"Garden-to-Table" Promotes Healthy Eating Habits

Preschoolers in room 71 at Lindbergh Schweitzer Elementary worked in pairs, planting vegetables and flowers in their spring garden to discover first-hand the benefits of eating healthy. The young 3-5 year old students are now busy watering and watching the young plants grow. Soon, they will enjoy sampling freshly picked lettuce, cucumbers and strawberries.


"The garden is a huge hit with the students," said proud teachers Phoebe Bishops and Tami Colo. "Healthy eating habits are part of the Extended Core Curriculum of Daily Living Skills provided for our blind and visually impaired students."

For more information contact Julie Harris, media production assistant, at jharris2@sandi.net or 858-496-8400.

For information about the district's Farm to School program, visit the Food Services website at www.sandi.net/food

Mission Bay Jazz Band Takes on New Orleans

Above, Michael Jaimes, senior,
plays the baritone sax at Old US Mint.

The Mission Bay High School Preservationist band has returned from a trip to New Orleans, where the jazz ensemble performed in historic locales and toured historic sites.

The group partnered with the New Olreans Jazz National Historical Park and Preservation Hall to perform in some of the city's well-known venues, including Preservation Hall, the Old US Mint and in park.

For many students this was a life changing experience," said Mission Bay Band Director Jean-Paul Balmat. "I now have a number of students who want to study in New Orleans and some who plan to move there after graduating from high school."

The Preservationists (formerly the Mission Bay High School Dixie Jazz Band) is San Diego's premier traditional youth jazz band. The band has been featured at venues throughout San Diego County and California including: House of Blues, Petco Park, Sea World, Dizzy's, Tango Del Rey, Ocean Beach Music and Art Festival and the Sacramento Jazz Festival.

At Preservation Hall

This exciting, versatile group performs traditional New Orleans jazz and swing. They are sponsored by America's Finest City Dixieland Jazz Society and are one of the featured youth bands at their annual Thanksgiving Jazz Festival.

"The kids were so inspired musically by the trip," said Balmat. "They loved listening to all the great musicians and performing at Preservation Hall."

For more information on the program, visit the music program's website at http://www.missionbaymusic.com/

State Business Group Honors 45 Schools in San Diego Unified

A leading California business group has recognized 45 San Diego Unified schools as being "bright spots of excellence," with positions on its annual Honor Roll.

California Business for Education Excellence, a group whose members include the Bank of America, Blue Shield of California, Macy's and Webcor Builders, designated 21 San Diego Unified schools as Star Schools, which are high poverty, high performing, achievement gap closing schools. Another 24 schools were named Scholar Schools, identified as high performing schools without significant levels of low-income students. Nine schools on the Honor Roll were named STEM Schools for their high performance in math and science.

"It's especially gratifying for the students, teachers and staff to be recognized for reducing the achievement gap and being high-performing schools," said Superintendent Bill Kowba. "These are key areas that are the focus of the Board of Education and our staff and it's good to have an independent organization verify the success in these areas."

The following schools were on the Honor Roll.

• Star Schools -- high poverty, high performing, achievement gap closing schools: Angier, Birney, Crown Point, Cubberley, Edison, Ericson, Florence, Garfield, Green, Hardy, Jones, Kimbrough, Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach, Sandburg, Sherman, Vista Grande, Wegeforth, Zamorano elementary schools; Language Academy and Mira Mesa High School.
  
  
• Scholar Schools -- high performing schools without significant levels of low-income students: Benchley/Weinberger, Bird Rock, Curie, Dailard, Dingeman, Doyle, Grant, Hearst, Holmes, Jerabek, Kumeyaay, La Jolla, Marvin, Miramar Ranch, Scripps, Sessions, Silver Gate, Sunset View, Tierrasanta, Torrey Pines elementary schools; Marshall and Standley middle schools; La Jolla and Scripps Ranch high schools.
  
  
• STEM Schools -- Honor Roll schools with highest performance for math and science: Angier, Birney, Ericson, Garfield, Green, Hardy, Pacific Beach, Sandburg, Vista Grande elementary schools.
  

"We must change the conversation in public education from being about failure to one that focuses on replicating the success of schools like those on the Honor Roll," said Greg Jones, CBEE Chairman. "These schools are not making excuses about their performance and are overcoming challenges and obstacles to improvement every day. Our goal is to highlight their results so they can be copied in other places."

The Honor Roll list grew from 1,315 schools in 2010 to the current 1,614 for 2011. The number of Honor Roll Star (high poverty, high achieving) schools increased from 478 in 2010 to 527 in 2011. For San Diego Unified, the 2011 list honored 45 schools, up from 28 in 2010, not including charter schools. In the program's first year, 2005, just six schools were on the list. A full list of the Honor Roll schools and the STEM Honor Roll can be found at: www.cbeefoundation.org/honor_roll.html.

"These schools are the bright spots of excellence in efforts to raise student academic achievement and close persistent achievement gaps," said Jim Lanich, California Business for Education Excellence president. "By highlighting them, recognizing their achievement and giving them a voice we hope other schools can learn from them and replicate their proven practices throughout the state."

The annual Honor Roll award is made possible with support from numerous businesses and organizations including State Farm, Macy¹s, Edison International, Wells Fargo, Southern California Auto Club, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the California Business Roundtable, and several private foundations. Chevron Corporation provided specific support in the creation of the STEM Honor Roll.

Lincoln High Seniors are College Bound

College-bound Hornets.

With one month of hard work to go, more than 235 Lincoln High School seniors out of a class of 341 have been accepted and are planning to attend a community college or university next year. Of these 235 students, 101 will be entering a four-year university in fall 2012

Although college entry requirements are more rigorous than ever, Lincoln High students have been admitted to more than 60 universities across the nation including Brown, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Georgetown, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Morehouse, St. Johns, UCSD and SDSU. Through perseverance and dedication, the class of 2012 has laid the foundation of a college-going culture at Lincoln High School that will continue and flourish for years to come.

To aid the growing number of Lincoln students attending college, the Lincoln High Scholarship Fund has been established. The fund was formed in response to rising college costs and a desire to make college more accessible and affordable to Lincoln students.

This year Lincoln High School's goal is to raise more than $25,000 to support of our college-bound seniors. The scholarships include:

• Willie James Jones Scholarships
• Monique Palmer Scholarships
• Principal Scholarships
• Counselor Scholarships
• Alumni Scholarships

All scholarships will be awarded during the Senior Awards Night on June 5. If you are interested in contributing to the Lincoln High School Scholarship Fund or visiting the Lincoln High School College and Career Center, contact Conrado Castro at ccastro2@sandi.net or (619) 266-6530 x 2325, or Isela Medina at ismedina@ucsd.edu.

Ten San Diego Unified High Schools Make US News 'Best' List

Ten San Diego Unified high schools and one charter are ranked on the list of America's best high schools, released today by US News and World Report Magazine. The schools are all ranked in the top 1,800 of the 22,000 high schools in the nation, according to the magazine.

Charter Preuss School UCSD ranked eighth in California and 44th in the nation, followed by La Jolla High at number 34 in the state, 167 nationally. Others ranking (state/federal) were University City High, 66/371; Patrick Henry, 68/383; Scripps Ranch, 69/390; Mira Mesa, 123/658; the School of International Studies at San Diego High, 127/678; Pt. Loma High, 137/744; Serra High, 146/775; San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts, 264/1284; and the School of Science, Connections and Technology at Kearny High, 365/1765.

Other schools which were recognized nationally included the schools of Digital Media and Design, and International Business at Kearny High, Mt. Everest Academy and San Diego Met.

This is the fourth year the magazine has ranked high schools, partnering with American Institutes for Research to analyze the schools. Rankings were based on several factors, including performance on state tests and their students' college readiness.

"Congratulations to our students, teachers and staff members at these and all of our schools," said Superintendent Bill Kowba. "We thank US News for this recognition. Having a diploma from an award-winning school can only help our students as they work to get to college."

Preuss, La Jolla, University City, Patrick Henry and Scripps Ranch all received Gold rankings from the magazine, which signifies the top 500 schools in the nation. The magazine's study projects that students at these schools have the highest college readiness. Silver honors went to Mira Mesa, San Diego High International Studies, Pt. Loma, Serra, SCPA and Kearny SCT received silver ranking.

For more information on the survey, go to the magazine's website.

Franklin Elementary Gets $5,000 in Supplies from New Business

Principal Akoni Derige, right, with Council Member
Todd Gloria and WSS Shoes owner.

Franklin Elementary School has received $5,000 in supplies from a new shop in the school's Kensington neighborhood, Warehouse Shoe Sale (WSS).

The supplies, which include pencils, notebooks and athletic sack bags, were presented to Principal Akoni Derige during the store's grand opening on April 21.City Council Member Todd Gloria was also on hand for the ceremony.

"This donation will free up some site discretionary funds so our school can purchase more supplies for the fine arts prep program," said Derige. "It's always a blessing when organizations and businesses come forward to donate and help with program expenses."

A fixture in the community since 1929, Franklin Elementary School has more than 260 students and an involved community that supports the school's pledge of small class sizes and fine arts prep program.

For more information, contact Principal Derige at (619) 284-9279.

Teachers of the Year Honored by San Diego Unified School District

Ellie Vandiver

Three teachers get the big honors, but each San Diego Unified school's teacher of the year will be honored during ceremonies Tuesday night at Madison High School.

A former nurse, a high-school dropout and a second-generation staff member are San Diego Unified's 2012 Teachers of the Year. They, along with runners up, are eligible to compete for the San Diego County Teacher of the Year.

The 2012 teachers are: Elle Vandiver, biomedical sciences, University City High School; Joey Lepetri, English/history/video, Marshall Middle School; and Patti Read, third grade Special Education, Lindbergh/Schweitzer Elementary School.

“Few other professionals touch as many people as teachers do,” said Superintendent Bill Kowba. “This year’s Teachers of the Year, selected by a committee of their peers, are an extraordinary group of individuals who exhibit passion for their profession and compassion for their students in their own unique ways.They are representative of the thousands of district teachers who each day inspire and enable students to work hard, strive for their best and ultimately achieve success.”

Joey Lepetri

Tuesday's ceremony will honor Teachers of the Year from each school, along with the new National Board Certified Teachers. In addition, the San Diego  Education Fund will introduce its 2011-12 Future Educator Scholars, MASHIN
Scholars and STEM Scholar. It is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 8, at Madison High School, 4833 Dolvia Drive. The event is free and open to the public; it is also a regular Board of Education meeting.

Read discovered her interest in teaching students who face physical and health challenges at the age of five, when she started spending her summer vacations volunteering in her father’s medical therapy unit that was housed at Lindbergh/Schweitzer.In her 32 years of experience, she has enjoyed a lifetime of celebrating her students’ accomplishments.

“I want students to always feel successful in whatever they're doing," she said. "At the same time, what are we learning from it, and what skills are we getting from this?"

Patti Read

Lepetri struggled as a young student, eventually dropping out of high school.Today, he looks to make connections with students who are growing up in tough circumstances. Once that connection is made, learning comes easier.
"When I was 19, I realized that I was missing something in my life, and that was my education," he said. "The educational journey transformed my life."

Vandiver began her career as a registered nurse in Michigan. She discovered her passion for teaching after working with high school interns in her hospital’s intensive care unit. Now in her 12th year of teaching, Vandiver strives to help her students see connections between the curriculum and the real world,having seen more than 20 of her students become nurses, as well as doctors, medical researchers and other occupations in the medical field.Her challenging courses also let students know if the field is really for them.

"Taking this real-world knowledge and bringing it to the kids is what I strive for every day," she said. "Because I have that background, I can open doors."

Read, Lepetri and Vandiver will compete for San Diego County Teacher ofthe Year, along with the district’s three Runners-up, Garth Hebbler from Rolando Park Elementary,Steven Santana from Lewis Middle School, and Michael Pedersen from Serra High.

News Coverage

• San Diego Union-Tribune
• KPBS/City News Service