The Merced City School District welcomed students back to class on Wednesday, August 14. MCSD serves approximately 12,000 students in preschool through 8th grade. The district includes four middle schools, 14 elementary schools, and a highly rated state preschool program at 13 of those sites. The preschool program and the district’s STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) program have both received the prestigious Golden Bell Award from the California School Boards Association. The district opened a state-of-the-art STEAM Center in 2017 to provide collaborative, hands-on learning experiences for students from all 18 campuses and to serve as a training space for teachers. MCSD also offers a public Montessori program, Gifted and Talented Education (GATE), and a Community Day program. The district employs more than 12-hundred dedicated staff members.
This year, three of the district's schools are under the leadership of new principals. Aaron Alexander is now the principal of Rivera Middle School after previously serving as principal of Reyes Elementary. Chuck Pirtle moved from assistant principal at Hoover Middle School to the new Reyes Elementary principal, and Lil Ayala is now the principal at Sheehy Elementary after serving as learning director at Reyes.
MCSD is looking forward to a great year with a continued focus on ensuring that all students excel academically, build character, and become productive members of our community. #WeAreMCSD
Students in the Merced City School District’s Summer Academy had a chance to share their work with family members on Thursday.
Nearly one thousand students in transitional kindergarten through eighth grade have spent the past four weeks improving their skills in a variety of subjects, including science, math, reading, writing, coding and foreign languages. They’ve had a chance to build solar cars, design their own toys, create art, conduct experiments, and much more! The students also worked on projects designed to build good character and spread kindness.
The classes have been held at Stowell Elementary, Givens Elementary, and the district’s STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) Center. All three sites hosted showcases Thursday before the final day of the summer session on Friday.
Student Albertano Laguna said the summer classes helped prepare him to make the leap from elementary school to middle school in the fall. He explained, “It is really helping me out, and I feel like I’m going to probably do better in the seventh grade.”
Fourth grader Missy Ibrahimi added, “I love Summer Academy because I was learning a new language, and it was fascinating to learn all about the culture of my language and the history.”
Summer Academy also provides additional training opportunities for teachers who spend time preparing lessons, analyzing student work, and collaborating with one another to improve their own skills.
The Merced City School District would like to congratulate all of our students for their hard work and dedication throughout the 2018-2019 school year! That includes our 8th graders at Cruickshank, Hoover, Rivera, and Tenaya middle schools who celebrated their graduation on June 5. Each ceremony was filled with meaningful moments, heartfelt speeches, and proud families, staff members, and friends. We want to wish all of our MCSD graduates the best of luck as they head into high school. We know you will continue to make us proud!
The MCSD Board of Education has approved the changes below for the 2019-2020 school year. We look forward to welcoming some new members to our site administration teams!
Congratulations to all of the MCSD students who took home awards from the Merced County STEM Fair! The event was held on March 6 at UC Merced and featured nearly 30 projects from more than 110 students in grades 5 through 8.
In addition to several grade level winners, MCSD students had two of the top three projects that will be moving on to the California Science & Engineering Fair on April 29-30 in Los Angeles. Sixth grader Brady Hickman from Chenoweth Elementary won for his project "What Brand is a Hit?" and seventh grader Essey Aferwerki from Hoover Middle School won for his project entitled "Effect of Climate Change on Soil."
The exhibits were judged by local experts, including scientists and professors from UC Merced and Merced College. Participants also had a chance to tour various labs and other areas of the campus. This event was made possible by sponsorship from the Merced County Education Foundation and Pacific Gas & Electric and was hosted as part of UC Merced Research Week.