Lemoore Union Elementary
District Newsletter
Message from the Superintendent
Welcome to the 2025–2026 School Year!
We are excited to welcome EACH ONE of our students and families back to the Lemoore Union Elementary School District for what promises to be a remarkable school year! The energy and enthusiasm on our campuses are undeniable, and it has been a joy to see our students return, reconnect, and reengage in their learning communities.
Launching a new school year takes planning, passion, and teamwork. I want to extend my deepest appreciation to our incredible staff for their hard work in ensuring a strong and smooth start. Their dedication to every student’s success reflects the very heart of our theme this year: "EACH ONE, ONE TEAM."
This theme is more than a slogan, it’s a mindset. It reflects our belief that when each one of us-students, staff, families, and community members work together as one team, there’s no limit to what we can accomplish. As a district, we remain deeply committed to fostering safe, inclusive, and academically rigorous environments where every student is empowered to reach their full potential.
We’ve already seen this spirit in action at our recent Back to School Nights and campus events, where so many of you showed up to connect with teachers and staff. These early moments of partnership are the foundation for a successful year. I encourage you to stay engaged through ongoing school events, volunteer opportunities, and consistent communication. Please continue to read our district and site newsletters, visit our websites and social media pages, and stay connected through ParentSquare for the latest updates and announcements.
In this edition of our newsletter, you’ll find important information on topics like attendance, literacy, social-emotional wellness, and family engagement programs, including Fresno State Parent University. You’ll also meet some of our new staff members and catch a glimpse of the exciting things happening across our campuses.
We are proud to walk alongside you as partners in education and are committed to ensuring that each one of our students learns, grows, and thrives this year. Together, as one team, we will continue to inspire greatness and build a future filled with promise and potential.
Here’s to a phenomenal 2025-2026 school year, EACH ONE, ONE TEAM!
With gratitude,
Cheryl Hunt
Superintendent
Lemoore Union Elementary School District
Board Message
On behalf of the Lemoore Union Elementary School District Board of Trustees, I am honored to welcome all of our students, families, and staff to a new school year filled with opportunity, purpose, and unity.
This year, we proudly embrace the theme "EACH ONE, ONE TEAM"—a powerful reflection of our shared commitment to working together for the success of every student. This theme aligns with our district vision of:
EACH ONE – Every student, All staff, Committed to High expectations, Oriented to results, No excuses, and Excellence every day.
As a Board, we remain steadfast in our dedication to supporting the mission of our schools. We believe that when each one of us contributes our best, whether in the classroom, at home, or in the community, we move forward as one team, united in our goals and stronger together.
Our staff has been working diligently to prepare for the year ahead, ensuring that every classroom is ready to engage, inspire, and challenge students. We value the partnership we share with our families and encourage you to stay involved, connected, and engaged in your child’s educational journey.
Thank you for placing your trust in us and for allowing us the privilege of serving the children and families of this remarkable community. It is through collaboration, and commitment that we will make this school year an exceptional one.
Sincerely,
Mark Pescatore
President, Lemoore Union Elementary School District Board of Trustees
Charter School News
The beginning of the 2025/2026 school year at UCS is off to an amazing start! We had a fantastic first week of school. Our enrollment continues to incrementally increase every year, and we’re at the highest enrollment we’ve seen in the last several years. Our Afterschool Program is up and running from day one, and we’ve started our first round of electives, such as chess, lego STEM, ASB, art, pottery, etc. Flag football and volleyball tryouts took place, with games starting Sept. 5. Potential ASB officers are campaigning and will be voted on by the student body next week. Bus evacuation, fire, and lockdown drills are coming up soon, and emergency response vehicles will make an appearance on campus as well. We anticipate exciting growth in our 4-H membership for UCS We will start our gardening club soon to utilize our raised bed gardens and newly acquired greenhouse. The garden is producing numerous crops already. We are honored to be ranked in the top 25% of CA middle schools, and in the top 10% of CA charter schools, according to U.S. News and World Reports. An accomplishment ALL our district schools received. We’re excited to show our Hawk Pride here at UCS. Here’s to a great year for our UCS Community!
Building a Strong Foundation with the Flight Plan
At Freedom Elementary, we’ve been focused on setting our students up for success by teaching and reinforcing school-wide and classroom expectations through our Flight Plan, which emphasizes Respect, Responsibility, and Resilience.
Over the past few weeks, students have been practicing key routines such as lining up, walking in line, and entering shared spaces like the classroom, library, office, and cafeteria. In the classroom, they’ve also worked on skills like voice volume levels, standing and delivering, navigating a one-way movement system, and engaging in pair sharing throughout the day.
To make this learning fun and engaging, classes have taken part in a schoolwide Bingo competition, sending pictures to Mrs. Cassina to show how they’re putting these expectations into action. It’s been a true whole-school effort, and we’re so proud of how our students and staff are working together to build a positive learning environment from day one!
Welcome to LUESD District Office!
Congratulations to Mrs. Erin Portugal Revious on being selected as our new Assistant Superintendent of Special Services!
Erin brings over 15 years of administrative leadership experience, most recently serving as Principal at Liberty Middle School. Prior to that, she spent 12 years as Liberty’s Assistant Principal and also served as Assistant Principal at Meadow Lane. Her educational journey began as a teacher at Liberty Middle School and in first grade at Hanford Elementary School District.
Her deep experience, dedication, and proven leadership will be invaluable in supporting the continued progress of our Department of Student Services and advancing the goals of our District.
We are excited to welcome Erin into this important role and look forward to the positive impact she will continue to make for our students and families.
Congratulations to Kelley Dow on being selected as the new Principal at Liberty Middle School!
We are excited to welcome Kelley into this new role and look forward to all the great things ahead in the 2025/2026 school year.
Congratulations to Dominique Avina on being selected as the new Assistant Principal at Liberty Middle School!
Dominique has dedicated 18 years to serving the families of Liberty, starting as an English Language Arts Teacher before moving into her role as an English Language Development Teacher in 2016. For the past 8 years, she has also served as the Administrative Designee, where her leadership and expertise have supported student success and growth.
We are confident that Dominique will be an outstanding addition to our district leadership team, and we look forward to her continued impact in the 2025/2026 school year.
MEET OUR NEW YDO!
We are excited to welcome Officer Bohannan the newest Youth Development Officer (YDO) at LUESD! Officer Bohannan will work hand-in-hand with our schools to help provide a safe, supportive, and positive learning environment for all students.
YDOs play an important role in guiding students to make positive choices, encouraging respectful interactions, and teaching valuable lessons about safety, responsibility, and leadership. Officer Bohannan will also support our students through mentorship, personal safety education, and crime prevention strategies to help build strong foundations for their future success.
We are proud to have Officer Bohannan join the LUESD Family and continue the mission of supporting #EACHONE of our students!
Helpful Tips for Student Success
Middle school can be a tough time for some students and while they are getting older, they need their parent/guardian more than ever. It is important to stay vigilant to what your student is telling you and not telling you. Below are some tips to help your student have a successful year:
Enforce a bed time - middle school students need at least 9 hours of sleep each night, so they should not be going to sleep past 9 or 9:30 p.m. each night
Keep your child involved in activities (i.e. sports, music, community service) and encourage them to get involved in school activities. Research shows these students have more social and academic success.
Limit the amount of time left to “hang out” in the community with friends if not part of an organized activity. The unstructured time can lead to unforeseen problems. If hanging out, try to ensure that it is under supervision.
Pay attention to who your child’s friends are. Be involved in conversations with them as much as possible.
Connect with your child’s teachers and reach out to them about any concerns or changes you see in your child and to keep aware of things happening in class such as upcoming assessments. Reach out to the counselor as well if any concerns arise.
Keeping kids safe on social media: What parents should know to protect their kids
Department of Special Services
Social media can help children with healthy development but it can also create risks. Psychological research shows it is critically important to focus on how children use social media and the type of content they see.
As a parent or caregiver, you are the expert on your child. You know what experiences will fit with their strengths and areas of vulnerability. These recommendations are based on research and will help you and your child be smart users of social media, avoiding the harms, and gaining maximum benefits.
1. Recognize developing brains may be especially vulnerable to specific social media features.
Communicating with friends on social media can be helpful for child development, including a chance to learn new social skills and complex relationships. But the like button and use of artificial intelligence to promote excessive scrolling may be dangerous for developing brains.
Adolescent brain development generally starts before puberty, around age 10, and lasts through early adulthood. This is an important phase of growth during which the brain undergoes dramatic developmental changes. In early adolescence, brain regions associated with a desire for attention from peers become increasingly sensitive. Social media may exploit that desire.
Meanwhile, brain areas important for self-control don’t fully develop until early adulthood. When thinking about the use of social media in your family, it’s important to recognize the unique vulnerabilities of adolescent brains. Your guidelines around social media use should evolve as children mature.
What to do: Limit social media use on platforms that include counts of likes or encourage excessive use. Use screen time settings available on most devices or on platforms to help children set limits and learn self-control. Prohibit screen time that interferes with at least 8 hours of sleep a night to ensure healthy brain development among children.
2. Monitor and discuss your child’s social media use.
Parents should take a multipronged approach to social media management, including time limits, parental monitoring and supervision, and ongoing discussions about social media.
As noted above, time limits can help children with self-control and encourage moderate social media use. Limiting chat functions, especially among strangers, and limiting exposure to adult content is also recommended. Particularly for younger children, parents may consider allowing social media use only when children are at home so that parents can keep a closer eye on their online activities.
In addition, adult monitoring of social media postings and content viewed is advised, especially in early adolescence. Unsupervised social media use is more likely to expose children to potentially harmful content and features of social media. Scientific studies demonstrate it is also critical for parents to engage in ongoing discussions with adolescents about how to use social media in safe and helpful ways. This is hard for many parents and caregivers since some of these platforms and their functions are unfamiliar to many adults today.
What to do: Talk to your child weekly about how social media platforms work so they feel safe telling you about their experiences without judgment. Ask them what they saw on social media, how they understood what was posted, and pose hypothetical questions to them to learn how they would respond to various situations they might encounter online.
3. Model healthy social media use.
Research studies show children learn some social media behaviors and attitudes from their parents. It is important for adults to model healthy social media use in their own lives. To model good digital behavior, avoid using social media when at the dinner table or engaging in family time, and make sure your conversations about social media reflect the ways you want them to feel about social media use.
What to do: Discuss how and why you use social media with your children. Set limits for social media use for yourselves and encourage your children to follow your example. Take social media holidays as a family and discuss the challenges and temptations you all experience when away from social media for a long time.
4. Watch for problematic social media use.
Keep an eye out for signs your child may be using social media in unhealthy ways. Your child’s social media use might be causing problems if:
- It interferes with their daily routines and commitments, such as school, work, friendships, and extracurricular activities.
- They often choose social media over in-person social interactions.
- It prevents them from getting at least 8 hours of quality sleep each night.
- It prevents them from engaging in regular physical activity.
- They keep using social media even when they express a desire to stop.
- They experience strong cravings to check social media.
- They lie or use deceptive behavior to spend time online.
What to do: Ask your child if any of these statements above are true for them. If you are concerned your child is dependent on social media or using it in unhealthy ways, consider enforcing new limits around accessing this technology. If you suspect your child is experiencing psychological harm or you are having difficulty managing your child’s social media use, a mental health professional may be able to help you find healthier ways to engage with the digital world.
