Ripona Elementary School Principal Nate Baroni welcomed students back on campus on Wednesday.
About a year ago at this time, he was teaching seventh grade at the Ripon Unified school site, having relocated to the Central Valley from Northern California.
His wife, Andrea, had been hired at Ceres High as an administrator while he was working on his administrative credential. As fate would have it – then-new Principal Eva Matthews departed early on for personal reasons. Nate Baroni subsequently became the interim principal at Ripona. He later had the interim title removed.
Baroni was thrilled to see the return of students on that first day.
“Everything went smoothly. There were no masks issues (per COVID-19 protocols) and students were happy to be back,” he said on Thursday.
His hope now is to change the culture at Ripona. Included are two new programs at the school – Dual Language Immersion and the STEAM Center.
Dual Language Immersion is an enrichment program approved over the summer by the RUSD school board.
“Our English-only students can learn a second language while our Spanish-speaking students can aim to achieve higher level of academics,” Baroni said.
The Dual Language Immersion Program at Ripona is a 50-50 split between English and ESL students in kindergarten and first grader, and will continue to grow incrementally over the years to include the upper grades.
The program currently has a waiting list.
“The end goal for these students is to achieve the State Seal of Biliteracy (at Ripon High),” said Baroni, who noted that this achievement can also open doors to students who are entering college or the work force.
He’s also proud of STEAM Center – Science Technology Engineering Art Math.
“We were lacking (in a STEAM) enrichment program,” said Baroni, who converted the old band room that was previously used for storage for the soon-to-open STEAM Center. The target date is Aug. 30.
“Every student will get coding system as another language,” he said, pointing out to Bee Bots, Dash & Dot Bots, and, for the technically advanced students, CUE robots, as examples for these applications.
For Art, RUSD is partnering with the San Joaquin County Office of Education’s Artists-in-School Program, featuring instructors teaching art lessons to each student.
The Ableton Beat Machine will fulfill the music side of the program, according to Baroni.
“The kids are very excited about the opening to the STEAM Center,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a game changer.”
