Principal’s Message

Dear South/West Park School Families,

Welcome to South/West Park School! Home of the Roadrunners! My name is Ramona Soto-Barajas and I am your child’s principal and Mr. López is their Assistant Principal.  Here are South/West Park we believe that a successful school experience can only result from a cooperative effort between you, your child, the Tracy Community, and our school.  We need your support and pledge you ours.  Family involvement is critical to your child’s success. Research shows when families are involved in schools; their children have a higher possibility of being successful academically and socially.

We are firm supporter in providing options to our families.  South/West Park provides options and opportunities for families with different programs for our students. We are a magnet school for G.A.T.E and Bilingual Education (Spanish).  We are proud to promote Bilingualism at our school.  As a Bilingual administrator, I am proud to have our students speak more than one language.  We have a rich representation of several cultures at our school. 

I was born in Mexico and move to the United States as a six year old child.  I grew up as a Migrant student in Manteca and I am very proud of our Hispanic culture and family.  My parents never had the opportunity to finish elementary school and they instilled in their six children the importance of education.   I am very grateful for the wonderful opportunities my family provided us.  I attended elementary and High School in Manteca and went directly to The University of The Pacific as a 17 year old where I graduated as a Bilingual Educator in less than four years.  I taught for eight years at South/West Park School and then moved to Delta Island as their site principal. It was an honor when I could return to South/West Park as their new principal. I am now a mother of two beautiful children and live with a wonderful and loving husband in Manteca.

As site leaders, Mr. López and I enjoy working with our students, staff and families.  We are firm supporters in developing leaders in our school community to provide additional support and resources for our families.  We thank you for your support and encouragement to your children and our school.  We are fortunate to have wonderful dedicated staff and families that do anything possible to support our students.  Stay involved and your children will excel in anything they do. 

Sincerely, 

Ramona Soto-Barajas & Juan López

Principal & Assistant Principal