at 12:51 PM with the headline "2016 was a good year for Merced City schools."