State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Visits Blair High School in Pasadena to Promote Literacy

PASADENA—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond today joined Pasadena Unified School District officials as well as other school and community leaders to tour classrooms and promote the importance of literacy and biliteracy at Blair High School in Pasadena.

Enrolling 1,015 middle and high school students, Blair is recognized as an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School that offers the IB Middle Years Programme and the IB Diploma Programme. Superintendent Thurmond, along with Pasadena Unified Board of Education officials and Blair High Principal David Ibarra, toured a sixth-grade dual language class; a high school science class; and ended with visiting a biliteracy class for newcomer students, many of whom have only been in California for three weeks. Before ending the tour, Superintendent Thurmond, in honor of Hispanic Heritage month, donated a book on United States Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor.

“It was remarkable to see the incredible progress these students have made in the short amount of time that they've been here,” said Thurmond. “This is all thanks to the amazing educators, administrators, and wraparound services that Blair High offers. I am proud to witness the work of these future leaders and world citizens.”

This school visit is part of a series of on-campus visits that the State Superintendent is making to spread his message of a bold literacy vision for ensuring that every California student will learn to read by third grade by the year 2026. The effort will also include a biliteracy milestone for dual-language learners.

Superintendent Thurmond also called for efforts to get books in the hands of as many students and families as possible and encouraged those interested in participating in this new literacy effort or who wish to learn more to email statewideliteracycampaign@cde.ca.gov.

# # # #

Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100