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District Digest - Volume 4, Issue 1
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014 |
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I am pleased to present the 13th issue of The District Digest, an online newsletter produced by the Sunnyvale School District. Articles are published online at http://sesd-district-digest.org/; in general, stories from the past three months are collected for each emailed "digest".
In the 2014-2015 school year, we will publish the District Digest in September, December, March and June (on the first school day on or after the first of the month); article submissions are welcome, please submit at least 10 days before each publishing date (info@sesd-district-digest.org).
Your comments and feedback are especially welcome!
Best wishes,
Benjamin H. Picard, Ed. D.
Superintendent of Schools
Letter from the Superintendent
Dear Friends,
You may have noticed, but summertime is almost over! We eagerly awaited the return of teachers and students to launch the 2014-2015 school year.
Learning did not take a summer break in Sunnyvale School District. I have been so pleased to see hundreds of Sunnyvale students engaged in learning activities in our schools during July. Our enriched summer school offerings are among the absolute best in the Bay Area. Students participated in several programs provided by our school district and partners, including:
- Elementary and middle school academic programs with Stanford University at Bishop Elementary and Columbia Middle School
- Introduction to Mandarin and Chinese culture at Columbia Middle School in partnership with the California World Language Project of Stanford University
- Stretch to Kindergarten Program for incoming kindergarten students with Foothill College Family Engagement Institute at San Miguel Elementary School
- Summer Learning Program serving Lakewood School students with the Silicon Valley YMCA, and
- Summer enrichment camp provided by the Northwest YMCA at Bishop School.
As I toured these programs this summer it was wonderful to see the students engaged with challenging curriculum and enrichment supported by the high quality and intentional instruction provided by our teachers and partners.
So what does 2014-2015 hold in store for us? It will be a positive year as Sunnyvale School District will continue to refine our focus on doing what matters most for our students. This means continuing to be guided by the Effective Schools Correlates by offering high quality instruction, rich curriculum opportunities, support of the whole child, with high expectation school cultures throughout our schools. And, of course we will continue to monitor student progress frequently to guide our practice.
My warmest wishes to each or you for wonderful year ahead,
Benjamin H. Picard, Ed. D.
Superintendent of Schools
In this Issue
- Sunnyvale Middle School Students Visit Iizuka, Japan
- New Study Shows Reading Partners Tutoring Program Boosts Reading Proficiency of 2nd through 5th Grade Students
- San Miguel Recognized as an Ashoka Changemaker School
- Field Test for Smarter Balance
- Support for Healthy Living in Sunnyvale
- FREE Digital Safety Workshops for Parents and Youth
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Sunnyvale Middle School Students Visit Iizuka, Japan
The Sunnyvale Sister City Association has its roots in the breathtaking impression its founder and president, Mark Kato, had of the United States in the late 1970's, on his very first trip to the U.S. from Japan. About 35 years after that 3-week visit to the United States, Kato founded the Sunnyvale Sister City Association in 2012 and successfully organized the first student exchange between students in Sunnyvale and students in Iizuka, Japan. [Read more] |
New Study Shows Reading Partners Tutoring Program Boosts Reading Proficiency of 2nd through 5th Grade Students
The results are in: After a year-long, independent evaluation of Reading Partners efficacy, a new report shows the impact that the robust literacy program has on improving the reading skills of elementary school students. Reading Partners is a one-on-one tutoring program delivered by volunteers to struggling readers in low-income elementary schools. [Read more] |
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San Miguel Recognized as an Ashoka Changemaker School
As schools are increasingly held accountable for students' academic achievements through vigorous standardize testing, organizations such as Ashoka Innovators for the Public help ensure educators also devote attention and energy to the social-emotional development of their students. San Miguel Elementary school became one of the newest members of the Ashoka Changemaker Schools Network this July, one of only 60 such schools across the nation, one of nine in California. [Read more] |
Field Test for Smarter Balance
Common Core curriculum will be in full implementation this year, and students will be taking a new set of standardized tests, developed by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, and aligned to the Common Core State Standards in English/Language Arts and Mathematics (Grade 3-8 and Grade 11). Sunnyvale School District participated in field tests for the new Smarter Balance tests in Spring 2014. [Read more]
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Support for Healthy Living in Sunnyvale
All youths in Sunnyvale and their families will have reinforcement from a huge collaborative effort whose mission is to make active living and healthy eating available and accessible in Sunnyvale. Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) and El Camino Hospital support a shared group, Collaborative Addressing Childhood Obesity in Sunnyvale, with a mission to prevent and reduce childhood obesity through community collaboration. [Read more]
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Free Digital Safety Workshops for Parents and Youth
October is Cyber Safety Month. Youth face many challenges in this fast paced, always connected digital world. As the popularity of the internet and social media grows in our kids’ lives, so do the risks they face. This FREE workshop will help empower both parents and youth to understand social media sites, apps, and privacy tools, as well as provide resources for staying safe online and learning ways to help prevent and navigate cyber bullying. [Read more] |
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