Showcasing our Programs in the Community – Vallejo City USD | Facebook

Showcasing our Programs in the Community

Vallejo City Unified School District staff members will have four opportunities to showcase their great programs for the community at VCUSD Special Board meetings this academic year. The VCUSD Board Showcases began last year when each school made a presentation sharing updates on school programs at VCUSD Special Board meetings. School showcase videos are available on our website http://www.vallejo.k12.ca.us/. Our program showcases begin next week, and we invite all stakeholders to attend. Come out and hear about the great things going on in our schools.

via Showcasing our Programs in the… – Vallejo City Unified School District | Facebook.

TC Mc Daniel Trike-A-Thon – SCOE | Facebook

The annual T.C. McDaniel Center Trike-A-Thon was a fun event for kids on October 2nd! About 80 children took part in the fundraiser which earned money to buy equipment for the TC Mc Daniel’s motor room and outside play equipment. The event supported motor development in preschoolers with all ability levels.

via TC Mc Daniel Trike-A-Thon | Facebook.

College night draws hundreds, helps decision process – Daily Republic

By Mike Corpos

Hundreds of students swarmed the Vacaville High School campus Thursday night, all hoping to come away a little closer to knowing where they are going for college.

With more than 30 colleges and universities in attendance, the students had plenty to choose from.

“This is something we were looking forward to,” said Robert Nunez, a college adviser at Dixon High through the Destination College Advising Corps out of the University of California, Berkeley. “We have (students) coming from Dixon High, Vanden High, Vacaville, also Will C. Wood. It’s a great turnout.”

via College night draws hundreds, helps decision process Daily Republic.

Money: Common Core needs more, Fairfield schools say – Daily Republic

By Ryan McCarthy

Thanks for $4.2 million – but we need more.

Kris Corey, superintendent of the Fairfield-Suisun School District, and two trustees said Thursday the state funds for Common Core are welcome but inadequate.

“We all know it’s not going to cut it,” Trustee John Silva said.

Trustee Pat Shamansky, reviewing plans to spend the $4.2 million, said of the money: “It isn’t enough for all the needs.” Corey said the district will continue to advocate for more as it put in place new school standards called Common Core. A total of $1.2 billion is allocated statewide for the effort.

via Money: Common Core needs more, Fairfield schools say Daily Republic.

Student Responses to Common Core Instruction and Assessment | Edutopia

By Judy Willis, MD

This series of blogs is to support you and your students during the transition period that will come with the CCSS. As the new testing and teaching styles promote more student independence, student-constructed learning and project-based learning, students will benefit from a powerful boost to their growing neural networks of executive functions.

However, for students and educators accustomed to more structured plans and teacher- or curriculum-directed learning, the decision-making and uncertainty can increase the amygdala’s stress level and inhibit flow to the prefrontal cortex where those networks of executive function are developing. This blog series will offer suggestions to ease the stress of transition, helping students persevere to reach the intrinsic pleasure that awaits them through meaningful choice and challenges in the classroom.

via Student Responses to Common Core Instruction and Assessment | Edutopia.

Education Apps for Preschoolers : Education Next

By Education Next

“While the media hyperventilate about MOOCs and higher education, and K‒12 school districts around the country form technology committees, the nation’s preschoolers have the situation well in hand.” So writes Alex Hernandez in a new article for Education Next, “Toddlers and Tablets,” about how education apps targeted at preschoolers are taking off. He explains the advantages of this sector:

Fairly or not, educators criticize edtech companies for producing uninspired products that ignore learning science and yield meager results. School officials can exacerbate such problems through bureaucratic, irrational purchasing and poor program implementation. Early-childhood app companies have a chance to break through this logjam and lead the entire sector forward.

via Education Apps for Preschoolers : Education Next.

Safe Routes to School effort continues – Daily Republic

By Barry Eberling

Six-year-old Leah Patel told her mother Neha Patel that she wanted to give the new “walking school bus” to Rolling Hills Elementary School a try Wednesday morning.

“Because I thought it would be healthier to,” Leah said at 7:35 a.m., as she waited for the short journey to start.

A walking school bus consists of parent volunteers who meet children at a certain place for a walk to and from school. The volunteers keep order and make certain the children are acting in a safe manner. The goal is to get parents more willing to let their children make the journey by foot or bike.

via Safe Routes to School effort continues Daily Republic.

Travis teachers plan candidates night – Daily Republic

By Ryan McCarthy

Candidates for the Travis School District Area 2 seat will speak Tuesday at a community forum organized by the Travis Unified Teachers Association.

Riitta DeAnda, John Dickerson and Donna Bishop will speak during the forum from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Foxboro School, 600 Morning Glory Drive in Vacaville. Solano County Schools Superintendent Jay Speck will moderate the event.

via Travis teachers plan candidates night Daily Republic.

Hillary Clinton Champions Early-Childhood Education in New Campaign – Education Week

By Alyson Klein

An Education Week headline reads: “Democratic Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton Makes Early-Childhood Education Campaign Centerpiece”

Okay, fine, we don’t really have a crystal ball here at Politics K-12. And it’s an open question whether the former first-lady-turned-senator-turned-secretary-of-state is even running for president. (Plus, you know, we’ve still got three years of the Obama administration left.) But it’s hard to deny that since leaving the Obama administration, Clinton has turned back to a longheld interest of hers: early-childhood education.

via Hillary Clinton Champions Early-Childhood Education in New Campaign – Politics K-12 – Education Week.

Career Tech Web Enhancements – Year 2013 (CA Dept of Education)

California students have new online help as they plan for careers and college, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today.

“The diversity of our global economy can provide many opportunities for students, but having so many choices can be challenging as well,” Torlakson said. “With new features on two really great Web sites, we’re working to give students the resources they need to plan their path to a successful future.”

via Career Tech Web Enhancements – Year 2013 (CA Dept of Education).

Tuition Free SCC Classes at Dixon High – Dixon Tribune | Facebook

Brianna Boyd, Editor

Dixon teens will soon have the opportunity to jumpstart their college careers and earn honors credits, all while never leaving the Dixon High campus.

Dixon Unified School District is partnering with Solano Community College to launch the College

Advancement Program CAP at Dixon High. Through CAP, Solano Community College courses will be offered to high school students tuition-free beginning in January of 2014. The classes will all be taught by SCC staff in a designated area at Dixon High and will be open to both teens and the general public during the regular school day and at night.

via Teens can jumpstart college careers with… – The Dixon Tribune | Facebook.

Smart Strategies That Help Students Learn How to Learn | MindShift

By Annie Murphy Paul

What’s the key to effective learning? One intriguing body of research suggests a rather riddle-like answer: It’s not just what you know. It’s what you know about what you know.

To put it in more straightforward terms, anytime a student learns, he or she has to bring in two kinds of prior knowledge: knowledge about the subject at hand (say, mathematics or history) and knowledge about how learning works. Parents and educators are pretty good at imparting the first kind of knowledge. We’re comfortable talking about concrete information: names, dates, numbers, facts. But the guidance we offer on the act of learning itself—the “metacognitive” aspects of learning—is more hit-or-miss, and it shows.

via Smart Strategies That Help Students Learn How to Learn | MindShift.

Billionaire couple donates $10 million to keep Head Start programs open during shutdown | EdSource Today

By Lillian Mongeau

A billionaire couple from Texas has stepped in with a $10 million interest-free loan to cover the cost of keeping Head Start programs open this month for more than 7,000 children in six states, where programs were closed by the government shutdown.

For now, California children won’t have to rely on the largesse of private benefactors. No state programs receive their federal Head Start grants in October; money stopped flowing to the federal education program for low-income children on Oct. 1 when the government shutdown began. (See below for list of grant renewal dates for California programs.) Four California programs would face closure in November in the unlikely event the shutdown were to continue.

via Billionaire couple donates $10 million to keep Head Start programs open during shutdown | EdSource Today.

Benicia promotes ‘Walk to School Day’ | The Benicia Herald

By Donna Beth Weilenman

Five Benicia schools are participating in International Walk to School Day on Wednesday, Jayne Bauer, marketing and legislative program manager for Solano Transportation Authority, said.

Mayor Elizabeth Patterson will accompany some of the pupils when they eschew vehicles in favor of taking a walk to their campuses, Bauer said.

Others will be accompanied by family members and teachers, she said.

via Benicia promotes ‘Walk to School Day’ | The Benicia Herald.

Education Shutdown Update: What’s Arne Duncan Doing? – Education Week

By Alyson Klein

So are those 4,000 Department of Education employees on furlough getting paid during the shutdown? For now, they’re not, but they could be eligible for back pay under a bill authored by a cadre of Republican and Democratic lawmakers from the Washington area. The Obama administration supports the measure.

Since there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight to the shutdown, House Republicans are introducing a series of bills funding certain programs that have gotten political attention (including Head Start and Impact Aid) through the middle of December.

via Education Shutdown Update: What’s Arne Duncan Doing? – Politics K-12 – Education Week.

Previews STEM Task Force Report – Year 2013 (CA Dept of Education)

To stay on the cutting edge of STEM, California needs to start laying educational foundations in the early grades, boost professional development for teachers, and more, according to an upcoming report to State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson by a task force of experts.

Torlakson previewed the report today before the Assembly Select Committee on Integrating STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.) in Education in California K-14 schools. He and Assemblywoman Susan A. Bonilla, D-Concord, who chairs the select committee, convened the task force last year. It comprises 55 volunteers, including higher education leaders, business and industry representatives, teachers, administrators, and others.

via Previews STEM Task Force Report – Year 2013 (CA Dept of Education).

Homes could replace schools if deal gets completed – Daily Republic

By Barry Eberling

A deal that could lead to three former Fairfield-Suisun School District schools redeveloped by private enterprise could finally be headed to a conclusion.

The agreement between Rockville Road LP and the Fairfield-Suisun School District got announced in February 2012. Rockville Road LLP would swap 52 acres of vacant land along Rockville Road in rural Suisun Valley for the three abandoned school sites.

via Homes could replace schools if deal gets completed Daily Republic.

LA students get iPads, crack firewall, play games – The Reporter

By John Rogers

Education officials in the nation’s second-largest school district are working to reboot a $1 billion plan to put an iPad in the hands of each of their 650,000 students after an embarrassing glitch emerged when the first round of tablets went out.

Instead of solving math problems or doing English homework, as administrators envisioned, more than 300 Los Angeles Unified School District students promptly cracked the security settings and started tweeting, posting to Facebook and playing video games.

via LA students get iPads, crack firewall, play games – The Reporter.

Guest columnist: Training teachers to fight back – The Reporter

By Esther J. Cepeda

Every once in a while, horrifying violence rocks our national sense of school campus innocence. Its cold comfort, but chances are our local schools staff has been trained to respond in the most effective manner should the unimaginable occur.

As an observer of education trends, I take this for granted. But to people who dont understand the level of preparedness that schools now practice, proposed laws protecting the teachers and staff who have to execute emergency protocols can be alarming and confusing.

via Guest columnist: Training teachers to fight back – The Reporter.