Principal's Message
Dear Stanford Families,
It is my pleasure to welcome all of you to the 2023-2024 school year! I am Brian Ball, the proud new principal of Stanford Elementary. Outside of school, I am a husband to Jill (my wife of 17 years), and father of two amazing children. I enjoy reading, movies, and sports. My daughter Mia is in 8th grade this year and participates in basketball, volleyball and theater. My son, Luca, is in 5th grade and loves baseball, basketball, and math. We also have one cat (Pumpkin) and a sweet, rescue dog named Bella that completes our family!
Last year, we were named Us News "Best School" among schools rated across California and the U.S as well as, a Pivotal Practice Award School, based on the unique manner our staff served students' intervention needs in the 2020-21 school year. We will continue our Stanford approach as we enter another school year filled with achieving our academic excellence while supporting the social and emotional needs of all students and staff. Rest assured, we will continue to offer high quality learning to meet the needs of our students and will provide communication, guidance and support every step of the way.
District Focus and Goals
This year we will continue to focus on our District's Strategic Plan: Academic Skills + Personal Skills = Lifelong Success! Our academic program is rigorous, engaging, and aligned to the state standards. Our amazing teachers use research based strategies to develop students’ critical thinking skills, including the meaningful use of technology in instruction, learning how to collaborate, and help students develop scholarly habits and motivation. As a staff, we are committed to 21st Century Learning to best prepare students for a successful future. In these challenging times, it is also a priority at Stanford to support the social-emotional well-being of our students and families. This year, additional resources have been allocated to support students who may still be recovering from the challenges and trauma from the events of the past three years.
CONTINUING PROGRAMS
Our teachers and staff will be continuing to prioritize Character Development, with a focus on a specific Character Trait each month. Some of our other continuing programs include Academic Pentathlon, Student Council, College and Career Mentoring (a program for 6th graders developed by our Superintendent, Dr. Mafi), field trips at every grade level (sponsored by our PTO), educational assemblies and excellent Vocal and Instrumental Music Programs!
As your principal, I look forward to building relationships with our community and communicating through ParentSquare, the school website, and our social media. Our school office team is always here to help, as well. Please make sure that we have your updated and current phone numbers and emails, so you can stay informed on all school information.
Please register and update your Parent Portal account. Through the use of Parent Portal, parents have the ability to be notified of their child’s new teacher (for 24-25 year), update student emergency records, print their child’s report card, and download important documents directly from the portal. Also, a reminder that we are a Closed Campus to support student safety and campus security. Please make sure you check in at the office before entering campus. Thank you for your continued support!
It is my pleasure and honor to work alongside the students, parents and staff of our Stanford school community. Our entire staff is committed to working hand-in-hand with our families in preparing all of our students for lifelong success by focusing on each individual student’s academic and personal success!
Sincerely,
Mr. Brian Ball, Principal
