Community Update

Have you ever wondered how our classrooms, school buses, lunch means, and other programs are funded? To support the complex systems that make up our school district, each year a team develops a multi-year budget to ensure that things run smoothly. But what goes into the development of a school district budget, and what are some of the key points of the process? Join Superintendent Dr. Matt Doyle as he engages with Assistant Superintendent Dr. Shawn Loescher to explore how the district goes about creating the multi-year plans for our annual budget that exceed over 300 million dollars.

Click these links to listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

Today a reader, tomorrow a leader! Strong reading skills are essential for your child’s success in school and beyond. At VUSD, we are committed to understanding each student’s reading strengths and areas of need. As part of this effort, we are actively exploring assessment platforms specifically for kindergarten through second grade students. These assessments provide valuable insight into your child’s reading development and can help identify potential reading difficulties early on. By testing foundational skills such as spoken language, the ability to play with sounds, letter recognition, memory, reading, and spelling, we can better support students and prevent future reading challenges. Early intervention is key to ensuring every child builds a strong foundation for lifelong learning and success!

Looking for tips on helping your child at home? See Parent Strategies for Improving Your Child’s Reading and Writing and Supporting Your Child’s Reading at Home.

Join us for an important parent webinar! In today’s digital world, helping kids navigate screen time, social media, and online safety is more important than ever. This session will offer valuable tips, tools, and strategies to support your family’s digital well-being. Don’t miss it—it’s a must-attend!

• Date: 4/30/25

• Time: 6:00pm

• Webinar Link:

https://vistausd.zoom.us/j/98120467709?pwd=8ZmjbFeLMbOh6AtjRy5FFrGZeRel34.1

Parents & Guardians: We invite you to complete our VUSD Parent Input Survey to help us continue improving the educational experience for all students. Please complete the survey for at least one of your children in VUSD. If you have more than one child in the district, we’d love for you to fill out a separate survey for each—it helps us better understand each unique experience.

In the coming weeks, students in grades 4, 7, and 10 will also complete their version of the survey during class time.

Your honest feedback plays a vital role in shaping our programs, services, and priorities across the district. Click here to take the VUSD Parent Input Survey now. Prefer a paper copy? Visit your school’s office where your Community Liaisons have them available.

Thank you for being a valued partner in your child’s education!

Our annual state assessments known as the California Assessments of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) are just around the corner at all schools in Vista Unified. Students in grades 3-8 and 11 will take assessments in English Language Arts and Math, and students in grades 5, 8 and grade 11 or 12 will also take a Science assessment. Each school will share a CAASPP testing schedule with families prior to testing days in April and May. Parents have an important role in helping our students feel confident and prepared for the CAASPP assessments, here are some ways you can help at home:

Be prepared to be your best:

• Make sure your child gets plenty of rest, especially the night before testing days.

• Eat a healthy breakfast to have plenty of energy and brain power.

• Be on time at school to feel settled and ready.

Bring a positive mindset:

• Talk to your child about the test: encourage them to do their best without stress. It's okay to not know every answer, what matters is their effort.

• Reminding your child that they have worked hard all year and it is their chance to show what they have learned.

Practice at home:

• Starting Smarter – CAASPP - Go to the “Check out the test questions” section for practice problems and answer keys.

• CAASPP Practice & Training Tests - Help your student learn the test format, use helpful tools, and practice answering questions.

• Smarter Balanced – Sample Questions & Essays - See question types and view sample student essays with scoring explanations.

Thank you for helping your students prepare and build confidence so they are ready to show all their learning on their CAASPP assessments!

As we look ahead to summer, we are proud to offer a variety of Expanded Learning Opportunities designed to keep students engaged, supported, and thriving academically and socially. Whether your child is in TK or preparing for senior year, there are enriching options available for every grade level across our district.

This summer, we are offering full-day AM/PM programs, targeted academic support, enrichment activities, and specialized programs for newcomers, English learners, and students with special education needs. Transportation and meals will be provided for specific programs, ensuring accessibility for all families.

Please click on the specific links below for specific opportunities available at the elementary and middle secondary school levels:

Elementary Summer School Program 2025

Secondary Summer School Programs 2025

The Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) development process is a collaborative effort aimed at aligning state priorities and district funding to the actions and services we provide students in our schools.

On April 17, we will be sharing themes with the School Board based on community and staff survey feedback, combined with input gathered from multiple in-person forums. A highlight every year is hosting student forums, which took place over the last two months in all schools in VUSD. This year we were able to meet with 655 VUSD students to gather their input and feedback on their experiences in VUSD.

On April 24, the School Board will participate in a workshop session as we continue to refine the proposed LCAP/Blueprint for the 2025-26 school year. The final LCAP/Blueprint and budget will be voted on by the School Board on June 26, 2025.

Last week the Rancho Buena Vista Construction Program brought a team of student builders to the Design Build Competition. This rigorous contest challenges students to apply their technical skills and knowledge in real-world construction scenarios. High school teams collaborate to design, plan, and construct small-scale projects that meet specific industry requirements and architectural standards. Throughout the competition, students navigate the entire building process—from initial concept and blueprint development to material estimation, budgeting, and physical construction. Industry professionals serve as judges, evaluating projects based on creativity, structural integrity, adherence to building codes, teamwork, and presentation quality.

This hands-on experience provides students with valuable exposure to construction career pathways while developing essential skills in problem-solving, collaboration, time management, and technical application. The industry judges provided our team with insightful feedback and praised their growth from last year. Our sponsor, Sundt Construction, supplied students with new protective gear and provided fall protection training for the team. We will find out by the end of the month how our team placed in the competition. Fingers crossed!

The STEM2Career Expo welcomed over 1,200 attendees and was buzzing with excitement and hands-on learning. All of our schools were represented, and 156 students had a blast launching catapults—some even sent jelly beans flying over 10 meters! We had a fun tie for first place among five elementary students in the catapult challenge. Families also got a closer look at the amazing CTE (Career Technical Education) programs available at our high schools—many discovered exciting class options they didn’t even know existed! We were thrilled to have so many local businesses join us, giving students the chance to explore real-world careers and connect with our community in a meaningful way. A big thank you to the school administrators who attended—it means so much to have your support and presence at events like this. If you joined us at the Expo, we’d love your feedback! Please take a moment to complete our short survey. We’re already looking forward to the next Expo in March of 2026!

Please join us for our 9th Annual Early Education Fair on Saturday, April 26, from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. at VIDA. This is an event for all, especially if you are looking to explore our many elementary school and preschool options. We will have many fun activities, free prizes for all, dance performances, games, food available for purchase and more! E-mail FamilyEngagement@vistausd.org for more information.

Benito Juarez Community Garden celebrates Dia de la Tierra with an open house for friends and vecinos (neighbors) as well as a plant sale to help us keep this garden open. Please join us and see where nature thrives and is appreciated.

Email: webmaster@vistausd.org
Website: vistausd.org
Location: 1234 Arcadia Avenue, Vista, CA, USA
Phone: (760) 726-2170
Twitter: @VistaBlueprint