2026 Welcome Letter - English / 2026 Carta de Bienvenida - Español
Dear Jurupa Unified Community:
We are excited to welcome our students back for the 2026-27 school year. As a reminder, the first day of school is Thursday, August 6.
The new year provides an opportunity to reflect on our accomplishments and to continue building our future on the solid foundation we have developed over the past five years. As a district and community, we have worked hard to move the needle for students and have realized some incredible achievements:
Nearly two-thirds of JUSD graduates are well-prepared for success after graduation, making JUSD graduates among the most prepared in the state.
We have successfully implemented full-day transitional kindergarten/kindergarten programs districtwide to support early academic success.
Our intentional focus on inclusion is closing achievement gaps for our students with disabilities. State data shows significant progress, highlighted by a 15.7% increase in college and career preparedness and a 5.3-point increase in English Language Arts scores.
We also have seen significant academic growth for our English learners. Using research-based Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL) practices, we have been able to ensure all students master grade-level content while learning English. From 2023 to 2025, English learners’ language arts scores grew by 9.7 points, and their math scores jumped 10.2 points. We also saw gains across the board for all students.
We have engaged parents in their students’ learning, with programs like our Parent University and parent advisory committees, such as the African American Parent Advisory Council, District English Learner Advisory Committee, and District Advisory Council.
Parents also have taken an active role in their children’s literacy acquisition by participating in the JUSD Family Reading Challenge. So far, JUSD students have logged more than 750,000 minutes read!
We have seen a dramatic reduction in chronic absenteeism, which is down 13.5 percent since 2022. In fact, we were among only 13 districts statewide to receive the California Department of Education’s Model School Attendance Review Board recognition.
We continue to support the whole child and whole family with programs like our award-winning Community Schools, behavioral health programs, and wellness centers.
We work hard to maintain fiscal solvency without sacrificing services to students, and have certified a positive budget for the past five years.
With support from our community and voters who passed Measure V, we continue to modernize school facilities to provide state-of-the-art, welcoming, and safe campuses for students.
We can be proud of how far we have come and look forward to the possibilities ahead. Like ripples in a pond, the impact of our work will reach far beyond our district for many years to come.
Sincerely,
Trenton Hansen, PhD
Superintendent
