Baldwin Park Unified School District welcomed more than 13,000 students for the 2018-19 school year on Aug. 16, launching with an expanded Dual Immersion program, increased science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEM) opportunities and new leadership at three schools.
Jefferson Middle School’s incoming sixth-graders will get to know their new middle school during a morning of friendly competition and group bonding during the Where Everyone Belongs (WEB) program orientation, held 8 a.m. to noon Monday, Aug. 13. WEB transforms eighth-graders into mentors and teaches them about leadership while providing sixth-graders with a sense of support and school spirit.
Disney Channel and ABC Family stars delighted students on Aug. 20 at Baldwin Park Unified’s Tracy Elementary with more than 700 backpacks filled with grade-specific school supplies thanks to a partnership with the nonprofit Baby2Baby. Baby2Baby provided a backpack to every student and transitional kindergarteners, kindergarteners and first-graders participated in a dance warmup. Baby2Baby provides basic essentials for newborns and children up to 12.
Fontana Unified students returned to school for the 2018-19 year on Aug. 6, greeted by new administrators, expanded early education programs and learning opportunities designed to strengthen instruction and inspire academic excellence. The District extended its full-day kindergarten to three additional schools this year, including Almond Elementary. There, parents were invited to escort their children into their new classrooms, meet their new teachers and help ease the transition into school life.
La Serna High School’s incoming ninth-graders will get a chance to preview classes, meet teachers, make new friends and learn more about the Lancer campus – their home for the next four years – on Tuesday, Aug. 14 as part of Whittier Union High School District’s Freshman First Day program.
Rio Hondo College’s Roadrunner Crew 77 has been called up for the second time this summer – this time to assist crews battling the massive Ferguson Fire that is threatening Yosemite National Park. The crew, led by a U.S. Forest Service crew boss, includes 17 recent graduates of the College’s Wildland Fire Academy. A Type II hand crew, the team assists with all aspects of fire monitoring, suppression and control, including digging fire containment lines. The crew can be called up for 21 days with each activation. It was activated over the July 4 weekend to assist in battling the Agua Caliente fire in Palm Springs.
Nearly 40 San Gabriel Unified administrators and teachers learned how to execute Design-Based Learning (DBL) lessons during the DBL Summer Institute, held July 25-31 at Art Center in Pasadena. Educators from SGUSD’s elementary, middle and high schools learned how to implement DBL instruction, which helps students acquire, retain and synthesize classroom lessons through kinesthetic problem-solving. The District plans to introduce DBL instruction across all education levels and eventually establish a DBL demonstration school.
Canyon Crest Elementary School will provide new activities and resources to help students explore science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects in 2018-19. The school, which offers a Maker Space dedicated to hand-on creativity and mobile computer and tablet labs for coding and computer programming, will add an “Innovation Space” that features Lego robotics and Merge augmented/virtual reality cubes.
San Gabriel Unified will add transitional kindergarten (TK) classes at one new site in 2018-19, continuing a multi-year early learning program rollout. McKinley Elementary, which hosts a Spanish dual-language immersion program and STEM instruction with coding, robotics and augmented reality, will join Roosevelt and Washington elementary schools in offering transitional kindergarten in 2018-19.
More than 1,000 Lynwood Unified staff members will come together for a superintendent’s address that will celebrate the District’s successes and address challenges for the 2018-19 year on Monday, Aug. 20 at Lynwood High School, 4050 E Imperial Hwy., Lynwood. Superintendent Gudiel R. Crosthwaite will address attendees alongside students and members of the Board of Education.