By Jennifer Loftus
Superintendent, Paso Robles Joint Unified School District
As the new Superintendent, I am thrilled to join a community where there is a passion for ensuring each of our 6,262 students have the best possible learning experience. As I begin my tenure here, I carry forward the work started at the culmination of the 2023-24 academic term, when the district made pivotal decisions that have heralded a metamorphosis across numerous learning landscapes.
Steering away from the conventional middle school paradigm, we elected to retain our sixth-graders within the elementary school setting. This strategic shift provided the district with the space needed to merge the two middle schools into a singular junior high. Newly named Lewis Flamson Junior High School, for all seventh- and eighth-graders, fostering a cohesive junior high community. This reconfiguration paves the way for a customized junior high school experience rife with novel traditions and memories. We are poised in the upcoming school year to reimagine elective offerings and to explore avenues for expanding Career and Technical Education (CTE) program offerings into our junior high curriculum. The landscape ahead is full of opportunities!
Another pivotal move was the relocation of the district’s dual immersion program, coupled with the closure of its oldest campus, which yields fiscal savings and also affords an opportunity to broaden the dual language immersion initiative up to the eighth grade. Expanding this exemplary program will benefit many students for generations to come.
These were hard transitions in our community and I could not be more proud of all the effort everyone has put towardensuring that the work happened and that we are ready to greet and serve our learners in the upcoming school year.
Astute observers may have noticed the construction activity on the outer edges of the Paso Robles High School campus as the district recently embarked on the groundbreaking endeavor of erecting the PRJUSD Aquatic Center earlier this spring. We are poised to open its doors to both athletes and the wider community in November 2025, fulfilling one of our long-standing dreams to allow our swim, dive, and water polo teams to conduct practice and competitions on our own PRHS campus.
Finally, ensuring conducive learning environments for all, the district is channeling some of the remaining 2016 Measure M Bond funds towards site enhancements. These enhancements included upgraded HVAC systems to freshcarpets, paintwork, and even new furniture at some sites.
As we begin the 2024-25 school year, we are turning our attention to academic excellence! Our elementary Dual Language Immersion (DLI) program at Georgia Brown is exemplary and all of our elementary schools have witnessed growth across all academic domains in the last school year. Paso Robles High School proudly boasts a robust dual enrollment partnership with Cuesta College, a substantial cohort of graduates obtained the Seal of Biliteracy on their diplomas, and we celebrated a noteworthy tally of 10 medalists at the State SkillsUSA Competition in the preceding academic year.
Regardless of our current success level we have strong aspirations for even more growth! We believe that early literacy and foundational math competencies constitute the groundwork for all future academic endeavors. As such, we will invest heavily in teacher development, specifically around ensuring our instructional program is designed to support the needs of learners so that each student has the strong foundation needed.
I want to encourage our teachers to explore innovative instructional approaches that integrate AI technologies, ensuring our students are equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to thrive in an increasingly AI-driven world. I realize that there are many differing opinions on AI and where it fits in education. What I know to be true is that students who are not supported in using the tools of the future will be left out of the future. We cannot support systems that hold our students back from reaching their fullest potentials. Therefore, I will call upon our educators to think critically and creatively about how they can leverage AI to expand student learning beyond the confines of traditional classroom settings.
2024-25 is also the year that PRJUSD will engage in Strategic Planning. I look forward to meeting with parents, students, staff, and community members to dream big about what we want for our district. As part of this process we will develop our mission and strategies and define our parameters, or collective commitments. This Strategic Plan will be our roadmap to the future of the Paso school community.
I am looking forward to an amazing year! Please join me in celebrating all the good things that happen each and every day in our wonderful school community!
PASO ROBLES PRESS MAGAZINE
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