Terra Nova highlights literacy push and distraction-free learning after one semester with Yonder pouches

Principal Carey and Deputy Superintendent Kareen Baca presented Terra Nova High School’s updated mission, schoolwide goals and instructional priorities to the Jefferson Union High School District board, focusing on a new literacy emphasis and a semester-long Distraction Free Learning initiative using Yonder pouches and district Chromebooks.

Principal Carey said the school’s instructional focus centers on strengthening literacy across content areas by teaching claim-evidence-reasoning (CER) and creating consistent rubrics, and noted schoolwide goals on teaching and instruction, school climate and student supports. Carey said the school increased co-taught sections in English and math to improve access for students with disabilities and reported early positive signals: “More focus, higher work completion, longer attention spans,” she said, describing teacher observations and student feedback after one semester with the Yonder program and district devices.

Carey walked trustees through Terra Nova’s response-to-intervention (RTI) process and a small RTI team that reviews grades, attendance and behavior biweekly to triage students’ needs. She also described a newly launched student e-team and a staff e-team that identified hate speech and microaggressions as equity priorities; the student group is developing presentations and a zine while the staff group is piloting “safe to fail” experiments.

During Q&A, student trustees and board members raised implementation and equity concerns. A student asked whether detention consequences tied to Yonder violations would be extended to other behaviors; Carey said such a change had not been discussed but that the black-and-white nature of the Yonder rule offered clarity and merited consideration. Students flagged technological problems with Chromebooks; Carey acknowledged Wi‑Fi and slow device issues and said the district was purchasing newer Chromebooks and she would circulate a Google form to catalog tech problems.

Trustees asked for more disaggregated data. Trustee Gallegos requested a breakdown for Hispanic students — who Carey said reported lower feelings of connection on a California Healthy Kids survey — and for comparative results for co-taught versus non-co-taught classes; Carey said earlier data showed higher pass rates for students with disabilities in co-taught classes but that a full year-on-year comparison is still in progress.

The board praised the presentation and encouraged site engagement and continued data collection. Principal Carey concluded the report by inviting trustees to upcoming events and thanking staff and student leaders for their work.

The board did not take formal action on the Terra Nova presentation; trustees asked staff to return with more disaggregated outcome data in future reports.