By Matt O Donnell

The Napa County Office of Education announced Thursday that four Napa County school districts will open for hybrid in-person instruction on Monday, Oct. 26.

That includes nearby American Canyon High School.

“American Canyon High School is eager to welcome those students who choose to come back to in person learning in the safest possible way,” Principal Crystal Lopez told the Times-Herald in an email. “The Napa Valley Unified School District has partnered closely with Napa County Office of Education and Napa County Public Health for protocols and guidance for our planned phased reopening of schools.”

Source: Napa County School District announces reopening for Oct. 26 – Times-Herald

By Kimberly K. Fu

A grass fire that started near Lake Berryessa Tuesday afternoon tiptoed to Pleasants Valley Road overnight, razing homes and resulting in early morning evacuations in the area of Alamo Drive and fire crews from beyond Solano battling to keep the conflagration at bay.

Around 3:30 a.m., dozens of vehicles lined Alamo Drive and filled the parking lot of the Latter-day Saints Church. The majority were area evacuees.

Many said they received an automated alert around 2:30 a.m. to leave their homes immediately and to seek shelter elsewhere.

Source: Fires north of Vacaville cause evacuations en masse – The Reporter

By Amy Maginnis-Honey

A group gathered Tuesday at Green Valley Road and Business Center Drive to protest the death of George Floyd and issue a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement.

The protest – the second on consecutive Tuesdays – was organized by Cordelia Hills Elementary School Principal Steve Trotter and 2019 Rodriguez High School graduate Bryce Smith, who just wrapped up his first year at the University of California, Berkeley.

About 40 people remained on the sidewalk, chanting Floyd’s name, as well as “I can’t breathe” and calls for justice.

Source: Rodriguez grad, elementary school principal team up for weekly Black Lives Matter rally

By Maggie Hickey

On May 6, the U.S. Department of Education released new Title IX regulations that establish how education programs that receive federal funding must respond to sex discrimination, including sexual harassment. A lot has been written about how the new rules apply in college classrooms, parties and dormitories, but the new regulations also apply to elementary school playgrounds and high school sports programs. In fact, the regulations detail specific minimum responsibilities and requirements that apply to kindergarten through 12th grade.

Source: Title IX regulations impose new requirements on K-12 districts | Education Dive

By Angela Jones

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Kappa Beta Omega Chapter in Vallejo is pleased to announce that applications are now available for the 2020 African American Graduation Recognition Celebration which will be presented as a virtual program. Interested high school seniors should contact their school counselor to obtain an application for participation instructions, or go to www.kappabetaomegaaka1974.com to apply online. All applications are due by Wednesday, May 13.

This is the 17th year that the chapter has sponsored the event will be livestreamed by the Friendship Missionary Baptist Church Media Department on Sunday, June 7 at 4 p.m.

Source: Good News: Sorority seeks applicants for virtual high school graduation

By Thomas Gase

It was a day of celebrating firsts on Sonoma Boulevard in Vallejo as a grand opening was held for the First5 Center, a new community gathering area designed to spark children’s creativity and love for learning by encouraging them to play and grow.

The goal of the center (which is not a daycare) is to give parents and caregivers a safe and welcoming place where they can receive information and be connected to community resources. That includes basic support services, housing employment, food, health, dental and child support services — all provided at no cost.

The event drew approximately 400 people, many of them kids under the age of five running around in a jungle gym like area consisting of a fake mushroom and ladybug as well as a bridge. Others at the event included elected officials as well as featured speakers Erin Hannigan (Supervisor District 1), Lisette Estrella-Henderson (Solano County Superintendent of Schools), Vallejo Mayor Bob Sampayan and Stephanie Hochman (Program Director, Bay Area Community Resources).

Source: Vallejo adults, kids celebrate opening of First5 Center – Times-Herald

By Nick Sestanovich

The Leaven made sure that first responders were not left out of Valentine’s Day festivities.

Kids in the Fairfield-based agency’s after-school mentoring program made cards for law enforcement officers, firefighters, medics and Travis Air Force Base airmen and presented them to the first responders as part of the “Heroes of the Heart” program Thursday.

Throughout The Leaven’s many after-school centers, children colored, cut, pasted and wrote messages of support to first-responders and troops.

“They’re always doing something for us to keep us safe, so we’re giving back to them,” said Dina Johnson, site director at Signature at Fairfield Apartments.

Source: Leaven after-school program makes Valentine’s cards for troops, first responders – The Reporter

By Daily Republic Staff

Area teachers will be trained on local and statewide water resource issues Feb. 22 at the Dunnell Nature Park and Education Center in Fairfield.

The training will conducted by the Project WET Foundation through the Solano Resource Conservation District.

“Teachers and educators are integral in helping children and their families learn about their water resources and responsible water use,” Marianne Butler, education director for the Solano Resource Conservation District, said in a statement released through her office. “We are proud to bring Project WET resources to Solano County’s schools through these hands-on, engaging educator trainings.”

Source: Solano teachers to be immersed in water resource training

Average teacher pay in California public schools rose to $82,746 last school year, an increase of 2.6 percent from the prior year, new state data show.

Teacher pay was highest in Silicon Valley’sMountain View-Los Altos Union High school district, where teachers earned, on average, about $136,500. A teacher making that salary still likely could not afford the median-priced home in Mountain View, which sold for about $1.7 million late last year, according to tracking firm Zillow.com.

More than a dozen very small districts in rural areas of California paid their teachers, on average, less than $50,000 last school year. Among districts employing at least 100 teachers, the lowest average pay was about $57,400 at Plumas Unified. The median-priced home in Plumas County sold for about $276,000 late last year, according to Zillow.

Source: Are teachers paid enough? See the average pay for every California school district [The Sacramento Bee]

Substitute teachers and other school employees may be eligible for unemployment benefits when they’re not called to work in a summer school session, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

In a case from San Francisco, the court unanimously rejected the city school district’s argument that summer school sessions can never be considered regular “academic terms” that are the basis for unemployment benefits for on-call employees who are not summoned to work.

A summer session is classified as a “regular” term, making out-of-work employees eligible for payments, if it resembles the normal fall-to-spring term in “enrollment, staffing, budget, instructional program, or other objective characteristics,” Justice Goodwin Liu said in the 7-0 ruling.

Source: Teacher subs may get jobless benefits when not called in summer, court rules [San Francisco Chronicle]

By Shawna De La Rosa

Many organizations — and even some individuals — have turned to crowdfunding to raise money for specific causes and projects. Educators are beginning to turn to this source, as well, to compensate for the lack of funds available for classroom projects and supplies. Over the past decade, hundreds of millions of dollars have been raised for classrooms through crowdfunding efforts.

The initiative is often a win-win, as schools and teachers can request money for specific projects, and donors both large and small can select to support the projects they are drawn to. The GoFundMe and EdCo crowdsource sites also are in the education market.

While the practice is gaining in popularity, however, some districts, like the Metro Nashville Public Schools, forbid teachers from participating over concerns teachers may misuse or keep the raised money.

Source: 30 districts join DonorsChoose program to supplement classroom resource budgets | Education Dive

By Michael T. Nietzel

Two new large-scale reports provide convincing empirical evidence that problem- or inquiry-based learning is effective and that teachers, students and parents prefer it as an instructional method – along with other active, immersive techniques.

Problem-based learning works.

Using randomized experimental trials, the gold standard in this type of research, economists Rosangela Bando, Emma Naslund-Hadley and Paul Gertler conducted ten field experiments in four countries (Argentina, Belize, Paraguay, and Peru) covering more than 17,000 students.

They randomly assigned preschool, 3rd and 4th grade classes to receive either problem-based instruction or traditional instructional methods in both math and science and then compared the standardized test scores of students after they had experienced seven months of each method.

Source: New, Strong Evidence For Problem-Based Learning

By Maggie Avants

The first of three phases in a widespread PG&E public safety power outage was implemented early Wednesday morning, leaving more than 74,000 customers in the North Bay and 513,000 across Northern California in the dark. The utility giant started cutting power at 12 a.m. across significant portions of its service territory, including in Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Marin, Yolo, Lake, Mendocino and Colusa counties.

Solano, Sonoma and Napa counties the hardest hit as of 2 a.m. Wednesday. The city of Fairfield had 17,963 customers powerless, while 13,665 were without power in Vacaville. The outage was affecting 19,357 PG&E customers in Napa, 15,925 in the city of Sonoma, 6,685 in St. Helena and 3,321 in Calistoga.

Source: PG&E Power Shutoff Latest: 74K In Solano Co., North Bay Affected | Suisun City, CA Patch

By Naaz Modan

Building and maintaining a positive school culture can be an uphill battle for many principals and superintendents. Once attained, however, it has shown to have a significant impact in areas of concern including student academic performance and teacher retention.

Recently, one Massachusetts school linked positive school culture to a 100% college acceptance rate, and positive climate was also found to reduce teacher turnover in a turnaround school in Colorado. This kind of impact begins with strong district and school leaders, who model attitudes and behaviors for staff members and students.

For those wondering where to start, we’ve gathered advice from several veteran administrators on how they approach building positive culture within their schools and districts.

Source: Administrators share 7 tips for building positive school culture | Education Dive

By Glen Faison

Tens of thousands of Solano County residents are subject to possible power shutoffs midweek as PG&E monitors weather conditions that could lead to wildfires.

Nearly 33,000 Pacific Gas & Electric Company customers in Solano County are subject to a possible power shutoff starting before dawn Wednesday, the utility announced Monday.

The utility cites weather conditions that could lead to greater fire risk across the region.

Source: Thousands across Solano face possible power outages

By Richard Freeman

First off, it’s Smokey Bear. Not Smokey The Bear. No parents would doom their offspring with “The” as a middle name.

Yes, there’s Eddie Arnold’s 1952 song, “Smokey The Bear” – “Smokey the Bear, Smokey the Bear. Prowlin’ and a growlin’ and a sniffin’ the air” — but it’s wrong, said Steve Dunsky, a veteran U.S. Forest Service employee and coordinator of the “Visions of the Wild,” a four-day nature festival running Thursday through Sunday.

Not only does Smokey remain as the iconic figure of the Forest Service, he apparently has a personal trainer.

Source: ‘Visions of the Wild’ bears all in Vallejo – Times-Herald

The average school start time for California middle and high schools is 8:07 am and a proposal to push that back to 8:30 am for high schools, and move it up to 8 am for middle schools is getting closer to going to the Governor’s desk.

Senate Bill 328 passed the Senate Appropriations Committee Friday by a vote of 14-3.

Rural counties would be exempt from specified start times.Questions have been raised about the cost. Bill Analysis shows tens of millions of dollars statewide would need to come from the Proposition 98 General Fund. That money would go to districts t make changes to school transportation routes, and hire additional bus drivers. School districts would need an additional amount, projected in the low millions, to add staff both before and after school. Districts would also need hundreds of thousands of dollars for “additional workload associated with collectively bargaining work hours.”

Source: School Districts Could Need Millions Of Dollars If Plan To Push Back School Start Time Passes – CBS Sacramento

By C. Felton

On, Tuesday August 6th from 5:00PM to 8:00PM Living Waters Worship Center will hosting their annual National Night Out and Back to School Celebration at Laurel Creek Community Park.

This year Brian Walker owner and operator of Dubb Cutz. Dubb Cutz is a Mobile Barbering Salon that comes to the you, whether it be the comfort of your own home, office, hotel, or anywhere else you need them to perform their services.

Dubb Cutz brings all the equipment with them that is needed to perform your service and it’s always a professional clean cut with a smile and has generously agreed to offer FREE haircuts so that local deserving students can go back to school in style looking and feeling their best.

Source: Free Haircuts for Students at National Night Out – Daily Republic

The Pentecostals of Vacaville will be holding a backpack giveaway Saturday featuring 100 backpacks filled with school supplies.

“We want to be a blessing to our community, and as kids go back to school sometimes they are without proper supplies,” Emilio Garza, administrative pastor of the Pentecostals of Vacaville, said in a statement.

The giveaway will take place 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at 635 William St. For more information, visit facebook.com/events/370128380373016/.

Source: Pentecostals of Vacaville holding backpack giveaway ahead of back to school – The Reporter

The state Legislature has added another audit to the list of investigations into the California State Lottery, this one based on questions over whether the agency is giving enough money to schools as required by state law.

The department has been under scrutiny since employees alleged misconduct among senior executives in an anonymous letter last summer to former Gov. Jerry Brown. The state Justice Department has launched an investigation, and the State Controller’s Office has identified inappropriate spending on travel. Agency director Hugo Lopez resigned in June.

Lottery revenues have “skyrocketed” over the last 10 years, reaching nearly $7 billion last year, but the share of money the agency gives to schools hasn’t kept up, State Sen. Ling Ling Chang, a suburban L.A. Republican, wrote in an audit request.

Source: California Lottery earns $7 billion a year. But are schools getting a fair share? – Daily Republic