The superintendent of the Los Alamitos Unified School District announced on Thursday that the highly ranked system is planning to lean into the “extraordinary” moments of its students.
“It’s really about serving all of our students,” District Supt. Dr. Andrew Pulver told an overflow audience inside the packed ballroom of the U.S. Navy Golf Course in Cypress Thursday during his “State of the District” address.
The annual fundraising breakfast is hosted by the Los Alamitos Educational Foundation (LAEF) and generally gives the public an inside look at the overall direction of teachers and administrators within the system.
“As a district, every year, or sometimes every couple of years, we create a theme,” said Pulver. “We plan over the summer as we think about how we are going to frame the work that we’re doing for our students,” the superintendent said.
“We’ve had a forward focus theme for a few years,” said Pulver, also noting “wellness has been a big focus, and we helped establish wall spaces across all nine of our campuses.”
“This vision is about trying to provide access and opportunities for all kids. We have to make sure that our schools work for all kids, not just some kids,” he added. “You hear me say that because it’s true.”
For the second year in a row, in 2024, the district graduated 100 percent of its students in its graduating class, which is an achievement reached by few other districts.
“It’s really all about being extraordinary,” said Pulver. “And so, when we think about being extraordinary, what I love about it is that we were intentional to make it to two words, “Be Extraordinary.”
“The “Be” is really something that we make ut something that has a call to action,” the superintendent said.
“It is a state of mind when we say, be extraordinary. It’s not just about being extraordinary, but we even took it deeper when we’re talking about the “Be extraordinary,” theme,” the superintendent said.
“it really stands for us believing in our kids, believing in each other, and believing that great things are possible for all students,” said Pulver. “Believing in students and getting them to believe in their own abilities is really just a continuation of this work that we’re doing,” he said.
“Sometimes we get lost, and we think it should only be these big moments, but we cannot get lost thinking that these moments have to be grand. There are so many wonderful, remarkable, small moments of being extraordinary,” he noted with examples.
“One of the things I love at school performances, or at sporting events, is that I love to watch the eyes of parents because their eyes are so proud when they see their kids,” he said.
Small, extraordinary moments happen every day, he said.
“Maybe, it’s when they made a new friend on the first day of middle school, because, you know, we’re coming from different elementary schools… or when they found a home in drama class, you know, sometimes it’s just about all of us trying to find a home somewhere.”
“Or when they passed Algebra Two,” he continued.
For some, it might be just overcoming the burden of physically getting to school.
“And we know sometimes, for some kids, it’s hard to get to school. And I don’t say that as a joke, but it’s a struggle. And so the fact that they got to school on time, that might be an extraordinary moment for them, or it might even be an extraordinary moment for their mom.”
“Extraordinary is both the big and the small things,” said Pulver.
Even the origin story of Los Alamitos Unified is extraordinary, said Pulver, noting the school’s outstanding alumni, now parents, even grandparents, yet still feel connected to the school district.
“This community came together with a plan 44 years ago,” said Pulver, to unify three districts into one,” he said.
“And it’s the dream that this community had to shape the trajectory of their kids, it’s about our kids and the stories that they have and why they want to come back.
“We are a public school system,” the superintendent said, noting the district is “meant to serve the public and meant to serve our parents.”
He invited all former Griffin graduates to stand up, and many former students who are now in business or serving the district in other ways stood to applause.
Pulver said education is about much more than getting a diploma, it is about shaping the future of every student. In that regard, he suggested the district itself, including parents, alumni, and educators, is, in itself, an extraordinary feat.
“This is about our kids and the stories that they have, and why they want to come back,” said Pulver. “Who does that,” he asked?
“That’s what people do here,” he said. “They always feel so connected, and I think that’s one of the things that just makes us so special.”
Such dedication has been ongoing for so long, “I think it has been woven into the fabric of Los Al Unified.”
“If we believe in one another, then the next task for us is to empower our kids, to make sure that they can do extraordinary things, but to empower our staff, to empower one another in this community,” the district superintendent said.
“Just by you being here today, you are part of this empowering of our youth and empowering of one another to make great things possible for all kids,” Pulver told the crowd.
“We are fortunate to be extraordinary, to believe in empowering great things for our students,” he said.
Listening intently this year, the audience included the new Orange Council Board of Education Superintendent Dr. Stefan Bean, whose own children are enrolled in Los Alamitos Unified.
Carrie Logue, the Executive Director of LAEF, thanked the event’s sponsors and presented Pulver with a ceremonial check for $150,975, representing grants awarded to local teachers to modernize and innovate their classrooms.
“At the end of the school year, we gave the staff an opportunity to write grant applications for ways they wanted to innovate in their classrooms, and we received 112 applications,” said Logue.
She said wellness had been a big focus of LAEF over the past years, having contributed towards wellness centers at each of the district’s nine campuses.
In addition, she said, “we have been able to provide stipends to help counseling interns.”
Over the past decade, LAEF has contributed more than $3.1 million to the district, crediting the “incredible support of our community.”
“LAEF continues to find ways to help support and extend our reach to all kids,” Pulver said. “We could not do what we do without this amazing partnership.”