District Newsletter

Dear Lemoore Union Elementary School District Parents & Staff,

As we conclude the 2025-2026 school year, I am filled with an incredible sense of pride and gratitude for all that we have accomplished together as a district community. This year, our theme, EACH ONE, ONE TEAM, truly came to life across our schools, classrooms, departments, and programs. It served as a reminder that while we each play a unique role in the lives of our students, we are strongest when we work together with unity, purpose, and an unwavering commitment to doing what is best for kids.

This school year has been one of growth, innovation, and opportunity for our students. From academic achievement and expanded learning experiences to the arts, athletics, music, and student wellness, the impact of our collective work can be seen and felt throughout every campus in the Lemoore Union Elementary School District. The evidence of student learning and creativity is proudly displayed on classroom walls, showcased through student performances, reflected in meaningful relationships, and celebrated within our schools and community.

One area of tremendous growth and investment this year was the expansion of visual arts education across our elementary schools. We are incredibly proud to have welcomed two exceptional art teachers, Mr. Jarod Rocker and Mrs. Holly Meager, to our district team. Since March 2026, every elementary student, at every grade level and school site, has had access to a high-quality, standards-driven visual arts program. The excitement, creativity, and engagement generated through these opportunities have been inspiring to witness, and we look forward to building upon this work with a full year of arts instruction beginning in August.

In addition, our partnership with Vision to Learn continued to make a profound difference in the lives of our students and families. Through screenings conducted at Cinnamon, Freedom, Lemoore, and Engvall Elementary Schools, approximately 275 students received eye exams, with nearly 86% needing prescribed glasses. Every child identified as needing glasses was able to personally select their frames, with glasses delivered directly to our schools free of charge to families. The gift of sight is truly the gift of learning, and our investment in this critical learning tool is already proving to be a game changer for our students. We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to support our students and families in such a meaningful and impactful way, and we look forward to sharing more about this incredible work in this newsletter.

This year also brought expanded opportunities in music, athletics, student leadership, intervention supports, field trips, and enrichment experiences. Our staff consistently went above and beyond to ensure students were supported academically, socially, and emotionally. Whether through purposeful classroom instruction, before and after-school support, extracurricular activities with the addition of track this year, or simply building positive relationships with students each day, the dedication of our educators and staff has been extraordinary.

As we prepare to close out another successful school year, I want to sincerely thank our students, staff, families, Board of Trustees, and community partners for their continued support and partnership. The success of our district is the direct result of what we accomplish together as ONE TEAM.

To our students and families, I wish you a joyful, safe, and restful summer break filled with opportunities to recharge, spend time together, and continue learning. We encourage all students to keep reading throughout the summer as we prepare for another exciting year ahead.

We look forward to welcoming everyone back for the 2026-2027 school year on August 10, 2026, as we continue building upon the incredible momentum we created together this year.

Thank you for being part of the Lemoore Union Elementary School District family. Together, we are making a lasting difference for kids every single day.

Wishing you a wonderful summer!

Sincerely,

Cheryl Hunt

For many years, our district has collected data showing that approximately 25% of students do not pass their school vision screening. Of those students, only about one-third have historically been able to access a comprehensive eye exam with an optometrist.

Last school year, we partnered with Vision To Learn, a nonprofit organization that provides free eye exams and glasses to students, for a pilot program at Meadow Lane Elementary. The program was a tremendous success.

This school year, the partnership expanded to our four remaining elementary schools: Cinnamon Elementary, Freedom Elementary, Engvall Elementary, and Lemoore Elementary. After being screened by our district nursing team, students who did not pass their vision screening were eligible to receive a free on-campus eye exam from a Vision To Learn optometrist.

The results have been remarkable:

• Cinnamon Elementary: 74 students received eye exams, and 66 were prescribed glasses.
• Freedom Elementary: 58 students received eye exams, and 50 were prescribed glasses.
• Lemoore Elementary: 80 students received eye exams, and 63 were prescribed glasses.
• Engvall Elementary: 63 students received eye exams, and 58 were prescribed glasses.

Glasses have already been distributed at Cinnamon, Freedom, and Lemoore Elementary. Engvall families will receive information this summer regarding how and when their students can receive their glasses.

Looking ahead, our goal is to establish an every-other-year service rotation for all district schools. During the 2026–27 school year, we hope to schedule Vision To Learn visits for Meadow Lane Elementary, Liberty Middle School, and University Charter School as part of that rotation.

While these services are provided at no cost to students and families, the program itself is not free. Currently, the Lemoore Union Elementary School District is funding the service while we work to secure community partnerships and long-term sponsorships to sustain the program. We also hope to help Vision To Learn establish a team in California's Central Valley, which would significantly reduce program costs for the district.

If you know of an organization, business, or individual who may be interested in supporting this important initiative, please contact District Nurse Stephanie Martin at smartin@myluesd.net.

This year during the end of the year state and district assessments, the Lemoore Elementary students were focused on Leveling Up their learning. This also meant a focus on attendance. Students earned a board game day for having the best attendance in their grade level and the class with the best attendance in the whole school received a donut party. Congratulations!!

We are so excited to participate in the Vision to Learn program. On May 19th, 59 Lemoore Elementary students received new glasses. Our district nurses gave a special presentation teaching our lions about the importance of wearing glasses and how to care for their new glasses. One student even proclaimed, “Now I can see!”

Mr. De Alba’s 6th graders spent a week at Scicon. Students had so much fun and showed how to ROAR no matter where they go. A special thank you to the Josue Family for celebrating our 6th graders amazing behavior with a Pizza Party.

As the school year is beginning to wind down, students are focused on a final effort to accomplish their end of the year goals. Lemoore Elementary students have been focused all year on creating and achieving goals in reading, writing, and math. On June 2nd, we will have our end of the year awards. New this year, we will have the awards assembly after school from 4:30 to 6:30. We will be celebrating academic success by giving out our Learning Lion and Proficient/Advanced Scholar awards. We will also be recognizing our athletic teams in basketball and track and our Student Council.

Each month this school year, Lemoore Elementary has honored students who represent the different ROAR expectations: Respect, On-task, Achieve, Responsibility. The Lion of the month celebrations were fantastic! A huge thank you to all the families who came to celebrate each month with a cinnamon roll breakfast. It was so much fun to see students honored.

On June 3rd we will be honoring our Lion of Character. These are students who are nominated by their teachers for showing the ROAR expectations the entire school year, consistently. Students will be receiving a special T-shirt and a ceremony honoring their character.

As our Lemoore Elementary 6th graders get ready to transition to Middle School, we are excited to celebrate them. On June 3rd, we will hold a parent vs. student kickball game, have a BBQ and a slide show to celebrate and enjoy the day with our 6th grade families. On the last day of school, we will have a special “walk out” for our 6th graders as they leave the campus.

Mrs. Ahumada just wrapped up her 41st book fair at Cinnamon Elementary! The theme, which had been requested by young and old, was Bluey!! The turn out was beyond amazing!! Open House at the book fair was packed. For this book fair, we partnered with Valley Animal Haven, Lemoore's local dog and cat shelter. Our families brought in lots of donations for the shelter, which was greatly appreciated. Representatives from Valley Animal Haven came to Open House and even brought along one of the adoptable dogs, to spread awareness and answer questions. Mrs. Ahumada wants to give a huge THANK YOU to our Cinnamon Family for always supporting the book fair!!

This year we have expanded art instruction in our classrooms. Students in grades K-6 have received art instruction from our art teachers Mrs. Holly Meagher and Mr. Jarod Rocker in conjunction with our classroom teachers and also from instructors from the Kings Art Center. Students have learned about art vocabulary, artistic styles and famous artists all while creating art. This has been an incredible experience for our students and we are excited for this learning opportunity!

Engvall Elementary Student Council worked tirelessly to paint a campus mural encompassing student unity makes us strong. Under the direction of Mrs. Bietz students painted an American Flag in a blue sky with Roadrunner clouds on the side of room 406. The mural faces the basketball courts and will be used as the flag for our weekly Monday Flag Ceremony when we all stand in unity saluting the flag.

Engvall hosted the final Family Fun Night on Thursday, May 14, 2026. There were lots of families playing games and enjoying a meal together. Students enjoyed Hula hoops, kick ball games, volleyball, wiffleball, and time with their family and friends.

Engvall will hosted an end of the year Award Ceremony. This will be held Monday, June 1 at 5:00pm. Students who are proficient in Reading, Mathematics and Language Arts will receive a certificate. Students who are proficient in all three subjects will receive a certificate and a ribbon. We are finishing the year STRONG!

7th grade spent the day at Lemoore College; students were able to walk the campus with a college mentor and were able to experience several classes. The students were able to see Ag Mechanics, Auto Shop, culinary hospitality and several others. Additionally, the students had a 45 minute presentation session, in which they learned about the specific classes as well as extracurricular activities, sports and college opportunities. The students were able to ask questions and have their questions answered on the spot and it was a great learning day at Lemoore College.

The 8th graders had the opportunity to travel to Fresno to watch the Grizzlies take on the Visalia Rawhide. For some students, it was their first time attending a baseball game. They got the opportunity to learn about the game of baseball, and all the math, statistics, and planning that goes into a team’s game day strategy. Students got to enjoy spending time with their friends and teachers and even got a shout-out on the big screen during the 5th inning. It was a wonderful opportunity for fellowship and celebrating the end of two wonderful years together at Liberty and to show the community what it means to be a Patriot and show PRIDE everywhere we go.

This year, our music program had 6 incredible students get chosen for the TKMEA Honor Band. Congratulations to:

• Joelle Geldore – Flute/Piccolo

• Sophia Calderon-Yanez – Clarinet

• Nickolaz Vazquez – Clarinet

• Sophie Salinas – Trumpet

• Theo Hubilla – Tenor Saxophone

• Antonio Menjivar – Tenor Saxophone

These students got to perform alongside other students from the county and represented our school and music program at the highest level. We are so incredibly proud of them and the recognition of their talent, effort, and dedication!

The Music Program at Liberty Middle School has had another excellent year. Winter percussion placed 1st, Winter guard placed 2nd and throughout the year our program received Excellent and Superior ratings. The band teachers have done an excellent job coming together as a team and supporting one another.

On May 19th, the music department got to celebrate the student’s efforts from the entire year at the Spring Music Concert and Awards Night which was a culmination of countless hours of rehearsal and practice. The students played and sang their hearts out and everyone enjoyed the beautiful music. They were surrounded by family, friends, teachers, and community members who all came out to support our incredible music program. Several students were able to receive scholarships as well to help them continue to pursue their passion for music. It was a wonderful night to end a spectacular year for our music program.

Track season has officially come to an end, and our students came home with many 1st and 2nd place medals throughout the season. Our coaches encouraged students every single day at practice and the students performed at the highest level. In addition, students always represented Liberty with quality character in addition to athletic ability. We also had one girls relay team qualify for Valley Champs where they took 4th place in the whole Central Valley! All the students couldn’t be more proud of themselves and all they accomplished this season!

As we close the 2025–2026 school year, it’s a perfect moment to look back on the inspiring progress across our Meadow Lane community. Our TK and Kinder students enjoyed both playgrounds, we welcomed a brand‑new TK and K building, and art and music brought new energy to our primary grades. Meadow Lane continues to bring in supports, programs, and care to help every student thrive.

"HISTORY MADE! 🏆 Huge congratulations to our Girls Basketball team and coaching staff for bringing home our first-ever tournament championship! These athletes played with incredible heart, skill, and teamwork all weekend. The hard work is paying off—let’s keep this momentum going! Thank you, Coach Sarah Watson for leading our girls to the championships! #Champions #LadyHoops"

We extend our heartfelt thanks to our wonderful parent club president, Angelica Neri, and her team for organizing our Carnival Family Night during Open House. It was truly a joy to see all our families unite for an evening filled with admiration for the hard work their students demonstrate daily.

The carnival, which took place on the evening of April 23rd, offered not only fun games for families to enjoy but also a delightful array of sweet treats from Nico’s Sweet Treats, Teppanyaki, Dippin' Dots, Hosanna Coffee, and Avila’s Churros. And let’s not forget the mouthwatering savory tacos from Market Grunllense!

The Meadow Lane Elementary Student Council has spent the school year developing leadership skills while working to create a positive and engaging school culture for all students. Throughout the year, members have learned how to conduct formal meetings, follow the rules of parliamentary procedure, collaborate as a team, and plan activities designed to build school spirit and strengthen the Meadow Lane community.

Leading the Student Council this year is President Wyatt Breen, a 6th grader, alongside Vice President Jennie Manners, 5th grader; Secretary Aubrey Garcia, 5th grader; Treasurer Daniella Boehm, 6th grader; and SPIRIT Commissioner Aubrie Cruz, 6th grader. Members at Large include 6th graders Kaiden Kwaitkowski, Rosemarie Borbon, and Raine Robertson, along with 5th grader Stacy Ramirez.

Together, these students have demonstrated responsibility, teamwork, creativity, and leadership while representing the voices of their peers. Their dedication to planning activities and promoting Mustang SPIRIT has made a meaningful impact on the Meadow Lane campus.

As we wrap up the 2025-2026 school year, we carry with us cherished memories and a fond glimpse back at our elementary school journey. Meadow Lane continues to evolve each year, adapting to meet the needs of our students.

Looking Forward

As we close this chapter, we are eager to embrace the upcoming 2026-2027 school year, featuring a fresh new look and a dedicated TK/K building. We are excited for the arrival of the new school year and can hardly wait to welcome back our little Mustangs this fall. Saying “see you later” is indeed bittersweet.

Celebrating Student Growth 🌟

• Transitional Kindergarten: Our youngest learners have mastered writing techniques and are confidently writing their names, while also tackling math concepts.

• Kindergarten: Exciting adventures await as they prepare to transition into first grade, eager to explore new learning opportunities.

• First grade: This year in 1st grade, students have learned numerous skills across subjects:

Reading: Practiced digraphs, magic e words, r-controlled vowels, and longer words; improved fluency and comprehension by answering questions about passages.

Writing: Learned to write complete sentences with proper punctuation and created informational paragraphs on various topics.

Math: Counted to 120, built fluency in addition and subtraction within 10, solved problems using strategies like ten frames, and practiced adding two-digit numbers and telling time.

Science: Explored life cycles, plant growth, amphibians vs. reptiles, and the solar system.

Overall, it has been a year of significant growth and curiosity!

• Second Grade: Students are discovering their rhythmic voices and enjoying the joy of singing.

• Third Grade: As they navigate the middle stage of their academic journey, our third graders are gearing up for the next chapter.

• Fourth Grade: These students are leveling up through after-school tutoring, enhancing their skills.

• Fifth and Sixth Grades: Our older students are learning patience in art and embracing the power of teamwork in band.

As we bid farewell with a heartfelt “see you later,” the Mustang Nation wants to express our gratitude: “Thank you for choosing Meadow Lane and allowing us to grow and learn together. We look forward to seeing you in August!”

An unforgettable teacher- Karen Mellott- congratulations on your retirement

Our fifth annual Open House at Freedom Elementary School in April was a wonderful celebration of learning, community, and school spirit. Families and community members were welcomed to campus for an evening filled with fun, connection, and excitement. Guests enjoyed delicious treats from local food trucks, explored the book fair, and visited classrooms to see firsthand where the magic of learning happens each day.

A special thank you goes to our amazing Freedom Jet Boosters for organizing outdoor games and activities that brought smiles and laughter to students and families alike. It was another truly special evening that brought together staff, students, families, and the community to celebrate all that makes Freedom such a remarkable place to learn and grow. Our Jets always love the opportunity to share their school, their learning, and their pride in Freedom with their families.

The Freedom Jets Student Council wanted to find a meaningful way to give back to our school community. Many of these student leaders are sixth graders who will soon be moving on to junior high, and they wanted to leave a lasting impact on the campus they love.

Working together with Mrs. Kendall from the Freedom Jet Boosters and our district grounds team, students joined forces to plant five trees on campus in honor of Arbor Day and Earth Day. While they were guided throughout the process, the students did the hard work themselves, showing dedication, teamwork, and pride in their school.

We are incredibly proud of our students for caring so deeply about how they leave their school and community for future generations. Their efforts will continue to grow and make a difference for years to come. At Freedom Elementary, learning goes beyond the classroom!

Our students have worked incredibly hard all year long, giving 100% to their learning every day. In May, they had the opportunity to show all they have learned as they participated in end-of-year assessments. Every grade level takes part in important testing, from our TK students completing DIBELS assessments to our sixth graders taking the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP).

In the week leading up to testing, students and staff focused on getting ready to shine. We celebrated with fun dress-up days tied to a confidence-building theme that helped encourage and motivate our students to do their best. The week concluded with an exciting Field Day where students demonstrated teamwork, sportsmanship, and school spirit while enjoying activities together on campus.

We were also so grateful for the many parent volunteers who helped make the day such a success. Thank you to our parents and staff for working together to make the week run so smoothly and for continuing to support and encourage our students every step of the way.

Vision To Learn visited Freedom Elementary School this past month, and it was truly a special and meaningful day for our students. Students who needed glasses were able to receive them, opening the door to clearer vision and even greater opportunities for learning and success in the classroom.

At Freedom, we are always focused on supporting learning in every way possible. Mrs. Alanzalon created and taught an incredible lesson for students about the importance of glasses, how to care for them, and what to expect as they adjust to wearing them. She helped students understand how important clear vision is to learning, confidence, and everyday success.

It was a joyful experience for our students and a wonderful reminder of the many ways our school community comes together to support every child.

The 3rd and final trimester in the 25/26 school year at UCS has been, and will end as, an exciting and eventful one. We continue to celebrate our Hawk Hero culture, with events such as Open House, a state testing rally, high school transition meetings, a few field trips, our year-end reward trip to Urban Air, and celebrating our students’ accomplishments at the Milestone Event, just to name a few.

We recognized our 2nd trimester academic achievement award winners: Hawk Scholars (3.0-3.79 GPA), and Dean’s List (3.8-4.0 GPA) on the UCS Stars wall, along with those students who have shown significant growth in citizenship and /or attendance being celebrated on our Top Hawks wall, and had our second round of star and hawk head painting ceremonies. We continue to recognize students on a weekly basis at our Friday Flag salute in the courtyard with our Hawk Hero awards and Student of the Month/Golden Hawk awards given out monthly. Fun Fridays remain a weekly event the students look forward to for socializing and positive behavior recognition. We have also had some more great presentations and projects in our math, ELA, science, and history classes in the 3rd trimester on such topics as volcanoes, Greek life, politics, food truck competition, etc. We wrapped up our sports season at UCS sports with basketball late in the 2nd trimester. We got to play our home games in the Eagle Arena on the Lemoore College campus. That continues to be an amazing experience for our team and the visitors, as well. We just finished participating in the local track meets for the leagues and county for the first time in school history. Our students have also read over 414,000 pages thus far in the school year, and continue to increase that number. Some of our students are taking advantage of dual enrollment and taking college courses through Lemoore College, with many more doing so in the year to come, I’m sure. We’re having our whole school picture taken soon, to show our Hawk Hero spirit. We’re continuing to make great strides and show Hawk Pride here at UCS!

We harvested our winter crops of kale, spinach, carrots, radishes, snap peas, broccoli, and other veggies, and turned over the soil in preparation for the summer crops. We have planted our summer crops of various tomatoes & peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, squash and radishes, with others being planted before the kids leave for a bumper crop when they return in the fall. Our new chickens are thriving and looking forward to the new pens to be built so they have more room to roam. The big red barn has been built and houses all the supplies and tools for the 4-H program.

For children, summer is a time to relax, spend time doing fun activities and not think about school. But this relaxed mindset doesn’t come without a cost.

Studies show that when kids take a break from learning all summer long, they run the risk of losing up to three months’ worth of reading and math skills from the previous years. Teachers can spend up to six weeks re-teaching material that kids have forgotten during the summer months. This “Summer Brain Drain” can add more stress to kids’ lives when they transition back to school.

A kid’s brain is a muscle, like any other: if it isn’t used consistently, it will lose some of the ‘strength’ it built up during the school year. Beyond learning skills, the brain flexes other muscles to learn about following rules, meeting expectations, building social skills, organizing and more. Keeping kids engaged in some sort of routine and expectations during summer can make the transition back to school easier and reduce stress for both kids and parents.

LUESD is excited to announce the transition to Apollo, our new Student Information System, which will replace Aeries starting this coming school year. Moving forward, parents will review and update their child's information online through the new Apollo platform rather than the Aeries Parent Portal.

During the month of July, families will receive an automated message via ParentSquare with detailed instructions on how to access their new Apollo accounts. Once you receive these instructions, please do not delay in verifying your child's information.

Through Apollo, parents will be able to:

• Update critical contact information, including home phone numbers and emergency contacts.

• Download and certify the receipt of important school documents, such as the school handbook.

• Complete the standard lunch application information, as the district will not collect a separate EZMEALAPP form for 2026-2027.

Moving This Summer? If you have recently moved or expect to move over the summer, you will be required to submit proof of your new address (such as a recent utility bill or rental agreement) to your child's school registrar via email. This ensures your mailing address is updated and prevents any communication delays. If you have multiple children attending different schools within the district, please submit proof of address to each applicable school.