The Rio School District gathered about 50 community leaders Thursday for a summit on how El Rio can be a better place for educating and making children more successful in life.

"We are losing a lot of children to violence and that is extremely disturbing," district Superintendent Sherianne Cotterell said. "The YouTube' bullying is anonymous and hurtful. It's important that the kids feel accepted and safe. My role as superintendent is to come from the right heart and build relationships and connections with the kids."

The all-day, invitation-only summit was led by Clay Roberts of the nonprofit Search Institute, an educational research group. "We are here to create a clear vision and long-term commitment of what needs to happen for children in the Rio community," he said.

"I want to create a movement, not a program. Search focuses on healthy development of kids. MTV shouldn't be raising our children. Kids don't need more things. They need a more positive adult presence in their lives."

Roberts presented a list of 40 developmental assets for elementary students. The list included family support and other adult relationships, learning to be of service to others, and having creative and sports activities.

"These are the building blocks that children need," Roberts said. "We need to look at kids who are doing well and ask what went right here. People make a difference, not programs," he said.

Participants were encouraged to share personal stories of growing up. Ernesto Duran, director of after-school programs for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme, said he grew up in a "culturally different environment" in Mexico City.

While his parents were away 17 hours a day to provide for the family, he saw things that were wrong and decided to do things better.

"In my mind, this is our first step," Cotterell said of the summit. "We will plan our next steps and have an ongoing conversation, mapping out our strengths and gaps. We will look at ourselves. We are not doing as well as we'd like to academically."

The Rio School District has 4,200 students in six elementary and two middle schools.

"This is not a program, it's more of an attitude or philosophy," said Tim Blaylock, a Rio school board member and chief professional officer of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme. "We need to come up with simple ideas and then implement them."

While some teachers were invited to Thursday's summit, the Rio Teachers Association was not, according to union President Rebecca Barbetti, who said she was disappointed.

"I think there's a huge loss," she said. "We have a lot to give — ideas, organizational ability — and whether the district likes it or not, I represent 213 teachers."

The teachers union and district recently settled a long-standing and sometimes bitter labor dispute, and, Barbetti said, she recognizes it might have been a factor in the union's exclusion from the event.

Still, she thinks the district and association need to work together.

"RTA wanted to participate," she said. "We care about the whole community, not just our contract."

Cotterell, however, said district officials wanted a cross section of the community at the summit and could not accommodate too large a group.

The district's classified employees union also was not invited, and by the time the teachers union requested a spot, it was too late, according to Cotterell.

— Staff writer Cheri Carlson contributed to this report.