Fresno Unified School District

Fresno Unified School District (also known as F.U.S.D.) is a school district in Fresno, California, U.S.A.

Facts and Figures

• California's 4th largest school district
• 79,383 students (2004–05)
• $869 million budget
• 76 different languages represented over the last 5 years
• 1,575 children attend preschool
• 25,400 adults attend adult education classes

Administration

Superintendent

• Michael E. Hanson

Board of Education

• Cal Johnson
• Manuel G. Nunez
• Valerie F. Davis
• Tony Vang, Ed.D.
• Carol Mills, J.D.
• Janet Ryan
• Michelle Arax Asadoorian

Schools

High schools

• Bullard High School
• The Center for Advanced Research and Technology
• Design Science High School
• Duncan Polytechnical High School
• Edison High School
• Fresno High School
• Hoover High School
• McLane High School
• Roosevelt High School
• Sunnyside High School

Middle schools

Ahwahnee Middle School Baird Middle School Bullard TALENT Middle School Carver Academy Middle School Computech Middle School Cooper Middle School

Fort Miller Middle School Hamilton Middle School Kings Canyon Middle School Lawless Middle School Scandinavian Middle School Sequoia Middle School

Tehipite Middle School Tenaya Middle School Terronez Middle School Tioga Middle School Wawona Middle School Yosemite Middle School

Cooper Middle School

William John Cooper Middle School is a two-year school in Fresno, California, located at 2277 W Bellaire Way. The school was first approved to be built by the Fresno City Board of Education in November 1956^[1] and opened as a junior high school (grades 7, 8 and 9) in the fall of 1959 with John Solo as the inaugural principal.^[2] In the fall of 1978, William John Cooper Junior High School officially became William John Cooper Middle School (grades 7 and 8), when Hamilton was made into a new "freshman school," educating only ninth graders.^[3] The school is named for William John Cooper, a Californian, who served as United States Commissioner of Education under Presidents Coolidge, Hoover and Roosevelt from 1929 to 1933.^[4][5][6] Cooper himself was one of the originators of the concept of "intermediate school" and the school owes its existence, in part, to the organizational foundations laid by Cooper during his tenure as Superintendent of Fresno city schools, and today serves as an example of the results and fruit of his work and his educational theory.^[7][8]

Student protests

During the last week of March 2006, Cooper students, along with other students in Fresno County, participated in a movement to protest changes in immigration laws that were being considered in the US Congress which would lead to more fences being built along the US-Mexico border and which would prohibit governmental services being provided to undocumented immigrants.^[9] The student protest movement reached a climax on Friday, March 30, when 220 students at Cooper Middle School staged a walkout, but were blocked by city police officers and told to return to class.^[10] Earlier in the week, hundreds of students throughout the county and city walked out of class, including Cooper students, with 111 Fresno students being charged with truancy.^[11] Solomon Rivera, of the group Californians for Justice, hailed the walkouts as being historic.^[12]

After-school program created by a special state law

During 2002, in the lead-up to Arnold Schwarzenegger's run for the governorship of California, Schwarzenegger visited Cooper to promote a new after-school-program initiative.^[13] Administrators at the school followed up by creating a new program which added 60 minutes to the school day, including 30 extra minutes of reading and 30 extra minutes of math. As explained by Roy Mattox, a learning director at Cooper: "We're unique. We're the only middle school in the state running this kind of program."^[14] A new state law, Assembly Bill 1285, was required to permit the program, and the bill—a bill which was specifically introduced in the legislature in order for the new program at Cooper Middle School to be set up and specifically mentions Cooper Middle School in the text of the bill^[15]--was passed by the California legislature on June 6, 2002 and signed into law by Governor Gray Davis on June 20, 2002.^[16] Later the program was transitioned into a voluntary after-school program, which still continues.^[17]

Alumni

• John Hoover, Olympian, pro-baseball player, Class of 1977. Hoover was the Major League Baseball No. 1 draft choice in 1984 (by Baltimore), after having led the nation in strikeouts in college baseball, pitching 205 strikeouts for Fresno State in his senior year.^[18] Also in 1984 Hoover was an opening pitcher for the United States Olympic team, winning the opening game and helping the US to win the silver medal for baseball.^[19] In 1983, Hoover pitched the opening game at the IX Pan American Games, for an 8-0 victory over the Dominican Republic, helping to win the gold medal for the United States team.^[20] Hoover played for the Texas Rangers in the 1990 season, but had a shortened pro-baseball career due to injuries sustained as a college player.^[21]

• Cliff Harris, award-winning college football player, Class of 2005. Harris is a player for the University of Oregon, helping the team to rank No. 2 in the nation after almost beating Auburn, losing by only 3 points (22-19) in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) game on January 10, 2011.^[22]

Elementary schools

Addams Elementary School Anthony Elementary School Ayer Elementary School Aynesworth Elementary School Baird Elementary School Bakman Elementary School Balderas Elementary School Birney Elementary School Bullard TALENT Elementary School Burroughs Elementary School Calwa Elementary School Carver Academy Elementary School Centennial Elementary School Columbia Elementary School Dailey Elementary School (closed) Del Mar Elementary School Easterby Elementary School Eaton Elementary School Ericson Elementary School Ewing Elementary School Figarden Elementary School Forkner Elementary School

Fremont Elementary School Gibson Elementary School Greenberg Elementary School Hamilton Elementary School Heaton Elementary School Hidalgo Elementary School Holland Elementary School Homan Elementary School Jackson Elementary School Jefferson Elementary School King Engineering Elementary School Kirk Elementary School Kratt Elementary School Lane Elementary School Lawless Elementary School Leavenworth Elementary School Lincoln Elementary School Lowell Elementary School Malloch Elementary School Manchester GATE Elementary School Mayfair Elementary School McCardle Elementary School

Muir Elementary School Norseman Elementary School Powers-Ginsburg Elementary School Pyle Elementary School River Bluff Elementary School Robinson Elementary School Roeding Elementary School Rowell Elementary School Slater Elementary School Starr Elementary School Storey Elementary School Sunset Elementary School Thomas Elementary School Turner Elementary School Viking Elementary School Vinland Elementary School Webster Elementary School Williams Elementary School Wilson Elementary School Winchell Elementary School Wishon Elementary School Wolters Elementary School Yokomi Elementary School

Other schools

Alternative Schools

• Cambridge Cont. High School
• DeWolf Cont. High School
• J.E. Young Academic Center

Fresno Adult School

• Cesar E. Chavez Adult School

See also

• List of school districts in Fresno County, California

References

1. ^ "Board Assigns 10 School Jobs To Architects". 1956. The Fresno Bee (November 9, 1956).
2. ^ Fresno Unified School District Directory (1959-60)
3. ^ Fresno Unified School District Directory (1978-79)
4. ^ Addicott, Irwin O. 1980. "A History of Fresno Schools," published by the Fresno Unified School District Board of Education, pp. 37-38, retrieved Jan. 14, 2011: http://operationalservices.fresno.k12.ca.us/facilities/history%20files/cooper.html
5. ^ Dow, John Allan. 1967. "History of Public School Organization and Administration in Fresno County, California," doctoral dissertation: University of Southern California (USC)
6. ^ "Data Regarding Physical Properties Compiled As An S.E.R.A. Project -- 1935," Fresno Unified School District
7. ^ "W.J. COOPER DIES SUDDENLY ON WAY ACROSS COUNTRY--Hemorrhage Fatal To Former City School Chief in Nebraska," the Fresno Bee, September 19, 1935, p. 1. Excerpt: "[Cooper] put into operation [in Fresno] a system which was considered one of the most efficient in the state. Fresno's public schools to-day are operating largely upon the basis laid down by Cooper in his five-year term as superintendent."
8. ^ Schlein, Walter C. 1922. Alumnus Delta (Fresno). The Phi Delta Kappan. Vol. IV, June 1922, pp. 26-27, Google Books
9. ^ Boyles, Denny. 2006. Fresno group joins protest - Rights activists say immigrants' role in U.S., Valley often overlooked. The Fresno Bee (Sunday, March 26, 2006), p. A8
10. ^ Vance, Christina. 2006. Fresno police officers head off big walkouts - Chief Jerry Dyer says that confiscated messages, police presence kept truancy down. The Fresno Bee (Saturday, April 1, 2006), p. B1
11. ^ Vance, Christina. 2006. Fresno Co. student protests wane as police clamp down on truants. The Fresno Bee (Thursday, March 30, 2006), p. A1
12. ^ Vance, Christina. 2006. Fresno police officers head off big walkouts - Chief Jerry Dyer says that confiscated messages, police presence kept truancy down. The Fresno Bee (Saturday, April 1, 2006), p. B1
13. ^ Olvera, Javier Erik. 2002. Children's Champion - Schwarzenegger pushes after-school programs initiative in Fresno. The Fresno Bee (Friday, February 22, 2002), p. B1
14. ^ Matlosz, Felicia Cousart. 2002. Davis allows Cooper's extra hour - Officials hope more time in school will boost test scores. The Fresno Bee (Tuesday, June 25, 2002), p. B1
15. ^ Excerpt from bill: "This bill would, notwithstanding existing law, authorize the State Board of Education to grant a waiver request from the Fresno Unified School District to allow that school district to use supplemental instructional program funds to offer to pupils enrolled at the Cooper Middle School an instructional day that is 60 minutes longer than at other middle schools in the district in order to provide more instruction in language arts and mathematics." Retrieved Jan. 17, 2011: ftp://leginfo.public.ca.gov/pub/01-02/bill/asm/ab_1251-1300/ab_1285_bill_20020204_amended_sen.pdf
16. ^ Retrieved Jan. 16, 2011: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/01-02/bill/asm/ab_1251-1300/ab_1285_bill_20020621_chaptered.html
17. ^ Anderson, Barbara. 2005. Forum supports healthier school food - Advocates say state and school policies must aim kids toward better fare. The Fresno Bee (Thursday, August 11, 2005), p. B2
18. ^ Davis, Jeff. 1989. "Fun Back in Baseball for Hoover," The Fresno Bee (August 26, 1989)
19. ^ Woody, Doyle. 1993. "One for the Ages," Anchorage Daily News (July 11, 1993), p. K20
20. ^ The Fresno Bee (August 16, 1983)
21. ^ Davis, Jeff. 1989. "Fun Back in Baseball for Hoover," The Fresno Bee (August 26, 1989)
22. ^ Canzano, John. 2011. "Ducks gamble and entertain, but size matters," The Oregonian (January 11, 2011)

External links

• Fresno Unified School District