Community Update

The first week of February has started off where January left off, with lots of challenging classes, an honor roll awards ceremony at MIT High (Griffin’s is this coming week!), and for those who enjoy our school lunches, another good week of school lunch culminating in Pizza Friday. 

MIT Academic Decathlon Team Earns High Honors

The Academic Decathlon (AcaDeca) Team at MIT High School won high honors last weekend in a Bay Area wide competition, earning second place and a spot in the state finals in San Jose next month. 

MIT’s team was competing against 17 different high school teams and 300+ students Solano Community College, and emerged as one of the top teams after a close competition. Contra Costa County’s Campolindo High School earned the top spot, while third place went to Santa Clara County’s Evergreen Valley High School.

The Academic Decathlon is a team competition that celebrates academic excellence and honors “athletes of the mind.” Students compete in 10 areas, including speech, interview, essay, and subject-area exams in art, economics, literature, mathematics, music, science, and social science. The event challenges students to demonstrate depth of knowledge, critical thinking, and communication skills.

When the competition came to an end Saturday, our MIT Academy team finished second overall, securing a spot in the statewide academic decathlon competition on March 21 and 22, and with the possibility of going to the national competition later this year. 

“Our students are now fired up and motivated to aim for Nationals….and it's looking good,” said AcaDeca Coach Sarah Kwon. You can find the full story on the News section of our website.

Griffin Academy on a roll

Following the successful renewal of Griffin Academy High School’s charter contract with VCUSD last month, both the middle and high school have continued to thrive. The School Site Council met on January 27th to review academic and other data. The data shows that students at both Griffin schools have improved, which is one of the key factors for the district’s decision to renew the high school charter. The next School Site Council meeting is coming up on February 24th at 4:15. Meanwhile, students continue to find ways to celebrate, including a spirit week for Valentine’s. 

Athletics Update

Three of our basketball teams made the playoffs this past week. Here is the roundup of those games, as well as the middle school basketball and volleyball games. 

Griffin High Boys Basketball lost their playoff game, 64-36, to Latitude High 

MIT High Girls Basketball lost their playoff game, 40-26, against LPS Richmond 

MIT High Boys Basketball won a close playoff game in overtime, 55-53, against Oakland Unity High. 

On Monday at 5, they will play in the semifinals against AIMS High at Willie Keyes Community Center in Oakland 

Griffin Middle Girls Volleyball (A) lost 2-0 to RPAL Middle 

Griffin Middle Girls Volleyball (B) lost 2-0 to Caliber (Delta) Middle

Griffin Middle Boys Basketball beat Caliber (Beta), 25-10 

Board Meeting Tuesday

The GTA board of directors will be holding its next regular board meeting Tuesday evening at 6pm in the gymnasium. In addition to regular reports from student board members and others, board members will consider the school calendar for the 2026-27 school year, the annually required School Accountability Report Cards, our proposal to merge our middle and high schools, and reopen the next round of negotiations with Griffin Education Association. You are welcome to join online or in person.

Workforce Development Roundtable

This coming Thursday, GTA will be participating in Solano County Supervisor Cassandra James’ discussion on how to improve pathways into the workforce, and especially the maritime sector. The changing employment landscape makes it imperative that schools such as Griffin Academy and MIT Academy are working closely with employers and training providers. 

This timely meeting, organized by Supervisor James, will focus on the maritime sector as well as other potential areas of industrial and commercial growth in Vallejo. One key component will be how schools like ours increase their career and technical education programs to meet the credential needs of tomorrow’s workforce. 

The discussion on Thursday is timely: Vallejo has an opportunity to again become a leader in shipbuilding, especially if the U.S. Congress can pass key legislation to invest. The SHIPS Act, introduced by local Congressman John Garamendi last year, would provide substantial federal funding for shipbuilding projects and likely lead to Vallejo being able to modernize its shipyard and build new vessels.

In service,

Nick Driver

Superintendent