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Bilingual report — Ventura County Office of Education Alternative Education honored with Golden Bell Award

by Community Contributor • October 20, 2026 • Comments Off

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Dr. César Morales, Ventura County Superintendent of Schools

October 2026

Para leer en español, haga clic aquí.

Focus on Education provides news about Ventura County public schools for families and educators. It is published by the Ventura County Office of Education (VCOE).

VCOE Alternative Education Wins Golden Bell Award

The Ventura County Office of Education is being honored with the prestigious Golden Bell Award from the California School Boards Association for its Alternative Education program, which serves students who have been expelled, are involved with the justice system, or face serious obstacles in school.

Congratulations to the teams at VCOE’s Gateway and Providence schools for being honored with the Golden Bell Award. Click the photos to enlarge.

The program pairs high expectations with counseling, mental health support, and career and college pathways, backed by partners including the Probation Agency, Behavioral Health, and local colleges.

The results are striking. Graduation rates at Gateway Community School in Camarillo climbed from 20% to more than 93% in five years, while Providence School at the Ventura County Juvenile Facility in Oxnard reached 100%, up from 38%, according to the schools’ data.

“This award celebrates what happens when we stop focusing on a student’s past mistakes and start believing in their future,” said Ventura County Superintendent of Schools Dr. César Morales. VCOE will accept the award at the CSBA annual conference in December.

Learn More About the Award

Test Scores, Graduation Rate, and Attendance Improve in Ventura County

Test scores, graduation rates, and attendance are improving for Ventura County students, according to new figures for the 2025-2026 school year. The California Department of Education has released data that shows improvement in these key areas for Ventura County students:

Ventura County test scores in math and English language arts are up slightly from the prior year. Science scores increased by more than 3%.

The graduation rate in Ventura County increased to 92% and is better than the state average.
Chronic absenteeism in Ventura County dropped by 2.1% from the prior year and is better than the state as a whole.
The suspension rate in Ventura County declined to 2.5%, which is better than the state overall.

This is the first year the state released the updated California School Dashboard and test scores together to provide a more complete picture of student progress. You can see the Dashboard here, dig into test scores here, and explore additional educational data here.

Visual & Performing Arts Showcase

K-12 students from throughout Ventura County are invited to submit artwork for the 2026 VCOE Visual & Performing Arts Showcase. Artwork should be submitted by October 26 to Mayra Plascencia at MPlascencia@vcoe.org.

The artwork will be on display at an exhibition and showcase that will also feature student performances on November 10 at VCOE, and everyone is invited to attend. All of the event details are at www.vcoe.org/VAPA.

Live Streaming of Board Meetings

Meetings of the Ventura County Board of Education meetings are now available for the public to watch on a live video stream. The September 28th meeting was the first to be live-streamed after the boardroom was outfitted with new cameras and video equipment. We’re also now providing video recordings of each meeting.

Both the live and recorded videos include captions in English and Spanish. You can watch live meetings and find recordings of past meetings at vcoe.link/vcbe-video.

One Warm Coat Drive 2026

The VCOE Homeless Education Program is again teaming up with One Warm Coat to help students and families stay warm this winter. Until November 20, we’re collecting coats to donate to those in need.

You can drop off coats in the collection bins at the VCOE Offices at 5189 Verdugo Way or 5100 Adolfo Road in Camarillo. For more information, please contact Homeless Youth Coordinators Cathi Nye at CNye@vcoe.org or Andrew Huizar at AHuizar@vcoe.org (and check out their video here).

Future Fest: College & Career Event

Our Career Education Center is excited to host Future Fest: College & Career Connections, which is designed to connect Ventura County students and families with education, training, and career pathway opportunities.

Attendees will participate in informative workshops, learn about career education, bachelor’s degree programs, receive support from the California College Guidance Initiative, and connect with career training programs, adult schools, community colleges, and four-year universities.

Future Fest takes place on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, from 5:00 to 8:00 PM at our Camarillo conference center. Click here to register.

Gold Coast Ethnic Studies Conference

The Gold Coast Ethnic Studies Conference will be a day of high-impact professional learning, collaboration, and growth for a diverse community of educators serving students from TK-12 through university. This year’s conference theme is “Critical Hope: Sustaining TK-12 Ethnic Studies in Challenging Times.”

The event will include three breakout sessions and a powerful keynote address from Dr. Jeff Duncan-Andrade, Professor of Latina/o Studies at San Francisco State University. The conference takes place on Saturday, November 14, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm in Oxnard. Additional details and registration are available here.

STEM For All: A Five-Part Symposium

The VCOE STEM For All Symposium is a five-part professional learning series about integrating real-world STEM across grade spans. Hear from featured keynote speaker Zaretta Hammond, a nationally recognized Teaching for Instructional Equity education leader and author. Attendees will enjoy an evening of dinner, learning, fun, networking, books, and excitement.

The series kicks off on Wednesday, October 21, from 4:00 PM to 7:30 PM at the VCOE conference center in Camarillo. For more information and to register, click here.

Library & Literacy Day is November 17

VCOE’s 2026 Library and Literacy Day will be dedicated to celebrating the gift of story and the vital role libraries play in every learning community. The theme of this year’s event is “Under the Story Sky: Celebrating the Gift of Story.”

Join fellow library staff, teacher librarians, literacy leaders, and educators in Camarillo on Tuesday, November 17, for inspiring professional learning, meaningful collaboration, and practical takeaways. You will also get to hear from keynote speaker John Schu, an acclaimed librarian, author, and literacy advocate. More information and registration are available here.

Students Present Candidates’ Forum

Local high school students gained hands-on experience with the political process by coordinating and hosting a candidates’ forum in Ventura last month. Students from throughout the county filled the auditorium at the Museum of Ventura County to watch the event, which featured Q&A with candidates for a variety of local races on this November’s ballot. Many of the students are pursuing their State Seal of Civic Engagement.

We are so proud of the students from CAPE Charter School, Hillside Middle School, Rio Mesa High School, Royal High School, Santa Susana High School, and Simi Valley High School who planned and presented the event.

Constitution Day at the Reagan Library

VCOE was proud to co-present the 22nd Annual Constitution Day Mini-Conference at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum last month. The event featured a keynote speaker, a student panel, and workshops designed to promote civic education in our schools.

Thank you to these amazing partners who made this year’s conference so impactful:

Center for Civic Education
Los Angeles County Office of Education
Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute
Southern California Social Science Association
Teach Democracy
Thinking Nation
Ventura County Office of Education

Civic Education Heroes Get Recognized

Congratulations to this amazing team that was recently honored by Teach Democracy for elevating civic education in Ventura County: James Koenig from VCOE, Reiko Evans and Naseem Naghdi from Oxnard Union High School District, and Laura Wesley from Teach Democracy.

Their efforts have led to tremendous growth in student civic education opportunities in Ventura County, including the Civic Action Project Expo, Civic Tours, and a new student-led candidate forum.

Community Schools Proclamation

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors honored local educators last month for pioneering the California Community Schools initiative. Highlighting the effort to turn schools into vibrant hubs for essential community services, Supervisor Vianey Lopez presented a formal proclamation celebrating their leadership.

Thank you to the Community Schools coordinators from VCOE and the Fillmore, Hueneme, Oxnard Union, and Santa Paula school districts for leading this important work!

You can watch a video of the Board presentation here and learn more about Community Schools here.

Families Get Ready for the Future

Students and their families had the chance to learn about career pathways in Engineering and Information and Communication Technologies last week in Moorpark. Future Ready 805, which was co-presented by VCOE Career Education, helped students explore opportunities and build connections between education, college, and careers.

Thank you to our partners in the Central Coast K-16 Regional Collaborative, Moorpark College, and Santa Paula Unified School District for collaborating on this wonderful event.

Next Gen School Administrators

VCOE Educator Support and Effectiveness welcomed about 100 candidates and coaches to their Administrator Induction Welcome & Orientation last week. This program helps prepare new school administrators who are working toward their Administrative Services Credential. Learn more about the VCOE Administrator Induction program at this link.

Students Learn to Support Wellness

The VCOE conference center was aglow with excitement last week as middle and high schoolers from throughout the county came to learn to be wellness peers at their school wellness centers. They attended workshops on supporting classmates in accessing mental health resources and heard speakers from Katie’s Save and the Sarah Schulze Foundation discuss mental health and suicide prevention. The Channel Islands High School student newspaper featured an article about the high school training, which you can see here.

Upcoming Events and Workshops

The Ventura County Office of Education and its partners present a wide variety of workshops and events for educators, families, and community members. Some upcoming offerings are below, and you can browse our full calendar of events at vcoe.k12oms.org.