March 25, 2013

Dear Parents and Students,

I would like to welcome everyone back from the spring break.  I hope you had an enjoyable and restful break and are ready to tackle the remaining eleven weeks of the 2012-2013 school year.  This portion of the school year always seems to be the most challenging for students and teachers alike.

The focus on campus the last half of April and much of May is testing.  STAR is scheduled for Wednesday, April 24; Thursday, April 25; Tuesday, April 30; and Wednesday, May 1.  Valencia has experienced eleven consecutive years of Academic Performance Index (API) growth.  We have improved our API from 620 to 818, or almost 200 points during that time span. No other school in the PYLUSD has experienced this level of growth.  With positive student attitude and parental support, we are optimistic that our API will continue to climb.  Please refer to our website, www.vhstigers.org, for specifics relating to STAR.

International Baccalaureate (IB) Exams commence on Thursday, May 2, and Advanced Placement (AP) on Monday, May 5.  Both IB and AP Exams will run through May 17.  This year, we will be administering 340 IB Exams and over 1300 AP Exams.  Both are record highs for Valencia and the PYLUSD.

Recently, numerous plans have been finalized for the final phase of Measure A construction projects at Valencia. Construction on exterior storage and HVAC for the auditorium is scheduled to start June 10 and be completed by September 3.  Therefore, no events will be scheduled in the auditorium during the summer.  Work on Bradford Stadium, including the concessions, restroom, ticket booths, fencing, and concrete replacement is scheduled to start May 21.  There may be minor inconveniences for commencement ceremonies; but, plans are being made to preserve the integrity of these ceremonies.  We anticipate that the concessions and restrooms will be completed by August 20 in time for the first home football game.  Concrete replacement in and around the Memorial Garden is scheduled to start June 14 and should be completed August 23 before registration.  There will be no access through the double gates west of the garden during the summer.  The temporary orchestra room is scheduled to be moved on April 19 and grading for the new orchestra room and science lab will begin April 29.  The science lab is scheduled for completion by August 30 and the orchestra about two month later.  Parking in the back south parking lot will be limited during construction.

If you have been reading the Orange County Register, Placentia News-Times, or Yorba Linda Star, you may have been following the journey of Valencia’s highly-regarded Academic Decathlon Team.  On January 26 and February 2, our decathletes participated in the Orange County competition and captured second place behind Westminster, our primary rival the past five years.  The top four Orange County schools qualified for State competition in Sacramento on March 14 through 17.  At the State competition, Valencia finished 12^th and was also the highest scoring team of the four representing Orange County.  On March 1, Valencia’s Science