Fremont Unified School District
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Fremont Unified School District (FUSD) is a primary and secondary education school district located in Fremont, California.
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[edit] Schools
The District boasts 28 elementary school campuses, 5 junior high campuses, and 5 high school campuses, as well as one alternative school campus. [1]
[edit] Attendance Areas
The District determines attendance at schools based on where an individual lives as its first priority. There are five main attendance areas: American Attendance Area, Irvington Attendance Area, Kennedy Attendance Area, Mission Attendance Area and Washington Attendance Area[2]. All attendance areas include one high school and one junior high school, in addition to either 4 or 6 elementary schools. The attendance areas are further split up into smaller areas for the elementary schools. Often, overcrowding in elementary schools is addressed by moving students to another elementary school in the same attendance area.
In the fall of 2002, the Fremont Unified School District had a massive reconstruction of its attendance area boundary lines, effectively changing the performance of many of the schools, and facilitating some students, who were originally forced to travel across the city to a high school much farther away from them. The overall plan has worked, but some areas have actually been forced to travel to different high schools further away from, due to the limited capacity in many high schools.
[edit] Elementary Schools
The 29 elementary schools are split among 5 different attendance areas based on a local high school and junior high school. Although these are generally localized attendance areas, the high school or junior high school that an elementary school funnels into may not necessarily be the school that is closest to the elementary school.
The elementary schools of the American Attendance area are Ardenwood Elementary School, Brookvale Elementary School, Forest Park Elementary School, Oliveira Elementary School, Patterson Elementary School and Warwick Elementary School[3].
The elementary schools of the Irvington Attendance area are Green Elementary School, Grimmer Elementary School, Hirsch Elementary School, Leitch Elementary School, Warm Springs Elementary School and Weibel Elementary School[4].
The elementary schools of the Kennedy Attendance area are Azevada Elementary School, Blacow Elementary School, Brier Elementary School, Durham Elementary School, Mattos Elementary School and Millard Elementary School[5].
The elementary schools of the Mission Attendance area are Chadbourne Elementary School, Gomes Elementary School, Mission San Jose Elementary School and Mission Valley Elementary School[6].
The elementary schools of the Washington Attendance area are Cabrillo Elementary School, Glenmoor Elementary School, Maloney Elementary School, Niles Elementary School, Parkmont Elementary School and Vallejo Mill Elementary School[7].
[edit] Junior High Schools
There are five junior high school, one for every attendance area. Thornton Junior High School is part of the American Attendance area. Horner Junior High School is part of the Irvington Attendance area. Walters Junior High School is part of the Kennedy Attendance area. Hopkins Junior High School is part of the Mission Attendance area. Centerville Junior High School is part of the Washington Attendance area. All of the junior high schools accept graduates of the elementary schools of their attendance area[8].
[edit] High Schools
The district boasts five highly-achieving high schools. The attendance areas take their names from the five high schools. American High School serves the northern part of Fremont. Irvington High School serves the southern portion of Fremont, away from the Mission Hills area. John F. Kennedy High School serves the area between Irvington and Washington. Mission San Jose High School serves the area of the Mission Hills. Washington High School serves the central area of Fremont, just below American's attendance area, and extended to the Niles area, just north of the Mission Hills area.
[edit] School Board of Education
The School Board of Education is made up of five individuals elected at large by the voters of the District. A board member's term is for 4 years, and is limited to a total of two terms. The positions of President, Vice-President, and Clerk are rotated among the members. The Board also includes one appointed student member--generally the Associated Student Body President of one of the five high schools. [9]
[edit] Current Board Members
The current acting President of the Board of Education is Larry Sweeney. Sweeney is in his second term, and will leave the board at the end of his term in 2010. The current Vice President is Nina Moore, whose term ends in 2008. The current Clerk is Ivy Wu, whose term ends in 2008. Other members are Peggy Herndon, whose term ends in 2008, and Bryan Gebhardt, who was appointed to replace Guy Emanuele, Jr. Gebhardt did not run for election in 2006, and will be replaced by Lara York after concluding the remainder of the term. The current student member is Jackie Truong.
[edit] Board Meetings
The Board has public meetings every two weeks, in addition to other closed-door meetings. The Board usually meets every other Wednesday at the Fremont City Hall. Other venues also include the Fremont Unified School District building on 4020 Technology Dr, in Fremont.
[edit] The Office of the Superintendent
The Superintendent of the Fremont Unified School District is appointed by the School Board of Education. The Superintendent acts as the supervisor of all schools, and makes many administrative decisions at schools.
[edit] Selection of the Superintendent
The Superintendent is selected by a vote of the Board Education. Usually the public leaders around the attendance areas have a lot input before a candidate is selected by the Board. The candidate generally goes through an extensive interview process before being considered for the position. Usually the Superintendent is a highly-ranking member of the Fremont Unified School District, or a previous Superintendent, as the Fremont Unified School District demands a very qualified candidate.
[edit] Current Superintendent
The current Superintendent in Douglas Gephart. He was appointed on October 11, 2005, soon after the firing of the previous Superintendent, John Rieckewald, after Rieckewald came under heavy fire from frustrated parents. Gephart is under contract as Superintendent until the end of June 2007[10].
