Thousands of Stockton Unified students return to class for 2024-2025 school year

Nearly 40,000 students across 55 schools in the Stockton Unified School District returned to school this week.

On the Stagg High School campus, the Delta Queens cheerleading squad took to the quad to welcome their classmates back to school before the first period bell rung at 8:30 a.m. Thursday. They shook their brown and gold pom-poms enthusiastically as students shuffled into the classrooms.

Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez was also up bright and early to greet students and parents as they arrived on the Stagg and Van Buren Elementary School campuses. She shared a message with families at the beginning of the new year.

"We are thrilled to welcome our students, teachers, staff and families back for the 2024-2025 school year," Rodriguez said. "We will focus on the whole child, whole family, whole community."

The superintendent noted that graduation rates at Stockton Unified "are the highest in history," and the district has made strides in reducing chronic absenteeism.

Stockton Unified graduated 83.9% of its seniors at the end of the 2023-2024 school year, according to district spokesperson Melinda Meza. The district's graduation rate for the 2022-2023 school year was 82.1%, compared to the state's rate of 86.4%.

The district's chronic absenteeism rate fell from 35.88% to 32.73% from May 2023 to May 2024, a presentation at the July 23 Stockton Unified Board of Trustees meeting shows. Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more of the school days in a school year for any reason: excused absences, unexcused absences, or suspensions.

"We look forward to providing a world class education where students exercise their passions, interests and talents," Rodriguez said.

Linden Unified School District, Lodi Unified School District, and Manteca Unified School District also resumed instruction this week.

More students in San Joaquin County will head back to school in the coming days. Tracy Unified School District kicks off its new school year on Aug. 5, while Lincoln Unified School District begins on Aug. 6, and Ripon Unified School District starts on Aug. 7.

Record reporter Hannah Workman covers news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @byhannahworkman. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Stockton Unified students return to class for 2024-2025 school year