After two decades of working at this school, Señora Elaine Castillo De Dijar is saying goodbye to CHS and starting a new chapter at Agoura High School.
The main reason why Sra. Dijar is switching to Agoura High School is because there are not enough students wanting to take Spanish next year, reducing the need for Spanish teachers at Calabasas High School. This issue is already noticeable this year, as Dijar is only teaching a few Spanish classes.
Dijar shared her teaching schedule for the 2025–2026 school year and explained why she is needed at Agoura rather than at CHS, which will still have Spanish teachers Delia Grigorian and Caryl Benner.
“This year I only teach two Spanish classes and an ELD, which is not a full-time Spanish teacher,” Dijar noted.
She has seen a notable change in the number of students taking Spanish classes at Calabasas High School over the past 10 years. This has been primarily due to students taking Spanish classes online.
Dijar shared concerns within the Spanish department about the increasing number of students taking online language classes.
According to Dijar, “During the summer or even during the school year, online classes have caused a transfer over 10 years, it’s been getting worse, and it’s been reflecting on teachers’ jobs,” said Dijar.
This has caused many teachers to lose their jobs. Teachers are reassigned based on seniority, meaning teachers who have worked in the district for longer are given priority over newer teachers. Because of this, newer teachers are more likely to get fired if they haven’t been working within the district for long.
“The teacher at Agoura High School who has less seniority doesn’t have a job next year,” Dijar said.
Spanish teachers are encouraging students to continue taking Spanish classes in person rather than online because they believe students learn more effectively in the classroom. Teachers are also concerned that students in online courses may rely heavily on translation tools or AI instead of fully learning the language.
