The 2011-12 school year promises to be one of the best in the Kern High School District’s 118-year history thanks to the commitment to student success of parents, staff and community members which has helped the District flourish in recent years despite the state’s ongoing financial crisis.

With the start of the 2011-12 school year, comes the opening of yet another new KHSD school. Tierra Del Sol Continuation High School, located in southeast Bakersfield, opens its doors to about 350 students. The KHSD has, since 2003, opened four new comprehensive schools, a Special Education Career Center and a new continuation high school. The largest 9-12 high school district in the state with more than 37,000 students, the KHSD now has six continuation high schools in addition to its 18 comprehensive campuses, a state honored Bakersfield Adult School, its distinguished Regional Occupational Center and numerous Special Education sites.

The District’s Career & Technical Education Programs will continue to flourish in 2011-12. With the start of the new school year, five KHSD campuses feature Pre-Engineering Programs. Thanks to strong financial support from Chevron, more KHSD students will be preparing for careers in engineering through “Project Lead The Way” programs. Every KHSD school has at least one signature Career & Technical Education Program. Credits in Career & Technical Education are now included in the District’s graduation requirements for those students choosing not to complete a college preparatory program.

The college aspirations of KHSD graduates continue to benefit from a generous community strongly supportive of education. More than 60 percent of the KHSD’s graduates enter a college immediately upon graduation. The hopes and dreams of these students are supported strongly with donations to scholarship funds from oil companies such as Chevron and Aera Energy LLC, the Kern Agriculture Foundation, businesses such as Wells Fargo Bank and Jim Burke Ford, as well as charitable foundations such those named for Harry & Ethel West and Ben & Gladys Arkelian.

A KHSD commitment to intensify the rigor of its instructional programs will continue in 2011-12. That commitment has been reflected in sustained District progress on a number of state and federal accountability measurements. The District’s score on the Academic Performance Index (API), a state measurement of District success, has increased every year for the past eight years. Similar District gains have been achieved on the federal government’s Annual Yearly Progress report. State statistics show the KHSD’s graduation rate increased to 85 percent most recently, marking the fourth straight year the District’s graduation rate has climbed. Also, for the fourth straight year, more KHSD freshmen, sophomores and juniors scored at the proficient or above levels on the state’s STAR tests in a variety of subject areas. That trend is expected to continue this year thanks to ongoing emphasis on Professional Learning Communities, 9th Grade Intervention, California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) remediation efforts and after school tutoring.

District students will this year also continue to benefit from a wide array of extracurricular opportunities. District athletic teams continue to distinguish themselves in California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) athletic competition. District teams competing in such programs as Future Farmers of America (FFA), Mock Trial, Academic Decathlon and Virtual Enterprise also continue to grow in state and national prominence.

Credit for such success must go in large part to one of the finest teaching staffs to be found at any school district in California. The District has long prided itself on recruiting and retaining the best teachers to be found anywhere in the nation. These efforts have resulted in a staff of more than 1,700 highly qualified teachers fully committed to educating the young people of Kern County.

Clearly I am optimistic about the potential for student success during the 2011-12 school year. I believe my optimism is well founded in the ongoing commitment to student success of their parents, our staff and the people of this community. For that commitment, I offer my sincere appreciation.

Sincerely,
Donald E. Carter, Ed.D.
Superintendent