Saturday, September 30, 2006
Monrovia School Link ~ Number 180 ~ September 1, 2006
Some unexpected good news about enrollment and more good news about energy savings. Plus, what to do about textbooks. Hmmm?~ brad@sacklunch.net
By Maritza Diaz
It's time for another edition of the adventures of the Monrovia school board. In this meeting we found out that saving energy saves money, some awards quench thirst and combinations aren't so bad.
ENROLLMENT ~ It wouldn't be a board meeting if there wasn't talk of enrollment.But wait a minute. Don't automatically think the news is bad. Enrollment is up. That's right, since the beginning of the school year the numbers of students in almost all the schools has exceeded projections. The trend seems to be moving in a positive direction and, with any luck, won't swing the other way.
WELCOME ~ The newest student representative, Sandra Salazar, was sworn in at the beginning of the meeting. She looked excited to be there and no doubt she'll do a great job. Also new on the block is Jim Coombs, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, who also expressed his gratitude at being part of the Monrovia team. I'm sure the board will give him plenty to do.
BOOKS ~ This meeting provided an open hearing for the public to discuss the adequacy of textbooks in schools, but only two people showed up. Both of them teachers. The deal is that according to the "Williams Settlement" students should have sufficient textbooks and materials by the eighth week of school. The discussion focused mainly on providing individual books or providing class sets.
Most of the talk revolved around the middle schools. If provided with individual books, students would have to carry said books back and forth to class, and since middle school students don't have lockers, that can be a pretty tiring task. Especially if the student has six classes and a book for each one. But, if the classes are given class sets of text books, students have limited access to the books and may also limit teachers' ability to fully teach a student. So which should it be?
The board will look into this matter more closely. There was talk of bringing back the idea of installing lockers in the middle schools. Apparently, the locker idea was brought up eight years ago but shot down. Let's see what happens this time.
COMBINATION ~ The superintendent's report included a little something about combination classes. All in all, students perform well and there is no negative impact.
AWARDS ~ The board honored Tom Hunt, general maintenance worker, for his outstanding service. Hunt thanked everyone and expressed his appreciation for the recognition.
The board also honored Monrovia High School's varsity football coach, Steve Garrison, on the 100th win of the Wildcats football team. 100 wins is very impressive! Instead the standard plaque, the board presented the coach with a bottle of Gatorade with a custom made label and a jersey. The Gatorade bottle was a great idea. Points to the board for creativity. Go Wildcats!
PROCLAMATIONS ~ Mark your calendars because the board has proclaimed every week of October a week of awareness. Get your planner out (or PDA) and write these down:
October 8-14 is Fire Prevention Week
October 9-13 is National School Lunch Week
October 15-21 is America's Safe School Week
October 23-31 is Red Ribbon Week (this one is a few days over a week, but I'm sure nobody will mind).
Help promote these events around Monrovia. For National School Lunch week, I think I'll eat a little more. I mean, it is for the kids.
GIFTS ~ This round the spotlight for gifts given to the districts is on Target. Thanks to the store's "Take Charge of Education" program, the district received about $600.
READ ~ If you like to read and have some free time, the Read Across Monrovia program needs some volunteers to read to the kids. To sign up, contact Joanne Spring at (626) 358-1952. A little Dr. Seuss is always fun.
ENERGY ~ Back in 2003, the district made and agreement with Energy Education, Inc.(an energy management consulting firm) to find ways to save energy and in turn save the district some money. Well, it worked. Since then the district has saved a grand total of $607,326! That's a pretty huge number. In fact, the district's energy savings were impressive enough that the board received an award for all the saving they did. Good job turning off the lights Monrovia.
RETURNS ~ Back-to-School nights are coming up at the high schools. Canyon Oaks has one on Tuesday October 3 at 6:30 p.m. and Monrovia High has one on Wednesday, October 4, also at 6:30.
If you can't attend the meetings because you're busy on Wednesday nights, well, the next meeting is on a Monday. October 16, so stop by.
Also on the Web at www.monroviaschoollink.com
(0) comments
Some unexpected good news about enrollment and more good news about energy savings. Plus, what to do about textbooks. Hmmm?~ brad@sacklunch.net
By Maritza Diaz
It's time for another edition of the adventures of the Monrovia school board. In this meeting we found out that saving energy saves money, some awards quench thirst and combinations aren't so bad.
ENROLLMENT ~ It wouldn't be a board meeting if there wasn't talk of enrollment.But wait a minute. Don't automatically think the news is bad. Enrollment is up. That's right, since the beginning of the school year the numbers of students in almost all the schools has exceeded projections. The trend seems to be moving in a positive direction and, with any luck, won't swing the other way.
WELCOME ~ The newest student representative, Sandra Salazar, was sworn in at the beginning of the meeting. She looked excited to be there and no doubt she'll do a great job. Also new on the block is Jim Coombs, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, who also expressed his gratitude at being part of the Monrovia team. I'm sure the board will give him plenty to do.
BOOKS ~ This meeting provided an open hearing for the public to discuss the adequacy of textbooks in schools, but only two people showed up. Both of them teachers. The deal is that according to the "Williams Settlement" students should have sufficient textbooks and materials by the eighth week of school. The discussion focused mainly on providing individual books or providing class sets.
Most of the talk revolved around the middle schools. If provided with individual books, students would have to carry said books back and forth to class, and since middle school students don't have lockers, that can be a pretty tiring task. Especially if the student has six classes and a book for each one. But, if the classes are given class sets of text books, students have limited access to the books and may also limit teachers' ability to fully teach a student. So which should it be?
The board will look into this matter more closely. There was talk of bringing back the idea of installing lockers in the middle schools. Apparently, the locker idea was brought up eight years ago but shot down. Let's see what happens this time.
COMBINATION ~ The superintendent's report included a little something about combination classes. All in all, students perform well and there is no negative impact.
AWARDS ~ The board honored Tom Hunt, general maintenance worker, for his outstanding service. Hunt thanked everyone and expressed his appreciation for the recognition.
The board also honored Monrovia High School's varsity football coach, Steve Garrison, on the 100th win of the Wildcats football team. 100 wins is very impressive! Instead the standard plaque, the board presented the coach with a bottle of Gatorade with a custom made label and a jersey. The Gatorade bottle was a great idea. Points to the board for creativity. Go Wildcats!
PROCLAMATIONS ~ Mark your calendars because the board has proclaimed every week of October a week of awareness. Get your planner out (or PDA) and write these down:
October 8-14 is Fire Prevention Week
October 9-13 is National School Lunch Week
October 15-21 is America's Safe School Week
October 23-31 is Red Ribbon Week (this one is a few days over a week, but I'm sure nobody will mind).
Help promote these events around Monrovia. For National School Lunch week, I think I'll eat a little more. I mean, it is for the kids.
GIFTS ~ This round the spotlight for gifts given to the districts is on Target. Thanks to the store's "Take Charge of Education" program, the district received about $600.
READ ~ If you like to read and have some free time, the Read Across Monrovia program needs some volunteers to read to the kids. To sign up, contact Joanne Spring at (626) 358-1952. A little Dr. Seuss is always fun.
ENERGY ~ Back in 2003, the district made and agreement with Energy Education, Inc.(an energy management consulting firm) to find ways to save energy and in turn save the district some money. Well, it worked. Since then the district has saved a grand total of $607,326! That's a pretty huge number. In fact, the district's energy savings were impressive enough that the board received an award for all the saving they did. Good job turning off the lights Monrovia.
RETURNS ~ Back-to-School nights are coming up at the high schools. Canyon Oaks has one on Tuesday October 3 at 6:30 p.m. and Monrovia High has one on Wednesday, October 4, also at 6:30.
If you can't attend the meetings because you're busy on Wednesday nights, well, the next meeting is on a Monday. October 16, so stop by.
Also on the Web at www.monroviaschoollink.com
Friday, September 01, 2006
Monrovia School Link ~ Number 180 ~ September 1, 2006
At Wednesday's board meeting there were a few adjustments to the bus stops, and - for better or worse - a bit about Monrovia's Pluto and Dukes of Hazzard connections.
~ brad@sacklunch.net
By Maritza Diaz
After a month of summer fun between meetings, I walked in just as the meeting was starting and noticed two things that were different from the last meeting. First, all the school work that is usually displayed along the walls of the meeting room is gone. I guess with the new school year starting, it was time to make room for genius works yet to be created. Second, board member Bryan Wong was sitting in the president's chair leading the meeting. Other than that, it was a pretty standard meeting. Transportation is an issue yet again, another student achievement report is presented and the recent demotion of Pluto as a planet has a Monrovia connection.
PLUTO ~ No, there wasn't a recall of President Clare Chesley. Wong was leading the meeting because Chesley was in Prague with her family and wasn't part in some of board discussion prior to the meeting. Her husband, was one of the ones who voted to kick our poor little Pluto from the planet club. Chesley made clear that she tried to persuade her husband not to go against Pluto, but alas, it could not be done. Let’s have a moment of silence for Pluto. And try not to think of all the science books that are now wrong.
BUSES ~ The board approved the 2006-07 bus schedule back in June, which took into consideration the decreased enrollment in the elementary schools. Some changed needed to be made and three bus stops were condensed.
Wild Rose: the Duarte and 8th bus stopped changed to Pilgrim Way.
Santa Fe: the Colorado and Mayflower and the Monrovia High School bus stops changed to Alta Vista and Lime.
Concerned parents stopped by to express their concern about the bus stop changes. For many of them the new stops are too far away from their homes and will make it difficult for the kids to get to school. Linda Dempsey, chief financial officer, said that a final word on the bus stop changes would happen on Tuesday and the affected parents will be contacted.
REPORT ~ So how are those kids doing in school? Based on the Annual Measurable Objective percentages, Monrovia schools continue their steady growth. In math and English, all schools exceeded their targets. Monrovia students are doing great, but that’s really nothing new, is it?
CLASSES ~ Overall the first day of school brought in fewer kids than projected. But don't panic! It was only the first day and that's normal. It's still early, folks. The district has plans to accommodate students, if needed, because of enrollment decreases or increases. Be it sending overflow students to other schools or creating combination classes.
PLAY ~ The playgrounds over at Wild Rose and Plymouth are coming along and the kids can expect enjoy the playgrounds in a few months. Hang in there kids, the playgrounds are coming.
SEQUEL ~ The "Accepted Gifts" section of the agenda stated that the district received $1,000 from Rustic Productions Inc. filming company, which is filming "Dukes of Hazzard 2." That's a generous gift and is no doubt appreciated by the district, but what is most disturbing is that they are filming a sequel to that horrible movie. Why?
EXPULSION ~ Two students from Monrovia High and Santa Fe Middle were granted readmission after being expelled..
The board meeting was adjourned in the memory of Mayflower kindergarten teacher Nancy Stewart and Harold Stueve, Monrovia businessman and one of the founders of Alta Dena Dairy.
The bad news is that summer is over. The good news is the kids are back in school. Maybe now you can get a break and feel energized enough to attend a meeting. September 27. Same time, same building.
Also on the Web at www.monroviaschoollink.com
(0) comments
At Wednesday's board meeting there were a few adjustments to the bus stops, and - for better or worse - a bit about Monrovia's Pluto and Dukes of Hazzard connections.
~ brad@sacklunch.net
By Maritza Diaz
After a month of summer fun between meetings, I walked in just as the meeting was starting and noticed two things that were different from the last meeting. First, all the school work that is usually displayed along the walls of the meeting room is gone. I guess with the new school year starting, it was time to make room for genius works yet to be created. Second, board member Bryan Wong was sitting in the president's chair leading the meeting. Other than that, it was a pretty standard meeting. Transportation is an issue yet again, another student achievement report is presented and the recent demotion of Pluto as a planet has a Monrovia connection.
PLUTO ~ No, there wasn't a recall of President Clare Chesley. Wong was leading the meeting because Chesley was in Prague with her family and wasn't part in some of board discussion prior to the meeting. Her husband, was one of the ones who voted to kick our poor little Pluto from the planet club. Chesley made clear that she tried to persuade her husband not to go against Pluto, but alas, it could not be done. Let’s have a moment of silence for Pluto. And try not to think of all the science books that are now wrong.
BUSES ~ The board approved the 2006-07 bus schedule back in June, which took into consideration the decreased enrollment in the elementary schools. Some changed needed to be made and three bus stops were condensed.
Wild Rose: the Duarte and 8th bus stopped changed to Pilgrim Way.
Santa Fe: the Colorado and Mayflower and the Monrovia High School bus stops changed to Alta Vista and Lime.
Concerned parents stopped by to express their concern about the bus stop changes. For many of them the new stops are too far away from their homes and will make it difficult for the kids to get to school. Linda Dempsey, chief financial officer, said that a final word on the bus stop changes would happen on Tuesday and the affected parents will be contacted.
REPORT ~ So how are those kids doing in school? Based on the Annual Measurable Objective percentages, Monrovia schools continue their steady growth. In math and English, all schools exceeded their targets. Monrovia students are doing great, but that’s really nothing new, is it?
CLASSES ~ Overall the first day of school brought in fewer kids than projected. But don't panic! It was only the first day and that's normal. It's still early, folks. The district has plans to accommodate students, if needed, because of enrollment decreases or increases. Be it sending overflow students to other schools or creating combination classes.
PLAY ~ The playgrounds over at Wild Rose and Plymouth are coming along and the kids can expect enjoy the playgrounds in a few months. Hang in there kids, the playgrounds are coming.
SEQUEL ~ The "Accepted Gifts" section of the agenda stated that the district received $1,000 from Rustic Productions Inc. filming company, which is filming "Dukes of Hazzard 2." That's a generous gift and is no doubt appreciated by the district, but what is most disturbing is that they are filming a sequel to that horrible movie. Why?
EXPULSION ~ Two students from Monrovia High and Santa Fe Middle were granted readmission after being expelled..
The board meeting was adjourned in the memory of Mayflower kindergarten teacher Nancy Stewart and Harold Stueve, Monrovia businessman and one of the founders of Alta Dena Dairy.
The bad news is that summer is over. The good news is the kids are back in school. Maybe now you can get a break and feel energized enough to attend a meeting. September 27. Same time, same building.
Also on the Web at www.monroviaschoollink.com
