The Reporter: Vacaville school board: Alcohol, students don’t mix

By Richard Bammer/ RBammer@TheReporter.com

It boils down to this: Vacaville public school students will not be allowed to attend fund-raising booster club events at which alcoholic drinks are served.In a close 4-3 vote, after seven months of sometimes-quarrelsome debate and divided community input, Vacaville Unified leaders on Thursday approved a revised board policy and administrative regulation about alcoholic drinks being handled, served or bussed when students are at school-related or off-campus events.

via Vacaville school board: Alcohol, students don’t mix.

FSUSD’s Facebook Wall: The County Committee on School District Organization has set its meeting date

Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District’s Facebook Wall

The County Committee on School District Organization has set its meeting date to hear the proposal from the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District to establish trustee areas.

The meeting will be held Wednesday, October 3, 2012, at 6:00 PM in the Boardroom (2nd floor) Solano County Office of Education, 5100 Business Center Drive, Fairfield, CA

via The County Committee on School District Organization has set its meeting date to….

EdSource Today: Life expectancy plummets for whites without a high school diploma

By Louis Freedberg

New research dramatically shows the value of an education: The more you have, the longer you are likely to live.

Research has shown that people without a high school diploma have higher mortality rates than those who graduate from high school. That was particularly the case for African Americans, whose life expectancy has lagged far behind both whites and Hispanics.

But a compelling new study from the University of Illinois at Chicago, reported in the New York Times, shows that the life expectancy of whites without a high school diploma has plummeted by four years between 1990 and 2008. The decrease in life expectancy was greatest among women:  an extraordinary five years.

via Life expectancy plummets for whites without a high school diploma – by Louis Freedberg.

EdSource Today: Brown signs bill spelling out evaluations (for principals)

By John Fensterwald

Without the acrimony and fanfare that doomed a teacher evaluation bill last month, the Legislature with near unanimity passed and Gov. Brown has now signed a milestone principal and teacher evaluation bill.

Key differences between SB 1292 for administrators and the ill-fated AB 5 for teachers helped smooth the way for passage. Chief among them: SB 1292 is voluntary, not mandatory: Districts aren’t bound to use the provisions, which advocates of the bill acknowledge is a weakness; and districts retain the power to define the key elements of an evaluation. Under AB 5, everything would have been subject to collective bargaining, a source of contention between teachers unions and groups representing school boards and superintendents.

via Brown signs bill spelling out evaluations (for principals) – by John Fensterwald.

Dixon Tribune’s Facebook Wall: Grant brings STEM education to Dixon Unified

Brianna Boyd
Editor

Mention the word “STEM” and you will feel a new level of excitement throughout the community, especially within Dixon schools.

The University of California, Davis’ School of Education is joining forces with Dixon Unified School District and Davis Unified School District to improve education in science, technology, engineering, and math – or STEM as it is commonly called – through a $1.6 million grant from the S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation.

The four-year grant will be implemented through a partnership with Dixon and Davis math and science teachers and UC Davis professors, which include scholars, scientists, mathematicians and engineers. The hope is that this ongoing project will serve as a model for raising student achievement in STEM courses regionally, statewide and nationally.

via Grant brings STEM education to Dixon Unified

Brianna Boyd
Editor

Mention the….

Daily Republic: Solano college horticulture program hopes to grow

FAIRFIELD — Plans are in the works to make major changes and expansions to the Solano College Horticulture Department that would transform the campus secret into a community gathering place.

There are talks of a botanical garden. A farmers market would sell items from the area as well as produce grown in the department. Also in the works is a museum that would honor the migrant workers from the valley.

Like any grandiose plan, the project needs to be funded somehow. That means $1.3 million needs to be collected.

via Solano college horticulture program hopes to grow.

Daily Republic: FSUSD SOAP heads in a different direction under new leadership

FAIRFIELD — When a group of parents kickstarted the nonprofit Save Our Athletic Programs in 2010, it appeared successful.

The program, aimed at saving prep sports crippled by budget cuts, raised more than $100,000 in its first two years. But by June this year the momentum slowed and the nonprofit came under the new management of students.

Since the takeover, students on the advisory board have been expanding SOAP’s vision and goals.

via SOAP heads in a different direction under new leadership.

CA Dept of Education: Career Technical Ed Pathways Reauthorized

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today issued the following statement upon Governor Jerry Brown’s signing of Senate Bill 1070, which reauthorizes and revises the Career Technical Education Pathways Initiative.

“I’ve made career technical education a top priority for one simple reason: it works. Students in these programs graduate at higher rates, and they do so prepared for lasting success in college and careers. I’m delighted the Pro Tem, his fellow legislators, and Governor Brown acted to extend and strengthen a program that already has a proven history of investing in successful education, training, and workforce development pathways—from middle school all the way to community college—in regions across California.”

via Career Technical Ed Pathways Reauthorized.

Benicia Herald: Few bids, so Liberty renovation is delayed

By Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor

 

Because the Benicia Unified School District received so few bids for most of its planned renovation of Liberty High School and the district office — and none within budget — trustees on Thursday opted to cast a wider net.

The school board approved a bid by Syserco Inc., of Petaluma, to install an energy management system for the building at 350 East K St. But it followed the advice of Chief Business Officer Tim Rahill in rejecting bids for four other items — toilet room alterations, re-roofing, window replacement and landscaping — as part of a long-planned sustainability upgrade.

via Few bids, so Liberty renovation is delayed.

Dan Walters: California school cut warning looks real

When Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature fashioned the 2012-13 budget, their evident goal was to persuade voters to finance it by enacting new sales and incomes taxes at the Nov. 6 election.

Toward that end, they decreed that should the tax measure be rejected by voters, automatic triggers would cut spending by $6 billion, all but a fraction of it from education.

Ever since, Brown and other advocates have beseeched voters to pass Proposition 30 to save schools from those cutbacks, including a sharp reduction in the school year.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/21/4840477/dan-walters-california-school.html#mi_rss=Dan%20Walters#storylink=cpy

via Dan Walters: California school cut warning looks real.

NPR Topics: What’s Driving Dropout Rate For Black, Latino Men?

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Switching gears now, it’s Hispanic Heritage Month. That’s the time of year when we talk about the contributions and, sometimes, challenges facing people of Latino heritage in this country.

And, today, we want to point out a story that has both in the area of education. A new report from the Schott Foundation for Public Education says that only 58 percent of Latino male ninth graders graduate high school in four years. Only 52 percent of black males graduate in that length of time and that’s compared to 78 percent of white non-Latino ninth graders.

So that’s the challenge. The opportunity is that a number of organizations and individuals are trying to turn that situation around. I’m joined now by John H. Jackson. He is the president and CEO of the Schott Foundation for Public Education. Also with us is Pilar Montoya. She is the CEO of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, which is also called SHPE, and she’s looking at ways to get Latino students more involved in the so-called stem fields, which is science, technology, engineering and math.

via What’s Driving Dropout Rate For Black, Latino Men?.

NPR Topics: College Student Recalls High School Homelessness

by NPR Staff

When Tierra Jackson was in high school, she was struggling. She kept getting yelled at for being late to school.

What most of her teachers and administrators didn’t know was the reason for her tardiness: Jackson was homeless. Her mother was in and out of prison. She and her brother were living with her aunt and cousins. All seven of them shared a single room in one of Chicago’s homeless shelters, a long bus ride from her school.

“As if high school is not hard enough itself, you know, the hour-and-a-half bus ride, it was kind of exhausting,” Jackson told John Horan, who recorded an interview with her at StoryCorps. Horan was dean of the charter school she attended for high school.

via College Student Recalls High School Homelessness.

The Reporter: Solano Community College to share in job training grant funds

Solano Community College will share a portion of a $14.9 million grant awarded to a consortium of Bay Area community colleges to help pay for innovative job training services for area workers, federal officials announced.

The grant stems from a collaborative program called “Design it — Build it — Ship it,” a regional work force initiative for eligible displaced workers and unemployed adults.

Through the training the adults will be able to earn college degrees or credentials and reenter the workforce in manufacturing, logistics or engineering jobs.

via Solano Community College to share in job training grant funds.

Vallejo Times-Herald: Vallejo district lauds high-performing kids, teachers

By Lanz Christian Bañes

There’s no secret to how Stacey Nicole Escanolo got a perfect score on the state standardized tests last year.

“I studied,” she said, beaming as she sat on her mother’s lap just moments after receiving an award from the Vallejo City Unified School District.

Stacey was just one of 84 Vallejo students honored by the district Wednesday night at Hogan Middle School for outstanding work on last year’s state tests.

via Vallejo district lauds high-performing kids, teachers.

Vallejo Times-Herald: Benicia school board OKs energy savings program

BENICIA — The school board Thursday approved a $39,000 bid by Fremont-based Syserco Inc. to install an energy management program.

The project will be established at Liberty High and the district headquarters, which are connected.

The project is one of five that are part of a larger energy efficiency effort.

via Benicia school board OKs energy savings program.

EdSource Today: California leads effort to boost English learner success

By Kathryn Baron

Anyone who studied French all through high school and still ended up hiring an avocado (avocat) instead of an attorney (avocat) understands that learning a foreign language is complicated, and isn’t a strong suit for U.S. schools. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that the same is true when it comes to bilingual education. About 59 percent of California’s 1.4 million English learners are considered long-term English learners, meaning they’ve been in school here for more than six years, yet are not academically fluent.

Alarmed by those statistics, dozens of California school districts have been developing courses to end this educational stagnation.  These efforts are showing promise and progress according to a new report, and have propelled California to the forefront a new nationwide movement.

via California leads effort to boost English learner success – by Kathryn Baron.

Daily Republic: FSUSD Public Safety Academy a different kind of school

FAIRFIELD — The halls of the Public Safety Academy remained quiet and peaceful, even as children shuffled between classes.

As one young boy approach Cadet Training Officer Larry Banks, the youth stopped, stood at attention and said, “Sir. Good afternoon sir.”

Banks was met with the same formality as he entered the fifth-grade classroom.

A fifth-grade girl belted out, “Class, attention!” The children stood up all at once and said, “Sir. Good afternoon sir.”

via Public Safety Academy a different kind of school.

SCOE’s Facebook Wall: Hand, foot and mouth disease and Influenza

Solano County Office of Education’s Facebook Wall

Hand, foot and mouth disease and Influenza

A Public Health Advisory from Solano County Public Health to Parents of Solano County Students

Welcome to the new school year! As the new school year starts, we would like to give you some information on two diseases that can affect your child and can possibly cause an outbreak at his/her school: hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) and influenza.

HFMD is normally a mild disease that is more common among infants and young children but that can affect people of any age. HFMD causes fever, sore throat, skin rash (especially the hands and feet), and red spots or sores in the mouth. In rare occasions, HFMD can cause a more serious illness called viral meningitis. Symptoms of viral meningitis can include headache, stiff neck, fever and light sensitivity. People with viral meningitis may need to be hospitalized.

via Hand, foot and mouth disease and Influenza

A Public Health Advisory from Sola….

KQED MindShift: Where Do Educational Games Come From?

By

Increasingly, digital games are cropping up everywhere in education. And that’s stimulated a flurry of activity leading to the expectation that no longer are learning games only likely to come from traditional education companies, but a wide variety of sources.

The expectation-setting stats and statements, at least, are straightforward. Both the New Media Consortium’s 2012 Horizon Report on higher education and its 2011 Horizon Report for K-12 put game-based learning in the mainstream (defined as adopted by about 20% of institutions) in the next two-to-three years. “The greatest potential of games for learning lie in their ability to foster collaboration and engage students deeply in the process of learning,” noted the 2012 higher ed collaborative effort of NMC educators and research centers.

via Where Do Educational Games Come From?.

KQED MindShift: Teaching Social and Emotional Skills in Schools

By Katrina Schwartz

More schools are working to change school culture through programs aimed at improving the social and emotional skills of students. The lessons directly teach young people how to interact with one another in positive ways, deal with anger, and solve problems, and new studies show they improve academic performance, too. As more schools try this approach, researchers have begun paying closer attention to the effects of social and emotional learning on behavior and academic achievement.

That research is showing that social and emotional learning (SEL) is crucial to mitigating the social problems that inherently exist in schools and detract from learning. These programs are much more than an anti-bullying strategy – they teach life skills.

via Teaching Social and Emotional Skills in Schools.

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