Milpitas Unified School District

When I look across Milpitas, I see the same energy I once felt as a student of Joseph Weller Elementary School, Thomas Russell Middle School, Milpitas High School and with the best teams I ever coached — diverse, competitive, talented, and ready to rise. Our city’s strength has always come from its sense of community supporting high school students preparing for life after graduation, opening arms to immigrants rebuilding hope, and life long residents who believe progress is built through connection, purpose, and shared effort.

That belief doesn’t appear by chance — it’s built intentionally, collaboratively, and with vision.

Once an agricultural crossroads between the East Bay and South Bay, Milpitas was anchored for decades by the auto plants that fueled local prosperity. Today, our engines of growth are powered by education, technology, small business, hospitality, and innovation. Yet as the world accelerates — driven by artificial intelligence, capitalism, and global competition — we face an essential question:

Are we preparing every learner to thrive in the high-demand, high-wage, high-growth economy of the San Francisco Bay Area or Silicon Valley?

At Milpitas Unified, we believe the answer is yes — when WE build together.

Together, we’re creating bridges between schools, industries, colleges, and trades. The Milpitas Innovation Campus and our expanding pathway academies in engineering, healthcare, digital design, hospitality, eSports, and entrepreneurship are just the beginning. Our mission is simple but bold: that every MUSD student, adult learner, and resident — no matter their education background or circumstance — has a pathway, a plan, and real-world experience.

For immigrant families, adult learners, and working residents, the redesign of secondary pathways and the Milpitas Adult Education into the Milpitas Workforce Development Center will renew American dreams and reclaim futures. Here, adults can reskill, earn credentials, and connect directly to local employers in advanced manufacturing, IT, healthcare, education, hospitality, military service, green economy, and more. These pathways strengthen families, stabilize communities, and sustain our regional economic growth.

The next generation of prosperity in Milpitas won’t be built on luck or legacy — it will be built on learning, collaboration, and courage of our community. Together, we can ensure our schools don’t just educate — they elevate.

So I’m asking our community — businesses, parents, alumni, and neighbors — to join us and support MUSD teachers at all grade levels. Volunteer. Mentor. Partner. Invest. Help us build the next bridge from classroom to career, from aspiration to achievement.

Because in Milpitas, when one of us rises, we all do.

For more information or to join our Milpitas Workforce Development Taskforce partnership efforts, please contact musd-supt@musd.org.

In community,

Chris Norwood, 2025 President, Milpitas Unified School District Board of Education