What's happening at Mill Street, Fairview, C.K., and OHS: Orland Schools Report, August 2025

Welcome to the Orland Schools Report, a new feature from Orland.News to help parents, students and community members keep up with what's happening at local schools. 

As the 2025-2026 school year begins, this report for August 2025 covers new leadership and staff, major campus upgrades, and important upcoming events at each school. (Also see our coverage of the new principals and assistant principals at Orland schools.)

This report was compiled, summarized and verified by Orland.News with help from AI tools, using documents from the August 21, 2025, Orland Unified School District board meeting agenda packet, which is available here.

Mill Street School

Leadership and Staffing

• New Principal: Tyler Rutledge was hired as the new Mill Street Principal, effective July 1, 2025. (Read Rutledge's Principal's Report for August here.)
• Staff Departures: Several staff members resigned or retired effective June 7, 2025, the end of last school year, including Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Coach Wendy Anderson (retired), teachers Kaylee Moench, Laura Baker, and Melissa Rabum, and aides Akela Lee and Kalli Sawyer.
• New Staff and Assignments: New staff members and changes in position for the new school year, effective August 11, 2025, include Cara Langan as SEL Coach, Jill Blevins as Transitional Kindergarten (TK) Teacher, Kaylee Thompson, Katie Boles, and Marilyn Langan as 1st Grade Teachers, and Haley Thomas as Music Teacher.
• Long-Term Substitute: The school board was asked to approve the appointment of Brittany Stidham to a long-term substitute teacher position to ensure "minimal disruption" to student learning during a staff member's Family Medical Leave.

Campus and Student Life

• The school’s Back-to-School Night had an "incredible turnout," according to the principal's report.
• Two new playgrounds are complete and ready for students.
• Construction on new Transitional Kindergarten (TK) classrooms is showing "great progress." A district vendor report shows a payment of $802,752.85 to Core West, Inc. for the TK and Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELOP) projects at Mill Street, Fairview, and C.K. Price schools.
• The school is implementing several strategies to meet its Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) goals. These strategies include using Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and daily Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) time to foster a supportive environment and promoting family engagement through the Parent Club, School Site Council (SSC), and English Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC).

Upcoming Events

• A Mill Street Parent Club meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, August 27, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
• A Family BBQ and Soccer Night will be held on Thursday, September 11, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Fairview Elementary School

Leadership and Staffing

• New Principal: Sheila Mathrole officially became Fairview Principal on July 1, 2025. She was previously Assistant Principal at OHS. (Read Mathrole's full Principal's Report for August here.)
• Administrator Change: James Scribner’s role changed to Administrator on Special Assignment at Fairview, effective July 1, 2025.
• New Staff: New teaching staff for the school year includes Theresa Terry (Discovery Opportunity Program Teacher), Joanie Chaney (Special Education Teacher), Judyanne Frank (4th Grade Dual Immersion Teacher), and Ashley Mullins (3rd Grade Teacher). New instructional aides include Maria Arenas, Luis Mendoza Trujillo, and Katie Bettencourt. The school is also in the process of hiring additional one-on-one instructional aides.
• Resignations: Resignations, effective at the end of last school year, included SPARK Aides Alexandra Montague and Ricardo Fabian Hernandez, and Instructional Aides Nicole Chavez Avila, Lesley Figueroa, and Myra Gamboa Landeros.

Campus and Student Life

• Music instruction has already started. PE is scheduled to begin the week of August 18, and interventions (specialized support sessions for students who need extra help in core subjects) will start the week after that.
• A weekly "excellent attendance" recognition for students will begin Friday, August 22.
• The school is using iReady assessments to gather baseline data on students in English Language Arts (ELA) and math to help create intervention groups.
• According to the principal's report, the campus "looks fantastic," and the fields will be ready for student use soon.
• The school's Back to School Night was held on Thursday, August 14.

Grade-Level Updates: 

• Third-grade classes are using a new science curriculum and will be raising butterflies as part of a life cycles unit. 
• Fourth-grade students are participating in team-building Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) activities and have an upcoming Farm Day field trip in September. 
• Fifth-grade classes will be covering topics including place value and map skills.

Library

• The library collection was recently updated through a "weeding" process to remove outdated materials. The board is expected to approve the disposal of 298 weeded books and 87 deleted books from the period between July 2024 and June 2025.

Upcoming Events

• "Lemonade with the Principal" will take place during student pick-up on Friday, August 22, to provide families an opportunity to connect with school leadership.
• A Fairview Parent Club Meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 25.

C.K. Price Middle School

Leadership and Staffing

• Administrator Changes: Shane Humphreys was hired as the new Vice Principal, effective July 1, 2025, replacing Matthew McGuire who resigned on June 30, 2025.  (C.K.'s Principal is Anne Stearns.)
• Staff Departures: Elizabeth Wiseman, a Dual Immersion teacher, retired as of the end of last school year, and Instructional Aide Janeira Villicana resigned. Lauren Spooner, previously a teacher at C.K. Price, has moved to Orland High School to teach math.
• New Staff and Assignments: Jiorgina Romo will fill the Dual Immersion teacher vacancy, and Joanna Gonzalez was hired as an Instructional Aide; both positions were effective August 11, 2025. 

Campus and Facilities

• The first day of school for students was Monday, August 11, 2025. 
• Several facility upgrades have occurred on campus. Vendor reports from June and July show payments for a new front office roof, a new black chain-link fence with gates, and work related to the district's Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELOP).

Upcoming Events

• Back to School Night is scheduled for Tuesday, August 19, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m.
• The first student progress reports of the school year are scheduled for Friday, September 12.

Orland High School

Leadership and Staffing

• Administrator Changes: Donna Henderson was hired as the new Assistant Principal, effective July 1, 2025. Sheila Mathrole, formerly OHS Assistant Principal, is now Principal at Fairview (see above).
• Staff Departures: Staff members who departed at the end of the last school year include English teachers Steve Morgan (retired) and Patrick Guillen (resigned), and math teacher Elizabeth Jiminez Cuevas (resigned).
• New Staff and Assignments: The school welcomed several new and reassigned staff members, including Lauren Spooner (Math), who previously taught at C.K. Price; Cameron Cross (English); Rebecca Ramirez (English Language Development); and Brooke Davis (Yearbook). A resolution is on the board's August 21 agenda that would approve special teaching assignments for Jennifer Ovitz in Career Technical Education (CTE) and Jessica Johnson in Sports Medicine.
• Read the August Principal's Report from OHS Principal Alex Mercado here.

Campus and Facilities

• The Multi-Purpose Room (MPR) is currently being remodeled.
• In the Principal's Report, Mercado stated, "Overall, we have the best looking campus all around," and thanked the maintenance staff for their "tireless work throughout the summer."

Academics and Programs

• To meet the district's Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) goals, staff attended professional development training on topics that included relationship building and special education review. 
• The counseling team has been meeting with students to adjust schedules and ensure they are on track to graduate.

Agriculture/FFA

• The board is scheduled to vote on the approval of the 2025-2026 Agricultural Career Technical Education Incentive Grant application. The application seeks $25,710 in funding for supplies, conferences, and travel for the school's agriculture program. The program has five agriculture teachers and 371 students participating in the Future Farmers of America (FFA) program.
• Students in the FFA program have a Leadership Conference in Nevada City from Sunday, August 17, to Tuesday, August 19.

Sports/Student Life

• Fall sports seasons are underway. The football team had a scrimmage on August 15, and the volleyball team held matches on August 13 and 14. 
• The Cross Country team's Black Butte Invite was canceled due to major erosion and no running water at the campground venue. An overnight trip request for the team to attend a meet in Rocklin on August 22 and 23 is on the board's consent agenda for consideration.
• Freshman Orientation was held on August 10, and Picture Day was August 14.

Upcoming Event

• Back to School Night is scheduled for Monday, August 18, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

PREVIOUSLY: Leadership changes sweep Orland schools: Meet the new leaders at Mill Street, C.K., Fairview and OHS

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