News from EGUSD

Elk Grove Unified School District

Excellence by Design

EGUSD News and Notes

April 19, 2010

In This Issue

2009/2010 Furlough Days

California Distinguished Schools

Reese Elementary NEHS students

Science Fair/Invention Convention

Helpful Links

District Event Calendar

Budget Watch

Honoring Our Volunteers

Jennifer Ryon and Troy Luna of David Reese Elementary School Head Start PreK Program

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Jennifer and Troy Ryon were recognized as Education Partners at the April 6, 2010 meeting of the Elk Grove Unified School District Board of Education.

During the 2008-2009 school year, Jennifer served as the school representative and the chairperson of the district's Parent Policy Committee. This year, Jennifer is serving as the David Reese representative on the Parent Policy Committee and as EGUSD's representative on the Parent Policy Council - the parent committee of the Sacramento Employment Training Agency (SETA). She was also elected chairperson of the Parent Policy Council.

Jennifer has served on Bylaws and Program Area Plans committees. She is also a member of the EGUSD Categorical Advisory Committee. In April 2009, Jennifer represented SETA at the National Head Start Conference in Orlando, Florida.

Jennifer's husband Troy is the Male Involvement Representative for SETA. Both Jennifer and Troy are active in attending workshops and volunteering in the classroom.

The Ryon's are the proud parents of two children, Troy, a kindergartner at Samuel Kennedy Elementary School and Alyssa, a student in the Head Start Pre-K class at David Reese.

LCHS' CAAP group recognized at Board of Education meeting

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The Laguna Creek High School Concerned African-American Parents (CAAP) group was recognized by the EGUSD Board of Education on April 6, 2010, for their efforts in enabling measurable improvements to the academic achievement for many students attending Laguna Creek High School.

The CAAP advocacy group was founded by nine parents in 2007. Over three years, this group has led a movement to eliminate the academic achievement gap at Laguna Creek High School. The CAAP leadership has structured a dynamic organization, comprised of professionals representing a variety of careers. CAAP has grown to include more than 40 adult and youth volunteers. They have directly established and maintained meaningful on-going programs and events that benefit the student and adult population of Laguna Creek High School.

For more information about CAAP, visit their website at www.caapofelkgrove.org.

David Reese Elementary teacher earns

Pay It Forward grant from
University of Phoenix

Thanks to the efforts of David Reese Elementary School first grade teacher Cathy Kirwan, the kindergartners will have new options for playtime during recess. Kirwan was selected to receive a $500 Pay It Forward grant from the University of Phoenix to purchase tricycles for the kindergartners at Reese.

"Healthy eating and maintaining physical fitness are important for young children," said Kirwan. Kirwan is also the Nutrition Education Liaison Teacher (NELT) at Reese. "I have a background in nutrition so I know how important healthy eating and being physical fit is. I decided to apply for the grant for tricycles for the kindergartners so we could promote the idea of physical fitness as early as possible."

Kirwan, a graduate of the University of Phoenix, first found out about the Pay It Forward grant through a newsletter from her alma mater several months ago. Previously, Reese did not have tricycles for their students.

"We are thrilled that the grant will provide a new healthy activity for our youngest students," said Reese Principal Jenifer Avey. "It's never too early to start instilling the importance of physical fitness in our students."

Herman Leimbach Elementary School fourth-grade students dominate poster contest

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Five students in Jenny Williams' fourth-grade class at Herman Leimbach Elementary School were recently selected as winners in the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) Art Contest. The contest asked students to create a poster showing different ways to create and save green spaces in our community or yard featuring TurfMutt, the Caped Crusader.

Williams' students participated in the TurfMutt Yard Dog Science Program, an educational outreach program developed by OPEI's Education and Research Foundation and Weekly Reader. Through worksheets and experiments, Williams' class learned the science behind lawns' ability to absorb carbon dioxide, release oxygen, cool the air, control dust, reduce erosion and filter water.

The following students won awards in the art contest:

· 1st Place - Qi Liu ($500 Amazon.com gift card)
· 2nd Place - Tiffany Tran ($250 Amazon.com gift card)
· 3rd Place - Damiana Andrade-Barham ($100 Amazon.com gift card)
· Runners-up - Shaudai Love and Assante Moses ($50 Amazon.com gift card each)

Founded in 1952, OPEI represents and promotes the outdoor power equipment industry and ensures the public may continue to benefit from the economic, lifestyle and environmental contributions of lawns and landscapes. OPEI is a recognized Standards Development Organization for the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and active internationally through the International Standards Organization (ISO) in the development of safety standards.

For more information on OPEI, visit www.OPEI.org.

Sheldon High School FFA helps bring sight to those in need

Thanks to the efforts of the members of the Sheldon High School Future Farmers of America (FFA) organization, 51 people will receive glasses through the Lions Club and Sheldon FFA Eye Glass Collection Program.

The Sheldon FFA Chapter placed collection boxes throughout the Sheldon campus and encouraged students and staff to donate old glasses. After two weeks of collections, students collected 51 pairs of eyeglasses.

The glasses are currently being cleaned and tested. They will be labeled with the appropriate prescription. Once the glasses are ready, they will be distributed to needy people in the community who would otherwise go without the gift of sight.

Email Communication in EGUSD

The Elk Grove Unified School District now has the ability to
communicate with parents and guardians through a new email system that is integrated with our student information system.

This new system will allow for increased district and school
communication with parents about important information and events. It will also allow the district and schools to save money on paper and printing costs during these tough budgetary times.

We understand that not all families have access to the Internet or email. Therefore, at this time, the emails will be an additional communication tool. Important information will continue to go home to parents in print format.

EGUSD tested this new communication tool with two test emails in March. If you have already submitted your email address to your child's school you should have received the test email. You can make certain that the email comes through by adding the email address
donotreply@egusd.netto your acceptable email addresses in your spam filter.

If you did not receive the test emails in March, but would like to receive emails in the future, please contact your child's school to have your email address added to your student's registration information.

Should you have questions about this new email system,
please contact communication@egusd.net.

Welcome to eguNews, an EGUSD email newsletter published every two weeks. If you have questions about eguNews, you can email communication@egusd.net or call (916) 686-7732.

2009-2010 Furlough Days

For the 2010-2011 school year, the Elk Grove Unified School District is required to make $60.5 million in budget reductions as the result of the state's economic crisis. As the district moves through the process of balancing its budget, we continue to seek solutions that will keep staff and programs in place to support our students.

With this in mind, the Elk Grove Unified School District (EGUSD) and Elk Grove Education Association (EGEA) signed a tentative agreement that will implement two unpaid furlough days for teachers, counselors, librarians, nurses and all other EGEA bargaining unit members for the 2009-2010 school year.

In addition, EGUSD's Psychologists and Social Workers Association, district and site administrators, classified managers and other staff represented by EGTEAMS have also agreed to two furlough days in the current 2009-2010 school year. The superintendent and the district's associate superintendents will take two furlough days in 2009-2010 and seven furlough days in 2010-2011.

While the agreement between EGUSD and EGEA does not change the need to reduce the budget by $60.5 million, it does allow the district to restore 29 counseling positions at the secondary schools one more year. Without the furlough days, these 29 counseling positions would have been eliminated as the result of state budget cuts.

This is a positive first step. However, the district is still required to reduce the 2010-2011 budget by $60.5 million through a combination of position and program reductions, as well as negotiated cost containment measures in partnership with our labor associations.

Furlough days mean that schools will be closed and students will not come to school on these two days. Due to the various schedules within EGUSD schools, the furlough days vary. Furlough Days for PreK-12 can be viewed here. Special Education programs furlough days can be viewed by clicking here.

Furlough days for adult education teachers will vary. Please contact Adult Education for dates.

The tentative agreement also includes the approval of the modified traditional schedule for the 12 elementary schools that will move from a year-round schedule next year. These schools include: Maeola R. Beitzel, Raymond Case, John Ehrhardt, Robert J. Fite, Roy Herburger, Samuel Kennedy, Anna Kirchgater, Herman Leimbach, Charles Mack, Barbara Comstock Morse, John Reith and Union House. The district is also evaluating whether the communities of Florence Markofer, Ellen Feickert and Florin elementaries want to move to a modified traditional schedule. The modified calendar can be viewed by clicking here.

Three EGUSD elementary schools earn
California Distinguished School honors

Three Elk Grove Unified School District elementary schools - Carroll, Elitha Donner and Elliott Ranch - have been selected as 2010 California Distinguished Schools. These schools will be honored at an awards ceremony at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim on June 4, 2010.

As a part of the application process, schools are required to write a narrative application and then undergo a site validation process. Schools earning the Distinguished School title agree to share their signature practices with other schools and serve as a mentor to other educators who want to replicate the work.

The California School Recognition Program, now in its 24th year, identifies and honors public schools with the California Distinguished School Award. Participation in the program is voluntary. Elementary and secondary schools are recognized in alternate years.

A total of 484 elementary schools were selected as California Distinguished Schools for 2010. Schools that were selected to apply for the award were identified for meeting designated federal and state accountability measures based on No Child Left Behind, Adequate Yearly Progress and the Academic Performance Index requirements. The process was conducted by the California Department of Education, along with the assistance of local educators from across the state and in partnership with the county superintendents of schools.

For more information about the California Distinguished School Award program, visit http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/sr/cs/.

David Reese Elementary School inducts students into National Elementary
Honor Society

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On Thursday, April 8, David Reese Elementary School welcomed the first students into the newest Elk Grove Unified school chapter of the National Elementary Honor Society (NEHS). A total of 48 students were inducted into the NEHS chapter at Reese.

Reese is the fourth elementary school to charter an NEHS chapter in the district. They are the first Title I school to do so.

"Thanks to the hard work of our NEHS Faculty Advisors Rudy Alfonso and Ann Sanders, as well as NEHS Chapter Advisor Amy Freeman, our students now have the chance to be honored through a national society for their academic achievements," said Jenifer Avey, principal at Reese. "Our students have worked diligently to obtain this recognition and it is wonderful to see them acknowledged for their hard work."

NEHS membership is open to students who meet the standard in two areas of initial evaluation: scholarship - academic achievement - and responsibility. Students are selected to be members of NEHS by teacher advisors appointed by the principal. Students in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades are eligible for membership.

Students must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or better on a 4.0 scale. The students who meet this criterion are invited to complete a Candidate's Form and the candidate's current and previous year teachers are asked for input on the candidate. The teacher advisors use the forms and the input from teachers to determine a candidate's admission to NEHS.

Once inducted, new members are required to maintain the same level of performance - or better - in all the criteria that led to their selection. Members must attend monthly meetings during the school year, pay $10 in annual dues and participate in other chapter service projects and activities.

NEHS was created by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) in cooperation with the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) in April 2008. NASSP created the program to help schools give students in grades 4-6 national recognition for their accomplishments. The program is designed to foster leadership development and to encourage the participation of elementary-aged students in service activities.

For more information about NEHS, visit http://www.nehs.org/.

Young science scholars and inventors shine at 2010 EGUSD Science Fair and Invention Convention

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