Fresno Unified celebrating students for 1st full year back in-person since 2019

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- "Studying from behind a camera is tough," says Fresno Unified Board Trustee Claudia Cazares. "Reaching students that sometimes have their cameras off was difficult. Coming back to in-person learning after being a year and a half away from your friends was very hard for our students."

Fresno Unified says their students started the school year in a deficit after recovering from online learning because of COVID. But now, they are celebrating their academic growth during the first full year back in classrooms.

The district began diagnostic testing called iReady before the pandemic, but this is the first year they are able to get real results from in-person learning that show where students started the year and how much they have learned since.

"Does the student achieve where they need to be on grade level for that year and as well as who made the most growth over the course over the given year," says Fresno Unified Superintendent Bob Nelson.

6th grader Marisela Cruz is among the students who showed the most growth.

She completes her classwork through the district's remote learning academy, which she admits has not been easy.

"My parents were really excited for me and happy," she said.

The top two students in each grade level will be awarded medals and trophies for the students who showed the most individual growth.