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Winter 2012, Vol. 1, Issue 2
I am pleased to present the second issue of the DISTRICT DIGEST, an online newsletter produced by the Sunnyvale School District. Through the DISTRICT DIGEST, we will provide information to parents and Sunnyvale residents on programs, happenings and issues affecting our neighborhood schools, the district, and public education. Articles in the District Digest are published online at http://sesd-district-digest.org/; stories from the past three months are collected for each emailed issue.
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Vision for Sunnyvale School District by 2020
The Sunnyvale School District held a Stakeholders’ Lyceum on October 27, 2011 to assess the current conditions of our district and develop a vision to carry us through 2020. Participants included stakeholder representatives of district administrators and management, board members, certificated teachers, classified staff, parents, community members, and students. Under the direction of a facilitator, Ruth Ann Costanza of Stanford University, the group reviewed the district’s motto (Learn today, lead tomorrow), its mission, core values, guiding principles, and ways in which the district has incorporated the Seven Correlates of Effective Schools into its strategic planning since 2010. [ READ MORE] |
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PLCs Bridge Middle Schools
This fall, Sunnyvale School District took the concept of Professional Learning Communities (PLC) to a higher level: the first collaborative session across the district’s two middle schools, Columbia (CMS) and Sunnyvale (SMS). On Wednesday, October 12, 2011, teachers from both schools met with their course-alike counterparts to discuss curriculum alignment, assessments, and strategies to better support student learning. Professional Learning Communities (PLC) were adopted as a district-wide practice about two years ago, in order to implement several of the Seven Correlates of Effective Schools, a framework for school improvement adopted by the Sunnyvale School District. [ READ MORE] |
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Superintendent's Letter: 12/11
The other day while attending a Sunnyvale Challenge Team meeting I was struck by a wonderful realization. In attendance were representatives from thirteen different organizations gathered together for the purpose of supporting the youth of the Sunnyvale community. These organizations all partner in some way with our schools to strengthen the learning supports offered to students; either academic, recreational, enrichment or addressing social emotional barriers to learning. [ READ MORE]
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'Successful Strategies' for Middle School
This fall, the Parent-Teacher-Student Association (PTSA) at Sunnyvale Middle School (SMS) presented an encore version of its well-received “Successful Strategies for Middle School” program, originally piloted in March 2011. Successful Strategies for Middle School is a free, three-part education series that focuses on preparing parents and students for the challenges of middle school [ READ MORE] |
520 Tons of CO2 Avoided...and Counting!
On October 20, 2011, the Board of Education for the Sunnyvale School District was given an award acknowledging our years of dedicated effort in the realm of energy conservation. The award marks two years working with Energy Education, Inc. to track, monitor, and adjust energy use district-wide [ READ MORE] |
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SMS Wins "2020 Vision" Award
The Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) recognizes schools throughout the county for measurable success in closing the achievement gap between lower and higher performing students. Sunnyvale Middle School (SMS) will be recognized at the SJ2020 Annual Meeting on January 19, 2012 for its impressive efforts toward eliminating the student achievement gap, based on the school’s 2011 California Standards Test (CST) results. [ READ MORE] |
San Miguel: A Bookshelf in Every Home
San Miguel Elementary School collaborated with Reach Potential Movement (RPM) on an ambitious project: providing a bookshelf for every one of their kindergarten families. Reach Potential Movement is a local non-profit whose mission is to help under-resourced children reach their highest potential. [ READ MORE]
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Bookmaking Workshop Coming to SMS
On January 25, 2012 students and parents will have an opportunity to learn, hands on, the process of imagining, planning and creating a book via a 90-minute workshop conducted by authors Hans and Jennifer Hartvickson, creators of “Mister Lemur’s Train of Thought”. In the book, a cartoon character, “Mister Lemur”, guides readers through 150 pages and 66 fun and subtly educational stories. [ READ MORE]
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Ellis Makes "Compassion" a Verb
Modeled after their Eagles Excellence program, Ellis School launched Ellis Compassion Project this year. Spearheaded by Kim Moya, a therapeutic special day class aide and “Compassion Coordinator”, and supported by Ellis Principal, Pepper Butler, the Ellis Compassion Project is a school-wide program that encourages students to be compassionate towards their families, their school community, the Sunnyvale community, and the world. [ READ MORE] |
Local Artists Teach Sunnyvale Students
Sunnyvale School District provides arts education in all eight elementary schools by contracting with Starting Arts, an organization that recruits and trains artists to teach in classrooms. Each class receives six 30-minute sessions of instruction from Starting Arts artists, who are practicing professionals in theatre, music, dance, and visual arts. [ READ MORE]
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"Walk and Roll" to School
Sunnyvale School District elementary and middle schools participated in the Nationwide “Walk and Bike to School” day on October 5, 2011, with Walk and Roll to School assemblies at various schools. Traffic Safe Communities Network (TSCN) in Santa Clara County is involved with implementing Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs in six Sunnyvale School District schools this year [ READ MORE] |
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