Superintendent's Office

Diolinda "Didi" Peterson, Superintendent

Email: dpeterson@sylvan.k12.ca.us 

Superintendent's Message for the 2023-2024 school year

It is my honor and privilege to welcome you to the 2023-2024 school year. On behalf of all of our staff and community partners, we are looking forward to a great year of learning as we focus on our priority goals: 

• High levels of learning for ALL students
• Ensuring a safe, supportive, and welcoming learning environment for all of our students and staff 

To ensure high levels of learning, the Sylvan Union School District is an active and committed Professional Learning Community (PLC). We cultivate and commit to our focus on learning (for students and staff), a collaborative culture and results-orientation. We engage in a never-ending process in which we work, learn and collaborate together. 

SUSD continues to commit to support and serve our community with social-emotional learning (SEL) while cultivating a safe and positive culture for our students and staff. In our continued response to our students’ needs, each school site has an adopted social-emotional program and embedded supports, including intervention teams, that focus on best practices for students’ mental health and social skills. 

We are so proud of our students, and their resilience and courage. Their determination to learn, challenge themselves, grow and make real progress in all areas will continue to inspire us. In response to the lasting impacts from the pandemic, our district will focus on promoting positive attendance for our students. Incentives and celebrations will continue this year to improve student attendance as we join the county-wide campaign “Everyday Counts” to boost our students’ attendance. 

We celebrate our phenomenal staff and educators for their commitment to our students and their families, as well as the support they give each other on this learning journey. Their adaptability, knowledge, professionalism and genuine care demonstrate that they are champions of learning. We are strengthened by our amazing Sylvan team members who encourage and support all of our students and each other. 

Lastly, our school sites and district will continue to provide family events that will focus on the same foundational goals to support our families in their desire to learn best practices and more information on supporting their children with academics, social skills and mental health wellness. We will also provide opportunities for our families and community members to share feedback and information with our district, throughout the year. It is our goal to improve our practices and strengthen communication to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to be an active participant and all of our community members are appreciated as an integral part of our amazing learning community. 

My personal vision for the Sylvan Union School District is that all students will achieve at high levels, all staff will also be learners and will work collaboratively to deliver effective instruction through the implementation of research-based strategies. Everything we say and do matters and so in both word and action I commit to you that Sylvan Union School District’s vision is to “Guarantee learning for ALL to empower every student to build a better future.” We will work together for the shared success of our students and our team is excited to welcome you to a new school year filled with learning and growth.  

With gratitude,

Velma Silva, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent