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Santa Barbara School Districts are part of the Santa Barbara County Education Office.
September 2005 News Archive
September 28, 2005
Update: Preschool For All
Preschool For All is a FREE, high quality program for 4-year old children. Classes begin October 10, 2005.
Enrollment is underway for preschoolers of all income levels. A FREE Preschool For All program will have space for 80 four-year-olds. Initially, priority will be given to residents in the McKinley Elementary School attendance area. If there are openings available after September 28, enrollment will be open to children residing within the entire Santa Barbara Elementary School District boundary and children of the Santa Barbara Elementary/High School Districts’ employees.
Preschool For All will offer many age-appropriate activities to develop language and cognitive skills. The program will be delivered by a high quality staff. Information: (805) 965-4633.
National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists for 2006
The results are out and 16,000 high school seniors from across the nation have been named National Merit Scholarship Program Semifinalists for 2006. Twenty-one of those students are in the Santa Barbara High School District.
The semifinalists were selected form a pool of more than 1.3 million juniors from 21,000 U.S. high schools Approximately 90 percent of these academically talented high school seniors are expected to attain finalist standing in the 51st year of this annual recognition program. The initial screening occurred when students, as high school juniors, took the 2004 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. From that pool of students less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors were identified as semifinalists.
To be a candidate for finalist, semifinalists must have an outstanding academic record, be endorsed and recommended by the school principal, and have SAT scores that confirm the students PSAT performance. The semifinalist and a school official must also submit a detailed scholarship application that includes information on the student’s leadership in school and community activities, as well as a self-descriptive essay.
Semifinalists in the Santa Barbara High School District are:
Dos Pueblos High School
Andrew Alker, Patrick Brown, Rachel Cohen, Kyle Deacon, Diane deGramont, Alexander Foster, Jorgen Harris, Sue Lin,
Amanda Mangaser, Hannah Savage, Michelle Walker, Caitlin York, Michael Zhang, and Adam Zok.
San Marcos High School
Chloe Brown, Charlotte Chang, Katherine Poulsen, Daniel Ricchiazzi, and Ning Tung.
Santa Barbara High School
Benjamin Bastomski and Renee Carmel
Broadcast Date of September 13 Board Meetin
Channel 18 will air the September 13, 2005, meeting of the Board of Education on Thursday, September 29, 2005, at 3:00 p.m.
Trudy Ludwig, Award Winning Author of My Secret Bully, to Visit Monroe Elementary School
Trudy Ludwig, author of My Secret Bully, will be visiting Monroe Elementary School this week to talk with students about friendship issues and emotional bullying on the playground. On Wednesday and Thursday, students will gather by grade level in the cafeteria to listen and talk about the topic of bullying. Then, on Thursday, September 22, from 6:30-8:00 p.m., Ms. Ludwig will be on hand for a special evening for parents, again in Monroe’s cafeteria.
Ms. Ludwig has been featured on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” and PBS’ “Keeping Kids Healthy.” She first became aware of relational aggression (emotional bullying among friends) when her own daughter became a target.
My Secret Bully draws readers into Monica’s world where she is bullied by a friend and learns how to cope, survive, and thrive. Monica learns to face her fears of betrayal and social isolation and reclaims her power from the bully with the help of a supportive adult (her mother). On a similar topic, in 2006, her book entitled Just Kidding will be available. The story helps young readers understand when teasing is no laughing matter.
Monroe Elementary School is located at 431 Flora Vista Drive, Santa Barbara, CA 93109.
Constitution Day in the Santa Barbara High School District
Junior high and high schools in the Santa Barbara High School District are taking various approaches to meeting the newly enacted law requiring schools that receive federal funds to hold a September 17 commemoration of Constitution Day each year. Congress selected September 17 to commemorate the September 17, 1787 signing of the U.S. Constitution. Because the September 17 falls on a Saturday this year, schools will comply by conducting activities this week or next week, as permissible by law.
September 16 examples of Constitution and Citizenship Day activities in the Santa Barbara High School District include:
JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS
Goleta Valley Junior High School will show PBS videos on the Constitution shown during eighth-grade classes (they were
created specifically to address the new requirements of Constitution Day. In seventh grade, the teachers are doing
a lesson connecting Roman civilization and culture to the U.S. Constitution as it relates to the development of democracy.
These lessons may possibly continue through Monday. During lunch, Mr. Campbell, social studies department chair,
will host a Constitutional Quiz Show game that he will intermix with music.
La Colina Junior High School students and staff will be dressing in red, white and blue; there will be a reading of the Preamble; and students will be taking a constitution test in their fifth period class.
La Cumbre Junior High School has several activities planned: the Pledge of Allegiance will be conducted schoolwide at 9:11 a.m.; during homeroom, the Preamble to the Constitution will be read over the intercom, then eighth-grade social studies students will announce historical snapshots of information over the intercom to the entire school; all social studies classes will be doing lessons on the Constitution, including read alouds, short skits, historical research, and in-depth studies of the components, meaning, and significance of the Constitution.
Santa Barbara Junior High School’s Associated Student Body leadership will be providing information to all students via the intercom system in the morning, and having homerooms discuss the information and Constitution.
HIGH SCHOOLS
Each day this week, Dos Pueblos High School’s television station, DPTV, has been running short stories about
the Constitution; a “Constitutional fact” has been listed each day in the written daily bulletin.
San Marcos High School teachers have been provided with information regarding resources to use in their classrooms; it will be red, white and blue dress up day on Friday, September 16; there will be.a special feature on the Royal Report video bulletin, which is broadcast to all classrooms, with students reciting the Preamble and featuring the Schoolhouse Rock video on the Constitution.
Santa Barbara High School will conduct a schoolwide reading of the Preamble of the Constitution at 11:00 a.m.; teachers may individually incorporate other activities that foster student awareness of the importance of the Constitution Day.
DISTRICT OFFICE
Superintendent Sarvis is preparing Constitution-related activities for the start of the 3:30 p.m. District Office staff
meeting tomorrow.
Update to the September 14, 2005 news release:
Harding Elementary School moved their Constitution Day activities to Monday, September 19 due to a conflict with Friday’s
Picture Day.
At Roosevelt Elementary School, all classes will be talking about the Constitution during their social studies period.
Constitution Day in the Santa Barbara School Districts
Last spring, Congress enacted a law requiring schools that receive federal funds to hold a commemoration of Constitution Day each year. The law applies to “local educational agencies” and “institutions of higher education.” September 17 was selected to commemorate the September 17, 1787 signing of the U.S. Constitution. When the law falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, then Constitution Day “shall be held during the preceding or following week.” (Federal Register)
Several schools in the Santa Barbara Elementary and High School Districts will commemorate Constitution and Citizenship Day on Friday, September 16, 2005. For example:
Cesar Chavez Charter School teachers are planning age-appropriate activities;
Harding Elementary School is asking students to wear red, white, and blue and a sixth-grade student will read the Preamble to the Constitution to the school;
Santa Barbara Community Academy will recite or have read the Preamble to the Constitution at their morning assembly;
McKinley Elementary School teachers will be discussing the Constitution and at 11:00 a.m., a student leader will lead the student body, via the intercom system, in reciting the Preamble;
Monroe Elementary School students will be reciting the Preamble at 11:00 a.m. and grade levels will be doing pre-lessons on the meaning of the Preamble and the Constitution;
Peabody Charter School teachers are designing developmentally appropriate lessons to teach about the Constitution;
Washington Elementary School’s news announcements will include student recitations of the Preamble and a short presentation on the Constitution; some teachers in the upper grades will be discussing the Constitution in class.
The Grass is Greener at Open Alternative School
On Thursday, September 15, at 11:00 a.m., Open Alternative School will have a “new lawn celebration,” commemorating the switch from a dirt field to a grass play area. The entire school, more than 200 students, will be in attendance. Superintendent Dr. Brian Sarvis will help with the ribbon cutting.
Gwen Phillips, head teacher of the K-8 school, stated “The new field at OAS is a great example of cooperation between the school district and the parents of a school. In this case the school district provided some irrigation repair and approximately $3,000 for the sod. The parents of Open Alternative provided the labor needed to lay the sod. The combined efforts were amazing!”
Students in Susie Melican’s second- and third-grade class have written poetry that will be incorporated into the new lawn celebration:
TALL GRASS
by Max Mercurio
Two butterflies
And a moth
Loop around the grass. They both
Love the grass.
Grass grows green with a
Radishy smell.
An ant marches across the grass making a
Slithering, squeaking
Sound.
GRASS
by Emily Carrillo
Green grass grows
Rabbits hop on tall grass
And gophers eat grass
Stamping, playing on tall, tall grass
Slippery grass grows.
Open Alternative is located at 4025 Foothill Road, Santa Barbara, CA.
Preschool For All Will Soon Be Off And Running
Beginning Thursday, September 15, 2005, parents of all income levels in the McKinley Elementary School attendance area are eligible to enroll their preschooler in the Santa Barbara Elementary School District’s free Preschool For All (PFA) program There will be space for 80 four-year-olds in the PFA classrooms at McKinley when the program becomes operational on October 3, 2005. The four pilot classrooms will include children from State Preschool and McKinley’s general population. A lottery will be conducted if the number of applications exceeds space available.
Preschool For All is being organized and operated by the district’s Child Development Program. It will include a family outreach component (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters) and access to the Waterford Early Reading program. PFA is a growing national and statewide effort to make high quality preschool available to every child prior to entering kindergarten.
According to Superintendent Brian Sarvis, “Many educators believe that the achievement gap begins in kindergarten and that one way to close the gap is to provide quality, universal preschool. Our preschools offer many age-appropriate activities to develop language and cognitive skills. We know that preschool with a high-quality staff can provide a transforming experience that can help children succeed in school.” He continued, “Our Child Development team has done a great job developing Santa Barbara County’s first Preschool For All program.”
Broadcast Dates of August 23, 2005, and September 6 Board Meetings
Due to technical difficulty, the August 23, 2005, board meeting was not aired on Channel 18 as planned. The meeting will be replayed on Friday, September 16 at 10:00 p.m.
Additionally, the September 6 special board meeting will be replayed on Monday, September 19 at 9:00 a.m.