Superintendent's Welcome

Welcome to the Golden Plains Unified School District Website!

Welcome back Golden Plains Family!

As we move forward into the 2023-2024  school year, GPUSD is committed to providing a high-quality, grade-level rigorous education to all of our outstanding students. The COVID-19 Pandemic has given us an opportunity to analyze on a deeper level how we serve our student's academic needs while ensuring our  615 families that make our student body stay connected virtually as needed. As a reminder, we serve 97% free and reduced lunch, 88% ever English learner, and 98% Latino/Hispanic students.  We will continue to adhere to the guidance from the Fresno  Department of Public Health and the California Department of Education to ensure that our facilities are safe for all of us. 

As a system and educational entity, we will continue to provide a caring, nurturing, and compassionate learning environment where our students and parents will experience a sense of belonging in our schools, as they are provided with access to a rich learning environment.  We believe that communication from our staff to our families is imperative for the success of each and every student. Please remember that we ALL play a vital role in the success of our district and our students. The social and emotional connections between our students and staff will need to be nurtured so our students can continue their educational journey.

We will continue to leverage the state framework while capitalizing on the principles found in the English Learner Roadmap that most of you have been exposed to. The EL Roadmap will continue to provide alignment of best practices and set the right tone & expectations in and out of the classroom so that the home language and culture are nurtured and embraced while learning rigorous grade-level content in English. Additionally, we will continue to build on our dual language program, dual enrollment program, and career & technical education pathways as our students at the high school level are demonstrating college and career readiness. As the school year approaches, we “Think Again” (book by Adam Grant) as to how to accelerate and bring life-changing opportunities for our students. 

I am honored to serve you and share the responsibility to build everlasting experiences for all of our students who will be ready for the real world. We need your support, dedication, and commitment to restore a high level of moral and ethical commitment to our profession. We appreciate the GPUSD students, staff, and community for creating this positive working and living environment as we strive for academic excellence and fiscal responsibility. In closing, I would like to thank the Golden Plains Unified School District communities for their partnership, positive environment, and opportunity to serve as the school superintendent. 

I wish all of us a very successful and memorable school year. Let’s continue to build this system of greatness for our future leaders.

 Felipe Piedra, Superintendent

“Accountability for every student by name, whatever it takes, our students are worth it!”