Twenty-two schools in Santa Clara County this week will become inaugural recipients of "2020 Vision" awards of the SJ2020 initiative, a collaborative effort to eliminate the achievement gap within the decade.

The awards recognize the schools' noteworthy accomplishments in closing the achievement gap, and will be presented Jan. 19 at the SJ2020 Annual Report event at the Santa Clara County Office of Education.

Review the award's selection criteria, and learn more about the techniques and programs that led these schools to success.

The schools span all K-12 grades and hail from a handful of districts in the county, as well as one COE-authorized charter school.

Schools that were 2011 recipients of the state's Title I Academic Achievement Awards program will also be acknowledged at the event.

Program gives community school students

college experience

For some COE community school students, a day spent at a local university can be much more than a typical field trip.

"It inspired me to go to college," says one student. "I just want to finish high school and try to get there to San Jose State University."

The student participated in the College Leadership Institute, a program that gives a taste of university life to students served by the COE's Alternative Education Department, which assists students who have been unsuccessful in other educational settings for a variety of reasons.

Read more about the College Leadership Institute here.

Under the program, a changing group of about 10 students spend a day a week at SJSU, attending classes and interacting with professors in the university's Justice Studies Department. The program serves middle and high school students. Later this month, college students will begin mentoring COE students.

"That's a big message that we're trying to tell," says Oscar Lamas, a COE academic guidance counselor who helped develop the program. "They can be there at a university. They can be at a higher institutions and break away from negative pathways."

Here's a summary of the Santa Clara County Board of Education's actions at its Jan. 11 meeting:

• Recognized Dollie Forney as the January Employee of the Month
• Heard annual reports from ACE and University Preparatory Academy Charter Schools

The Board of Education is the elected governing body of the COE. Its seven members serve four-year terms and are elected by different regions of the county. Learn more about the members, and view their meeting schedule, agendas and minutes.

Educators discussed the realities of school district consolidation at a forum hosted this week by the Silicon Valley Education Foundation. 

Dr. Weis was among the panelists of the Jan. 17 event. The others were Emmett Carson, Silicon Valley Community Foundation chief executive officer; Dr. Jackie Horejs, Union Elementary School District superintendent; Rachel Ehlers, Principal Fiscal & Policy Analyst of the Legislative Analyst Office; and Josephine Lucey, Cupertino Union School District Board of Education member and Santa Clara County Committee on School District Organization member.

Topics included the costs of consolidation, ideal district size and who determines what is best for a community. Dr. Weis' presentation from the event is available under the Events section of the COE website homepage. 

A grand jury report published in June 2010 recommended consolidating school districts in Santa Clara County as a cost-savings measure.

Silicon Valley Reads begins this month

Panel discussions, films and art exhibits are just a few of the activities and events that begin this month and run through April as part of the 2012 Silicon Valley Reads program.

A complete schedule of programming is now available for the annual event co-presented by the COE to inspire community reading.

Book selections for the 10th edition of the community literacy project are The Muslim Next Door and The Butterfly Mosque, which provide two perspectives of American Muslim women.

An interview with the two authors at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 25 at the Campbell Heritage Theatre kicks off the programming.

Silicon Valley Reads is presented by the COE, Santa Clara County Library and San Jose Public Library Foundation, with funding from community groups, corporate and individuals donors.