Many local community members came together last Thursday and broke ground at the new Sequoia High School campus.
An assortment of Visalia City Council members, Tulare County Supervisors, and Visalia School Board members mingled with students and staff from the high school. Together, they shoveled the inaugural dirt of the groundbreaking ceremony.
The continuation school will be moving slightly to the west from its current site. School administrators hope students will excel at this new campus.
“We hope students who attend here will build new traditions,” said Visalia Unified Superintendent Dr. Todd Oto. “We build futures in our schools.”
Principal Adolfo Reyes contributed to the school’s construction by throwing a rock he had from the standing campus.
“Hopefully this will make its way into the foundation,” he said.
Sequoia High helps those who may not succeed in a traditional school by intervening when necessary and by providing many opportunities for success.
The school has a partnership with the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park Rangers and they let students go up to the parks and learn.
“They get a chance to practice real world science skills. The kids do anything from scientific work to picking up trash,” said Park Ranger Jenny Kirk. Students from Sequoia High have helped monitor streams and newts, measure Sequoia trees, and patrol the Blue Oak Woodlands. “They get to have fun and learn,” said Kirk.
In a press release, the Visalia Unified School Board praised Sequoia’s legacy. “Sequoia High School is our longest-serving alternative school in Visalia Unified, and it has helped students learn, achieve and earn a high school diploma since 1966. We are excited to be able to bring a new campus to this important school,” said Dr. Oto in a press release.
Sequoia’s new campus should see students in 2020.