March 14, 2022
Dear Board and Loleta Community,
It has been an honor and a privilege to have been the Superintendent/Principal over the past 3
and a half years. As you may know, I am leaving Loleta to move back to Southern California for
a while. I have lived many years there but I still consider Humboldt my home. I will miss you all.
We have done so much together and seen such growth in our students. The school we see
before us now is primed and ready to jump into a future of academic excellence and growth with
the tools to support the growth; I hope each of you thinks of a way to jump in and help it
blossom. There is still a huge amount of work to do but I wanted to reflect a minute and
celebrate what we have accomplished. Remember that we have spent two years in the
pandemic and gotten through it well by working together!!
Technology
● When I first came, we were attaching firewires to computers to connect to the Internet.
Now we have consistent WiFi throughout the school
● In the beginning, only one class had in-class access to the Internet with tablets that had
been supported by a go-fund me donation. Students are now 1:1 with chromebooks plus
we have classroom sets of chromebooks. A big thank you goes to the community who
gave us the funds to get those chromebooks before the state and federal government
began sending money!
● Accessing the Internet from home and therefore having access to classroom materials
and worldwide resources was not available for the majority of our students. We now
have hotspots for families who want them giving access to the entire school at home and at school.
● Before many classrooms did not have an LCD projector, let alone an overhead projector.
Now EVERY classroom has a new LCD projector that is compatible and works in
tandem with an ELMO (smart overhead projector) device.
● Previously, our computer lab had become antiquated with time. Now with the support of
Bear River, and Ferndale Tech it has been updated and is still usable!
● We bought an all call system to improve communication with our communities!
● We partnered with HCOE to help us get a website up and running. Ferndale tech
continues to be our webmaster and we appreciate all the help!
● The entire school now uses google drive/google classroom for communication, storage,
and everyday everything! Our audit files are now done through google drive.
Academics
Our local assessments show our students are beginning to grow and achieve in academics.
● Originally we had a volunteer music instructor that worked with a few classrooms. We
were able to get another volunteer music instructor to come and work with all classrooms
the following year. This has further evolved into a fully certified music teacher who works
with all classes and teaches instruments and will continue to do so.
● We have art in a variety of forms going on at the school. This has included a school
beautification project which is in progress. We now have murals on the walls and
amazing bulletin boards from the work of our artist in residence, Abbie Perrott.
● With the help of the Indian Education Advisory Committee (IEAC), we have bought a
powerful English language arts curriculum: Fountas and Pinnell. We have started with
their RTI program which Jen Fairbanks has helped teachers begin implementing in the
classrooms. Teachers have worked hard and had hours of professional development
around this. Four instructors have also been working on LETRS a program to teach
reading requiring many extra hours of time to study and learn. The IEAC has previously
brought a speaker on the issues related to teaching Native American children to the
County Equity Conference and we are spending the next year’s grant on Lawrence Hall
of Science FOSS kits for hands-on learning about life science. They will be arriving
during the summer. This year the grant committee wished to focus on hiring intensive
tutors for reading, and math.
● The Community Garden concept has grown and is a gem in the school. Students are
working with Mr. Dan to learn how to raise crops and agriculture as part of the science
curriculum for many classes. We received a grant to bring the farm food into the
cafeteria and educate students and the community about gardening. In partnership with
the Loleta Community Resource Center, the community gardens have grown and
flourished providing a vital resource for some families in what we know as a food desert,
here in Loleta.
● As a staff we have identified and implemented common assessments throughout the
school and tied them to our LCAP. This will allow us to monitor growth and truly measure
and analyze how to continue our improvement.
● We are working on improving our social studies curriculum. Currently we are using a
state created integrated social studies/science curriculum called EEI. We also purchased
the Klamath Trinity Native American Curriculum (created in KT) and are working to
incorporate our local tribes input around this.
● Our English Learner Acquisition Committee has grown into a parent committee meeting
that brings in speakers. We have recently been the recipient of a grant for hiking and
field trips into the redwoods thanks to our partnering with LCRC and Lucy Salazar.
● We are teaching PE standards in the classrooms and also our wonderful kindergarten
teacher works with each class for a month to push these further and give the students
amazing experiences that they might not have had otherwise.
● The Social Emotional curriculum is being integrated through Art and other programs at
the school. Heather Nyberg is a point person for the Integrated Art initiative helping to
support and create this whole child integration.
● Brenda Hubner and Althea Jones are our representatives in the Social/Emotional Coop
and Jen Fairbanks will be integrating these and the MTSS grant we just received to
continue the support and growth of PBIS and MTSS at our school. Stay tuned to learn
more about these amazing programs!
● Candice Russ is facilitating Spanish lessons in partnership with HSU at our schools. We
hope to expand this program!
School Structure
● With Cas at the helm, we have steered the school towards structural integrity and
sustainability. The roofs will be worked on in the next few years we hope.
● The dry rot in the walls has been replaced.
● We have working heaters in all classrooms.
● We applied for and received a CALSHAPE grant to analyze and do some fixing for air
flow and freshness throughout the school.
● We replaced our 12 year plus carpets with fresh luxury vinyl boards outside classrooms
which are easier to clean, and do not get moldy. The classrooms got new rugs that are
easier to clean and replace.
● We have refitted the kindergarten playground with play equipment, tricycles, sand/water
desks and stand up paint stations (easels).
● We have replaced all the old basketball backboards.
● We have added an outdoor classroom.
● We have added more cement picnic tables and we have outdoor picnic tables.
● We have a new freezer for the kitchen.
● We have a new greenhouse thanks to Dan and a grant that he, Cindy and the LCRC wrote.
● Previously the school records and data were not backed up- anywhere! Now we have a
system to backup one of our most important stability structures–our data!
● We have recaptured space and created our “talking room” otherwise known as Althea’s
and Sandy’s office.
● We have cleaned up and out our storage areas (the bus garage and container storage).
Cas has fixed the roofs and ventilation to allow the containers to function for a little longer.
● We have fixed up and revitalized the middle school library. Thank you Kiwanis for the
amazing book shelves we now have in there!
● We have gotten new/used copiers at a significantly lower price for the lease and we were
able to get the 5 in 1 copier for the office (for free).
● We have discovered the many important uses of having a van through a loaner from
FESD. Thank you FESD!
● We have repainted and decorated the office, and the staff bathrooms. Thank you Lisa!
Staffing
● This year has been a great year for high staffing levels. It is unfortunate but we will soon
be reduced back to the levels that existed in 2018 when I arrived. However, we have
new grant monies that have come in and that we have applied for that we hope will up
our numbers a bit. We plan to have a separate TK classroom in compliance with the
State and to work at keeping at least one more combo class open- we currently have two
classes split, 1,2 and 7,8. We have the most wonderful teachers in these classes!
● The office has been renovated and a new logo created to reflect our dedication to
multiculturalism and the embracing of diversity.
● We now have a full time counselor/social worker on campus.
● We have a Zen Den/Sensory room and have trained students how to use it to help with
self regulation. Supported by our Student Support Team. Our suspension rate has
plummeted over the past years. We had the highest in the state. Last year and to date
this year we have had 4 suspensions. This year the suspensions have been on campus
emphasizing learning how to change behaviors. We continue to grow with restorative
discipline practices.
● We are experimenting with the concept of a full time Climate Director/Principal and part
time Superintendent until the end of the year. We have been able to maintain a day with
Sandy Radic-Oshiro , our Behaviorist on campus through the end of the year. She
continues to support students and runs the weekly assemblies and remains an
inspiration to us all.
● We have enlisted the help of FerndaleTech as a permanent part of our school.
Demetrius DiStefano and his crew have gotten us through the pandemic and
revolutionized what we are doing at the school year, including helping us get
Powerschool on track for parents/teachers/students to use for better communication.
● Dan the Man is half funded by the LCRC to be our community gardener!
● LCRC via Marcelina, has gotten us Vaping sensors for our bathrooms!
This is not even the complete list; there are all the amazing things the teachers and staff do
daily to bring an amazing day to each of your students! Thank you! This does give you an idea
of the work that has been done over the last three and a half years to the school’s basic
structure and integrity; with the work we have done this year fiscally, we are going to be
sustainable moving forward. There is so much we have accomplished this year with your support
and in the name of helping our students. There is still so much to do! But I will leave this to the
next visionary selected to be the Superintendent/Principal.
Our transition process will begin soon. An interim Superintendent will be hired while Jen
Fairbanks acts as the full time principal. The students need stability and we figure by having Jen
be the familiar face for restorative discipline, the transition will be easier.
Soon Loleta, in partnership with HCOE will begin the Superintendent search process. This
should be completed by the end of May. The new Superintendent/Principal will begin July 1.
I will be around to answer any questions so the Superintendent is not alone and we hope to
retain Jen in some form to be the support person the transition needs.
All will be okay. We have your student’s safety and well-being in mind and are working hard so
that they are not impacted by my leaving.
In conclusion, I thank you. Thank you for trusting your students to Loleta, knowing that they are
in great hands and we celebrate their growth in personhood and culture.
“Loleta is the happy place at the end of the river.”
With lots of love and in unity for our children,
-Autumn