Gilroy principals outline reading, attendance pushes as Rotary donates $50,000 for benches and books

Christine Vasquez, principal of Glen View Elementary, told the Gilroy Unified School District board that culture and community engagement — supported by a Neighborhood Safety Unit (NSU) grant — are central to recent gains at her site, including reading increases of up to 10 percent in some cohorts.

"Culture is a huge strength at Glen View," Vasquez said, describing assemblies, STEM events and frequent family engagement. She said the NSU grant funds outreach and incentives aimed at improving attendance; Glen View recently ran raffles for bikes and scooters as part of an attendance campaign.

Vasquez acknowledged challenges, particularly for English learners and unhoused students: she said Glen View counts 40 students who are unhoused and that English-learner performance remains an urgent focus. To address that, she said the school will put an ELD block in place, conduct leveled EL groups by grade, schedule multiple release days for teacher planning and deploy literacy facilitators and classroom coaches.

"We are prioritizing data in our staff meetings," Vasquez said, noting targeted release days and small-group leveling that begin next week.

At Brownell Middle School, the principal (unnamed in the transcript) presented a site improvement plan emphasizing four priorities: student achievement, English-learner progress, AVID expansion and attendance. The principal reported that Brownell serves about 672 students, with roughly 26% English learners, 60.27% socioeconomically disadvantaged students and a suspension rate the principal said was ‘‘approximately 10.6%’’ in 2024, higher than the district average.

The Brownell presentation highlighted declines in ELA and math proficiency and said interventions will include targeted tutoring, strengthened PLCs (professional learning communities), MTSS tier 2/3 supports and an expanded wellness center and restorative practices to reduce suspensions.

Trustees pressed both principals on subgroup outcomes and barriers to progress. Vasquez described the ‘‘unknowns’’ outside school hours as the hardest-to-control factors that affect test scores and attendance; Brownell’s principal said change management among staff will be a key challenge in implementing new systems.

Community philanthropy received board recognition: the Gilroy Rotary Club’s "Trees to Read" project was highlighted by district staff, which said the club planted trees at multiple sites and donated books to every school and preschool classroom. Karen Aken, president of the Gilroy Rotary Club, presented a $50,000 check to district staff for 40 benches and additional library books to be placed at district sites.

"This will be a beautiful legacy of trees and benches in our community," one district presenter said as trustees thanked the Rotary Club for the donation.

The board did not take formal action on the principals’ site plans at the meeting; trustees asked staff to follow up on attendance data and progress reports in subsequent updates.