Nogales High spotlights student programs, names Kevin Encinas new head football coach

Nogales High School used the Rowland Unified School District board meeting on Jan. 27 to showcase student achievements, new programs and a coaching hire, presenting student speakers and teacher leaders who tied classroom projects to the school’s guiding “belief statements.”

Principal Scott Cavanillas opened the spotlight by describing four belief statements that drive Nogales’ work — “you have value, you matter,” and three operational pillars: relationships, responsiveness and reflection — and asked students and staff to show how those values shape instruction and activities across campus. “These belief statements were created by our staff… and vetted by students and families,” Cavanillas said. He announced the district had named Kevin Encinas the new head football coach after the previous coach stepped away, saying the district acted quickly to preserve stability for student-athletes.

Students who spoke described a broad range of experiences. Marie Ortega, a varsity volleyball libero and softball player, said athletics built community and noted teams’ competitive successes, including a run to CIF finals for volleyball and league championships for tennis and football. “A strong community uplifts all,” Ortega said. Student leaders also described journalism, a renaissance program and expanded arts and music offerings.

Staff and teacher leaders framed instructional work around culturally responsive practices and project-based learning. Sarah Court, an intervention teacher and instructional coach, summarized a staff book study on culturally responsive instruction, calling culture “the way the brain makes sense of the world” and describing how staff anchor instruction in students’ backgrounds. Teacher Charles Saperone described an AP English–led literacy project that produced more than 80 personalized bilingual books for elementary-school partners and small libraries at several sites.

Vanessa Ramirez highlighted an ethnic-studies lens applied to chemistry lessons, where students created visual flow maps based on family recipes to explore scientific concepts, and other staff described the school’s use of primary and secondary professional learning teams and dedicated Monday collaboration time to align practice.

Cavanillas also shared recent performance metrics from the school dashboard showing gains across multiple measures: science up 6.9 points, English learner progress up 4.3 points, English language arts up 9.5 points, mathematics up 6.9 points and a 1.5-percentage-point rise in the graduation rate. “These numbers reflect the hard work of so many,” he said, and thanked district leaders and families for their support.

Brandon Macias, chair of the Nogales School Site Council, described the council’s expanded role in shared governance, saying the SCC has increased community participation, amended bylaws to reduce red tape and improved transparency through social media and a public website.

Student speaker Tanner Yocom, an IB diploma candidate, described academic opportunities that helped him prepare for college and said Nogales supports a wide range of student goals. “Nogales has made an effort to make every student intellectually curious,” Yocom said.

The presentation concluded with board and community recognition, and the board invited students, staff and parents to come forward for photographs. The spotlight is part of a monthly board practice of highlighting campus work; Nogales leaders said they hope the public showcase will help sustain community support for instructional and extracurricular programs.

The board then moved on to standard business, including accepting the district’s audit reports and approving routine calendar and resolutions items.