Vacaville school board taking applications – Daily Republic

By Mike Corpos

The Vacaville school board will appoint someone to fill the board position left vacant when Larry Mazzuca resigned earlier this month.

Mazzuca moved to Nevada City, leaving a vacancy on the board and leaving the remaining board members with a choice.

via Vacaville school board taking applications Daily Republic.

For Common Core, doubts are growing – Sacramento Bee

By Motoko Rich

The Common Core, a set of standards for kindergarten through high school that has been ardently supported by the Obama administration and many business leaders and state legislatures, is facing growing opposition from both the right and the left even before it has been properly introduced into classrooms.

Tea party conservatives, who reject the standards as an unwelcome edict from above, have called for them to be severely rolled back.

via For Common Core, doubts are growing – Education – The Sacramento Bee.

Week 1 of School: Selling the Value of Literacy | Edutopia

I sell literacy. I do. If I don’t sell kids on wanting to learn to read and write as well as they can, they won’t. Sometimes it’s an especially hard sell for kids in middle school, both for those who are competent in these areas but choose to be illiterate, and for those who have always struggled with these skills. You’ve heard the old axiom, “What you plant in September, you reap in June,” so it’s crucial to set the right tone from the start. Here’s what I do.

via Week 1 of School: Selling the Value of Literacy | Edutopia.

Welcome back to school! A message from Jay Speck – SCOE | Facebook

Welcome back to school! A message from Jay Speck, Solano County Superintendent of Schools: As we enter a new school year, I feel invigorated by the positive atmosphere of change that permeates the California public education system during this historic time. The major components of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) were adopted by the Legislature and the Governor in the final days of June.

via Welcome back to school! A message from… – Solano County Office of Education | Facebook.

Council, FSUSD share ideas, get updates – Daily Republic

By Amy Maginnis-Honey

SUISUN CITY — Suisun City staff and Councilwoman Jane Day got an update on the youth services center taking shape at what was Sullivan Middle School in Fairfield.

The ad-hoc group, with members from the City Council, Fairfield-Suisun School District governing board, city staff and school district administration, met Thursday.

via Council, school district share ideas, get updates Daily Republic.

Vacaville starts school year on an upbeat note – Daily Republic

By Ian Thompson

VACAVILLE — Fairmont Elementary School’s kindergarten teachers all wore matching T-shirts Thursday morning so their new charges could recognize them and make that first day of school a little less daunting.

“We don’t want to stress them out,” teacher Tammy Parker said while waiting to greet her arriving schoolchildren.

via Vacaville starts school year on an upbeat note Daily Republic.

High school preps for start of closed campus | The Benicia Herald

By Keri LuizAssistant Editor

With the beginning of the 2013-14 school year less than a week away — students at all city schools have their first day of class on Wednesday — the Benicia Unified School District Board of Trustees will meet Thursday for the first time since June.

But even as trustees convene for their first meeting after summer hiatus, all eyes will be on next week’s launch of Benicia High School’s new closed campus policy.

In a change from longstanding policy, this school year only seniors in good standing will be permitted to leave the campus during lunch. Freshmen, sophomores and juniors will all be required to stay on campus.

via High school preps for start of closed campus | The Benicia Herald.

Should Students Who Test Well Be Rewarded? – Education Week

By Ross Brenneman

When the star-bellied children went out to play ball, could a plain-bellied get in the game? Not at all. You could only play if your bellies had stars, and the plain-bellied children had none upon thar’s.”
—Dr. Seuss, “The Sneetches” (1961)

“And when I’m old and I’ve had my fun, I’ll sell my invention so that everyone can be superheroes. Everyone can be super! And when everyone’s super … no one will be.”
—Syndrome, “The Incredibles” (2004)

Virtue is its own reward, but stuff is a nice reward, too.

At Mulberry Elementary School in Houma, La., the children with the best state assessment performances from the year before can wear whatever clothes they like in the first month of school, in place of standard uniforms.

via Should Students Who Test Well Be Rewarded? – Rules for Engagement – Education Week.

Crowdsourcing Ideas for Better School Policies | MindShift

By Robyn Gee, NPR

In my previous life as a high school English teacher, I often felt disconnected from everyone making the decisions that affected how I did my job. A new curriculum handed down from the district. Tutorials to learn how to process student data. Elective classes swapped out for study halls. I just learned to roll with the punches.

But crowdsourcing tools are slowly working their way into the education policy world, designed to give teachers and district employees more say on big decisions that affect their school environment.

via Crowdsourcing Ideas for Better School Policies | MindShift.

Lessons in Cyberspace : Education Next

By Jeanne DelColle

The Internet has become a tremendous resource for teachers both for the sheer volume of information available and for opportunities to connect with each other. Educators can collaborate through virtual learning networks like Edmodo. On Twitter, there is a chat group with the hashtag #edchat, run by Tom Whitby (@tomwhitby), where one can ask questions on all things education and fellow educators respond. You can also find great materials with broad searches, as long as you are willing to adapt what you find to your classroom needs. I recently combined material from different online sources to prepare my students to write an essay on racism.

via Lessons in Cyberspace : Education Next.

Back to School: A Surefire Strategy for Building Classroom Community | Edutopia

Anne Shaw, Director, 21st Centry Schools

Unlike many of the current posts and articles in educators’ discussions these days, this post does not address anything related to technology or the CCSS. It addresses a topic of much greater importance — the emotional environment of the classroom. Without an excellent, intentionally designed, emotional environment (one which builds authentic community in the classroom), the standards and the technologies are of little value. As Steven Covey and many others have said, “First things first!”

via Back to School: A Surefire Strategy for Building Classroom Community | Edutopia.

Golden Hills Dream Team Students Celebrate Success – SCOE | Facebook

By Solano County Office of Education

The Dream Team Summer Work Program recognized 10 students from the Golden Hills Community School at a luncheon held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Fairfield on August 2.

Students worked over the summer at the following local businesses: NorthBay Health Care, Paradise Valley Estates, Solano Garbage Company, Marshalls in Vacaville, Credit Bureau Associates, and Gillespie’s Abbey Carpet and Floor.

via Golden Hills Dream Team Students Celebrate Success | Facebook.

1st day of school opens with smiles, hugs, a few tears – Daily Republic

By Susan Winlow

SUISUN CITY — The gates of Crescent Elementary School opened for the new year at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.

In streamed children, with parents in tow.

The gamut of emotions showed: Seasoned fifth-graders walked confidently toward the lineup area at the back of the school, nervous kindergartners clung to parents in front of Joan Glazier’s kindergarten classroom and new schoolchildren and parents asked questions in the office.

via 1st day of school opens with smiles, hugs, a few tears Daily Republic.

Meet Angela Scheuring, DHS Athletic… – Dixon Tribune | Facebook

Cutter Hicks, Sports Reporter

Meet Angela Scheuring, DHS Athletic Director

Teaching in the morning and managing sports in the afternoon. This is the normal routine for Dixon High School’s newest athletic director Angela Scheuring.

She played basketball at UC Davis and has coached in numerous sporting leagues. Angela was even Teacher of the Year in the district last year at Dixon High.

via Meet Angela Scheuring, DHS Athletic… – The Dixon Tribune | Facebook.

Vacaville school board to discuss filling vacancy – Daily Republic

By Mike Corpos

VACAVILLE — Down to six members, the Vacaville School Board will discuss how to fill a vacancy during Thursday’s regular meeting, set for 7 p.m. at the Educational Services Center, 401 Nut Tree Road.

Board president David McCallum said Trustee Larry Mazzuca handed in his resignation several weeks ago, effective Monday.

Mazzuca moved to Nevada City, meaning the remaining board members must decide how to replace him.

via Vacaville school board to discuss filling vacancy Daily Republic.

Doctor offers tips to parents as school year begins – Daily Republic

By Glen Faison

A local doctor offered four tips this week to help parents as the school year begins Thursday in Vacaville.

Dr. Jeff Gaborko, a pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente in Vacaville, recommends: Get required immunizations.

“One of the best ways to ensure a successful start to the school year is making sure your child is healthy,” Gaborko said in a prepared release. “Children who miss school because of illness often fall behind and have a hard time catching up to the rest of the class. Making sure your child has the proper immunizations can protect him or her from common childhood diseases and other contagious illnesses throughout the school year.”

via Doctor offers tips to parents as school year begins Daily Republic.

Dan Walters: California higher ed resistant to change – Sacramento Bee

By Dan Walters / dwalters@sacbee.com

College administrators and instructors – particularly those in public institutions – usually profess “progressive” ideological outlooks.

Oddly, however, they tend to be very conservative, even reactionary, in resisting operational changes. They revere traditional classes in traditional classrooms, calendars organized by semesters and quarters of instruction, lengthy recesses between those periods, curricula controlled by faculty senates – and, of course, tenure.

via Dan Walters: California higher ed resistant to change – Dan Walters – The Sacramento Bee.

Increasing the Usefulness of California’s Education Data (PPIC Publication)

Paul Warren and Heather Hough

California has made major progress in building a comprehensive educational data system, but most educators and policymakers lack access to the data that have been collected. This report outlines a series of small, cost-effective steps toward linking and sharing data that can help teachers and administrators improve student outcomes.

via Increasing the Usefulness of California’s Education Data (PPIC Publication).

Hacking Real Things Becomes Child’s Play At This Camp : NPR

Steve Henn /NPR

Owen Chilcoat hacking his tablet. “I am just messing around … trying to break it,” he says. Steve Henn /NPR

At r00tz, a camp that takes place each year during the Def Con convention in Las Vegas, children learn to pick locks, hack smart TVs and, most important, how to take apart and understand the technology that surrounds them. The scene inside the camp a couple weeks ago was a bit of a madhouse — controlled chaos. Little kids everywhere. Brendan Herman was trying to program a machine to draw pictures on ping-pong balls, wearing a tinfoil hat.

via Hacking Real Things Becomes Child’s Play At This Camp : All Tech Considered : NPR.

Are You Ready for Common Core? Teachers Weigh in | MindShift

By Amanda Stupi

As the Common Core State Standards are rolled out around the country, parents and teachers are starting to piece together how it could change the way things are done in school. So far, 45 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the standards, though some states are backing away.

Some educators are looking forward to incorporating the new standards, encouraged by what they consider to be a higher level of rigor, but others believe big questions must be addressed before the standards are adopted. KQED’s Forum dove into the subject recently.

via Are You Ready for Common Core? Teachers Weigh in | MindShift.