Monthly Archives: December 2016

Sierra Vista students share warmth with cancer patients – The Reporter

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By Michael Morris

While most kids are often watching cartoons or simply staying warm at home on a cold Saturday morning, 37 seventh grade students at Sierra Vista Elementary School were a part of something bigger than themselves.

With the assistance of Sierra Vista teachers and faculty, the generous and hardworking group of students put together fleece quilts for cancer patients in the region as they partnered with NorthBay Healthcare and the Oncology Department at Kaiser Permanente. Looking to make a heartwarming impact for 80 cancer patients in Vacaville during the holiday season, students were able to pick from a wide range of patterns and colors with some even bringing in fabric of their own.

Source: Sierra Vista students share warmth with cancer patients

Special-needs children celebrate special day at Silveyville tree farm – Daily Republic

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By Amy Maginnis-Honey

A handful of mothers with special needs children traveled 25 years ago to Silveyville Christmas Tree Farm for a Happy Holidays celebration.

The tradition continued Friday with nearly 300 children representing Fairfield, Suisun City, Vacaville, Travis Air Force Base and Dixon.

For two hours, the special-needs children, their parents and classroom aides were able to walk through the Christmas trees, take a sleigh ride, sip on hot cider, nibble on popcorn and be themselves.

Kerry Purcell was one of the original moms. Today, her grandchildren help out at the event.

“It’s an opportunity for families, who don’t get a lot of opportunities, to do things as a family,” she said. “No one here is going to judge them.”

Source: Special-needs children celebrate special day at Silveyville tree farm

What EdTech Entrepreneurs Should Know And Do About Student Data Privacy – Forbes.com

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By Barbara Kurshan

Successful edtech entrepreneurs are data-driven in their approach to innovation and seek to measure the impact of their solution on the problem it attempts to address. The data they use often comes in the form of “Big Data,” which Lev Manovich (2011) defines as “data sets whose size is beyond the ability of commonly used software tools to capture, manage, and process the data within a tolerable elapsed time.” Given the possibilities Big Data offers for assessing impact, many edtech entrepreneurs incorporate ways to gather user data when developing their products. Other edtech entrepreneurs try to obtain student data from schools/school districts and typically encounter challenges in doing so. While Big Data provides the opportunity for edtech entrepreneurs to create innovative technology solutions to address critical problems in education, it also has ushered in a wave of privacy incursions. For ethical and legal reasons, edtech entrepreneurs must understand student data privacy laws and related privacy issues.

Source: What EdTech Entrepreneurs Should Know And Do About Student Data Privacy#1dbe973048b2

$7,975 in hotel stays OK’d by Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees – Daily Republic

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By Daily Republic Staff

Hotel costs totaling $7,975 – including stays at the Town and Country Resort in San Diego, the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara and the San Francisco Marriott Marquis – won approval Thursday by Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees.

The lodging involves hotel stays by administrators, teachers and a school board member.

Part of warrants that were on the consent calendar for the school board meeting, the payments were approved without comment by trustees.

Source: $7,975 in hotel stays OK’d by Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees

Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees take oath – Daily Republic

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By Ryan McCarthy

The three candidates who won terms Nov. 8 as Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees – and board president Judi Honeychurch, who faced no opposition – took the oath of office Thursday.

New Trustees Joan Gaut, Bethany Smith and incumbent John Silva stood in front of Superintendent Kris Corey for the oath, as Honeychurch did separately because she faced no opposition and was appointed to a new term.

The seven-member board of trustees then took up matters that included the 2015-16 audit of the school district.

Source: Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees take oath

Vacaville school board to elect new officers, hear interim budget report – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

As hundreds of other California school district governing boards will do in December, Vacaville Unified’s will elect new officers tonight for one-year terms.

Also during the meeting — which will include electing district library board officers and the annual meeting of the Public Facilities Financing Corporation — trustees will hear the 2016-17 first interim report; consider a resolution to approve changes in enrollment preferences at Kairos Public School Vacaville Academy; and consider several resolutions to amend Measure A contracts.

Trustees will elect a new board president, vice president and clerk of the board. The board also welcome new trustee Tracee Stacy, a mental health educator and publisher of Prime Time magazine. She was unopposed during the Nov. 8 election campaign season and replaces Nolan Sullivan.

 

Source: Vacaville school board to elect new officers, hear interim budget report

New board officers, interim budget report, and Measure Q update on DUSD agenda – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Dixon Unified leaders, when they meet tonight, will welcome new trustee Luke Foster, an attorney, hear the 2016-17 first interim budget report, and hear an update on Measure Q.

Foster, a Measure Q advocate who led the $30.4 million bond measure’s successful campaign, was named to the board last month. He replaces attorney Joe Di Paola and will serve a two-year term.

Lisette Estrella-Henderson, the incoming superintendent of the Solano County Office of Education, will officiate the swearing-in ceremony, and Foster will join on the dais board members John Gabby, Caitlin O’Halloran Guy Garcia and Melissa Maseda.

The board will then elect new officers, as California public school governing boards typically do in December.

 

Source: New board officers, interim budget report, and Measure Q update on DUSD agenda

Fairfield-Suisun school leaders to swear in new trustees, hear interim budget report – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Electing new board members, the 2016-17 first interim budget report and a review of budget priorities are on the agenda when Fairfield-Suisun Unified leaders meet tonight in Fairfield.

Superintendent Kris Corey also will administer the oath of office to newly elected board members Bethany Smith and Joan Gaut. Shortly afterward, they and other trustees will elect new board officers in the annual December realignment.

Director of fiscal services, Laneia Grindle will present the first interim budget report for the 2016-17 academic year.

Expenses are expected to be $165 million, with revenues projected to be $189 million, with a beginning fund balance of $24 million.

Source: Fairfield-Suisun school leaders to swear in new trustees, hear interim budget report

Travis trustees return; hunt for superintendent continues – Daily Republic

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By Daily Republic Staff

Ivery Hood and Angela Weinzinger are scheduled to be sworn back onto the Travis School District board of trustees on Tuesday, and will get right back to work on finding a new superintendent.

Kate Wren Gavlak is retiring in February after more than 11 years as the top administrator at the district. She started in August 2005.

After the oaths of office for Hood, who was first elected in 2003, and Weinzinger, first elected in 2011, the board will adjourn to closed session to discuss the appointment of an interim superintendent and to do an evaluation of Wren Gavlak, the meeting agenda states.

Source: Travis trustees return; hunt for superintendent continues

Lodging costs of $7,975 go before Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees – Daily Republic

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By Ryan McCarthy

Hotel costs totaling $7,975 – including stays at the Town and Country Resort in San Diego, the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara and the San Francisco Marriott Marquis – go before Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees when they meet Thursday.

David Isom, president-elect of the board of trustees for the school district, stayed four nights at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis in San Francisco to attend the annual California School Boards Association conference.

Isom said Wednesday the $1,267 total hotel cost was for a conference that covered key education topics and assists the 22,000 students in district.

Source: Lodging costs of $7,975 go before Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees

New Legislation to Promote Media Arts Education – Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education)

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Legislation introduced Monday will help California showcase its role as a world leader by improving media arts education so students will be better prepared for jobs in movies, animation, video games, virtual reality, and other media arts fields, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced.

Torlakson sponsored AB 37, which Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell introduced Monday. This is the first day bills can be introduced for the start of the 2017-2018 legislative session. O’Donnell, D-Long Beach, is Chair of the Assembly Education Committee.

“This is an exciting step forward to improve our students’ education in the fascinating and creative world of media arts,” said Torlakson, who started his public service career as a high school teacher and coach. “I want to thank Assemblymember O’Donnell for introducing this measure and preparing students for media arts opportunities in 21st century careers and college.”

Source: New Legislation to Promote Media Arts Education – Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education)

Benicia High students take top prize at Santa Cruz Forestry Challenge – Benicia Herald

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By Nick Sestanovich

Last year, seven Benicia High School students joined science teacher Emily Hudson to participate in the Santa Cruz Forestry Challenge, a competitive event held at Redwood Christian Park in Boulder Creek. After three nights of learning how to identify and measure trees, becoming familiar with forestry tools and creating a script for an application to provide self-guided tours of the area, Benicia High students placed fourth and fifth. Not bad for a set of students that had never participated.

This year, 12 students took part in the challenge from Nov. 16 to 19 at the same location. Out of 117 students from 14 Northern California schools, four Benicia High School students took first place.

As the adviser, Hudson was thrilled with the outcome.“We were overjoyed with winning first place,” she said. “There were a lot of school there that usually do very well and are more around forests than Benicia.”Although last year was Benicia High’s first year participating, Hudson herself is no stranger to these competitions. She used to bring students to participate when she taught at franklin High School in Elk Grove. Of the 12 participants this year, two— Mara Guerin and Ciara Roybal— returned from the previous year. With a larger number of students this year, fellow science teacher Kevin Sinats also served as a faculty adviser, which Hudson says was very helpful.

Source: Benicia High students take top prize at Santa Cruz Forestry Challenge

Vaca High to join in new College Board AP program – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Vacaville High is among some 1,000 schools worldwide to join in a College Board Advanced Placement program that focuses on inquiry, research and writing as a way to better prepare for college and the 21st-century workplace, it has been announced.

In a press release issued Tuesday, Principal Ed Santopadre, referring to Capstone, said, “I am excited to be a part of this innovative program that prepares a broader, more diverse student population ready for college and beyond.”

The first of the program’s two courses, AP Seminar, will start in fall 2017. The other course, taken in sequence, is AP Research.

The program comes in response to feedback from college-level educators and admission officers, and “complements” other AP courses and exams, Santopadre noted in the prepared statement.

 

Source: Vaca High to join in new College Board AP program

Retired VUSD teacher documents Cuba trip in photos – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

A Cuban farmworker holding a rake and a cigar stub, a model posing during a rooftop fashion show, a paint-chipped blue American car from the 1940s with a red heart traced on a headlight.

These images are all part of “Portraits of Cuba 2016,” a photography exhibit by award-winning photographer Ed Finkas of Vacaville, who visited Cuba in August after retiring from a three-decade teaching career. The exhibit, part of the annual “Art Teacher Show,” in which he is the designated “spotlight artist,” opens Jan. 14 and continues to Feb. 4 at the Vacaville Art Gallery.

Source: Retired VUSD teacher documents Cuba trip in photos

Quick-acting, “calm” teacher saves Hemlock fifth-grader’s life – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Hemlock Elementary fifth-grader Alaina Cortijo will always remember what happened at 10:30 a.m. Thursday and she will forever regard her teacher, Angelo Marubayashi, in a heroic light.

After hearing, then seeing her choke on a slice of orange, he calmly performed the Heimlich maneuver and saved her life.

“I thought I might die,” Cortijo said Friday afternoon during an interview at the 400 Hemlock St. campus, with her mother, Katrina, sitting next to her in Marubayashi’s class, Room 13.

A light-haired girl with a bright, round face, she recounted what happened, including an understandably tearful walk to the school office afterward. Marubayashi nodded in agreement as she spoke.

“I became aware that she was making choking sounds,” he said, then described using the lifesaving Heimlich maneuver to get the orange slice to pop out of her mouth.

 

Voyce to take seat as Solano College trustee – Daily Republic

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By Daily Republic Staff

Quinten Voyce, the winner in a three-candidate race for the 5th Trustee Area of the Solano Community College District’s governing board, will be sworn in at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Voyce, 30, of Fairfield, is a science teacher who works in the Early College High School Program at the community college. It is a program in which students can earn associate degrees while earning their high school diploma. He works through Rodriguez High School.

He received 44.54 percent of the vote. The next closest candidate had 30.07 percent. He replaces Monica Brown, who did not seek re-election to the college board and was elected to the county Board of Supervisors.

Source: Voyce to take seat as Solano College trustee

Fairfield High Hall of Famer enjoys the retired life – Daily Republic

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By Marcus Lomtong

For some, retirement is fantasized as relaxation with plenty of downtime.

For Mike Dailey, former Fairfield High School coach, athletic director and recent FHS Hall of Fame inductee, retirement is about relaxation but with plenty of activity.

Dailey, 67, began coaching Fairfield’s track team in 1989 and then took over the cross country reins in 1990. His coaching led to six Sac-Joaquin Section titles in track, with seven MEL crowns and two boys cross country league titles in 1992 and 1993. His dual meet record was 107-21.

Source: Fairfield High Hall of Famer enjoys the retired life

Fairfield-Suisun School District eyes teacher recruitment trips to 10 states, 11 public universities – Daily Republic

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By Ryan McCarthy

Trips to 10 states – including Tennessee, Montana and Alabama – along with visits to 11 public universities in California are planned as part of teacher recruitment by the Fairfield-Suisun School District.

“The California teacher shortage continues to impact our district,” Robert Martinez, assistant superintendent for Human Resources, said in a report to the school board.

School board members will hear a report at their Thursday meting about recruitment for the 2017-18 school year.

Source: Fairfield-Suisun School District eyes teacher recruitment trips to 10 states, 11 public universities

Workshop set to examine developmental writing in preschoolers – Daily Republic

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By Daily Republic Staff

The Solano County Office of Education will host a class called “From Scribble to Script: Developmental Writing in Preschool” on Feb. 4.

Participants will discuss developmental writing as it’s presented in the state’s Preschool Learning Foundation and Desired Results Developmental Profile 2015.

Strategies to facilitate development at each stage of writing will be shared.

Source: Workshop set to examine developmental writing in preschoolers

Education Summit Lifts Up State’s Role in Education – Education Week

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By Christina Samuels

The latest National Summit on Education Reform is taking place at a time when the federal role in education is receding before the power of states.

And that’s just the way Jeb Bush, the founder of the organization that has hosted the summit for the past seven years, likes it.

“This new administration and this Congress have a real opportunity to bring wholesale disruption to education,” said Bush, the chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, during a keynote address at the summit’s Thursday session.

“They can start by lifting the federal government’s heavy hand in setting education policy. The real place for change is in the states, and the real power should be with parents,” he said.

Source: Education Summit Lifts Up State’s Role in Education – Politics K-12 – Education Week