Video Message from Superintendent Jerry Jennex – July 21, 2025

July 21, 2025

Dear Students, Staff, Families and Friends of TJUSD,

It’s hard to believe that summer break is halfway over. The TJUSD board, administration, and staff have not been idle however. We are already anticipating the new school-year. There are several new and exciting changes or initiatives that will be taking place in the 2025-2026 school-year. I just wanted to
take a minute to update you about a few of them.

1. New People – Several new staff members will be joining TJUSD for the beginning of the school-
year. We have new teachers and classified staff members in several positions. We will be
highlighting our new teachers and staff in our communications in the upcoming days and weeks.
2. New Programs – TJUSD is constantly reviewing its programs to consider more methods to help
our students succeed. Let me just list a few of them.

•  Graduation Success Facilitators will be in place at the elementary and secondary levels. This program was approved by the board as a 1-year pilot program using remaining Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant funds.
•  Building and Construction Trades will begin as a Career and Technical Education (CTE) program at the high school. This program was also made possible through a grant, the Golden State Pathways Program planning grant. First semester will be dedicated to having our new teacher prepare and plan for starting these classes second semester.
• Jr. High Flag Football will be offered at THS. We are in the process of hiring a coach and scheduling games for our 6 th -8 th grade boys to have a fall sport. Currently our girls have a fall sport (volleyball) but our Jr. High boys do not.

3. New Policies – TJUSD will be teaming up with the Small School Districts Association to adopt a new set of board policies in the near future. TJUSD has used a policy service from another California organization but is looking forward to the transition to the SSDA system. SSDA’s approach to policy management will provide a more user-friendly set of policies for the board and community to use and will also facilitate a more manageable update process.

You may have notice the alliteration above, “new people, new programs, new policies”, that was intentional. I would like to also offer and encouragement for all us to consider bringing a 4 th “P” to this new school-year, and that is a new “Perspective”. I am going to attempt to look at these new people, programs, and policies with a fresh perspective. I am going to try to filter my perspective through the lens of our district vision, “To Educate, Empower, and Engage All”. If we can make sure all we do at TJUSD is guided by that perspective, we will be on our way toward the improved student outcomes we all desire for Trona’s young people.

Best Wishes for a great new school-year,

Dr. Jerry Jennex, Superintendent