Military Family Appreciation and Resource Night Nov. 7

Military families can explore information about local services and community organizations, enjoy free food, and participate in family activities that focus on academics and resiliency-building at the upcoming Military Family Appreciation and Resource Night, scheduled from 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 7 at Miller Elementary School, 4343 Shields St.(92124).

Hosted by San Diego Unified School District Area 2, in partnership with the Navy and Marine Corps School liaison programs, resources available to assist and support service members and their families will be on display.

This event is open to all military families with students in schools located in the Henry, Scripps Ranch and Serra high school clusters – the high schools and their feeder elementary and middle schools.

Please visit the San Diego Unified's military family and student support webpage for details about this and other upcoming events.

For additional information, please contact Kimberly Shapazian at 619-725-8168.

IN THE NEWS: Students seek to save schools

When adults argue among themselves, the noise can be overwhelming. As a result, they often can’t hear the voices of kids. When it comes to education, however, student voices should be heard. As teenagers, we depend upon voting adults to make decisions that are in our best interest. I wonder sometimes whether those adults who would vote against adequately funding our education believe that we are not affected by the loss of billions of dollars for our schools. Read the complete commentary by Patrick Henry High School senior Nicholas Kelly in U-T San Diego >>.

Patrick Henry High School dedicates new stadium field

Board Member Kevin Beiser and Area Two Superintendent David Lorden joined Principal Patricia Crowder, coaches and athletes representing various sports to dedicate Patrick Henry High School's new field and track in the Patriots' stadium.  Students, parents, boosters and community members attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony that was held just before the first varsity home football game on Friday, Aug. 31.

The previous field and track were replaced with a new 50,307 square-foot, all-weather track; and a new 79,306-square-foot, synthetic turf field with game markings, and a new drainage and cleaning system. There is another 20,660 square feet for track and field events. The $1,901,252 construction project was funded by Proposition S capital improvement bond funds, which cannot be used for teachers' or administrators' salaries. The project partners were PJHM Architects and Byrom-Davey, general contractor.

"This is a great investment in our students," said Board Member Beiser.

For more information on this project or Proposition S, call 619-725-7252.  Members of the press, please contact Cynthia Reed-Porter at 619-546-3378 or creed-porter@sandi.net.

De Portola Honored as "School To Watch" Model Middle School

For the third time since 2006, De Portola Middle School has been named a Schools to Watch model middle school. The school previously received the special designation in 2006 and 2009. Representatives from the Tierrasanta neighborhood middle school traveled to Washington, D.C. to accept the award from the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform on June 23.

De Portola is one of 365 schools in the nation with this designation and one of three in San Diego County.

Designation as being a School to Watch is based on three criteria. Schools must be academically excellent, challenging all students to use their minds well; developmentally responsive, being sensitive to the unique developmental challenges of early adolescence; and socially equitable, providing every student with high-quality teachers, resources, and supports.

While in Washington, D.C., the De Portola staff met with Congressman Duncan Hunter, Jr. and representatives of U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan to lobby for educational issues and to share reform ideas. They were also selected  to present at the Schools to Watch conference, sharing De Portola's innovative programs in helping students find success.

For more information, contact De Portola Principal Listy Gillingham at egillingham@sandi.net .

Scripps Ranch High JROTC Academic Team Wins Top Honors

After nine rounds of competition, the Scripps Ranch High School Air Force JROTC academic team, composed of Alwin Hui, Cameo Tsui, Stephenie Reid and William Jiang, took first place in the 2012 Air Force JROTC Academic Bowl Championship. The competition was held in Washington D.C., on the campus of George Mason University, June 22-26. The event was sponsored by the Air Force JROTC and conducted by College Options Foundation.

The Scripps Ranch High team earned the top scores of the more than 200 teams that competed from around the world to win a place in the finals, which included an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. In the two fast-paced rounds of online competition, students were tested on their knowledge of JROTC curriculum, English, math and science, using SAT/ACT-type questions. One of the main goals of the JROTC Academic Bowl is to prepare students for state graduation exams as well as college entrance exams. The team was one of only sixteen Air Force JROTC teams to advance to the finals.

The JROTC Leadership Symposium and Academic Bowl is a nationally recognized academic competition created exclusively for JROTC students and provides them with the opportunity to demonstrate leadership and academic abilities. By participating, cadets learn the values of citizenship, academic competition and college opportunities.

College Options Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to enriching the academic development of high school students and assisting them in their preparation for higher education. Utilizing academic competitions, college exam study guides, college admissions tutorials and personalized counseling, College Options Foundation has assisted the nation’s 1.1 million JROTC cadets.

Hunter Family Music Memory Music Bee, Orchestra Nova Honor Students

It was a 21st century version of the old "Name That Tune" TV show as teams from elementary schools recently competed to see who could identify snippets of songs played by a live orchestra.

The Fourth Annual Hunter Family Music Memory Music Bee, sponsored by Orchestra Nova, welcomed students from all over the county, with competition in grades 3-4 and 5-6. Held at Birch North Park Theatre, May 22, bronze, silver and gold ribbons were given to winners correctly identifying musical excerpts performed by a live orchestra. San Diego Unified School District winning teams included:

Bronze ribbon winners:

• Bayview Terrace Elementary 3-4 and 5-6 teams – Gretchen Robrock, teacher
• Golden Hill Elementary 3-4 team, Virginia Simpson, teacher
• Hickman Elementary 5-6 team, Kathy Stanton, teacher
• Jerabek Elementary 5-6 team, Margie Orem, teacher
• La Jolla Elementary 3-4 team, Julie Greathouse, teacher
• Ross Elementary 5-6 team, Malou Rogers, teacher

Silver ribbon winners:

• Crown Point Junior Music Academy 5-6 team, Debbie Burton, teacher
• Doyle Elementary 3-4 team, Mary Laiuppa, teacher
• Golden Hill Elementary 5-6 team, Virginia Simpson, teacher
• Hickman Elementary 3-4 team, Kathy Stanton, teacher
• Jerabek Elementary 3-4 team, Margie Orem, teacher
• E.B. Scripps Elementary 3-4 and 5-6 teams, Dr. Linda Lungren, teacher

Gold ribbon winners:

• Crown Point Junior Music Academy 3-4 team, Debbie Burton, teacher
• Torrey Pines elementary 3-4 team, Rebecca Tang, teacher
• Whitman Elementary 3-4 and 5-6 teams, Tom Waczek, teacher

For more information on the program, contact Karen Childress-Evans at 858-539-5349 or mailto:%20kchildressevans@sandi.net.

Crawford Students Make Gold and Silver at Scripps Research Institute

Crawford High students learned how to make pennies into gold, and burn ice by using their science savvy.

 

It all happened Wednesday when the biotechnology class from Crawford High CHAMPs toured the chemistry and biology labs at the famed science center, Scripps Research Institute.

 

Working with Scripps scientists the students made gold and silver-plated pennies, burned magnesium in dry ice and even printed 3D HIV protein molecular models.

 

The trip was the culmination lesson for the biotechnology class. CHAMPs is the School of Community Health and Medical Practices at the Crawford High Educational Complex. It is one of only a few district high schools that teaches cutting edge biotechnology and molecular biology experiments such as DNA forensics, bacterial transformation and protein purification.

 

For more information, contact CHAMPs Principal William Laine at (619) 583-2501 ext. 2460, or wlaine@sandi.net.

For more district news, subscribe to the Superintendent's Friday Notes.

New School-Based Clinic Aims to Save Lives and Boost Student Success

A new one-of-a kind school-based medical clinic opens this week at San Diego Unified’s Central Elementary School that officials hope will have major impact locally and nationally.

A ceremony to officially dedicate the clinic took place at 10 a.m., Friday, Dec. 10.
The mission of Central Elementary Health and Wellness Center in City Heights is to provide health care to the school’s 860 students and their siblings, from infancy until 15 years of age. An estimated 1 in 4 children attending Central in the high-poverty community currently do not have health care.

“The clinic is a dream come true for the school and community,” said Central Principal Cindy Marten, who sees first-hand how medical problems can interfere with learning.

Medical research shows that school-based health clinics work, improving both the physical and academic well-being of students. According to the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care, clinics contribute to higher student attendance and achievement, with a 50 percent decrease in absenteeism and measurable impact on higher grades.

Central’s clinic will be run by licensed medical professionals through a partnership with San Diego Unified and two existing clinics: La Maestra and San Diego Family Care. Together the community clinics treat the majority of student families in the area, making them trusted medical practitioners in the mid-city neighborhood.

What makes this clinic unique is that it was built on campus attached to the school nurse’s office with the help of a $50,000 grant from Price Family Charitable Fund. Central’s nurse will work in partnership with the clinic staff, and it is the clinic’s medical staff members who will run health care services from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the 11 months that Central operates.

Students . . . Start Your Engines!

Two students from Crawford High School of Invention and Design (IDEA), Kim Nguyen and Andrew Watkins-Blackshear, spoke to more than 250 attendees at the Jimmie Johnson Foundation Annual Golf Tournament Fundraising Dinner this week.

The students are part of the automotive career paths at IDEA related to transportation and alternative fuels. The school received a $32,500 grant last year from Jimmie Johnson Foundation/Lowe’s Toolbox for Education Champions to learn how to convert gasoline powered engines to operate on cleaner, alternative fuels.

The students brought the engine that was purchased with some of the grant funds to the dinner and explained how they reconfigured it to run on alternative fuels and how they measure the efficiency.

Both students and their teacher were personally invited to be guests of Jimmie Johnson at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Pepsi MAX 400 NSCS Race this weekend. For more information, please contact the Office of College, Career and Technical Education, at (858) 503-1738.

IN THE NEWS: Banning books a rarity in San Diego

While school boards across the country have gone to battle even in recent years with parents and community groups over perennial titles such as Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov — flagged mostly for language and mentions of sexuality — San Diego city schools have largely avoided such conflict. Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune»

IN THE NEWS: A Middle School Takes a Quantum Leap

Mann Middle School in El Cerrito has long been one of the schools that everyone wrings their hands over in San Diego... when test scores made a quantum leap this year, putting Mann ahead of schools it once lagged behind, it was a surprise to almost everyone. Read more from Voice of San Diego»

Classroom Conversion to Teen Court at Crawford’s School of Law and Business

Student interns converted a Crawford High School of Law and Business classroom into a courtroom over the summer. The interns were part of the summer Hire-a-Youth program and received valuable experience in addition to pay. The conversion provides the opportunity for students to hold mock trials and host guest speakers in a setting similar to real courtrooms. For more information, please contact Steve Luttbeg, law instructor, at sluttbeg@sandi.net .

For more district news, subscribe to the Superintendent's Friday Notes.

IN THE NEWS: CNN Highlights Cherokee Point as a Successful Year-Round School

Godwin Higa, principal at Cherokee Point Elementary was featured in CNN's ongoing “Fix our Schools” segment with anchor T.J. Holmes. Mr. Higa discussed how a year-round schedule has contributed to student achievement at the City Heights neighborhood school. Watch the Sept.1 CNN report.

IN THE NEWS: Steering students toward science

Anne Artz teaches science at The Preuss School at UCSD and has recently been recognized as an “educator extraordinaire” for her efforts to secure grants and other programs for the school’s science department. She won an Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence, which gave the school $5,000 for the science program. She also was awarded a grant from the Society for Science and the Public, which gives the school $35,000 for teacher training and equipment for the Advanced Placement environmental science class she began teaching last year. Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune»

Golden Achievements for Language Academy Students

Congratulations to The Language Academy students who earned national recognition for excellence on their 2010 National French and Spanish Exams. Student Sara McKnight (left), an eighth grader, was one of 15 students in the nation to earn the top academic honors out of more than 18,000 entrants. She was one of 53 Language Academy students taking the French Grand Concours test.

Seventh grader Alexis Barajas (right) won a gold medal for scoring at or above the 95th percentile in the National Spanish exam, taken by 80 of the magnet school’s Spanish immersion students. Students earned a grand total 44 gold, silver and bronze medals. For more information, please contact Principal Veronika Lopez-Mendez at (619) 287-1182 or vlopez-mendez@sandi.net .

For more district news, subscribe to the Superintendent's Friday Notes.

Family Friendly Schools Roll out the Red Carpet

Over the last three years, more than 80 schools have participated in the district’s Family Friendly Schools program which encourages schools to create a welcoming environment for their communities. The program includes efforts to recognize both families and staff. During a year-long certification process, schools participate in training sessions, administer school climate surveys and find ways to roll out the “red carpet” for visitors at their sites. Through “Super Service” commendation boxes, visitors can recognize staff members who provide exemplary service in their day-to-day jobs.

This week, 11 schools were recognized as the district’s newest Family Friendly Schools. Certified for 2010 are Hardy, Penn and Sequoia elementary schools, Montgomery Middle School and Madison High School. Schools nearing completion of their certification are Baker, Carver, Doyle and Normal Heights elementary schools, Creative Performing and Media Arts middle school and Mt. Everest Academy. Montgomery Middle also received a $500 award as the school that demonstrated the best representation of a Family Friendly School throughout the year. Pictured here are Myra Perdomo-Melendez, Montgomery vice principal (center), with members of the Board and Family Friendly Schools Committee. For more information, please visit www.sandi.net/familyfriendly .

For more district news, subscribe to the Superintendent's Friday Notes.

Crawford CHAMPs Students Learn to Think “FAST” at Alvarado Hospital

On June 7, Crawford CHAMPs (Community Health and Medical Practices) students took a private tour of Alvarado Hospital and learned how to play a critical role in preventing a stroke: by using the FAST system -- Face, Arms, Speech and Time. Each CHAMPs team had a patient to take through the phases of treatment: ambulatory care, transporting into the emergency room, radiology, pharmacy, in-patient and outpatient rehabilitation and surgery. CHAMPs students were given a rare opportunity to understand the hospital's procedure in treating stroke patients and walked away with a better understanding of how they can be advocates for prevention, awareness and safety. For more information, please contact CHAMPs Principal William Laine at (619) 583-2501.


For more district news, subscribe to the Superintendent's Friday Notes.