Melanie Long said she was surprised when she learned that she was being honored by the Castaic Union School District for, as she put it simply, doing her job.
The coordinator of preschool programs for the district since July 2023, Long took the position after hearing about it from a friend via Facebook. At the time, the district’s preschool program in Val Verde had three students, while the programs at Castaic Middle School and Northlake Hills Elementary were at 20 and 10 students, respectively.
At the close of the 2023-24 school year, Val Verde was up to 13 students, quadruple where it was to begin the year, while Castaic Middle School is set to have a total of 30 students joining in on the fun for the upcoming school year. And Long said more are likely to join as the year passes by.
“It was a really nice feeling to have the work that I’ve been putting in and the time and the effort be acknowledged and appreciated and recognized,” Long said in a phone interview, adding that the recognition was not part of her plans, but the culmination of a year of work to get the preschool programs up to standard.
Along with presenting her with certificates of recognition, members of the governing board and district staff thanked Long for her passionate work.
“There was a void we had. We had a void that people weren’t reaching out to the community and people,” Superintendent Bob Brauneisen said. “We have so much to offer in that program, and all our programs we have a lot to offer, but we just didn’t have a consistent voice, didn’t have that consistent advocate. Fortunately, that’s what we have with Melanie.”
The first thing Long did was make sure that people knew the programs existed, specifically in Val Verde where only three students were enrolled. Long had somewhat of a personal connection to that location as it was formerly part of the federal Head Start program that she was involved with when she first moved to Southern California 20 years ago.
Describing the situation as “chaos” when she first took up the position, Long said she had to figure out who had been registered and what had been done to get ready for the beginning of the school year in about a month.
But what she’s most proud of is the increase in enrollment at the Val Verde program, which typically serves low-income families. She also has been supportive of the efforts to serve special education students, helping parents to understand that their child will not be left behind.
“Being that first interaction and experience for that family when their child turns 3 and is able to come into our district and get those services for their child and know that they’re not alone,” Long said. “We’re all going to do whatever we can to give their child everything, just like they want to do. We’re on their team, and that we will be as a district from 3 years old up until we transition them on to high school.”
Having preschool programs that are part of a school district is another aspect that Long said makes the Castaic programs special. She said preschoolers learn a variety of things — language, math, science and social-emotional skills, just to name a few — and are tested twice a year to determine how much they’ve grown throughout the year.
That test, known as the Desired Results Development Profile, has accommodations for students with individualized education programs as well as English learners.
“We do that twice a year to be able to show and measure their growth or see where we need to maybe offer that child or a classroom more opportunities to explore different areas,” Long said.
Asked about some of the issues that have come up in the year since she started, Long said there hasn’t been anything that worries her, but did say that “we share everything, especially germs.”
Instead, Long is focusing on the positives of having a preschool program built into a school district. Mainly, she’s excited to see preschoolers at Northlake Hills stay at the same school through sixth grade before venturing off to Castaic Middle School.
And while the program at the middle school will see students venture off elsewhere before heading back for seventh and eighth grades, Long said simply being part of the district from a young age is a bonus.
“It’s a seamless transition from preschool to the elementary schools from our preschool programs,” Long said, “versus maybe a family who, you know, is at a (private preschool).”
To learn more about the Castaic preschool programs, contact Long at [email protected] or call 661-257-4500, ext. 1520.
