Annual Report to the Community

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The national award-winning Clovis Unified School District offers high-quality education, cutting edge technology and state-of-the-art facilities for academics, performing arts and athletics. We have high standards of excellence and high expectations.

We put kids first – always! We base everything we do on how to best support and encourage our students’ development in mind, body and spirit.

We want our students to know we believe in their capabilities. We provide them the means to achieve their own greatness. Science labs with the newest equipment, concert halls with award-winning design, stadiums with lush green fields and Olympic racing track surface let our students know we take them seriously and create environments in which they can flourish.

Guiding students on their journey are our 7,000-plus employees who are all seen as essential parts of our educational team. From teacher to bus driver to librarian to cafeteria worker, it is a team that is passionate for kids and shares the vision for student success. Each one is challenged to make a positive impact on students every day.

In our 2026 Parents Survey, 95% of parents said their child’s school provides a quality education that promotes academic success and 93% said buildings and grounds are well maintained, adding to the positive, engaging learning environment.

We view co-curricular activities as complements to academics, that can grow our students in life skills of discipline, creativity, teamwork and competition. Our schools have multiple ways to get involved and 3 out of 4 students participate in at least one co-curricular activity, including clubs, band, sports and drama. Our performing and visual artists have won Emmys, sang in Carnegie Hall and marched in the Rose Parade. Our athletic teams earn championships title in the Valley and State. Academically, our students have success not only in the state, but on the national and even international level, placing in science fair competitions, history day and robotics.

Visitors to our area will notice Clovis Unified’s school campuses bustling with activity well past when the school bell rings. Our gates are open, and our fields and facilities are available. In addition to the typical 80,000 yearly district events held by clubs, athletics and performing arts groups, there are about 39,600 external requests for uses of our facilities by the community, including churches, scouting groups and youth recreation clubs.

Our success is due much to the partnership of our community – the many volunteers, supporters and protective community members who care for our students, as we do.

Whether you are a visitor to the area or part of our community, as you drive by one of our campuses or attend an event at one of our facilities, we hope you enjoy your experience. Clovis Unified is a very special place.

Clovis Unified’s history can be traced back to December 1959 when 80 percent of voters cast a “yes” vote to unify the six school districts that fed into Clovis Union High School. That day, the 10 elementary schools that comprised these six school districts and Clovis Union High School united to become Clovis Unified School District.

However, the district’s roots stretch far deeper than 50 years. Instead, they start in the Central Valley’s pioneering history. Many of the schools and the school names in existence today trace their beginnings back to tiny schoolhouses built by families who invested their own money, time and talents to help bring public education to the area. These families offered room and board to the first teachers who came to instruct their children, and who were willing to make sacrifices in order that their children would be able to learn.

By the time CUSD came into existence in 1959, families stretched over 198-square miles that comprised the new district. Forty-two percent of CUSD’s boundaries reach into the city of Clovis, another 42 percent into the city of Fresno, and the remaining 16 percent extending to the unincorporated areas of Fresno County and the rural community of Friant.

To oversee the new district, a governing board was created comprised of one trustee from each of the seven original districts of Clovis Union High, Clovis Elementary, Dry Creek, Fort Washington-Lincoln, Jefferson, Pinedale and Temperance-Kutner. Clovis Unified’s first trustees were Einar Cook, James McCrummen, William McFarlane, James Oliver, F. L. “Kelly” Parks, Everett “Bud” Rank, Jr., and William White.

The 1960-61 school year was the first year of operation for Clovis Unified School District. Enrollment totaled 5,037 students and the district’s budget was $3 million. Dr. Floyd B. “Doc” Buchanan was at the helm, serving as superintendent of Clovis Unified for the next 30 years during which time he helped lead CUSD to become a nationally recognized school district with a focus on always putting the needs of students first.

Today, Clovis Unified’s students and community benefit from high quality, successful schools staffed with outstanding educators. Led by Superintendent Corrine Folmer, Ed.D., CUSD serves more than 44,000 students and has 35 elementary schools, six intermediate schools, six high schools, four alternative schools, one adult school, one online school, the Center for Advanced Research and Technology (CART), and one outdoor and environmental education school.

“50 Unified Years”

To celebrate the district’s 50th anniversary of unification in 2010-11, Communications staff published “50 Unified Years: Building a Tradition of Excellence in Clovis Unified Before, During and After Unification,” a 238-page, hardcover book chronicling the history of Clovis Unified. In addition to the complete history of the district itself, each CUSD school has its own chapter dedicated to its history.

The book was the result of a pressing need to bring together in one place a well-researched and accurate source of information about the history of the district and its schools. To learn more about the book and how to purchase it, call 559-327-9094.

Photos, memorabilia

If you have any CUSD memorabilia or old photos that you’d like to donate to the district, please contact Patti Lippert at 559-327-9094. The district is making a concerted effort to preserve the history of Clovis Unified – we’d love to know what you have.

Questions

Please direct any questions about CUSD’s history to Susan Wise, 559-327-9105.