Superintendent's Update

I love the spirit of Thanksgiving. It’s important to reflect at points in the year about things we should be thankful for. It’s easy to over-select on the negative at the expense of allowing space for gratitude and thanks.

The City of Palo Alto had a malfunction of a power transformer sometime this morning that left Fletcher Middle School without electricity. That was not the start to a Friday we were hoping for. The staff had everything under control, but I went over just to make sure people were on the same page. 

Today I am writing about our new Palo Alto Middle College High School (PAMC) located at Foothill College. I was recently invited to have a conversation with some of our juniors at the program. The 30 minutes we spent together took me through a range of emotions and reflections. In this message, I am going to convey some of the things I heard directly from students.

REFLECTIONS OF COVID CLOSURES

We regularly meet with our principals to discuss key issues and to gain insight into the topics that are top of mind for them. This week we landed on a reflection of our time together during the Covid closures and reopening efforts. One principal said we had never really revisited that time in our history. The next thing I knew, many hands were in the air bringing up things that many had forgotten.

Palo Alto Unified School District manages a $340 million budget, with 87% directed toward staff costs, reflecting its focus on providing high-quality education through exceptional personnel. PAUSD’s unique staffing demonstrates its dedication to student support and instructional excellence. These investments contribute to PAUSD’s reputation as one of California’s top districts.

I had a lot to write about today, but my time was spent with teachers who needed some help.  I’ll make it up on the next one.  For now, I want to share a quick 2-minute video highlighting a little bit about PAUSD.  It’s a small part of a series that aligns with our PAUSD Promise.

PAUSD #8 IN NATION (#1 DISTRICT OVER 8,000 STUDENTS)

The yearly Niche rankings came out recently. Commonly seen as the gold standard for school and district rankings, Niche ranked PAUSD as the 8th best school district in the entire nation, top in California, and first in the nation for school districts over 8,000 students.

Evidence Based Grading (EBG): As I walked around one of our middle schools Back to School Nights this year, I was struck by how many teachers were discussing EBG with our families. While discussions were underway prior to my arrival seven years ago, it looks like we are nearing a critical mass of teachers shifting practices to align more closely with EBG.

The Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) Innovation & Agility department recently launched its AI NOW! ‘Bytes’ and Evolve program with meetings for Secondary and Elementary AI Leads on September 13th and 18th.

Please enjoy this video message from Dr. Austin.