Alisal USD News, Aug. 10, 2022

The Alisal Union School District has a new school, and it's mostly virtual: it's aptly called Alisal Virtual Academy, or AVA for short. It's housed at the old building of Alisal Community school, and it has a dynamic team of seven teachers plus Program Manager William Franzell.

The team intends to make its mark with daily hands-on activities, an experiential learning approach, and a mission to learn together by noticing what matters to students. The AVA team is full of energy and its members intend to share with the rest of the District best practices as they embark in this new adventure. Welcome to the Alisal family, AVA!

Alisal USD efforts to collaborate with the community are being recognized in a study by Policy Analysis for California Education of Stanford University.

In “Crisis Response in California School Districts: Leadership, Partnership, and Community” by Policy Analysis for California Education, researchers found incredible resourcefulness and resilience in the districts they studied, including Alisal Union School District, after the pandemic-induced shutdown. Researchers found that Alisal USD collaboration with the community deserved special recognition and highlighted it as the only case study named in the report.

“The AUSD story demonstrates that community development and educational improvement can be realized with a partnership of community activists, parents, educators, and district leadership,” the report reads. For a full copy, click here.

About 100 children from East Salinas took Stanford by storm on July 10, with 59 Alisal USD students among them.

The occasion was Drum Corps International, a premiere competitive drumming competition held every year at Stanford Stadium but suspended during the pandemic.

The Alisal All-Star Marching Band and Colorguard participated in DCI during the performance portion. They were joined by Tonatitos, Alisal USD foklórico ensemble, which literally took the audience’s breath away.

The event gathers the best marching bands in California. After Alisal USD performed, they had an opportunity to watch other incredible performances.

Congratulations, Dr. Purnell. The recognition is well deserved, and our families are lucky to have you advocating on their behalf.

Haircuts were donated by community members who also wanted to give back. Ms. García received a lot of support from other volunteers, including Ms. Diana García, the newly appointed Director of Pupil Personnel services -- also an alumna. Thank you, sisters García, for your support of our students.

The Alisal Family Resource Center hosted a forum with Assemblyman Robert Rivas to hear the community's concerns about housing.

Community members, who included parents in the Alisal area, shared with the assemblyman stories of their struggles finding stable housing and the difference it made to find an affordable place to live. The forum was co-organized with the Center for Community Advocacy and the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership, which strive to find solutions to the problems that ail the Central Coast through collaboration and dialogue.