Superintendent Jordan welcomed attendees at Tuesday's meeting to Milpitas High School. Periodically, throughout the year, the Board of Education will hold its meetings at different schools "in an effort to try and bring us closer to the community and in the hopes of having more people attend our meetings and also, more importantly, to let you know that we truly are trying to live a Culture of We," she said.

Since the meeting was held at MHS, Jordan shared some highlights about the site.

On Saturday, right outside the cafeteria doors (where the meeting was held), the District held its first ever all-alumni reunion, coordinated by Milpitas Mayor Rich Tran, Principal Francis Rojas, Board President Daniel Bobay, and Board Vice President Chris Norwood. Approximately 40 people showed up to the event, which gave Jordan the opportunity to speak with graduates from 1972, 1984, the 2000s, and during the recession. Jordan was also able to connect with a student who likes to claim her fame as being her first ever student, Jihan Ahmad.

"What I thought was really interesting was talking to the group from '72," Jordan recalled.They shared that as freshmen, if the boys had hair that was touching the tops of their ears or the girls had shorts that were too short, they could be suspended. But within four short years, much had changed; long hair and mini skirts were the style, and the previous rules were out the window.

"They really lived that Revolution time and I thought it was cool to be able to talk with them," Jordan said.

Another highlight, she added, came from a carpenter and welder who graduated in the early 1990s. They spoke about their hopes to have more knowledge about career technology education when they graduated from high school more than 20 years ago.

"They both said that they're having a difficult time recruiting employees because they need people who come out of school, not just prepared with a hammer, but how to use a computer," Jordan said. "So I thought, 'Wow. That really plays into what we've been talking about, which is building pathways to careers. ... So I think we're really on the right track of trying to find multiple ways for our kids to get to where they want to go so they realize their passions."

Alyssa Lynch, Superintendent of Metropolitan Education District (MetroED), provided an update on their program, support of Milpitas students, and district-specific enrollment data for 2017-18. 

"For those of you that are not familiar with us, we have two schools that we oversee: Adult Ed, which is in the consortium that I know Milpitas is in, and Silicon Valley CTE (Career Technical Education), where we serve six school districts and have about 1,500 students. Together we have 3,200 students between Adult Ed and Silicon Valley CTE."

She kicked off the presentation by sharing the 2017-18 district goals, upcoming events and activities, and new information about SVCTE. Later in the report, Lynch shared that 58 Milpitas students (53 from Milpitas High and five from Calaveras Hills High School) are attending their classes this year, further breaking it down by enrollment in each of the different classes.

"I would direct your attention to 11 students in the Medical Science-Health Careers," she said, at the highest engagement, adding that Milpitas is filling up almost half a class in that alone. Course popularity is followed by nine students in Mobile App Design.

As a new part of the Executive Cabinet Report this year, Principals are taking turns providing a brief presentation to the Board about what's happening at their school. MHS Principal Francis Rojas kicked off the first report at the September 12 meeting. On Tuesday, Principal Damon James and Assistant Principal Luis Lopez shared out some of the work happening at Thomas Russell Middle School.

James began by noting a couple of accomplishments. He celebrated Lopez' work with Meriwest Credit Union in receiving a $1,000 donation and more than $500 worth of school supplies, which included fully-stocked backpacks, to give out to some of their students. The school and Zanker Elementary were also recently recognized for having the highest attendance at their sites last year.

James then talked about the school's focus to educate the whole child this year. Starting Monday, the school will kick off anti-bullying month with an assembly. The activities will continue with five spirit days, where students are being asked to dress as they would to support peace building. Themes include dressing in blue for peace, as a guardian angel, school colors for unity day, peace builder day where they're hoping students dress as all types of builders such as construction workers, and free dress. In addition, the final day, they are asking that no one eats alone. The following week, there will be a door-decorating contest with "no bully zones" for the different classrooms and the gym. Following, there will be a peace builder workshop, scheduled for parents, about cyberbullying and how to address the issue. An anti-bully task force will also put together training for students about how to handle bullying.

The school is also focusing on prevention and self empowerment regarding drugs and alcohol. James said they have participated with the Department of Alcohol and Drug Services with the county as part of a grant. This enables Russell to receive a parent workshop, student workshops, and a "Walk in Our Shoes" program, which helps students learn how to understand and address mental health as a student.

"We still have our intervention and our academic supports, but we really felt the need to focus on the whole child for this school year," James said.