Venetia Valley principal details growth of dual‑language program, inclusion and academic supports

Venetia Valley Principal Armando Oseguera told the San Rafael City Schools Board of Trustees on March 20 that the school is expanding its dual language immersion (DLI) pathway and working to strengthen interventions and family engagement to support student learning.

Oseguera said Venetia Valley serves about 800 students total — roughly 550 in elementary grades and 240–250 in middle grades — and that the campus currently employs about 38 certificated teachers, 23 classified staff and 22–23 bilingual staff. "Venetia Valley is a community school where students, families, and staff are celebrated for who they already are and are supported everywhere, in every way to become all that they aspire to," Oseguera said.

The school’s DLI track begins with a 90/10 Spanish/English model in TK and kindergarten and increases English instruction incrementally until reaching a 50/50 split in upper elementary grades, he said. Oseguera told trustees the program draws interest from outside the immediate neighborhood; he estimated about 95% of prospective tours are from families seeking the DLI program.

On interim assessment results, Oseguera said the school set a goal to raise the share of students meeting “typical growth” on the i‑Ready screener by 10 percentage points over the prior year. He reported fall–winter benchmark data showing gains in reading for most grade bands but noted math growth lagged district expectations, with the principal highlighting targeted coaching and intervention work planned for the next year. He added that last year’s district baseline showed roughly 39% of students met typical growth in math and 43% in language arts, targets the school sought to improve on.

Oseguera described implementation challenges. Two intervention specialists were reassigned this school year for extended periods (one for about three months in the fall and another for about three months later), reducing planned intervention capacity: "Those are six months out of the eight months in the school year where we had planned for intervention, but we were without that intervention person," he said. Student motivation for high‑stakes or single‑occasion assessments was also cited as a constraint; the school adopted schoolwide incentives and family outreach during conferences to boost test-taking engagement.

The presentation emphasized cross‑age mentoring: a six‑week "Big Buddy" reading program paired sixth and seventh graders with second graders for reading, writing and art activities. Oseguera said participation produced high engagement among the younger students and that the school will repeat the program after state testing concludes.

Trustees asked about student movement in and out of the school. Oseguera said some higher‑performing families have historically left Venetia Valley before upper elementary and middle school; the district’s expansion of the DLI pathway beyond third grade is intended to retain those families. He said the site will continue tracking departure reasons and work to keep families enrolled.

Nut graf: The presentation laid out how Venetia Valley is using program expansion (DLI), targeted interventions and student mentoring to stabilize and improve outcomes, while flagging staffing lapses and assessment motivation as constraints. The school’s next steps include adding another DLI classroom, refining intervention staffing, and continuing family engagement efforts.

The board did not take action on the presentation; trustees thanked Oseguera and encouraged continued outreach and monitoring of assessment trends.

Ending: Oseguera said the school will add another DLI classroom next year and that staff and the district will continue monitoring i‑Ready and CAASPP data to guide coaching and intervention priorities.