Superintendent Message
Welcome to the Merced River School District, where our motto is,
"The public school with a private school atmosphere."
Our rural small TK-8 school district strives to provide EVERY student with a rigorous academic program in order to prepare them for high school and beyond. These past two years our district has grown in attendance which has afforded us the opportunity to have one class per grade level. This allowed us to focus on the integration of our state-aligned Language Arts and Math Programs without having to create combination classes.
Our Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) has 3 Goals with a set of Actions/Services and Expected Outcomes to help us achieve our goals. You can access our 2017-2018 LCAP Plan by visiting our website at www.mrsd.us, clicking on Our District and then Local Control Accountability Plan. The LCAP allows the district and stakeholders to engage in dialogue to hold the district accountable to achieve our set goals. The district will provide quarterly updates to all stakeholders on the progress of the goals as well as invite all stakeholders to attend LCAP meetings throughout the year. Our LCAP Goals focus on: 1. a) Provide all students with state-aligned curriculum and b) Maintain a safe campus; 2. Raise reading and math scores for all students; and 3. Prepare all students to be high school, college and career ready.
In 2013, our local residents passed Measure L which provided our school district with approximately $1.7 million dollars to primarily modernize our aging campuses, but also allowed us to upgrade other items on our priority list. In 2015-16, the district made the decision to close down our Hopeton TK-3 campus and consolidate it with our Washington 4th-8th grade campus. In the summer of 2016, district built a 4 classroom wing modular to accommodate the TK-3 grade students. In 2016-2017, the district upgraded its computer lab and also purchased cafeteria equipment. In the summer of 2017, the district completed the next phase of modernization by building permanent walls in the interior of the Washington campus, repainting the interior of all of the walls and repainting the exterior of the entire campus. The district has one major project to complete and that is the construction of a play structure for its TK-3 students. The expected completion of this project is scheduled for the fall of 2017.
As many of you are aware, I began my career at the Merced River School District 27 years ago upon exiting the U.S. Army. I served in various capacities in my 6 years at Merced River such as: aide, bus driver, coach and custodial, all the while attending school to earn my AA and BA, and eventually my teaching credential. I returned to lead the MRSD, a place where my 3 children attended and graduated. It is an honor to serve the community of Merced River and to help better prepare our students for the challenges ahead. We, MRSD teachers and staff, are committed to ensuring that every student in our district is prepared with the tools needed to succeed at each grade level and once they leave our district.
As always, I invite you to visit our campus and be our partner in the education of your child. Here's to another great and successful year at Merced River!
Richard Lopez
Superintendent
Merced River School District