Jeff Sweeney
Superintendent Fillmore Unified School District

It is hard to believe the end of the 2008-2009 school year is here. I believe that this has been an exciting and productive year and I sincerely hope that each of you feels the same. I have seen several positive changes as I look around the District. I trust you have seen the changes to each of our facilities. Work was completed at the FHS stadium, giving the school and community a state-of-the-art facility. In addition, FHS was painted and Piru is in the final stages of fresh paint and a new technology infrastructure. New playground equipment was installed at Sespe and new fences installed at Mountain Vista. And, by the time the new school year begins on August 19, FMS will have a brand new field that will be watered by a recycled water project funded by the City.
There has been growth in other areas, too. The following highlights represent a few of our accomplishments over the course of this school year:
San Cayetano Elementary School participated in a robotics competition and had two student teams finish first and fourth overall.
San Cayetano’s Principal, Jan Marholin, was recognized for excellence by the local Soroptimists and the County’s administrative organization.
Fillmore High School received a six year accreditation via the WASC process.
Fillmore High School has created several outstanding extra-curricular programs for our students. This year, our students took home several honors. The boys basketball team and the boys volleyball teams won league titles. Football came in second place; however, they made the CIF semi-finals. The girls basketball team also came in second place and went deep into the CIF playoffs, losing in the third round. Boys soccer and girls softball both had good seasons and qualified for CIF. Our swimming team, swimming at home for the first time in nine years, sent several students to CIF. Lastly, the Pep Squad continued their successful program and won numerous competitions.
FUSD participated in the local Special Olympics for the first time.
Collaboration among staff was a priority, as they worked collectively at each school site and together in teams to create changes focused on improving our academic program.
FUSD created four new special needs classrooms, allowing approximately 40 Fillmore/Piru students to attend their neighborhood schools instead of taking a bus down the highway to attend schools elsewhere in the County.
There were greater opportunities for parents to participate at our schools, including parent workshops sponsored by our elementary schools and the establishment of a parent center at FMS that had monthly parent workshops sponsored by the school.
Sierra High School has more students graduating than ever; a result of an improved academic program that translated in higher test scores and that could be seen daily, as student attendance improved dramatically.
Mountain Vista, working with the Sheriff’s Department, created an Adopt a Cop program that had four officers visiting regularly with our students.
Piru created an opportunity for every student to visit a college.
Sespe continued in their tradition of presenting a musical play acted by our GATE students and written by teacher Greg Spaulding.
A Schools Foundation was established in the District, with the interest of bringing in new resources that will augment the instructional program and support our students.
The 2008-09 school year has ended successfully with much to celebrate, despite the impact of our nation’s and state’s economic downturn that resulted in the reduction of 10% of our budget over the past two years. This week, over 200 seniors will receive their diplomas, ending their academic career in Fillmore, ready to move on to another stage of their lives. It is great to be part of a legacy and a history of such a fine school district and city. Our high school graduates are indicative of the quality. They will be leaving this community to enter into the work force, the military, two year colleges like Ventura and Moorpark, four year colleges like Cal State Northridge and Channel Islands and the UC’s, including Berkley, San Diego, and UCLA, in addition to private universities like Stanford and Cal Lutheran.
The end of the school year is bittersweet. Not only do we say goodbye to those students we've come to know especially well and whose success we cherish, but we bid farewell to a score of professionals who are now retiring after serving Fillmore's children well and long. We recognized these individuals at our June 2 Board meeting. The School Board, staff and I appreciate this opportunity to express our congratulations and our best wishes to our graduates and retirees.
I would like to close by wishing you a restful, relaxing summer. This has been a very challenging and rewarding year for everyone, and I am sure we would all benefit from some time to reflect and to replenish our spirits. Again, thank you for your support and your resiliency and for everything you do every day on behalf of our children and our future. I wish you all a peaceful and restful summer break.
Sincerely, Jeff Sweeney, Superintendent