FAIRFIELD — The Solano County Office of Education will get a piece of the state’s $520 million of matching funds for shovel-ready school construction projects.
Solano will receive $28,675 from the State Allocation Board to be used for modernization. The announcement was made Wednesday as part of the 230 construction projects within 92 school districts. Funds for these projects are paid for by bonds from Propositions 1A, 1D, 47 and 55.
How refreshing it was on Friday to see and hear Mark Miller lead a workshop/review for eighth-graders on Biz Kid$ at Vaca Peña Middle School in Vacaville.
A national financial literacy program, Biz Kid$, a roughly five-hour course the students completed in mid-April, is filled with good-to-know practical stuff, such as words used in the workplace, among them compound interest, long-term goal, profit, credit card. Other good stuff includes money management, entrepreneurial skills and financial planning.
The Solano County Student Art Faire Exhibit opened last night at SCOE’s main office with an artist’s reception. Over 300 art pieces are on exhibit from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday, May 24. Our main office is located at 5100 Business Center Drive, across from Costco, in Fairfield. Come by and see the exhibition – we have some incredible artists in Solano County!
via The Solano County Student Art Faire Exhibit opened last night at SCOE’s main off….
Presented to Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Education
Mark Miller, SCOE Vocational Specialist, shared a BizKid$ financial literacy lesson on May 17 with eighth-graders from Vaca Peña Middle School and area school leaders and political officials.
The BizKid$ lessons are a key element in the Solano County Work-Ready Certification Program, a project co-designed by Travis Credit Union, the Fairfield-Suisun Chamber of Commerce, the Solano County Office of Education, and the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District.
For more information: http://www.solanocoe.net/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=209926&type=d
via Mark Miller, SCOE Vocational Specialist, shared a BizKid$ financial literacy les….
Noble Richards
Vallejo
The recent Solano County Grand Jury indictment of Vallejo High School and, by extension, most of the other schools in the district is only the official acknowledgement that “education” here is a disastrous failure. Vallejo schools are infamous as the places you don’t want to be a student or a teacher.
Some “students” threaten teachers, insult them (e.g. “You white B—–.”), spit on them and ignore the instructions. They walk in and out of classrooms to smoke their “tokes” and there are no repercussions for them. Woe to be real students who come to school to learn.
via ‘Bye, Bye Bishop’.
Hers is a 30-by-30-foot book-lined space, filled with nine round tables and blue chairs, but, for the young students who visit, it is a safe universe of fun, dreams, knowledge, hope and possibilities.
Vacaville Unified library tech Christine Zavaglia on Friday welcomed a class of Padan Elementary fifth-graders into the small library, the students filing in, selecting books, checking them out at her desk, speaking with her briefly and quietly, and returning to their room. It was just one of some eight to 10 classes which typically visit the library on any given day. (She works at Padan Elementary on Wednesdays and Fridays and job-shares with Karen Hiemke.)
By Susan Frey
Students in foster care will be moving to the front of the class if the new school accountability rules the governor proposed in his budget revision become law.
For the first time, districts, county offices of education and state agencies will have to keep track of and account for the academic progress of their foster students under Gov. Jerry Brown’s May revision.
via Budget plan makes foster youth a priority, but takes away dedicated funding – by Susan Frey.
Brianna Boyd
Editor
The Dixon Teachers Association and Dixon Unified School District’s bargaining teams are at an impasse following over 60 hours of contract negotiations.
In a press release last week, the Dixon Teachers Association wrote that the impasse came following discussions at the bargaining table on important issues for 2012-13 that included elementary physical education, elementary prep time, high school extra duty supervision and economic issues. Julie Felkins, co-president of the association, said the bargaining teams had not yet started discussions on 2013-14.
via Teachers association and Dixon Unified reach an impasse in contract negotiations….
Brianna Boyd
Editor
Dixon High honored its best and brightest Monday night during an emotional ceremony inside the school’s theater.
It takes a great deal of hard work and dedication to maintain a 4.0 grade point average – the equivalent of all A’s – for just one semester in high school. But 24 Dixon High seniors have proven that this impressive feat can be accomplished not once, not twice, but in every semester of their high school careers.
via An evening of recognition
Dixon High honors 24 Distinguished Scholars
FAIRFIELD — It’s one thing to be lectured to about environmental sciences. It’s another to throw on galoshes and trudge through a creek.
“It’s a field trip, to an actual field,” declared Jill Bolduc, Fairfield High’s environmental science teacher. “It’s a true lab class. We’re able to step it up a notch.”
Bolduc’s class of seniors and juniors spent Friday in Union Avenue Creek, collecting physical, chemical and biological samples of the organisms in and around the waterway. There were also lessons about how the plants, dirt and rocks of the creek affect the water quality.
Some California Regional Occupational Centers – the primary providers of career technical education for high school students in the state – have been given a reprieve from Gov. Jerry Brown’s original plan to eliminate any future dedicated funding for them.
In his May budget revision, Brown instead proposed that centers that operate under joint powers authorities with several school districts and that also are funded through their county Offices of Education will receive dedicated funding for the next two years.
via May budget revise offers funding reprieve to some Regional Occupational Centers – by Susan Frey.
The goal of the Summit, held on May 17 at Solano Community College in Vallejo, was to raise awareness of crossover youth – those who have experienced trauma, who are involved in the child welfare system, and who are currently engaged in the juvenile justice system.
Solano County, administered through the Vallejo City Unified School District and involving multiple community partners, is one of Sierra Health Foundation’s six counties to receive a $75,000 planning grant for the promotion of positive youth development practices in the juvenile justice system.
via The goal of the Summit, held on May 17 at Solano Community College in Vallejo, w….
California has decided not to try again for a waiver from some key provisions of No Child Left Behind, at least not for the next school year. Instead, state education officials told the U.S. Department of Education that California would instead focus its efforts next year on implementing the Common Core State Standards, federal and state officials said Monday.
Federal education officials also said that they will continue to consider the waiver application from a group of nine of the state’s largest school districts known as the California Office to Reform Education, or CORE.
via California forgoes second NCLB waiver request – by Kathryn Baron.
Gov. Jerry Brown’s call to create regional consortia of school districts and community colleges to administer adult education programs starting in 2015-16 is meeting resistance from education leaders in the Assembly.
The plan unveiled in his May revise budget proposal would provide no dedicated funding for adult education until 2015-16, when $500 million would be allocated, including $350 million set aside for existing programs.
via Assembly education leaders support dedicated funding for adult ed – by Susan Frey.
Presented to Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Education Finance
Presented to: Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Education Finance
via Options for Modifying the Local Control Funding Formula.
Presented to Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Education Finance
During Anna Kyle Elementary School’s recent tour of the UC Davis campus, Ms. Chapman’s second grade class had the privilege of meeting Cruz Reynoso, Professor of Law Emeritus . A former Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court, Reynoso is recognized for his leadership in civil rights, immigration policy, and government reform. In 2000, President Clinton honored Cruz Reynoso with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor, for his lifelong devotion to public service. Most notably, he is the proud grandfather of one of Ms. Chapman’s college-bound Eagles!
via During Anna Kyle Elementary School’s recent tour of the UC Davis campus, Ms. Ch….
CONGRATULATIONS, HIGHEST HONORS RECIPIENTS
Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District recognized 83 graduating seniors who earned a 4.0 or higher grade point average. In addition to receiving gold tassels from the Governing Board, students received awards from the Fairfield-Suisun Management Association, the Fairfield-Suisun Unified Teachers Association, the California School Employees Association, Chapter #302, the City of Fairfield, the City of Suisun, the Fairfield-Suisun Chamber of Commerce, the Solano County Supervisors, State Assembly Member Jim Frazier, State Senator Lois Wolk, United States Congressman John Garamendi, and United States Senator Barbara Boxer. A special thank you to Sodexo for sponsoring the reception and Images by Hughes for providing the photography.
via CONGRATULATIONS, HIGHEST HONORS RECIPIENTS
Fairfield-Suisun Unified School Dist….