Fresno Unified School District has been on the hunt for ways to help bootstrap its youngest students struggling with reading and phonics, and one program appears to be paying off.

The board is scheduled at the April 23 meeting to get a presentation on the Waterford Research Institute’s Early Learning Program that has been in use at several southwest Fresno elementary schools for a couple of years, with some significant progress for kids in reading and phonics at those sites.

Twice as many first graders are reading at or above grade level after using Waterford compared to students who didn’t have access to Waterford, according to the district.

According to the district presentation, 77% of kindergarten students who used Waterford were on or above grade level in phonics by the end of the year compared to 61% who didn’t use the program. The difference was even more dramatic for first graders — 73% who used Waterford were on or above grade level in phonics by end of the school year, but of those who lacked access to Waterford only 40% were on or above grade level.

The district signed its contract with Waterford in the 2023-24 school year and thus far has paid the company $318,000, district spokeswoman Nikki Henry tells School Zone.

Waterford is not without its critics. There are concerns that more screen time for young kids — the programs are digital in nature — is not a good thing. The program is intended to augment regular classroom teaching that pre-kindergarten through second graders receive. There’s also a family component so parents can keep working with their kids at home.

The sample size is still somewhat small: The program began with after-school programs at King and Kirk Elementaries in August 2022, was expanded to a kindergarten class at King and a transitional kindergarten and pre-kindergarten class at Kirk in January 2023, family academies in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years with three sessions each year at King and Kirk,  and then 1,000 “licenses” at 28 schools starting in the 2023-24 school year and continuing this year. (The district has to purchase a license for each child using the program.)

District officials are proposing to expand the number of licenses to 1,500, focus on the Edison region, expand to TK classes districtwide, increase family engagement sessions, and continue supporting teachers through coaching.

Interim Superintendent Misty Her last year set a goal of double-digit improvement in standardized testing scores, and from these early results Waterford just might be one of the ways to help the district get there.

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Longtime Clovis Ag Teacher Is Honored

Ken Dias was called to Wednesday night’s Clovis Unified board meeting under false pretenses, but with good reason. Dias, who worked for the district’s Agriculture Department and had a 37-year career with the district, was surprised when district officials announced that the livestock barn at the McFarlane-Coffman Agriculture Center at Clovis East High will now bear his name. The honor is in recognition of his long service to the district and its ag program.

Dias is credited with salvaging the ag vocational program when it was threatened in the 1990s along with other vocational programs, drawing together community support that led to the creation of the Ag Center in 2000. He was inducted in 2023 into the California Agriculture Teachers Hall of Fame after leading the district’s FFA program to 11 national championships, nine reserve national championships, 23 state championships, and the election of numerous Clovis students to the state and national FFA presidency.

Jennifer Knight, department chair at the Reagan Educational Center and an ag teacher, told the board that when she was a Clovis Unified student Dias was the teacher who inspired her to follow in his footsteps and become a teacher herself.

Dias expressed his gratitude that the district continues to support the ag vocational program, particularly because it exposes students to jobs but they also learn important lessons such as responsibility, work ethic, and building character. He gave a particular shout-out to the district’s founding superintendent, Dr. Floyd “Doc” Buchanan.

Buchanan’s traditions included personally interviewing and hiring new teachers, and Dias said during his interview he was immediately inspired by Buchanan’s passion for students and their education. “That man right there, Dr. Buchanan, got me so fired up. It was amazing,” he told the trustees Wednesday.

Day of Giving Brings Big Bucks to Fresno State

Maybe it’s a good thing that Fresno State moved its annual Day of Giving from the fall to the spring, or maybe the one-year hiatus left supporters itching to dig deep.

Because they did dig deep — Fresno State announced that the March 26 Day of Giving (also known as DOG) hit an all-time high, with a preliminary total of $615,879. That’s nearly 31% higher than the last DOG in November 2023 and exceeds the previous record of $550,366 set in 2019.

The annual event takes place over 24 hours, starting at midnight, and includes a live leaderboard tracking the number of gifts with minute-by-minute updates. Donations came from 42 states, including Vermont and Rhode Island for the first time ever (more New England love for the Bulldogs), and 12 countries.

Fresno State moved DOG to the spring to align with “I Heart Fresno State Week,” a week of events and activities celebrating the university.

“We are thrilled to announce that this year’s Day of Giving has set a new record, thanks to the incredible generosity of our alumni, faculty, staff, students, and friends,” Brady Crook, vice president for University Advancement, said in a news release. “Your support fuels the programs and initiatives that educate and empower our students, equipping them for success in their careers and the impact they will have on their communities. This milestone is a testament to the strength and commitment of our university that starts here in the Valley and spreads far and wide across the globe. We are deeply grateful for every gift that makes a lasting impact on the lives of our students. Thank you!”

Batter Up!

Fresno Pacific’s Sunbirds will unveil the new Dan Martin Stadium at 4:30 p.m. next Wednesday, and the public is welcome to check out the modernized clubhouse and locker room “fit for the Big Leagues,” a new concession stand and restroom, press box, and covered stadium seating for 700.

It’s funded by a $3 million gift from the Daniel R. Martin Family Foundation and lead gifts from Valley Iron, Inc. and the Briscoe family.

The dedication and ribbon-cutting will include remarks from university and athletics officials and a special presentation.

“This is an incredible milestone for Fresno Pacific University and Sunbird Athletics,” Kyle Ferguson, director of athletics, said in a news release. “We are deeply grateful for the generosity of our donors whose vision and support made Dan Martin Stadium a reality. This facility is more than just a place to play baseball—it’s a space where lives will be transformed through the platform of sport, in alignment with our Christian mission. It will serve not only our student-athletes but also our campus and the greater Fresno community for years to come.”

Sunbird fans won’t have to wait long to see the new stadium put to use: Fresno Pacific is hosting a four-game series against conference rival Azusa Pacific University that begins Thursday and includes a double-header on April 12.

But Wait, There’s More

• The Central Valley Health Youth Corps will show off their final projects on Monday from 10 to 11 a.m. in room 251 at the Old Administration Building at Fresno City College. (Yes, you will need to buy a $1 parking permit, but it’s well worth it!) The research projects include Food Insecurity (Riverdale High and Sanger West), Healthy vs. Negative Relationships (McLane High), Naxalone on Fresno Campuses (Edison High), Marketing the Clovis Support and Intervention Program (Buchanan High), and Rekindling Past Memories of Alzheimer Patients Using Music (Roosevelt High). The Central Valley Health Youth Corps is a program offered through the Fresno County Office of the Superintendent of Schools that unites high school student teams to “explore social determinants of health, health equity and health advocacy.”
• Fourteen Valley elementary schools were among the 336 named as 2025 California Distinguished Schools by the State Department of Education. Such schools are recognized in two categories: closing the achievement gap and exceptional student performance. The award, created in 1985, celebrates schools and districts for their innovation and success in supporting students. The 14 Valley elementary schools are: in Fresno County, Madison (Central Unified), Copper Hills and Harold L. Woods (Clovis Unified), Mayfair (Fresno Unified), Goldenrod (Kerman Unified), Lincoln (Kings Canyon Joint Unified); in Kings County, Martin Luther King Jr. (Hanford Elementary) and Kings River-Hardwick (Kings River-Hardwick Union Elementary); and in Tulare County, Golden Valley (Cutler-Orosi Joint Unified), Roosevelt (Dinuba Unified), Rocky Hill (Exeter Unified), Vieja Valley (Hope Elementary), Three Rivers (Three Rivers Union Elementary), and Mountain View (Visalia Unified). Kings River-Hardwick is the only charter school among the Valley’s 14 distinguished elementary schools.
• Jeanette Hardman of Springville in Tulare County is one of four people nationwide getting up to $10,000 from Study.com to help pay their student debt. Hardman used Study.com to take her graduate education degree exams as well as to pass her teacher certification exam. According to her LinkedIn profile she is a sixth-grade science teacher at Wonderful College Prep Academy. Study.com, based in Silicon Valley, helps students with K-12 curriculum, college courses and test preparation.