Rosalina Rivera, Superintendent, Delano Union School District

I’m Rosalina Rivera, superintendent of Delano Union School District.

We are a very special school district located in the Central Valley in California. We serve about 6,200 students across 12 schools, from Transitional Kindergarten through 8th grade. Our district includes a dual-language academy, vibrant music programs and a robust after-school program offering activities like crocheting, piano, art and dance. These activities are led by teachers and staff who share their personal passions.

Recently, The New York Times featured us for our growth in mathematics after the pandemic. We work as a strong team, both within grade levels and across subject areas, to meet the needs of our students. A defining aspect of our district is that we respond to needs as they arise—whether academic, physical or emotional—for both students and staff. We take personal responsibility to ensure that while students are with us, they grow academically, emotionally and socially.

We have some secrets. Ultimately, I believe that if we value, honor and support our staff, they, in turn, want to give back to the students and the institution and they also become very generous with their time. This culture of family is essential here.

I’d say we summarize our approach as “love meets results.” It’s not enough to love students; love has to be backed by tangible results. For example, loving a student in the early grades but not ensuring literacy by fourth grade wouldn’t truly serve that student. We combine our family-oriented environment with a strong focus on data. We examine results to ensure our actions are leading to the improvements we expect, making adjustments as needed. In the end, love paired with results is how we support each child’s growth.

We provide a lot of training to our teachers in the theory of social-emotional learning. But more importantly, we focus on academics, providing training on how to address the needs of students who are learning English as a second language. We also train teachers in writing, composition, reading strategies, mathematics, science and social studies. Much of the social studies training connects to reading instruction due to the complexity of the texts, making it more about reading comprehension than content for students to access the material independently.

In education, you’ll often hear the phrase “Maslow before Bloom’s,” but we don’t fully agree with that. We believe that while basic needs like food and shelter must be met, academic and personal growth have to happen simultaneously. Our superintendent is involved in community organizations to help ensure these needs are met through resources and donations. But once those needs are addressed, we work on both fronts at the same time to help students learn and grow toward independence.

Our teachers know they’re fully supported, and we emphasize fidelity to our programs with flexibility, which fosters innovation. We give our administrative staff, classified staff, and teachers the resources they need to create and deliver instruction, not only programmatically but also academically, so they can produce the best possible outcomes.

We use a principle we call “fidelity with flexibility,” which means we set parameters while allowing flexibility to reach results in different ways. We set parameters to keep everyone moving forward but offer plenty of flexibility so that schools can achieve the results they want in their own way.

For us, innovation means having expectations across our 12 schools while granting each one the freedom to be creative. Schools often go out of their way to implement unique programs, which may start in just one location. If a program succeeds, other schools take notice and ask to adopt it.

By allowing this organic growth, we can expand the best practices district-wide without mandating a one-size-fits-all approach. We believe the best ideas emerge through results, and we then apply those broadly. This approach encourages sites to take risks, make mistakes and demonstrate that their choices lead to the desired outcomes.

This district allows mistakes as long as you plan carefully and have good intentions. If something doesn’t work, you learn from it and improve. So, if you want to work in a district where you can be as creative as you want, as long as you’re diligent in your planning, then even if you make mistakes, they will just say, “Let’s try something different.” Why wouldn’t you want to be in an environment where your creativity is appreciated, even if you stumble along the way?

In our district, we see ourselves as partners with parents, helping them navigate opportunities for their children. Some families may not know the steps needed to reach certain goals, like college. I used to tell my students about a “secret code” to access these paths, and we work with families to break this code by providing opportunities for students, such as career days and college visits, so they can envision their goals and understand the habits needed to achieve them.

We offer support for all students, whether through challenging advanced learners or helping those who may struggle, and we are committed to never giving up on any child. This commitment extends to our staff, whom we support wholeheartedly as long as they bring their personal best every day. Our district not only provides academic excellence and safety but also a uniquely nurturing, loving environment.

The opportunities here—like taking high school-level courses in Spanish, biology and algebra while still in 8th grade—are exceptional. There are language and math academies, field trips like Disneyland and endless growth opportunities. This personalized, family-oriented support means every child here is more than just one of 6,200 students—they are each given what they need to thrive.

We do want to discuss our overarching theme in our district, which is “Promise 180.” We’re asking everyone to join us in giving their personal best for 180 days of the school year because every school day counts. Promise 180 was born after the pandemic, as many school districts faced a staggering problem of chronic absenteeism. Some schools had rates as high as 50 percent, and we were at 33 percent. Chronic absenteeism is an accountability metric on California’s state dashboard, defined as missing 10 percent of the school year.

In our district, when we see a problem, we see it as an opportunity. So, we looked at this as a solvable issue, and that’s how Promise 180 came to be. Our vice principals dedicate time each morning from 8:00 to 9:30 to check on their list of students, asking if they’re okay, what resources they might need or if a social worker should visit. Our schools have a whole support team, including social workers, psychologists and a licensed family therapist, to ensure students feel welcome and get back to school. Nurses may also be involved if there are ongoing health concerns.

Another part of Promise 180 is maximizing instructional time. We adjusted schedules to make sure that science, social studies and music are included, not just math and reading. We believe in a robust curriculum where students learn reading and math through other subjects as well. We worked on maintaining instructional time, eliminating distractions and making sure there’s a flow to the day that supports learning.

There’s also a promise back to students: when they’re here, they’ll be in an environment where they feel welcomed, loved, accepted and appreciated. We help students tap into talents they might not even realize they have, allowing them to challenge themselves and discover their potential. We say that if they’re fortunate to be in a room with any of our adults, it should leave an impression on them. Promise 180 extends to everyone—parents, grandparents, staff—emphasizing that everyone in our district is committed to education.

We are a progressive, innovative learning community where students are encouraged to recognize and develop their talents, giving their personal best every day. Through Promise 180, we make every school day count for everyone involved.