Northern California Educational Leadership Consortium

Join the NorCal ELC Network!(opens in new window)

Contact Desk

Dr. Michael Gulbransen
Program Coordinator & Professional Learning Director
Coaching & Program Inquiries
mgulbransen@csuchico.edu

Sandra Azevedo
Resource Director
Newsletter & Knowledge Center
sazevedo@edcoe.org

Anina Berman
Team Program Administration
General Inquiries
laberman@csuchico.edu

Blanca Estrada
UTK Program Administration
General Inquiries
bestrada6@csuchico.edu

NorCal Educators' Digest

Join the NorCal ELC Network and we’ll send you an email when each newsletter is available. Our newsletter is an information source for project activities, events, resources, school success stories, and hot topics for schools in the Shasta Region of 21CSLA.

NorCal Educator's Digest

February 2026


Quick Access | Main Sections


NorCal Imapct Survey

NorCal ELC’s mission is to provide professional learning, guidance, and support for educators in the Shasta Geographic Region (the eleven northernmost counties of California) so that they can effectively improve or transform the schools and districts they work in to lead to better outcomes for children and youth. The project focuses on addressing equity-centered problems of practice through continuous improvement to thereby increase school and teacher leadership capacity.

NorCal ELC is seeking feedback from participants, other constituents, and community members. You are invited to complete this survey. Input is vital to NorCal ELC in determining the value of its programs to the education community of northern California. If you are participating this year, or have in the past, if you work at a school, or if you are an involved community member, the information you provide us with can be very helpful.

If you are a recipient of this newsletter, we invite you to share the survey link with others in your community.


Local COE Feature 

Siskiyou County Office of Education

Barry Barnhart, Deputy Superintendent

bbarnhart@siskiyoucoe.net

As part of NorCal ELC’s ongoing goal to feature Region 2 County Offices, Barry Barnhart, Deputy Superintendent at the Siskiyou County Office of Education (SCOE) was interviewed to share about what is happening at Siskiyou County Office of Education. Barnhart described several current initiatives that focus on instructional support, capacity building, and regional collaboration. One is recent approval of a Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grant (CLSD) grant that extends its literacy work from elementary grades into secondary literacy for students in grades 6–12 who are struggling. This work builds on prior efforts centered on the Science of Reading and uses a blended approach to literacy development.

In mathematics, Siskiyou COE supports districts through coaching and lesson study, including collaborative lesson development and the use of video for reflection. The County Office is also assisting districts with access to instructional materials in preparation for an upcoming math adoption, offering opportunities for review and customized support. This work is led by Martini Machado, Director of Educational Services, and involves collaboration with superintendents, principals, and teachers across districts.

Another area of pride is in support for small districts. Barnhart shared how Siskiyou COE has also developed a two-year instructional coach onboarding model grounded in gradual release and informed by the work of Jim Knight and Elena Aguilar. Additionally, the County Office employs credentialed teachers within the Educational Services Department in the areas of science and art. These teachers’ contract with small districts to provide consistent, high-quality instruction; bring materials, planning labs, and field trips; and build ongoing relationships with school sites. A Route to Parks grant further supports experiential learning by connecting students to local parks such as Castle Crags and McCloud Falls. At the same time, the Arts program follows a similar service model and is positioned for expansion.

Siskiyou COE is also excited about the Larry Wehmeyer Project, which is being developed with plans to be finalized over the next 3-5 years.  “The Larry Wehmeyer Environmental Education Area (LWEEA) is an outdoor study area where students are motivated through a hands-on approach to science.  Student learning opportunities include information about wetlands, restoration, native plants and animals, water quality, and what it means to be a good steward of the land.” The county office of education is partnering with a local expert to develop a master plan that will position the organization to go after grants to complete all the improvements to the site that have been envisioned over the years.

Barnhart noted a deep appreciation for the connection to NorCal ELC and other Region 2 partners. “We do not feel like we are an island.” For more information about these projects or the work happening at Siskiyou COE, please contact Barry Barnhart at bbarnhart@siskiyoucoe.net.


Professional Development Opportunities & More

21CSLA Shasta Region, NorCal ELC Presents the Spring 2026 Module Delivery Schedule

NorCal ELC is offering 21st Century California School Leadership Academy (21CSLA) UTK modules in the Shasta Geo Region in the 2025-26 academic year, both virtually and in-person. You can access the 2025-26 UTK Module Event Schedule here to view the modules selected and their respective flyers to register. For each module, NorCal ELC is offering a $250 stipend to participants upon completion.


Save the Dates!


Resources

The Improvement and Implementation Playbook

Local educators from Shasta COE blend improvement and implementation science to create a coherent approach to improvement and the creation of a Playbook for LEAs.

Check out this new resource, The Improvement and Implementation Playbook: “This playbook represents the complementary principles of improvement science and implementation science into a clear, repeatable approach that teams can follow. These two fields, when intentionally combined, offer a powerful foundation for both designing better systems and reliably putting them into practice.”


The California State Board of Education is Developing a Portrait of a Graduate/Learner

Learn more and provide input on it via a community survey.

“The California State Board of Education (SBE) is developing a Portrait of a Graduate/Learner to set a vision of what every California student should know and be able to do when they leave school. Any Portrait adopted by the State Board would NOT create new requirements for local school districts. It would solely inform and guide the State Board’s own decision-making and policy about curriculum, assessment, and accountability. The State Board is launching a community survey to collect input on a Portrait of a Graduate/Learner for what students need to succeed in school, career, and life.”

To complete the community survey or learn more, access CCEE’s webpage here.


Curious About New Laws Addressing Technology in Schools?

Assembly Bill 3216 (AB 3216), regarding smartphones, requires LEAs to develop and adopt a policy, by/no later than July 1, 2026, that limits or prohibits student smartphone use while they are at school or under LEA supervision and control.

Assembly Bill 772 (AB772) addresses cyberbullying: “LEAs will be required to adopt a policy, or modify their existing procedures, by July 1, 2027, to address reported acts of cyberbullying that occur outside of school hours and off campus, but only where the act is so “severe and pervasive” that it creates an “intimidating or hostile educational environment.”

Read more on this article from Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) here.


Quick Links

Archived Newsletters Here