San Bernardino City Unified School District Superintendent Art Delgado watches as Four-D College President and CEO Linda Smith signs a certificate of adoption for Roosevelt Elementary School. Photo by Chris Sloan.
Roosevelt Elementary School Principal Michelle Tesauro welcomes Four-D College President and CEO Linda Smith to the elementary campus, at the start of a ceremony finalizing Four-D College’s adoption of Roosevelt Elementary School. Photo by Chris Sloan
(COLTON, Calif.) Four-D College has officially adopted Roosevelt Elementary School in San Bernardino.
The adoption, which was made official in a ceremony held recently at Roosevelt School, partners Four-D College with the elementary school. It gives the college and its students, faculty and staff unique opportunities to help the children attending Roosevelt School with their education.
“If there is anything they need, the students can tell their teachers and principal,” said Linda Smith, Four-D College’s President and CEO. “Four-D College will do our best to help in any way we can.”
Smith plans to send some of her students to Roosevelt Elementary School to work as tutors in reading in math. There will be a benefit to the college students as well, as they will be paid under a work-study grant through Four-D College.
Four-D College will also present a health fair for Roosevelt Elementary School, where students will learn how to eat right and take care of their bodies.
Smith is an alumnus of Roosevelt Elementary School. She went on to become an alumnus of Franklin Junior High School (now Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School); San Gorgonio High School; California State University, Long Beach, California State Polytechnic University in Pomona and LaSalle University.
In 1992, Smith started her own college, Four-D Success Academy, which was renamed Four-D College in 2002.
“I am very excited to adopt Roosevelt Elementary School,” Smith said. “I have fond memories of attending Roosevelt Elementary School, and of its teachers. Since this is my school, I wanted to be able to give back to it some of the blessings I have received.”
To Smith’s surprise, the San Bernardino City Unified School District prepared a grand celebration on May 26, the day Four-D College’s adoption of Roosevelt Elementary was finalized.
At 9:30 a.m. sharp, students left their classrooms in straight lines and filed to a central area outside, where cafeteria benches and chairs had been set up for them to sit on.
An elevated area in front of one wing of classrooms served as the stage, where Smith and other guests from Four-D College, as well as guests from the San Bernardino City Unified School District took their seats.
After a presentation of colors and flag salute led by the school’s Girl Scout members, and music by the school’s choir, Roosevelt School Principal Michelle Tesuaro introduced Smith to tell the children why she wanted to adopt Roosevelt School.
District Superintendent Art Delgado also addressed the students. Delgado let the students know that ‘one of his bosses,” School Board President Danny Tillman, also graduated from Roosevelt Elementary School.
“Some great people have come out of Roosevelt Elementary School,” he said. “Mrs. Smith is one of them, and now she has done a lot of great things and has started a business that is doing very well. But she hasn’t forgotten about her old neighborhood. She could have helped a lot of schools, but she chose to help Roosevelt, because it is special to her.”
Smith and Tesauro began discussing the possibility of Four-D College adopting the elementary school in November 2009. Smith had just read a local newspaper article announcing that Roosevelt School was celebrating its exit from “Program Improvement,” a state designation for schools that are not meeting improvement goals on state and federal standardized tests.
In 2009, Roosevelt students scored 777 on the statewide Academic Performance Index, which is only 13 points below the statewide goal of 800. Last year, 63 percent of Roosevelt students had also tested at proficient or better on the federal standardized test in math.
Four-D College provides education in the growing health care field at locations in Colton and Victorville. Four-D College offers programs in vocational nursing, medical assistant, medical billing and coding, dental assistant, massage therapy and pharmacy technician.
New courses begin monthly at Four-D College and courses are available in the morning, afternoon and evening to meet the needs of working adults. For more information or a tour, call (800) 600-5422 or go to www.4DCollege.com.
Slide Show Four-D College Adopts Roosevelt Elementary
Media: If you would like any of the photos in the slide show below please send an email to Chris@DameronCommunications.com with the photo id number and i will have it to you within 24 hours. If you require the photo sooner please call Chris Sloan at (909) 888-0017.
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