WATSONVILLE — Scores of students throughout the Pajaro Valley Unified School District faced an annual truth Wednesday: Summer has come to an end, but a year of new opportunities await.
That was the case at H.A. Hyde Elementary School in Watsonville, which Principal Erin Legorreta described as nothing less than jubilant.
“We opened the gates, and there was a flood of students who were ready to come in with smiling faces, so I think everybody has missed each other over the summer and we’re excited for another great school year,” she said.
Legorreta said staff are equally excited, as there was a lot of enthusiasm during professional development training. A major goal is to build upon the academic growth from the 2025-26 academic year, which saw a 5% increase in math and language arts scores on the annual Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium tests.
“We saw a lot of really exciting academic growth, so we’re excited to build on that momentum for this year,” she said.
To help build on that momentum, Legorreta said the school would continue to utilize Paradigm Math — previously known as Swun Math — to provide curriculum training.
“There’s a lot of professional development, hands-on learning coming on campus, coaching teachers, working with the teachers, modeling lessons in the classroom,” she said. “We dedicated a lot of time to that professional development, so it was nice to see that pay off with our students taking the state test.”
Legorreta is also excited to see the continued growth of the on-campus parent center, which opened in December 2025 following funding from a California Community Schools Partnership Program grant. The center offers a community closet and food pantry, the latter operated in partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Cruz County.
The pantry includes a family market where parent volunteers stock the shelves with nonperishable items like dried beans and rice, canned tomatoes, peanut butter, juice and boxed milk as well as fresh produce like artichokes, carrots and cauliflower. There are also refrigerators that can be stocked with perishable items like shredded cheese, frozen fruit and ice cream.
Parent volunteers Omayra Moringlane, left, and Mayra Ramirez load the food pantry fridge with shredded cheese on the first day of class at H.A. Hyde Elementary School. The school's parent center includes a food pantry with a market where families can pick up shelf-stable and refrigerated items every Wednesday afternoon. (Nick Sestanovich — Santa Cruz Sentinel)
The school hosts a food distribution every Wednesday from 1 to 4 p.m. where families can pick up food at the market. Legorreta said the program is a huge hit, with approximately 150 families stopping by every month. Parents also help cook lunch, and one volunteer takes foods with minor spoilage but otherwise in still condition to the homeless community in Pajaro.
“By the end of the day, everything fresh is always gone,” she said. “We get our deliveries on Wednesday, and we’re giving people the freshest food we can.”
Legorreta said the program serves families who might otherwise lack access to safe, healthy food.
“Food instability is very real for a lot of people in our community,” she said.
The center also offers a community closet stocked with different types of clothing, organized by age and gender. Legorreta said parent volunteer Rosalva Vera inspects every piece of clothing that is donated, and the school has a washer and dryer to ensure all articles of clothing are clean before being displayed.
“Anyone can come in and shop and take whatever it is that they may need,” said Legorreta. “When kids have accidents at school, we have clothing available when different things happen.”
Urania Lopez, community schools specialist, said the food pantry and community closet serve between 120 and 140 families per week and an average 2,050 per month. The highest since opening was approximately 2,650 in April.
Since the center‘s launch, Lopez said she has seen an uptick in families meeting with their teachers and becoming involved on campus.
“They used to just drop off their kids and just go home, and now instead of going home, they’re here, they’re helping,” she said.
Among the educators feeling energized on the first day back was first grade teacher Cynthia Fernandez, now in her 10th year of teaching at H.A. Hyde and 26th overall. She grew up in Watsonville, her children have attended H.A. Hyde — with one currently a student — and she has had several nieces and nephews go through the school as well.
Vicki Branvila, yard supervisor at H.A. Hyde Elementary School (right), teaches first graders in Cynthia Fernandez's (left) class about playground etiquette and how to use different equipment during a walking tour to acquaint students with campus on the first day of the 2026-27 academic year. (Nick Sestanovich — Santa Cruz Sentinel)
“It’s my home school,” she said. “I have my neighbors as my students.”
The day was jam-packed for Fernandez and her students. After hanging up their “Spider-Man,” “Minecraft,” “Bluey” and “KPop Demon Hunters” backpacks, she took a photo that she will display in her classroom throughout the year. She went over routines, did introductions and led students on a walking tour, where first graders learn about the different locations on campus and etiquette, such as how to safely walk in the hallways, where the restrooms are located and how to use playground equipment and order lunch.
“That was something new that the principal came up with this year,” she said. “I think it worked out really well.”
Fernandez also enjoyed how enthusiastic her students were, especially making the move from kindergarten to first grade.
“Only one cried, which is usual, but they all seem eager to start,” she said.
The biggest lessons Fernandez will be teaching this year revolve around math, reading and phonics. Since her class is a dual language class, they will be learning how to combine syllables in both English and Spanish.
Overall, Fernandez wants to instill a sense of motivation in her students, allow them to take pride in the progress they make and feel safe in their classroom.
“There’s a lot to learn in first grade,” she said. “Every year that they do is a foundation for the next, so I try to tell them that whatever I’m teaching them, it’s going to help them be successful in the following year.”
© 2026 the Santa Cruz Sentinel (Scotts Valley, Calif.). Visit www.BrowBrow. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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