Sierra Vista High School Students to Relieve Finals Stress with Puppy Party

Sierra Vista High School students will alleviate finals week stress with a puppy party at lunchtime on Monday, Dec. 17. The event is organized by the school’s National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) club, a student-led organization that raises awareness of mental health. Sierra Vista High School is at 3600 Frazier St., Baldwin Park.

Paramount USD Reorganizes Board of Education During Meeting

The Paramount Unified Board of Education appointed a new president and vice president/clerk on Dec. 9. Vivian Hansen is the new president, while Yesenia Cuarenta will serve as vice president/clerk. Members Sonia De Leon, Linda Garcia and Carmen P. Gomez round out the board.

San Gabriel Unified Elementary Students Achieve Continued Growth on State Standardized Tests

Roosevelt Elementary students improved their performance on California’s English language arts (ELA) and mathematics tests in 2018, continuing a three-year upward trend attributed in part to the school’s Music Immersion Experience (MIE) program. Formed in 2015, the MIE program enhances student learning and achievement through music education. San Gabriel Unified launched the program after bring inspired by El Sistema programs throughout the country, as well as recent Northwestern University research that discovered a positive link between music education and lifelong academic success.

Bassett Unified Drum Class Teaches Rhythm, Strengthens Classroom Engagement

About 15 students cluster around the row of drums, bongos, congas, timbales and cow bells, banging on the instruments with hands and sticks, vying with one another to see who can be the loudest. Every Friday from 4 to 5 p.m., Van Wig Elementary School students in transitional kindergarten through fifth grade join Principal Andrew Candelaria in the cafeteria to learn about cadence and “finding the beat.”

Rio Hondo College Receives $664,000 Federal Childcare Grant to Boost College Attendance by Parents

Rio Hondo College will receive $664,220 in federal dollars over the next four years to remove financial barriers to childcare that can prevent students with children from attending college. The Child Care Access Means Parents in School grant will provide the College with $166,055 annually to subsidize up to 75 percent of the cost of childcare for parents who are Pell Grant recipients or Pell Grant eligible.

Paramount High Students Sharpen Career Skills through Leadership Club

Paramount High School students are learning how to start businesses, build websites, prepare for job interviews and other vital life skills through the school’s Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) club. The after-school club meets weekly. Members of Paramount’s FCCLA attended the annual National Leadership Conference in summer in Atlanta, where students from across the country competed in 30 events.