June 2022

Dear Mission Valley ROP Community,

We are grateful and humbled by the conclusion of the 2021-2022 school year. When it began, we had a shaken faith in being able to make a year without severe interruptions and students being sent back to remote homes away from our classrooms and instructors. We are grateful that we finished the year without severe interruptions. The pandemic took a toll on all of us and our schools. A school year with everyday routines and regular student interaction is critically important to every person touched by public education. We have been reminded why we chose these professions in the first place. Our Mission Valley ROP students were instrumental in clearly showing us these things daily. This experience has humbled us.

Despite the instructional and attendance uncertainty of the past two years, Mission Valley ROP has continued to set goals and sights on several grant opportunities available through state funding programs. There are two current grants we have succeeded with this past year. The K12 component of the Strong Workforce Program and the CTE Incentive Grants have allowed Mission Valley ROP to make historic investments in new programming such as Welding and refurbish many other programs such as Transportation and Culinary Arts. As these technical education grant programs are still available, we will continue to make applications to improve other industry sectors we instruct in, such as medical services and technology. We are hopeful for continued grant opportunities to pursue. 

Over forty years ago, the Mission Valley ROP was created to provide Career Technical Education (CTE) coursework to several comprehensive school districts. We are still working on the initial objective now working in New Haven, Newark, and Fremont Unified School districts. Mission Valley ROP has provided regular, consistent career pathway training for students from these districts. We continue to upgrade training programs that include computer technology as more developed technology has infused all industry sectors. For students to be "career ready," far higher computer and technological literacy levels are required than in the past.

Over the next few months, we will be busy filling post-COVID vacancies and preparing classrooms for a full-attendance start to the 2022-2023 school year. MVROP and its dedicated, talented instructors and support staff are ready to greet new smiling faces in our classrooms, ready to learn about the opportunities available in nine career pathways. Our focus will remain on bolstering our already comprehensive list of UC "a-g" accredited and college articulated courses that will provide more support for students ready to pursue their college and career goals. Mission Valley ROP instructors' industry expertise and real-world professional experience are perfect when paired with traditional required high school core content.

We look forward to continuing our 40+ years of service to the Mission Valley ROP community and our partners at the Newark, New Haven, and Fremont Unified School Districts.

Sincerely,

Thomas Hanson

Superintendent, MVROP