Eye On Our Schools: Graduation Week

Graduation week is my favorite time of the school year, and this year is extra special because my daughter is graduating from Warren High School. My emotions have been running high starting with Senior Awards last week and Elementary Senior walk-throughs this week. We were at Price Elementary Monday where more than 80 Price alumni dressed in blue and crimson robes walked the halls cheered on by each class from Kinder to 5th grade.

Every graduating class is special, but this is the group that came out of Covid and first stepped onto their high school campuses masked and awkward after being cooped up for two years. These kids missed crucial developmental years in Middle School and they struggled at first, but then found their footing. This year we have graduates that applied and were accepted to top universities like Stanford, Harvard, Wellesley, USC, all the UC’s, Cal States, both Cal Polys, and many more across the nation.

My daughter will be attending Berkeley in the Fall and yes, I am proud. Proud of her hard work and proud of this District for preparing her and nearly 2000 other seniors for their future these last 13 years. Thank you to all the teachers for keeping them engaged, thank you to the staff for keeping them safe and our schools clean. Thank you to the Administrators for all the opportunities in sports, arts, robotics and career tech. Thank you to the PTAs for the field trips and community events. Thank you to the Stauffer Foundation and all the service groups for your support and scholarships. Our students are truly blessed to be part of Downey Unified.

Downey is a special place and for that reason, I knew that selecting the next Superintendent was going to be the most important task I had as a Board Member. Earlier this month, your Board of Education interviewed three outstanding finalists. We selected Dr. Roger Brossmer as the next Superintendent of Downey Unified. It was Dr. Brossmer’s experience and knowledge of Downey Unified’s history, his understanding of the District’s strengths and challenges, and his vision of the future of Downey Unified that convinced us he was the person we wanted leading this District. Dr. Brossmer will begin in this role on July 1st, and I look forward to collaborating with him on making sure 22,000 students receive the education and the opportunities they deserve.

Graduating alongside Seniors is Dr. John Garcia. He started as Superintendent when the Class of 2025 was in kindergarten, and he too will be moving onto an exciting future. To recognize his leadership the Board of Education approved renaming Imperial Elementary School to John A. Garcia Jr. Elementary School. There will be a renaming ceremony held in August, prior to the first day of the new school year. Imperial, actually Garcia Elementary, breaks ground for construction thanks to Measure K this summer along with Carpenter, Old River and Rio San Gabriel.

Finally, CONGRATULATIONS to all our graduates. I wish you the very best and look forward to hearing, reading and seeing your accomplishments in the world. You will always be a Downey Unified student.

Sincerely,

Linda Salomon Saldana
President, Board of Education