San Cayetano principal outlines recovery plan after school—s letter grade drops

San Cayetano Elementary School Principal Sandria Renteria told the Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District No. 35 governing board on Jan. 14 that the school—s state letter grade declined and outlined a plan to reverse the trend.

Renteria said the school saw a notable drop in proficiency and growth metrics and that chronic absenteeism rose sharply; she described teacher turnover and curriculum transition as contributing factors.

The presentation, which included remarks from Sarah Boswell, the school—s instructional coach, broke the recovery effort into three primary focuses: strengthening instruction in math and English language arts, using district-provided curricula with fidelity, and accelerating student growth through targeted interventions and data-driven instructional cycles. Renteria said the school will also expand family engagement and attendance strategies.

Why it matters: The letter grade affects public accountability reporting and informs the school—s improvement strategies. Board members pressed for details and commended the site for an explicit plan of action.

Renteria summarized areas the school identified as high priority: moving students from "minimally proficient" to "proficient," increasing the number of students making substantial growth on state-aligned measures, and reducing chronic absenteeism. She told the board the school has begun scheduling regular data days for teams, using DIBELS and other assessments to create specific action plans, and adopting a prescriptive intervention schedule called Win Time.

Boswell said she visits classrooms daily and has begun ensuring the new core math and ELA curricula are implemented consistently across grade levels. "When I visit classrooms, I see core curriculum in math and ELA being implemented in every classroom as best as our teachers can right now," she told the board.

Renteria and Boswell described several practices the site is adopting: two-hour team data meetings tied to an action step, prescriptive intervention planning with progress monitoring, skill-based tutoring across mixed grades, and family nights that pair instruction with parent training (for example, a "Reading Under the Stars" event and a planned ELL resource night).

Board members asked about teacher turnover and supports for early-career teachers. Renteria said turnover had been concentrated outside kindergarten and first grade and offered an example: one fifth-grade class had four different teachers during a single year. She said she would provide specific turnover numbers on request. Superintendent Ricardo Verdugo and other district leaders have proposed creating a TLA (teacher leadership/assistance) position to support first- and second-year teachers and long-term substitutes; Renteria and Boswell said they expect that role to help stabilize instruction at the site.

On attendance, Renteria said the school had seen a large increase in chronic absenteeism compared with the prior year and called it one of the most surprising data points: "I don't know how we went from, that 3% to that 36 percent," she said, noting the school is intensifying efforts to reduce absences and tardies through daily recognition and direct family outreach.

Renteria asked the board for continued support for time and coaching to implement the curricular and intervention shifts. Board President Lourdes Vasquez and other members praised the presentation and encouraged continued focus on data, attendance and family engagement.

The presentation was discussion-only; the board did not take a formal action tied to San Cayetano—s letter grade during the meeting.

Looking ahead: Renteria said the school will complete midyear assessments and return with progress updates after scheduled data days tied to DIBELS, MAP and i-Ready midyear results.