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A Port in the Storm

Posted January 24, 2025, 7:05 AM. Updated January 31, 2025, 9:57 AM.

In her weekly message, Superintendent Blakey discusses the importance of giving students a sense of belonging.

We’ve all been working hard to improve our students’ literacy and math proficiency rates, to ensure they’re prepared for college or the career of their choice when they graduate, and to give them the skills, habits and mindsets necessary to succeed in life. Today, I want to discuss the foundation that needs to be in place to help our students get there.

Students need to feel safe before they can learn, and they also need to feel a sense of belonging in order to thrive. We can’t ever lose sight of that.

As educators, we should make it our mission to create spaces where kids feel confident and valued. And that mission should include doing everything in our power to show them they belong.

I’ve been thinking about the importance of belonging since I met with a group of students at Highland High School last week. They’re forming a new Black Student Union at the school to foster solidarity among African American students. We talked about what it means to belong and to feel safe, and one of the things they mentioned was the importance of having role models who look like them at school.

Having people who look like you as role models is important. So is being welcomed and having people to talk to.

As superintendent, my hope is that every one of our kids has an adult they feel comfortable talking to when they’re feeling down or stressed or when they want to celebrate a victory, whether it be a good grade or receiving a college scholarship. If you work directly with our students, I urge you to be that adult. It will make all the difference in the world.

We have shining examples of people working overtime to create a sense of belonging at their schools.

At East San Jose Elementary, Principal Eder Ortiz encourages his teachers to truly get to know each student. He wants teachers to be familiar with such things as their hobbies and interests, how many siblings they have and who they’re living with. 

“There has to be that sense of welcoming, that sense of care, that sense of love for our students and our community because once students and families feel as though you do care about them, then the engagement comes easily,” he said during an interview last fall. “The learning comes a lot easier because they feel that sense of belonging.”

Mr. Ortiz isn’t alone.

At Valley High School, welding fabrication teacher Shawn Coffey goes out of his way to create a sense of belonging for students. He welcomes them to his room for lunch and even brings in crockpots of beans and carne adovada for students. Just as important, he’s a firm believer in treating students with respect and listening to their ideas.

We have employees throughout APS lifting up students in this manner, and I’m incredibly grateful to them.

As a district, one of the big things we’re doing to create a sense of belonging is opening a new APS International High School. One of its missions is to help students who have come to us from different countries as they transition to the U.S. They will learn English while also taking math, science and other classes, with the ultimate goal of preparing them for college or a career. This school will celebrate the diverse backgrounds these students bring to the table and treat those backgrounds as assets.

Creating a space where students feel safe and giving them a sense of belonging is more important than ever.

There’s a lot happening at the national level that has some of our students and families feeling anxious. While I’m not going to delve into immigration politics, I want to make it clear that we’re responsible for our students’ safety and wellbeing while they’re at school. We have a responsibility under both state and federal law to accept all school-age children who walk through our doors regardless of their immigration status. And we have a legal and moral obligation to uphold all students’ constitutional rights to a public education.

We can’t control what’s happening at the national level right now, but we can control how we respond. So I ask you to be a port in the storm for our students. 

Let’s do our best to create an environment where each and every one of our students feels safe and to give them a sense of belonging. That work will pay dividends.

Have a good weekend.