Monrovia School Link

Monrovia School Link ~ Number 78 ~ March 24, 2004

Thanks to Kim Larsen for the following report on the last board meeting. Out of curiosity, I went to the district's Web site to check on the agenda for the meeting. It's not there. The meeting was on March 24, it is now April 1 and it's *still* not there (http://www.monroviaschools.net/BOEMinutes.htm). Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the point of an agenda is so people will know what is happening at a meeting so they can decide whether to go. Doesn't it just kinda a little bit defeat the purpose if the agenda doesn't go on line *before* the meeting? Okay, new topic. It appears the board is interested in your views, and is advertising its phone number and email address. See below. Good! Also, I got a good comment about my interview with Joel Shawn and my thoughts about the API scores. Way down at the bottom.
~ Brad Haugaard (brad@sacklunch.net)


By Kim Larsen

Award Presentation: Samantha Witte and Heather Pentecost helped Betty Sandford present an award to the Monrovia City Council in thanks for its $4,000. contribution to keep the Mayflower Elementary After School Recreation Program going. Mary Ann Lutz spoke on behalf of the City Council. She said this was a vital progam and they took money out of the City Council Budget in order to ensure its success. Retired City Manager Dan Hopper also spoke of the value of this program and the importance of our young people as they are the future of Monrovia.

Board of Education thanked the Monrovia Public Library for its $8,000 contribution to the English Language Program. This is a tutoring programs for Limited English Speaking Children which is performed in the classrooms at Santa Fe and Clifton Middle Schools. The $8,000 is the result of winning a grant that is specifically geared toward collaboration between a local school and public library. The Head Librarian at the Monrovia Public Library also gave another $2,000 in books and materials for this very important program.

Monrovia Chamber of Commerce and Board of Education thanked four individuals - 2 teachers and 2 classified employees of the Monrovia Unified School District. Charlotte Schamadan did the honors, acknowledging each employee - explaining why they were chosen for the award and giving moving testimony as to the character of each individual. Charlotte did an excellent job with her presentation. The Honorees are: Martha Moncada and Edwina Johnson of Monroe Elementary School and Julia Klegg and Shannon Johnson of Brad Oaks Elementary School. Congratulations to all four wonderful employees! Betty Sandford also thanked all of the Monrovia School district employees for their hard work.

Ed Gililland presented information on the plans for the new Snack Bar and restrooms at MHS near the Football Field. They still in need more money to complete this project and there are several levels of donation to choose from: Silver Level - $100, Gold Level - $500, and Platinum Level - $1,000. Checks can go to Big M Booster Club if you would like to help see this project to completion. Businesses or individuals who would like to make a larger contributions may do so. For $10,000 your business can have its name engraved on the Mens/Ladies Restroom or Snack Bar.

Board Member Reports:

Clare Chesley thanked Santa Fe PTA for inviting her to its monthly meeting. They have a very good PTA. She also attended a School Attendance Review Board, meetings for parents of children with discipline/attendance problems. These are very difficult meetings and she thanked the parents and teachers who not only attend the meetings but who are working so hard to correct the problems of these students. She also said Bradoaks Elementary was visited by the California Distinguished Schools Board, which was very impressed with the school. The former Principal of Bradoaks came back to the school a week earlier to help make the school site the best it could be for this very important visit. Now that's dedication.

Betty Sandford attended a luncheon meeting with PTA Presidents past and present and was impressed with all of the members. She also mentioned that on Saturday, April 3, there will be a Family 5K Walk sponsored by the Santa Anita YMCA - a very important fund raiser that everyone should try to attend. Monrovia Arts Festival Association's Plaza Art Walk will take place in late Spring. This is a wonderful group; very supportive of the schools and local young artists.

Dr. Louise Taylor spoke about two students who are receiving important awards for their academic work, and about the California Distinguished Schools Award - three local elementary schools are in the running - Bradoaks, Mayflower and Monroe. She congratulated Don Hopper on his distinguished career in Monrovia city management and his retirement, and Scott Ochoa, who has been promoted to Monrovia City Manager. She spoke about her visit to Monroe Elementary, visiting each class and how well all of the students are doing academically. She thanked the Schamadan family for all of its support and fund raising efforts for the schools. The Schamadans will be designing several banners representing the different schools across Monrovia in order to make the wall behind the School Board more interesting and attractive. Anyone who would like to help with the cost of the banners please contact the school district.

Associate Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Joel Shawn spoke about the upcoming testing season. He said it begins April and runs through May. Last week the 4th and 7th grades throughout the district were given the writing test. MHS scores are not as high as the board would like to see them and they are working with the teachers and staff at MHS to improve the test scores. Also, last week, every 10th grade MHS student had to be in school in order to take the test that allows them to graduate from High School. Each student and his or her parent were called prior to the test week and each student was given an explanation of how important it was to be present on the day of the test. 426 out of 430 students in the 10th grade showed up and took the exam. The state requires a 95 percent attendance rate and MHS had a 98 percent rate. Shawn also mentioned a new course available for AP students at MHS - Zoology. The motion to approve the new course passed 5-0.

Clare Chesley spoke about how wonderful it is that despite the economic crisis confronting the school districts throughout California we can add a new AP course to the MHS curriculum. She also asked Shawn about adding an Economics course to the High School curriculum. He said he would look into it.

Betty Sandford spoke about the GATE program. There are many questions regarding this program and the school board is working hard to improve the quality of the GATE program classes and activities.

Item: 7.10- Current Auditors.- Approve agreement for Auditing Service Co. for a 3 yr. period beginning with the 2004- 2005 period. The current fees are lower than those they were paying 3 years ago. Dr. Carter suggested that they continue to change firms every 3 years as this is good business practice. Motion carried 5-0.

Item 10: Only one meeting will be held in April due to scheduling conflicts. The April meeting will be on the 28th. There will be 3 meetings in May. District Music Festival will be in May at MHS- watch for more information to come.

Monina Diaz said that the school board members would like to have more contact with the public, so she gave the information to us for our use. Please leave a message on the phone answering machine and a board member will return your call.
Monrovia School Board email address: Board@monrovia.k12.ca.us
Monrovia School Board phone number: (626) 471-2010



A LETTER ~ Erin Thorn, an Instructional Aide at Wild Rose, wrote with some informed thoughts about my article on API scores. She said she doubts my estimate that Plymouth Elementary has the lowest socio-economic make-up in Monrovia. [I mentioned that because it seemed to me that made its rising API scores all the more impressive.]

Erin writes, "That is probably (I don't have the numbers, but I'm pretty sure) not true. The lowest are probably Monroe and Wild Rose. It all has to do with the boundaries assigned to each school. Monroe's encompasses an area in a rectangle, basically around the school, between the Arcadia border to the west, Myrtle Avenue to the east, Huntington to the south and Foothill to the north. Mayflower's is fairly the same (surrounding the school) except for a small part south of Huntington and east of Myrtle. Plymouth serves mainly the 'Mayflower Village' area. It's mostly the same way as Monroe/Mayflower's, as is Bradoak's. Wild Rose has the most unusual make-up. Part of its boundaries are the nice part around the school, and above Foothill. However, it also has the majority of the south/west Monrovia area. The part below Huntington and Duarte, east of Myrtle and extending to the Arcadia border (the poorest area of Monrovia). It also serves a very high percent of non-fluent English speakers. This still doesn't explain why they [Wild Rose's API scores] are lower than Monroe's, but it evens it up a little.

"I almost forgot - Plymouth changed its timing on testing this past year. They usually test in May with everyone else, which puts them at a disadvantage since they are out the whole month of April. This past year they tested in June(?), so they had a little time back in the classroom to prepare their students and get them back into the normal routine before they tested. I don't have the actual API scores, but their similar schools rank changed from a 5 to an 8. So, maybe the 2003 scores are a better reflection of their actual performance than the earlier scores."

You can see the article Erin is refering to (it is the March 18 posting) at www.monroviaschoollink.com/archives/2004_03_01_archive.html.