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Superintendent

Tom Taylor
 

Tom Taylor - Superintendent 

(530) 872-6400 x1223

Sheila Craft Portrait

Sheila Craft - Executive Assistant

(530) 872-6400 ext. 1223

Superintendent Statement
Top of Page

At the end of last year, I was thinking about the start of this year and found myself very excited for what is in store. We have so much going on and we want to share it with students on the Ridge.
 
The work that is easy to see is the construction. At the moment we have about $42,000,000 dollars of projects underway. The whole reason this is happening is so your children will have incredible facilities where they can learn. Your/our kids deserve this!
 
Current major projects include:
  • Paradise High School/ELearning 19 classroom building (Completion Date 4/30/23) o Modernizing the library and science rooms at PHS/Elearning (Completion Date 12/31/22)
  • Completion of the Pickleball Courts at PJHS (Completion Date 8/30/22)
  • Modernizing the lower wings and services offices at PJHS (Completion Date 4/30/23) o Completion of Ridgeview High School (August 16, 2022)
Just as we wrap up Ridgeview, the next project on the horizon is modernizing Pine Ridge Elementary. This project is being done in two phases. The first phase is the classroom and they will be completed in June 2023. Phase 2 will include modernizing the library, gym, and multipurpose room which is expected to be completed in August 2023. This change for Pine Ridge will also help move up our modernization project for Cedarwood.
 
District wide we have three focus areas for the 2022-23 school year. The three areas are: Building Professional Learning Communities, Increasing Attendance Rates, and learning additional strategies that address Social Emotional Learning (these strategies are part of a program called RULER). These areas were identified by staff, families, and the community through surveys and other forums. We thank you for your input. Professional Learning Communities will be used to identify student needs and develop strategies to meet the needs and improve instruction. It is this time that we will review data and use the data to drive instruction. Adding additional SEL strategies will help us focus on the whole child. We know that you must connect with students before we can move them academically. They also must feel safe, wanted, and important. The final focus area, Improving Attendance, increases engagement. Simply put you have to be present to learn. Whenever we miss something, it is just that, we miss it.
 
On behalf of Paradise Unified, I welcome you and thank you for letting us serve your children and the community. We are looking forward to an incredible year of learning, field trips, sports, and all the other extracurricular activities your students look forward to participating in.
Sincerely,
Tom Taylor
Superintendent
Paradise Unified School District