Friday FYI

A West Contra Costa Unified School District e-update for staff

April 19, 2002 * PLEASE POST * No. 0102-21

Youth Vision exhibit celebrates work of West Contra Costa Unified student artists

The Richmond Art Center is currently showing the splendid works of district students through three exhibitions. The 37^th annual Student Art Show features artwork by middle and high school students; "Art Partners: Artists in Our Schools" includes works by students in the Center’s outreach programs; and "Young At Art" features projects by elementary students in grades K-6.

Two receptions will be held for our student artists. The Richmond Art Center will host a reception for all participating elementary school students and their families on Wednesday, April 24 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Richmond Art Center. And on Friday, May 3, from 6 to 8 p.m. the Richmond Art Center will host a reception and awards ceremony for all participating middle and high school students and their families.

The Literacy Corner

Forty-five teachers and 10 school administrators representing twenty-three elementary schools, four middle schools and two alternative schools participated in the district’s Language Arts Textbook Adoption Committee. Nine other committee members represent the Bilingual/ELD Services, Consolidated Programs, Curriculum, Professional Development and Summer School Departments. The Language Arts Textbook Adoption involves grades K-5, 6-8 and intervention programs.

The State Board of Education approved the Language Arts standards-based materials on January 9, 2002, and the district began the adoption process. There were four meetings, March 11, March 18, March 25, and April 15. The adoption committee heard presentations from the publishers and then did a thorough comparison in grade level groups. The committee members individually evaluated the materials that were on display at the Alvarado Adult Education Center on Thursday, March 22, Friday, March 23, and Saturday, March 24.

The programs reviewed that have been approved by the state are (for Grades K-5/6) Houghton-Mifflin, A Legacy of Literacy and SRA-McGraw-Hill, Open Court Reading; (for Grades 6-8) Glencoe, The Reader’s Choice; Prentice-Hall, Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes; Holt-Rinehart & Winston, Literature and Language Arts; McDougal-Littell, Reading and Language Arts Programs; (for intervention) Glencoe, Language!; Hampton-Brown, High Point; Scholastic, Read 180; The Wright Group, Fast Track; and SRA-McGraw-Hill, Reach.A recommendation to the WCCUSD School Board was made on April 17^th to adopt the following programs for grades K-5 Open Court, grades 6-8 Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes, grades 4-8 Intervention High Point, and grades 9-12 Intervention Read 180.

District student receives award to support pursuit of teaching career

Dallas McMurray, a senior at El Cerrito High School, is the recipient of a scholarship from the Urban Teacher Academy at the School of Education and Allied Studies at Cal State Hayward.

In a letter to Mr. McMurray notifying him of the award, Ms. Ana Maria Rodriquez, director of the Urban Teacher Academy at Cal State Hayward, wrote: "I am very pleased to inform you that your essay written on the theme 'Be a hero, Be a Teacher!' has been selected as the winning essay from the West Contra Costa Unified School District. On behalf of the School of Education and Allied Studies at California State University, Hayward, it is my pleasure to present you with an award of $250. This academic scholarship is intended to support your goal of becoming a teacher."

Important dates for next school year, 2002-03

• First day of school: Tuesday, August 27, 2002 (YRS: July 30)
• Winter Recess: December 20 - January 3
• Presidents Week Recess: February 17-21
• Spring Recess: April 21-25
• Last day of school: June 13, 2003 (YRS: June 20)

In the Learning Village

• Chevron seeks applications for its scholarship awards from WCCUSD graduating high school seniors who have been accepted into a four-year college or university. The deadline for submissions is April 29. Eligible seniors should see their counselor or principal for an application.
• Celebrate Earth Day on Saturday, April 20 from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the Integrated Resource Recovery Facility, 101 Pittsburg Avenue in Richmond, just off the Richmond Parkway. Reasons to come: music, food, recycling awards to schools, Olympic games, electric cars, tours, composting and gardening workshops, and more!
• An informational meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 23 at 4:00 p.m. at the Alvarado Adult Education Center concerning the Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership at St. Mary’s College. The Alvarado campus is located at 5625 Sutter Street in Richmond. For more information contact Rudie Tretten at (925) 631-8298.
• The next workshop in the Supervisory Leadership Series takes place on April 24; the topic: "Coaching and Mentoring." Workshop participants will learn how to become the type of manager that inspires employees to do their best. It will be held from 10 a.m. to noon at the El Portal SDC, Room 25.
• Readapalooza Too!, the traveling performance tour that is part of Governor Gray Davis' READ California program, visits Coronado Elementary School on April 25. Last year the Readapalooza tour visited Stege Elementary School, and the performance was a big hit with students.
• The next meeting of the WCCUSD Multilingual District Advisory Committee takes place on Thursday, April 25 at the Grant School auditorium, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Topic: R30 Census and Allocations.
• The Aquatic Outreach Institute announces its "Kids in Creeks workshops for K-12 teachers. The two-day workshop will be held on two consecutive Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., April 27 and May 4, 2002 at the U.C. Berkeley Richmond Field Station. The registration fee is $25. Contact Scott Weintraub at 231-5655 for more information, or visit www.aoinstitute.org.
• Cameron School invites folks to its fundraising event at Chevy’s restaurant at Richmond Hilltop on May 3 from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. During this time Chevy’s will donate 20 percent of the evening’s proceeds to Cameron's fundraising partner. Funds will support the Early Intervention Program at Cameron School. Supporters are asked to tell their waitperson that they are dining to support Cameron.
• The 14^th Annual Teaching Excellence Awards Banquet takes place on Friday, May 17, 2002 at the Richmond Convention Center. On this evening the community will recognize six of the many outstanding teachers in the West Contra Costa Unified School District: Olanrewaju Ajayi, Transition Learning Center; Lynne Dirk, Hercules Middle School; Ed Nesmith, Pinole Valley High School; Susan Peterson, Portola Middle School; Jolanta Walukiewicz, El Cerrito High School; and Paul Yonemura, Portola Middle School. In addition, Judy Sam of Project Read Aloud and Nancy Sugars, a volunteer at Lake Elementary School, will receive Distinguished Citizen awards.
• Another Ed. Fund summer scholarship opportunity: One partial scholarship is available for a six-week "Pre-College Shakespeare Training Program" for students ages 15-18. The program, in partnership with Cal Shakes., will run from July 8 through August 16, 2002. The scholarship will cover $875 of the total cost of $1,000. The scholarship recipient's family will pay for the remaining $125. For more information contact Susan Wittenberg at 235-8278.

Do you have an item for our next Friday FYI that’s related to one of our strategic priorities? E-mail it to: pehara@ wccusd.k12.ca.us. Of course, if you're on the district's GroupWise network, you can just send it to us that way.

Our strategic priorities are: 1) Student Achievement (attendance), 2) Safety (behavior), 3) Personnel Training and Professional Development, 4) Facilities, 5) Family and Community Partnerships, 6) Equity, and 7) Communication.

—Paul Ehara, managing editor