Monthly Archives: May 2016

Fairfield school plans annual bilingual event – Daily Republic

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By Daily Republic Staff

The annual event called ¡Vamos! – part of the Dual Immersion Program – returns from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday to B. Gale Wilson School, 3301 Cherry Hills Court.

Food, entertainment, a basket prize drawing, music, games and activities for the family are all featured elements of the program, according to an announcement from the school.

B. Gale Wilson School’s Dual Immersion Program is for kindergartners through eighth-graders and teaches Spanish/English biliteracy and culture to produce young adults who are highly capable in two languages, according to the announcement.

Source: Fairfield school plans annual bilingual event

Exemplary Program Awards and Title I Schools – Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education)

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State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today announced additional honors for 508 of the 779 elementary schools that were recognized as Gold Ribbon Schools.

Thirty-five of those Gold Ribbon Schools have been selected as having an Exemplary Program in Arts Education or Physical Activity and Nutrition. Schools applied separately for those honors.

Additionally, Gold Ribbon Schools that are also Title I schools were recognized as Academic Achieving Schools. This distinction is given only to schools receiving federal Title I funds that aid in meeting the educational needs of students living at or below the poverty level. The list of recognized schools follows at the end of this press release.

“I’m delighted to honor these schools and programs, which are doing a tremendous job preparing our students for 21st century opportunities and graduating lifelong learners in the process,” Torlakson said.

Source: Exemplary Program Awards and Title I Schools – Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education)

Benicia district official tapped as Walnut Creek superintendent – Times Herald

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By Sam Richards

Marie Morgan, the assistant superintendent of educational services for the Benicia Unified School District, has been appointed the new superintendent of the Walnut Creek School District.

Morgan’s hiring is pending approval by the school board this coming Monday. She would start the new job July 1.

Morgan, a Danville resident, is set to succeed Dr. Patty Wool, who is retiring after nine years as the Walnut Creek district’s superintendent.

A veteran of 27 years in public education, Morgan had been a teacher, principal and holder of various administration positions in the Dublin Unified and San Ramon Valley Unified school districts. She has been Benicia’s assistant superintendent of educational services since June 2013.

Source: Benicia district official tapped as Walnut Creek superintendent

Dixon Unified leaders to hold facilities master plan workshop Saturday – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

With their eyes cast on the possibility of a new bond measure, Dixon Unified leaders will hold a Facilities Master Plan governing board workshop Saturday morning in Dixon.

Trustees will review details of the recently finished master plan and will discuss which of the rural school district’s eight campuses need the most help, upgrades and possible new construction, and when.

The workshop comes three months after the governing board approved a contract for polling services to gauge the public’s appetite for a possible new bond measure on the Nov. 8 general election.

A consultant advised trustees that, if the bond goes forward and is approved, that the district must not exceed its “bonding capacity” of $41 million, because the taxpayers are still funding Measure J, a $29 million bond passed by voters in 2002, a measure that has been refinanced, saving taxpayers an estimated $8 million.

Source: Dixon Unified leaders to hold facilities master plan workshop Saturday

Vaca High’s Migrant Education debate team seeks to repeat as state champs – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Members of Vacaville High School’s Migrant Education English debate team, in some ways, have taken a page from “McFarland, USA,” the 2015 fact-based film about a cross-country team from a predominantly Latino high school in California’s Central Valley.

Guadalupe Arroyo, Bibiana Ortiz, Lydia Kim and Monserrat Huerta, all seniors, said it is more than just mastery of debating skills, among them critical thinking, articulate speech, research, that may lead to a repeat of their state champions title Saturday in Fresno, where they will compete at the sixth annual State Speech and Debate Tournament.

Other important, more abstract elements, such as a drive to succeed, confidence, self-esteem, and teamwork, they agreed, will figure into their outcome at the daylong event, sponsored by the California Migrant Education Program.

Source: Vaca High’s Migrant Education debate team seeks to repeat as state champs

Bench installed in memory of late Benicia Unified educator Rosie Switzer – Benicia Herald

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By Elizabeth Warnmont

Starting Monday, April 25, passers-by may have been noticing a newly installed view bench along the Benicia Bay waterfront trail. The bench was installed over the previous weekend by the city of Benicia in remembrance of Rosie Switzer, a longtime resident and champion of children in town, who died in November.

Friends and family of the teacher and community leader commissioned the bench in honor of their departed loved one.

“I would say well over 100 of Rosie’s colleagues and friends donated to help this happen,” Becky Ross, a friend of Switzer’s, told the Herald Friday. “Rick Knight of the City of Benicia and F and P Trophy of Benicia owners Roger and Nancy Green were also very helpful in getting this project done.”

Source: Bench installed in memory of late Benicia Unified educator Rosie Switzer

School board, Schedule Advisory Committee discuss possible new BHS schedule – Benicia Herald

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By Nick Sestanovich

The Governing Board of the Benicia Unified School District heard a report at Thursday’s meeting from the Schedule Advisory Committee in which a recommendation was made for a new bell schedule at Benicia High School.

The committee- which is comprised of Benicia High students, parents, teachers and administrators- was formed in November to satisfy a Western Association of Schools and Colleges goal of researching schedule possibilities to create more opportunities for staff collaboration and serving students’ needs- particularly in the areas of minimizing stress and providing emotional support. For six months, SAC met every other Tuesday and had all-day retreats to conduct research on which schedule would best fit students’ needs. The committee settled on a seven-period block rotation schedule, in which all classes meet three times a week for 70 to 80 minutes, classes start at 8:30 a.m. at the earliest, teachers would have two hours of collaboration and professional development and students would have two flex/tutorial periods in which they could meet with teachers or counselors, catch up on homework or take time to work on projects.

Source: School board, Schedule Advisory Committee discuss possible new BHS schedule

Reporter staffer wins CTA writing honors – The Reporter

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By Reporter Staff

For the fourth time in as many years, Reporter Staff Writer Richard Bammer has been named a winner of a writing competition sponsored by the California Teachers Association.

Unlike in previous years, Bammer this year earned honors in more than one category, competing in the Community Daily Newspaper class, for publications with up to 100,000 subscribers.

In the feature story category, a panel of professional journalists cited “Holocaust lessons taught with re-enactments” for a John Swett Award for Media Excellence. Bammer’s detailed, colorful story focused on Buckingham Charter Magnet High School history teacher Dave Hawkins’ one-day lesson in which he brought to dramatic life for the students, in the confines of his classroom and outdoors at the Bella Vista Road campus in Vacaville, a vision of the Holocaust’s horrors.

Source: Reporter staffer wins CTA writing honors

For students at VHS, college-readiness program means ‘family’ – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

The question was simple, the response eager.

“How many of you can see yourself going to Chico State?” asked Ana Farina, who, at 11 a.m. Wednesday, the annual Calfornia Day of the Teacher, was teaching 27 sophomores in her AVID class at Vacaville High.

More than a dozen hands shot high into the air in Room 73, where Farina, recently named the 2016 Solano County Teacher of the Year, reviewed the class’ recent trip to the state university campus in Chico, about a two-hour drive from Vacaville.

“Can you see yourself on the campus?” she repeated.

via: For students at VHS, college-readiness program means ‘family’ – The Reporter

Dual-language event returns to B. Gale Wilson School – Daily Republic

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By Daily Republic Staff

The annual event called Vamos! – part of the Dual Immersion Program – returns May 20 to B. Gale Wilson School, school officials announced.

The event will take place from 4 to 8 p.m. at the school, 3301 Cherry Hills Court. There will be food, entertainment, a basket prize drawing, music, games and activities for the family.

B. Gale Wilson School’s Dual Immersion Program is a program for kindergartners through eighth-graders that teaches Spanish/English biliteracy and culture to produce young adults who are highly capable in two languages, according to the announcement.

Source: Dual-language event returns to B. Gale Wilson School

$46,000 prom pact goes before Fairfield-Suisun School District board – Daily Republic

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By Ryan McCarthy

A $46,000 contract for the Rodriguez High School prom April 16 at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco goes before Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees when they meet Thursday.

Student body funds paid for the event. The contract is with Events to the ‘T’ in Martinez.

Sade Grayson, 16, a Rodriguez High School junior who attended the prom, said the event cost $100 and $68 for bus transportation she took to San Francisco.

“I wish the cost was a little cheaper,” Grayson said.

Source: $46,000 prom pact goes before Fairfield-Suisun School District board

Make Education Data Work for All Students | US News

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By Bev Perdue and Rob McKenna

The education community seems to agree that the federal Every Student Succeeds Act corrects many flaws of the No Child Left Behind Act, while preserving what worked and presenting huge opportunities to refocus the lens on student success. As our peers in states nationwide wait for ESSA’s provisions to become concrete regulations and turn their attention to implementing the law, we have some advice for them when it comes to collecting and using data: Don’t just simply follow the rules on this one.

Though we are state leaders from different political parties, we both strongly believe that education is every state’s most critical economic driver and our nation’s great equalizer. Moving forward, we know that the most successful state education policies will apply the education data we already have to serve the real needs of children and their families, and of our states’ employers and economies.

Source: Make Education Data Work for All Students | US News Opinion

Digital Promise Puts Education Research All In One Place | MindShift

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By Katrina Schwartz

As technology becomes an accepted tool in many classrooms, teachers and administrators are looking for the best ed-tech tools to advance their goals around student learning. Unfortunately, there are so many tools on the market claiming to be the best option, it can be hard to sort through the noise and make an informed decision.

Digital Promise, the congressionally authorized nonprofit charged with “accelerating innovation in education to improve opportunities to learn,” has developed a tool to help educators and ed-tech developers sort through relevant research.

“There is more and more pressure for people to use research in their work,” said Sarita Bhargava, chief communications officer for Digital Promise. “We hope this tool will provide the first step.”

Source: Digital Promise Puts Education Research All In One Place | MindShift | KQED News

Understanding the Needs of Students From Military Families – Edutopia

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By Maurice J. Elias

Depending on how one might estimate, an approximate four million students have parents who are connected to the military, and of those, at least 80% go to public schools. However, teachers often do not know when these children are in their classes, and their many social-emotional needs are not being adequately met.

Children of military and veteran parents was the topic of a White House conference — Operation Educate the Educators — convened by Dr. Jill Biden and Joining Forces (a military initiative with First Lady Michelle Obama). I had the privilege of attending the conference last month, and I would like to share some of what I learned.

First, schools should seek to know which children have parents who are connected to the military. These children suffer from what I refer to as ecological disruptions of nurturance. These disruptions are related to frequent relocations, which means changes in schools, peers, health care professionals, and religious institutions.

Source: Understanding the Needs of Students From Military Families

Tough Penalties for Bullying Ineffective; Broader Approach Needed – Education Week

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By Evie Blad

Some common ways schools work to prevent and respond to bullying are ineffective and, in some cases, counterproductive, a panel of researchers assembled by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine wrote in a report released today.

Tough penalties for bullying, which have grown popular as public awareness of its effects has grown, may actually make the problem worse, the researchers found. That’s because victims may view the consequences as too harsh or fear retaliation, which may keep them from reporting bullying.

Zero-tolerance policies, which lead to suspensions for offenders, “are not effective at reducing bullying and thus should be discontinued, with the resources redirected to evidence-based policies and programs,” the report says.

Source: Tough Penalties for Bullying Ineffective; Broader Approach Needed, Report Says – Rules for Engagement – Education Week

How Does the Every Student Succeeds Act Handle Foster Children? – Education Week

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By Alyson Klein

The Every Student Succeeds Act wasn’t just about accountability, testing, and standards. It also made some big changes for a long overlooked group of students: those in foster care.

We’ve already told you that the law calls for states to break out student-outcome data (i.e. test scores and graduation rates) for foster care students. That’s a big deal.

But it also seeks to help keep foster care students in their “school of origin” if the district and child welfare agencies think it will benefit the student.

The rationale is basically this: Foster care students are coping with a lot very significant change and turmoil, so f it would help them out academically—not to mention economically and socially—to have some stability in their school situation, they should get it.

Source: How Does the Every Student Succeeds Act Handle Foster Children? – Politics K-12 – Education Week

VUSD breaks ground on first Measure A project – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Vacaville High School students tossed shovelfuls of freshly spaded earth and smiled for photographers, confetti popped and flew skyward, Vacaville Unified leaders and educators applauded, and, in a matter of seconds, the school district on Monday ushered in the Measure A era with its first project under 2014 voter-approved bond.

Drawing some 100 people, the brief afternoon ceremony, held just steps away from West Monte Vista Avenue, marked the beginning of a multimillion-dollar round of upgrades and new construction at the high school, with the first being an expanded parking lot and the relocation of tennis courts, a $3.6 million project already underway.

Source: VUSD breaks ground on first Measure A project

State board to choose school improvement metrics | EdSource

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By John Fensterwald

The State Board of Education on Wednesday is planning to choose a handful of statewide metrics to measure student performance as part of its creation of a new school accountability system.

The board will approve the new system in September and begin using it in the fall of 2017. It will replace the Academic Performance Index, the single-number score, based solely on standardized test scores, that the board suspended two years ago. The board is also designing the new system to satisfy federal accountability requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act.

State board staff are recommending that the board initially choose five metrics to identify which schools and districts need assistance and which demand more intensive intervention.

Source: State board to choose school improvement metrics | EdSource

Vacaville Unified sweeps countywide teacher, classified employee competition – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Vacaville Unified leaders can smile broadly, whoop, and wave a broom, like San Francisco Giants fans after a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Two Vacaville Unified employees have been named Solano County Teacher and Classified Employee of the Year, making them eligible for a state competition.

Ana Farina, a Vacaville High teacher, and Betty Bradanini, an administrative assistant in the Special Education department, were selected among several others in their categories during a Tuesday reception and dinner, sponsored by the Solano County Office of Education, in the Nelson Community Center in Suisun City.

Source: Vacaville Unified sweeps countywide teacher, classified employee competition

Vacaville schools prepare to launch bond projects – Daily Republic

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By Daily Republic Staff

The Vacaville School District will celebrate voter-approved Measure A during a ceremony Monday to break ground on various projects.

Measure A is expected to cover about two-thirds of the district’s facility modernization needs.

The ceremony will begin at 1:30 p.m. Monday at the tennis courts at Vacaville High School, 100 W. Monte Vista Ave.

Source: Vacaville schools prepare to launch bond projects