Merced Union High School District Superintendent Alan Peterson joined other local education leaders for the State of Merced Education Luncheon held on Tuesday at UC Merced. Peterson, Merced City School Superintendent Julianna Stocking, Merced College President Chris Vitelli and UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz shared how their partnerships and collaborations are shaping education and opportunities for students across Merced County.

 

The event was attended by MUHSD cabinet members, board members and principals, local elected officials and business partners. The summit marked the first time the leaders of the four institutions had formally gathered in such a way in hopes of creating an annual event moving forward. They shared how they’ve worked together to form a true kindergarten to potential Ph. D pipeline for students, who now don’t have to leave the region. They’ve worked to expand opportunities, remove barriers and have aligned learning with community and workforce needs.

 

Peterson shared that when Muñoz became the UC Merced Chancellor in 2020, they had a candid conversation about why there weren't more MUHSD students attending UC Merced. That eventually led to the Merced Automatic Admission Program, ensuring more MUHSD students could seamlessly attend the local university. 

“Too few of our top students were enrolling at UC Merced,” Peterson said. “From that honest conversation, the Merced Automatic Admission Program, or MAAP was born. Since then, Chris, Juan and I have met multiple times each year, focused on two goals: Reducing barriers and increasing access.” Peterson said when Stocking came to MCSD last year, she soon was invited to the group lunches and became part of the conversations.

 

Peterson has been the MUHSD Superintendent since November of 2015. He says the defining question for the District has been what do all students need during their time with us? Three empathic goals for MUHSD are that every student much graduate, every student should experience career technical education (CTE) to understand the work world and every student should complete a college course while in high school because it’s been proven to boost college success rates for students.

 

“MUHSD is a talent engine and an economic catalyst for our community, and has a substantial impact on our region, both in dollars and in human capital,” Peterson said. MUHSD has now become UC Merced’s largest local feeder, keeping many students here in Merced. The District’s CTE pathways have grown to 38 programs across 14 industry sectors, with student certifications soaring from 144 in 2019–20 to over 3,500 today. Peterson says that doesn’t happen without the partnership between MUHSD and Merced College. “Merced College faculty collaborates with MUHSD CTE teachers on issues related to teaching technology and best practices,” Peterson said. “These partnerships not only attract potential grant dollars, but they also elevate our regional profile, while giving our teachers opportunities for cutting edge professional development.”

MCSD, which oversees over 11,000 students, is working to align their middle school CTE programs with MUHSD. Stocking says MCSD is pursuing a CTE grant that could bring $4 million to each of its four middle schools for career-based programs. Stocking says it’s crucial MCSD partners with MUHSD, Merced College and UC Merced for the betterment of their students. “Big partnership efforts are not only needed, it is required for the success of our students and our community,” Stocking said.

 

Vitelli said over 20,000 students were enrolled at Merced College last year and that total is expected to grow this year. Like the other education leaders, Vitelli stressed the importance of the partnership. “Together, we’re good, but we can be much, much better,” he said. He stressed they need the help from the community in terms of investment in public education, workforce training and innovative partnerships.Vitelli stressed the importance of instilling a college-going culture starting in kindergarten through 12th grade, which directly ties into the dual enrollment and career pathway programs shared with MUHSD. 

 

Vitelli also celebrated the “Merced Promise” partnership — a formalized agreement between MUHSD, Merced College, and UC Merced that provides wraparound services, housing, and transfer guarantees for local students. Muñoz also highlighted the growth for UC Merced and applauded the work done by the other leaders in the education sector. “The goal today isn’t to solve all our challenges,” Muñoz said, “but to give you a glimpse of where things stand, from kindergarten through Ph.D., and to recognize that this community is uniquely positioned for success.”

Muñoz emphasized the UC Merced’s founding mission, which is to serve the people of California through teaching, research, and public service,  and how that mission is uniquely reflected in the university’s deep ties to the Central Valley. UC Merced was designed to expand access and opportunity for historically underrepresented students, particularly those from the Central Valley.

 

Muñoz urged everyone — educators, administrators, business, and civic leaders — to continue working together. “You help attract businesses and amenities that make Merced a vibrant place to live and to learn,”  Muñoz said. “We can't emphasize enough, how can the education sector, with our billions in economic development, and our thousands of employees, and our thousands of students that we’ve trained, how can we help you?”

 

Merced City Councilmember Darin Dupont, who was a product of MUHSD and Merced College, said it was valuable to hear the opportunities available to local students. “It provides a lot of opportunity to our next generation for things we never dreamed of before,” Dupont said. “To see the passion and enthusiasm for Merced in general, there’s a changing culture that’s happening, that Merced deserves to be recognized, that Merced deserves the great growth that is happening. We only want it to become better. That’s the type of passion you see from the Merced CIty School District to UC Merced.”

 

Muñoz closed by saying Merced can become an example for the country when you have education partnerships from kindergarten to the university. “We can become a model for what's possible when a great university and a great community grow side by side,” Muñoz said.

 

Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.