Summer vacation is over for approximately 13,600 students in the Ceres Unified School District who started back to school on Wednesday, August 13.
The red carpet was rolled out to students at Carroll Fowler Elementary School which has been a tradition to the first day of school there.
Parents like Ron and Hannah Gee of Ceres got to school early to see their two daughters, second-grader Lilly and fifth-grader Eleanor Gee off to school. Ron, who attended the same school when he was a youngster, had nothing but good things to say about Carroll Fowler.
“She excited but she’s nervous,” Ron said of his youngest daughter awaiting the gates to open at the front of the school.
“They do a lot of things for these kids that I don’t remember them doing here when I was here,” said Ron. “Like this right here, the red carpet and all of that. There’s the little dances they have throughout the year, and the music. Last year Eleanor did a choir thing where we went to Central Valley High and she sang in front of everybody. And now this year they get to choose an instrument. They’re all encouraged to do some kind of musical thing, either singing or actually playing an instrument. If I wanted to play an instrument I had to go rent the instrument. In this case they have got the instruments.”
Hannah Gee added: “It’s great they’re going to have the opportunity.”
Chromebooks are another thing not available when Gee left the school in 1995. Free breakfast and lunches have also helped parents out.
“I’m really proud of where this school district has gone since the years that I came here.”
School starting times vary from campus to campus because of bus scheduling.
Shelli Trine is the new principal of Westport Elementary School. She joined CUSD in 2010 as a Resource Specialist at Westport, and most recently served as assistant principal at La Rosa Elementary. She shared that she is excited to return to her Westport roots.
CUSD Town Halls are returning for 2025-26, bringing together guest speakers, school leaders, and community members to discuss key education topics. All meetings take place from 5-7 p.m. at the Ceres Community Center, 2701 Fourth St., Ceres:
* Thursday, Oct. 16- Dangers of Social Media
* Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026 - Power of Student Voice
* Tuesday, April 14, 2026 - AI Technology Education
Families may register for free childcare by contacting the CUSD Family Resource Center at (209) 556-1559
CUSD Reads Superintendent’s Book Club:
CUSD Reads is back for its second year, beginning in October. Dr. Amy Peterman introduced the book club in 2024-25 to encourage students to read for pleasure. Students earn small incentives such as stickers for each month that they read a book on their own time (or listen to an audiobook, have a book read to them, or read a book to someone else) and turn in a book review. Last year, students turned in nearly 5,500 reviews. One student at each school also won an e-reader during year-end drawings.
