District News

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A Message from Superintendent Shelly Viramontez, Ed.D.

Preparing our students for success in the yet-to-be-defined workplace of the future is rewarding and challenging. Recently, the challenges have increased with changes to economic conditions.

A few major factors have placed new strains on school and district budgets for our district and many others in the region.

1. Declining enrollment due to families moving to more-affordable places to live;
2. Flattening State revenue
3. Unexpected, State-imposed increases to our pension program costs; and
4. Increased cost and demand for special education services for students.

The bottom line: Campbell Union School District will need to make $2 million in adjustments to our operating budget for the coming school year. 


We are up to the challenge. We have taken some steps already to mitigate some the impacts of that large funding cut:

• Our energy and water conservation systems are complete,
• We have secured several grants to support students’ education and wellness,  
• We trimmed $1.8 million from the current year’s budget, and
• We are exploring ways to further reduce costs for services outside of the classroom.

Our fiscal responsibility has earned us the public’s confidence and support. Our community shares our commitment to educate all students to their highest potential, approving school bonds to maintain and modernize our buildings and grounds and a parcel tax to provide competitive teacher salaries and up-to-date classroom technology.

Despite serious fiscal challenges coming our way, we are committed to maintaining both our financial solvency and the integrity of our instructional programs as we prepare our students for the opportunities of their yet-to-be-defined futures.  

“More students than ever have daily access to computers and the internet,” said District Superintendent Shelly Viramontez. “Teaching them to think more about how they’re engaging with technology is a crucial life skill that our teachers reinforce daily, and the SJSU Cyber Spartans partnership enhances and extends those lessons into the afterschool hours.”

This month, for two days per week, SJSU Cyber Spartans students have been teaching and mentoring Sherman Oaks after school students in grades 4–6. They have been using a new cyber security curriculum that the university students created, with lessons that cover coding, cyber security, and digital citizenship. 

The month-long program culminated this week with a panel presentation from cyber security professionals from Cisco Systems (pictured left) who spoke about their education, their careers and the key skills needed for success: enjoy learning and solving problems, collaborate with others and be willing to work hard, stay curious and challenge yourself to keep learning new things. 

"The kids really like it," Viramontez said. "When students see the relevance of what they are studying and how it can support their aspirations, they become truly engaged in learning.”

All students and families are invited to this annual celebration of the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics marvels our students have discovered and created.

When: Wednesday, April 3, 2019 • 4 – 7 p.m.
Where: 295 Cherry Lane, Campbell (Campbell School of Innovation campus)

The event features:

• Hands-on activities for students of all ages!
• Demonstrations and performances by students from all Campbell
  Union School District schools, including: Engineering & Design
  Thinking, Computer Science & Robotics, Student Passion &
  Creativity, Film Festival, and Performing Arts.

Student Start and End Dates

• Students' first day of school:  August 22, 2019
• Students' last day: June 11

Breaks/Holidays

• Thanksgiving Break: Nov. 25-29. 2019
• Winter Break: Dec. 23, 2019-Jan. 3, 2020
• Presidents’ Break Feb. 17- 21, 2020
• Spring Break: April 6-10, 2020