Monthly Archives: April 2017

Stars earn Stripes: Veterans groups thank JROTC program – Daily Republic

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By Bill Hicks

Veterans groups of all types understand well the expression, “serving your country.” In the minds of many, that expression means donning a military uniform and doing some type of duty in locations scattered across the globe.

Vacaville Veterans Organizations, a collection of different veterans groups, hosted an event, Saturday, as a thank you for that service – but not for veterans or active duty military members, for members of the Vanden High Junior ROTC program – past and present.

The veterans organizations honored the Vanden JROTC program for 15 years of community volunteer service in Vacaville. Although situated a stone’s throw from Travis Air Force Base, Vanden High – due to its small size – did not have an ROTC program until 2001.

Source: Stars earn Stripes: Veterans groups thank JROTC program

States May Get to Run Competitions for ESSA Block Grant Money – Education Week

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By Alyson Klein

One of the big goals of the Every Student Succeeds Act was to give districts way more control over their federal funding, in part by creating a new block grant—aka the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants or Title IV. Under the law, districts can use the money for a whole smorgasboard of things: student safety, dual enrollment, dance instruction, training teachers to use technology, hiring school counselors.

And the funding—a whopping $1.6 billion—was supposed to flow to districts through a formula, meaning that pretty much every district in the country would get a piece of it. The districts would have serious latitude in deciding the dollars are spent.

It may not quite work out that way—at least not this year.

Lawmakers are seriously considering turning Title IV into a competitive-grant program at the state level, at least temporarily, sources say. In fact, multiple sources consider the possibility of a competitive-grant program more likely than not this year.

Source: States May Get to Run Competitions for ESSA Block Grant Money – Politics K-12 – Education Week

Local control formula closing funding gap but not equity gap, report says | EdSource

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By John Fensterwald

Four years after its passage, the Local Control Funding Formula has narrowed and, by some measures, reversed the funding gap between the lowest- and highest-poverty districts in California.

But an infusion of funding hasn’t translated yet into improved opportunities for low-income students and English learners ­– and may not achieve that goal without tighter disclosure rules and more innovative approaches to distributing districts’ resources, a student advocacy organization said in a report published Thursday.

“We need more clarity on where money is going. Without transparency, community stakeholders, policymakers and the broader public are left to wonder whether this massive public experiment and investment is paying off,” said the Education Trust–West in “The Steep Road to Resource Equity in California Education.”

Source: Local control formula closing funding gap but not equity gap, report says | EdSource

For Cooper second-graders, a lesson in community service – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Roscoe seemed ready, all 75 pounds of him on four legs quivering with excitement as he looked up eagerly for direction from his handler.

Vacaville police officer Frank Piro described his partner as a 5-year-old male Dutch shepherd from Holland, and, like actress Gloria Swanson in the 1950 film “Sunset Boulevard,” was ready for another closeup.

But his moment in Thursday afternoon’s spotlight arrived in front of nearly 130 excitable second-graders, six classes in all, at Cooper Elementary who had gathered in the multipurpose room at the Christine Drive campus.

As the brindle-coated dog padded into the room, the students snapped their heads his way and smiled from ear to ear. An honored guest, Roscoe was the focus of their rapt attention, which continued unabated throughout the 40-minute special assembly.

 

Source: For Cooper second-graders, a lesson in community service

Fairfield-Suisun School District OKs no-bid contracts – Daily Republic

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By Ryan McCarthy

No-bid contracts have won approval by Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees, ending a requirement that all construction costing more than $40,000 go out to bid.

Design-build and lease-leaseback, the two alternatives to the traditional lowest-bid contracts, were approved March 30 after a presentation by Philip Henderson, an attorney for the school district.

Design-build is great for new construction and can work on modernizing schools, Henderson said.

The method allows school districts to evaluate more than price and consider past experience of contractors, the attorney said.

Source: Fairfield-Suisun School District OKs no-bid contracts

Vanden students get Ivy League look – Daily Republic

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By Daily Republic Staff

Eight Vanden High School students will tour a variety of Ivy League campuses as part of the first Solano Ivy League Project.

The trip will be from April 15-22 and includes participation in student panels, networking and meeting admissions officers from universities such as Harvard, Yale, Georgetown, Wesleyan and Columbia. The tour is led by Martin Mares, who is the founder of Ivy League Project.

Organizers are hoping to add students in the years to come.

Source: Vanden students get Ivy League look

Keen eye on biotech at Markham Elementary – The Reporter

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By Joel Rosenbaum

Michael Silva, of Vacaville and a bioengineer at Genentech, works with a group of Markham Elementary School students while he teaches a five-week pilot after school program on the Exploration of Biotechnology. The program is sponsored by the Vacaville Public Education Foundation and the Solano College Biotechnology program.

Source: Keen eye on biotech at Markham Elementary

SCC, area high schools set graduation dates – The Reporter

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Warmer spring days mean area high school and community college graduations are being noted on calendars in central and eastern Solano County.

By chronological date, here is a list of local high school and the Solano Community College graduation times, dates and locations:

  • Solano Community College — 6 p.m. May 25 in the football stadium, 4000 Suisun Valley Road, Fairfield.
  • Vacaville Christian High School — 7 p.m. May 25, Falcon Field, 821 Marshall Road, Vacaville.
  • Vacaville Unified Adult Education — 7 p.m. May 30, Catwalk Theatre, Will C. Wood High, 998 Marshall Road, Vacaville.
  • Maine Prairie High School — 6 p.m. May 31, Dixon High School Theater, 555 College Way, Dixon

Source: SCC, area high schools set graduation dates

Vacaville Unified official: New school accountability system gets mixed marks – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

The newly released state public school and district accountability system, which uses multiple measures of school progress and performance, gets a mixed reaction from Vacaville Unified’s chief academic officer.

“Overall, I like the concept and the idea of looking at multiple sources of data; I think that’s really good,” Mark Frazier said of the California School Dashboard, launched last month by the state Department of Education.

“But one of the things that is disappointing is, that some of the data they’re using (suspension rate, English learner progress and graduation rate) is not as up-to-date as it could be,” he added. “That data is so old it’s hard to interpret.”

Source: Vacaville Unified official: New school accountability system gets mixed marks

Travis park proponents ask supporters to nominate project for $20K grant – Daily Republic

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By Ian Thompson

A Travis nonprofit trying to build a park designed for special needs children could use your vote.

Friends of Family Services is asking people to nominate their project for a $20,000 grant from the National Recreation and Park Association program called Meet Me At The Park by going onto the association’s website at NRPA.org/BeInspired and nominate the proposed park project between now and April 30.

The NRPA is collaborating with The Walt Disney Company, including Disney Citizenship, Disney|ABC Television Group and ESPN, to revitalize parks across the U.S. for a third year. The city that receives the most nominations will receive a $20,000 grant to improve a local park.

Source: Travis park proponents ask supporters to nominate project for $20K grant

Winters woman appointed to oversight committee – Daily Republic

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By Bill Hicks

The Solano Community College District board unanimously approved the appointment of Winters resident Valentina Lowden to the Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee, Wednesday.

In reporting on behalf of the ad hoc committee, board President Rosemary Thurston outlined Lowden’s background as solidly rooted in business, as well as an extensive background in volunteering for a variety of public education roles.

Source: Winters woman appointed to oversight committee

After years under construction, ‘Matthew Turner’ hits the water – Benicia Herald

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By Donna Beth Weilenman

As bands played an estimated 1,000 people watched on land and on watercraft in Richardson Bay, the Matthew Turner finally touched water, leaving the shores of Sausalito Saturday afternoon.

The brigantine is the first wooden tall ship built in the San Francisco Bay Area in 100 years, and it’s named for the legendary prolific American designer and builder whose shipyard for years was in Benicia.

His design for his record-setting Galilee, built in 1891, is the inspiration for the new Matthew Turner, built by volunteers under the watchful eye and guidance of Alan Olson, executive director of Educational Tall Ship, which with its partner Call of the Sea, has been offering scholarly, on-board programs to school children on the smaller 2-foot schooner Seaward that was decorated in signal flags the day of the launch.

Source: After years under construction, ‘Matthew Turner’ hits the water

‘Bell of Peace & Purpose’ sees dedication at Matt Garcia campus – Daily Republic

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By Ryan McCarthy

Corissa Chavez, shot in 2014 during a carjacking of the vehicle she was in, used a walker Tuesday to reach and ring the bell in the monument dedicated at the Matt Garcia Career and College Academy.

The 21-year-old Vacaville resident injured in the Sacramento County shooting was among speakers at the dedication of the “Bell of Peace & Purpose” as part of the National Crime Victims’ Rights Week.

“I will walk again,” Chavez said.

The monument is dedicated to Matt Garcia, the 21-year-old Fairfield councilman killed Sept. 1, 2008; Taylor Linn Little, killed in a Modesto car crash in 2014; and Jesus Adrian Amaya, killed in a 2012 shooting in Fairfield.

Source: ‘Bell of Peace & Purpose’ sees dedication at Matt Garcia campus

Congressional high school art competition deadline extended – The Reporter

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The Artistic Discovery Contest is open to all high school students in the 3rd District, which includes all or portions of Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Sacramento, Solano, Sutter, Yolo, and Yuba counties.

Submissions for the Congressional High School Art Competition in Congressman John Garamendi’s 3rd District are due by 5 p.m. April 28 in Fairfield and Davis.

Full details are available at http://garamendi.house.gov/how-can-i-help/art-competition.

Call ahead for Yuba City drop off time at (530) 329-8865.

To find out residency in the 3rd District, visit www.house.gov/representatives/find.

 

Source: Congressional high school art competition deadline extended

At prom time, Rodriguez High students hear sobering testimony – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Rodriguez High seniors celebrate their annual prom Saturday, and a Solano County judge and the man he sentenced for DUI hope the seniors, with their adult lives ahead of them, heard the gist of the real trial held Tuesday at the Red Top Road campus in Fairfield: Do not drink and drive.

In other words, Solano Superior Court Commissioner Raymond Wieser said at the end of a nearly four-hour hearing, “Think before you drink; think before you drive.”

After sentencing the defendant, Shaquil Sims, the longtime jurist, an attorney before being appointed to a judgeship, reminded 350 students seated in the school’s multipurpose room, only a “very small amount of alcohol will get you drunk.”

Source: At prom time, Rodriguez High students hear sobering testimony

Dan O. Root class goes ape for gorilla story, set on helping the primate – Daily Republic

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By Amy Maginnis-Honey

At an age when many children are hoping for a cellphone, Lory Carranza’s fourth-grade class at Dan O. Root Elementary School is collecting old ones.

The idea came from the fictional story, “The One and Only Ivan,” which was inspired by a gorilla that spent 27 years in a mall with a circus theme in Tacoma, Washington before finding a home at the Atlanta Zoo. Ivan died in 2012 at the age of 50.

The 2011 book focuses on Ivan, who never knew life in the jungle and spent time watching westerns and romantic shows on a television. He thinks about his friends, an elderly elephant, a stray dog and a new baby elephant.

Source: Dan O. Root class goes ape for gorilla story, set on helping the primate

Counseling matters: Waiting for that little white envelope… – Benicia Herald

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By Rob Peters

We’re not very good at waiting – our western culture rather abhors it. And up ’till now, many of Benicia’s families and students have been doing it for months – years, in some cases.

For these days, you can hear certain sounds ripping the air from the families of Benicia’s high school seniors: sighs and gasps, winces and cringes, crying and yelping and OMG’ing and trash-talk a la rap star prima donnas. All these wholesome wails are in service to the thin or slightly bulging (bulging is better) envelopes that come in the mail, announcing whether or not you’ve been fully – or partly – or conditionally – accepted to a college of your interest. Most colleges have been lined up in some sort of priority, numeric system: the first and second choices, the fall – backs, the I’m –desperate-for-someplace choices, the ones-momma-wanted-me-to-apply to, the I’ve -changed-my-mind-I-would-NEVER-go-freaking-there, and the also-rans.

Source: Counseling matters: Waiting for that little white envelope…

Slate of Measure S projects on agenda for Thursday’s school board meeting – Benicia Herald

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By Nick Sestanovich

Lee Pollard of HY Architects and Measure S Bond Director Roxanne Egan will deliver an update on progress to the renovation of Benicia Middle School at Thursday’s school board meeting.

The renovation of BMS is one of the last remaining projects in the first phase of Measure S, an initiative approved by voters in 2014 to set aside $49.6 million in bond funding to be used for construction and renovation projects at Benicia Unified School District sites. The modernization of Benicia Middle School’s campus, which was built in 1976, is expected to begin in the fall of 2017 and will include new modular classrooms, a drama classroom, improving the quality of interior spaces and traffic congestion, new 21st century classrooms with new furniture,

Source: Slate of Measure S projects on agenda for Thursday’s school board meeting

Pinwheels garden in Fairfield shows care given to Solano children – Daily Republic

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By Susan Hiland

Dark blue and silver pinwheels spun in the spring breeze, representing the bright future for children in Solano County.

Child Haven planted a garden of blue pinwheels for April’s National Child Abuse Prevention Month in front of its offices in Fairfield.

The agency displayed 762 pinwheels, of which 603 children were represented as being helped from Child Haven in 2016. The remaining 159 are children served by the Solano Courage Center, which is a new partner with Child Haven.

President Ronald Reagan proclaimed April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month in 1983, the same year Child Haven got its start. Since then, child abuse and neglect awareness activities have been promoted across the country each April.

Source: Pinwheels garden in Fairfield shows care given to Solano children

Vaca High’s Sober Grad Nite set for June 10 – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Twenty-seven years ago, a group of dedicated parents, family members and friends collaborated to organize the first safe, sober and memorable graduation celebration for seniors.

The goal of Sober Grad Nite was to provide a safe, drug- and-alcohol-free option after the morning graduation ceremony.

This year more than 300 students are expected to attend an evening event that includes entertainment, food, games, prizes and more.

Open to all graduates, Sober Grad Nite will from 9 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the 100 W. Monte Vista Ave. campus.

Tickets are $50 through April 30 but $65 at the door. Tickets are available online at www.vacahighgradnite.com.

Source:  Vaca High’s Sober Grad Nite set for June 10