Follow-up Story: Sierra Vista High School students, staff and faculty shared their reflections Friday about the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks during the school’s regular Friday Flashback activity. Individuals shared thank-you messages to first responders and military personnel, their thoughts about the event and personal memories on three posters displayed in different areas of the campus. Photos are available.
Follow-up Story: Roughly 1,000 students and parents mingled with alumni and representatives of top universities and career programs at Baldwin Park Unified’s 10th annual College Fair, which targeted college and career guidance at students in grades five to 12. The event, held Sept. 24 at Sierra High School, included a keynote address from the president of No Excuses University, workshops on college preparation, panels of alumni and parents, entertainment by student musical groups and, of course, dozens of college booths.
Baldwin Park Unified students improved their performance in English language arts (ELA) and math on the state’s second round of testing on the California Standards for English language arts and math, according to data released Aug. 24. Overall, student performance climbed by 5 percentage points in ELA and 3 percentage points in math on the two computer-based exams, the centerpiece of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress. The tests are administered in spring to students in grades three through eight and 11.
Baldwin Park Unified has released a new smartphone app that will allow families to keep up with District news, check school calendars, bus routes and lunch menus and tap into a host of student and parent resources. The free app, developed over the summer, is available via Apple’s App Store and Google Play. The District will customize it in the next few months to include school-specific content.
Thirty-eight members of Baldwin Park Unified’s Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) team came together this summer for three days of intensive training to strengthen the college-readiness program’s offerings at two District high schools, two junior high schools and one middle school. The teachers and administrators attended the AVID Summer Institute at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim from June 28-30, splitting their days between learning essential curriculum and developing Baldwin Park AVID action plans for the upcoming year. The training represents the second year of increased investment in the AVID Program by Baldwin Park Unified, which had been forced by recession-era budget cuts to reduce its annual training efforts.
Follow-up Story: Baldwin Park Unified welcomed 14,000 students for the start of the 2016-17 school year on Aug. 11 with new and expanded programs in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), new classroom digital tools, expanded college-preparatory programs, and a smartphone app that will provide parents with a new channel for school information. Photos are available.
More than 14,000 students will start classes at Baldwin Park Unified School District on Thursday, Aug. 11, greeted by expanded science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) courses, college prep programs, dual-language classes and classroom digital tools. District leaders say the changes represent an aggressive investment in programs that will strengthen student opportunities for success in college and careers under Baldwin Park Unified’s Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP).
Follow-up Story: Baldwin Park Unified educators and Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park Medical Center staff on Aug. 10 handed out scores of backpacks loaded with school supplies to students from Heath, Tracy and Vineland elementary schools. Excited students got to choose from a wide array of designs, ranging from flying hamburgers to Star Wars. This is the seventh year Kaiser Permanente doctors, nurses and staff have donated the backpacks. This year, about 100 packs were available at each school.
Follow-up Story: Former California Superintendent of Schools Jack O’Connell delivered inspirational remarks during a back-to-school kick-off event for more than 1,800 Baldwin Park Unified District employees on Aug. 8 at Sierra Vista High School. The speech followed a 90-minute health fair that began at 7:30 a.m. and talks by Sierra Vista High School Principal Christine Simmons and Baldwin Park Unified Superintendent Froilan N. Mendoza.
Some 42 Baldwin Park Unified teachers and roughly 60 campus and district leaders will embark on extensive training in classroom technology this August as the District creates classrooms that infuse instruction with the latest digital tools. A special emphasis of the effort will be to create two prototype multi-lingual, tech-infused classrooms in the dual-language immersion program at Foster Elementary. The teachers – two from each school – will serve as pioneers in implementing technology-driven lessons at their campuses. To support the teachers, the District is upgrading its wireless internet connectivity, adding two carts of Chromebooks to each school and installing interactive whiteboard/projection systems in classrooms.