Baldwin Park Unified, the City of Baldwin Park and community partners will provide 300 K-12 students in need with a $50 shopping trip to Walmart to purchase winter clothes at 7 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 8 as part of their 19th annual Santa Clothes Project. Students are chosen from Baldwin Park Unified schools based on financial need; they will be matched with volunteer shoppers at Walmart, 3250 Big Dalton Ave., Baldwin Park.
Baldwin Park Unified has cut water use nearly in half since initiating the first stage of a water conservation plan, and officials are pursuing new efforts that could drop usage levels even lower. The District achieved its water savings by centralizing irrigation operations with a computerized control system, reducing water days and times. In some areas, watering was terminated altogether during the summer months. Water usage dropped 47.1 percent for summer 2015.
Baldwin Park Unified will receive a 2015 Golden Bell Award – the highest honor possible for a California school district – during a special ceremony at noon Saturday, Dec. 5 in San Diego. The honor, given by the California School Boards Association, honors Holland Middle School for the effectiveness of its “Focused Science through Lesson Study” teaching approach. The approach brings together teachers to design lessons, observe students, analyze effectiveness and collaborate on ways to strengthen lesson delivery. Lesson Study has propelled students in high-needs groups past their peers on state science tests since 2012.
Families of students within the Baldwin Park Unified School District boundaries may pick up Open Enrollment applications at any campus through Friday, Dec. 4. Open Enrollment allows families to choose any district school to enroll their children, including transitional kindergarten students who turn 5 between Sept. 1 and Dec. 1. Final enrollment in schools of choice will be determined by lottery immediately after the application period closes.
The College Board has recognized 104 students at Sierra Vista and Baldwin Park high schools for their success on Advanced Placement (AP) exams, naming 68 student as AP Scholars, 17 as AP Scholars with Honor and 19 as AP Scholars with Distinction. Each honor requires an increasingly stronger performance on exams for the college-level courses. Students who succeed on AP exams show they are ready for the rigors of college, may be allowed to skip some college courses and are more likely to graduate college on time. In 2014-15, 1,579 Baldwin Park Unified students took AP exams – some of them as many as 13.
Baldwin Park Unified will begin transitioning high school math programs this fall to an integrated math model, an approach that blends instruction in algebra, geometry and trigonometry to mirror their application in real-world scenarios. Integrated math is an option under the new California Standards, which restructure math instruction across all grades. The model will be rolled out a year at a time, starting with this year’s incoming freshmen. As part of the effort, the District began adjusting middle-school instruction in 2014-15 and has adopted new textbooks. Classes begin Monday, Aug. 17.
Baldwin Park Unified this fall is expanding its partnership with Project Lead The Way (PLTW), the nation’s premier provider of instructional programs in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Baldwin Park High, which launched a PLTW freshman-engineering class in 2014-15, will add a sophomore-year course; Holland Middle School and Santa Fe School will add PLTW Gateway, an engineering program aimed at middle school students; Santa Fe will also add robotics curriculum to its fifth-grade science classes. The district is partnering with Cal Poly Pomona's College of Engineering, which provides teacher training and certification. Students who complete the engineering course pathway will move to the front of the registration line for Cal Poly's engineering program. School begins Monday, Aug. 17.
Baldwin Park Unified School District is expanding its annual College Fair to include additional workshops, parent and alumni panel discussions, and community group representatives as a way of delivering college information tailored to meet the differing needs of families with students in high school, middle school and elementary school. The event will be held Saturday, Sept. 26 at Baldwin Park High School, 3900 N. Puente Ave., Baldwin Park. Transportation and childcare will be provided; student groups will entertain and sell food as fundraisers. The event is free and open to the entire community.
Follow-up Story: Baldwin Park Unified sent home its first community newsletter this week, part of a partnership with the City of Baldwin Park. The district newsletter is included in Baldwin Park NOW, a tabloid-sized community newsletter sent to more than 20,000 homes across the city. The inaugural edition includes articles about district achievements and instructional improvements coming in 2015-16. The newsletter will appear six times a year.
Follow-up Story: Baldwin Park Unified will invest in a host of programs in 2015-16 – including an International Baccalaureate program, an alternative learning academy, STEM programs and added rigor for Advanced Placement and honors classes – to prepare students for success in college or careers as part of its 2015-18 Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP). The plan, adopted June 23, spells out how the district will spend $13 million to benefit high-needs student groups – foster children, English learners and economically disadvantaged students – as well as programs for all students. Baldwin Park will launch extended school year offerings, chances to make up classes or improve grades during summer and a program to help ease the transition from middle school to high school. Teacher development will be a key priority as will a $2.5 million investment in the district’s educational technology.