Vallejo City Unified principals highlight attendance and literacy gains; Highland flags urgent math shortfall

Vallejo City Unified trustees heard detailed school-site updates at a Nov. 12 board meeting that emphasized attendance initiatives, early-literacy work and targeted interventions — and underscored a sharp math shortfall at one elementary site.

Principal Faustino Cadiz III told the board Cooper Elementary serves about 360 students and is “87.1% socioeconomically disadvantaged,” with 31% multilingual learners and an average daily attendance of 92.1%. Cadiz said his site emphasizes literacy, PBIS and family engagement and uses attendance incentives such as popcorn parties and student leadership to boost daily attendance.

Stephan Manor principal Brenda Zander reported enrollment near 425 students, declining chronic absenteeism and modest gains on CAASPP and NWEA after expanding early-literacy instruction with UFLI/UFLY and using a full-service community schools grant to host resource nights and community partners.

Jessica Frank, principal at Pennycook Elementary, described enrollment growth and an attendance uptick (September daily attendance up from 93.59% to 94.17%), and highlighted that targeted NWEA growth exceeded projections for some student groups after using LCFF equity multiplier funds to support leadership and tutoring programs.

By contrast, Christy Glasgow, the first-year principal at the site identified in the presentation as Highland/Ireland Elementary, said district-aligned coaching and tiered supports are in place but warned: “Our data shows that currently, only 6 percent of our students are meeting grade level expectations in math.” Glasgow said the school will continue dedicated coaching cycles, protected planning time and small-group instruction to accelerate math outcomes.

Federal Terrace principal Marisa Carbonneau credited district-wide coherence and veteran teachers for recent gains but noted a persistent fourth-grade teacher vacancy dating back to the 2022–23 school year that has complicated continuity and instruction.

Dan Mini and John Finney continuation high school presenters described school-specific strategies: Dan Mini highlighted science growth and a ‘second chance’ breakfast and attendance recovery pilot, while Principal Sylvia Whitson said John Finney has sustained three years of graduation-rate improvement and completed its first full year out of CSI (Comprehensive Support and Improvement) status after adding mandatory student-support hours, targeted remediation and community partnerships. Whitson and staff also outlined constraints and opportunities for expanding CTE access, reporting existing partnerships with Solano Community College and off-site medical assistant pathways.

Adult school director Laura Dutch described steady adult-education enrollment (unduplicated enrollment 2,775 last year), increased HiSET/GED completions and strong apprenticeship-entry pass rates, while cautioning about instability in some federal funding streams and raising campus-safety and facility concerns for evening programs.

The board began the meeting with a procedural vote to adopt the agenda; Vice President Amboy moved to adopt and Dr. Young seconded the motion, which passed (the clerk reported the motion passed with three ayes and two trustees absent). The board closed by thanking school teams and reminding attendees of a Nov. 18 town hall at Vallejo High School and the next regular board meeting the following Wednesday at 6 p.m.

What happens next: principals described ongoing steps — additional coaching cycles, intervention-group reassessments in January and continued community partnerships — and several board members invited site visits to observe classroom instruction and implementation of the new math curriculum. The board did not take further formal action on the presentations at the meeting.