Super Intentions

New Clovis superintendent leans into lessons learned as Fresno State student-athlete

Connections run deep for Dr. Corrine Folmer. From her ties to Clovis Unified School District to her history with Fresno State, the past, present and future of Clovis Unified’s newest superintendent are tightly woven together into the fabric of both institutions.

Four generations of her family have received their education from Clovis Unified, including her two daughters — one in middle school and one in high school. She was one of the early graduates of Buchanan High School, where she competed as an athlete.

As a Fresno State soccer player from 1998 to 2001, Dr. Corrine Folmer played many positions— defense, midfield, striker and left wing. In her new position as Clovis Unified superintendent, she makes it a point to visit classrooms at every grade level within the district, as shown during a September visit to Reagan Elementary.

While at Fresno State, she played soccer for all four years of her undergraduate education on a scholarship. And she didn’t even start out as an education major.

Folmer started college as an engineering major but found that challenging due to her soccer travel schedule and her commitment as an instructional assistant and assistant soccer coach at Buchanan High School. She consulted with a mentor, Mary Noga, a math teacher at Buchanan High School, who encouraged her to consider teaching as an alternative since she was already getting a taste of it.

“At the same time, I was coaching,” Folmer says, “and I loved working with students. It just naturally worked.”

She credited her advisers and faculty at Fresno State for helping her make the transition and providing “great academic support.” She became a special education teacher.

After graduating in 2001, she began teaching at Sierra High School in Tollhouse.

“At a small school, you wear many hats,” Folmer says, “so I taught math and special education and coached soccer and track. It was a great experience. There is a great community up there.”

In 2003, she returned to Clovis Unified “to work with kids in the place where I grew up.” Over the next 20 years, she moved into administrative roles, acquiring her master’s (2008) and doctoral degrees (2021) from Fresno State along the way.

Her newest role is a culmination of that journey. As of July 1, Folmer is the new superintendent of Clovis Unified, following the retirement of Dr. Eimear O’Brien, who held the position since 2017.

“Teaching is one of the most noble professions,” Folmer says. “We have the true ability to impact children, to build long-lasting relationships in a community and help students achieve things that they sometimes don’t even know they can achieve. I commend anyone who wants to be a teacher because it’s hard work, and I often tell them it’s a work of the heart because, at the end of the day, you’ll close the door to your classroom, you’ll turn the light out and the job stays with you. You’re still worried about a student in your class. It really is work of the heart, and it requires passion.”

Originally established in 1911 as a teacher’s college to attract and retain students who would stay and teach in the Valley, Fresno State is now consistently in the top three public universities preparing the most K-12 school teachers in California. About 60% of school administrators across the region are Fresno State alumni, leading Valley schools and shaping the future of local youth.

Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval looks forward to working with the new Clovis superintendent.

“Dr. Folmer’s journey from a dedicated student and impressive athlete to an accomplished leader exemplifies the transformative power of education that Fresno State instills in all of our talented students,” he says. “As the new Clovis superintendent, she brings with her a wealth of experience, a passion for education and a deep understanding of the impressive opportunities and aspirations of our region. I am genuinely excited to work alongside Dr. Folmer in her new role.”

Folmer talked about some of her experiences at Fresno State that helped prepare her.

“One of the things I loved about the professors I had was that they were always encouraging you to think critically,” Folmer says. “It was a lot of, ‘How would you handle this problem? What are your thoughts?’ It was this great collective of experiences that I’ve taken forward into my career because you’re always reflecting, thinking, ‘Gosh! What is the new research? And how does this play out and work with teams?’”

But she learned on the field as well, during her time with the Fresno State women’s soccer team. She moved around each season, playing different positions, starting on defense, moving to midfield, striker and left wing, then back to defense in her final year.

“On the athletic side. I don’t think there’s any better lesson than just learning to work with a team,” she says, “being connected to campus on a greater scale, being prideful of Fresno State, and learning to really persevere as a team, knowing that none of us could accomplish anything without each other. That’s a great lesson in life.”

corrine-folmer Clovis Unified, with almost 43,000 students, is the 14th largest public school district in California (Fresno Unified is the third largest). The district has 34 elementary schools, five comprehensive intermediate schools and high schools, as well as adult and alternative education schools.

And the district is growing. Another elementary school will open in 2024 and the Bradley Educational Center will open in 2025. Folmer is confident the Clovis Unified team is up to the challenge.

“Our aim is to maximize achievement for ALL students, and all is capitalized because we believe it is every single kid,” she says. “It’s really important to unify our team. We have about 7,000 employees, and it takes every one of us doing our piece of the big puzzle every day with that focus to continue to make our educational system be the best it can for our kids.”

Another challenge Folmer sees is improving students’ academic achievement. As the nation adapts coming out of the pandemic shutdown, school districts (and universities) are tackling solutions to overcome learning gaps from when students weren’t in classrooms — “that’s across the state, that’s everywhere.”

“We still have work to do,” she says. “We’ve got to pick up and get refocused. I want to complement our educational team. They are working hard to help our kids adjust back into a social environment and all of those expectations. Academic achievement is one of those goals.”

Folmer sees great opportunities for partnership with Fresno State, including the new Bulldog Bound program, which launched in May. The guaranteed admissions program will ensure high school students in participating districts have a clear, tangible path to a college degree. Fresno State will support students and their families with admission preparation and resources as early as ninth grade.

“We’re excited about the Bulldog Bound program,” Folmer says. “We had a great meeting with Fresno State. A good number of Fresno State students become our teachers. I think there’s always been this great partnership and pride in our students who go to the university. Not all of them become teachers — we send a lot of prepared students who join the great agricultural department, the engineering department and many others. It’s a great source of pride to us when we see our students continue to contribute to our community.”

“I commend anyone who wants to be a teacher because it’s hard work, and I often tell them it’s a work of the heart because, at the end
of the day, you’ll close the door to your classroom, you’ll turn the light out and the job stays with you. You’re still worried about a student in your class. It really is work of the heart, and it requires passion.”

Dr. Corrine Folmer, Superintendent, Clovis Unified School District

– Lisa Bell is the public information officer for Fresno State.

Top Photo: Dr. Corrine Folmer, the new superintendent of Clovis Unified School District, earned bachelor’s (2001), master’s (2008) and doctoral (2021) degrees from Fresno State. As an undergrad, she attended Fresno State on a soccer scholarship, and was initially an engineering major before discovering her passion as an educator.

Valley of opportunity

Dr. Corrine Folmer is one of over 242,000 living alumni from Fresno State, and this is where her Bulldog story began. With continued support from the community, Fresno State alumni are committed to educating youth throughout the Valley, state and nation. Because about 60% of Valley educators are Fresno State alumni, your support today will ensure the vitality of the university and the region for generations to come.