SAUSD Superintendent Dr. Stefanie Phillips Highlights Successes, Growth During 2017 State of the District Breakfast

Topics included the district’s 93 percent graduation rate, 93 percent college-going rate, and the increase of early college opportunities in the district.

(Oct. 13, 2017) – Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) Superintendent Dr. Stefanie Phillips welcomed and addressed more than 400 business and community leaders during the annual Superintendent’s State of the District Breakfast on Oct. 13, 2017 at Godinez Fundamental High School. The event was sponsored by SAUSD and the Santa Ana Public Schools Foundation.

Dr. Phillips provided a key note address in her State of the District message highlighting the District’s successes, challenges, and plans of action to ensure all students are being prepared for college and careers and to be productive citizens of our society. Topics included the district’s 93 percent graduation rate, 93 percent college-going rate, and the increase of early college opportunities in the district.

“We were able to give our message and our story about all the wonderful things that are happening in Santa Ana,” Dr. Phillips said. “We had over 400 people here to hear the message, to see our students and to help us celebrate.”
In addition, Dr. Phillips, with the support of members of the SAUSD Board of Education, presented awards to the University of California, Irvine (UCI), the Assistance League of Santa Ana, and the OC Fair and Event Center for their contributions to the district and for embodying three themes that she has identified during her tenure as critical to success in SAUSD: Classroom, Community and Connectedness.

Classroom: UCI brings various programs to SAUSD students and schools, and integrates SAUSD students into UCI programs. A few examples include the Adelante program, Saturday Academy of Law, UCI Energy Invitational, UCI Lifevest Financial Literacy Program, Reading One-to-One and the Collaborative Network of Educators for Computational Thinking for All Research (CONECTAR).

Community: The Assistance League of Santa Ana recently raised $130,000 to fund Operation School Bell, which helped to clothe 2,629 students this school year. The Assistance League continues to support SAUSD students each year through Operation School Bell by providing thousands of uniforms, shoes, undergarments, toiletries, and backpacks to get students off to a good start at the beginning of the school year.

Connectedness: The OC Fair and Event Center employed over 50 SAUSD students this summer during the Orange County Fair, giving students real-world paid experience. Students worked with various vendors and learned a variety of skills including customer service, organization, and business. This is an ongoing partnership that will continue throughout the year with providing SAUSD students opportunities to work, build their skills, and increase their capacity in the workforce.

In addition to being recognized during the Superintendent’s State of the District Breakfast, all three partners served as examples of organizations that are participating in the district’s new community-wide “I Pledge” campaign, by making unique pledges to do what they can to help SAUSD students succeed.

“We are extremely grateful for the tremendous contributions of our partners. It is our hope that all of our partners will join us or in many cases continue to make their own unique pledges to SAUSD,” said Dr. Phillips.

SAUSD’s 50,000 students began the 2017-18 school year by taking their own pledge to look ahead to high school graduation and set goals to make sure they graduate on time and have opportunities for college and career.

The “I Pledge” campaign places emphasis on the year that students will graduate in order to send a powerful message to students and their families that Santa Ana Unified is committed to seeing them cross the stage to receive their diplomas.