Elk Grove Unified School District
Excellence by Design
 EGUSD News and NotesJune 7, 2010 
In This Issue
EGUSD Virtual Academy
TA with EGUSD & EGEA
Garden Club @ Franklin ES
Sport Stacking @ Ehrhardt
Helpful Links
Honoring Our Volunteers

Karen Richmond of Katherine L. Albiani Middle School

KRichKAMS

Karen Richmond was recognized as an Education Partner at the May 18, 2010 meeting of the Elk Grove Unified School District Board of Education.
 
Richmond has been an integral part of the planning and growth of parent involvement at Katherine L. Albiani Middle School since 2007.  She is a member of the Albiani Parent Teacher Advisory Committee (PTAC), which is responsible for developing and enhancing parent visitation days, the annual student vs. staff basketball fundraiser and expanding and enhancing the Albiani student recognition program.
 
Richmond also serves as Parent Volunteer Coordinator and Parent Outreach Coordinator.  Through these positions, she recruits parent volunteers for events, such as Falcon Fiesta, Back to School Night, Parent Jump Start and Parent Orientation.  Richmond also serves as liaison to elementary schools' parent associations to help bridge the volunteer gap between elementary and middle school.
 
Richmond was responsible for introducing the Watch D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students) Program to Albiani in 2008.  Additionally, she has assisted with student lunch supervision, tutored in math classrooms, organized parent volunteers for annual health screenings and helped plan and organize the 2008 golf tournament fundraiser.
 
Richmond has also played similar roles at elementary school sites and has served on the district's Finance Committee, Budget Committee, Wellness Committee and the Superintendent's Parent Advisory Council.
 
Karen is married to Robert Richmond.  They have two children - Michael, an 8th grade student at Albiani and Alexander, a 10th grade student at Pleasant Grove High School.
Upcoming Furlough Days for elementary schools
Please be aware of these upcoming furlough days:
  • June 9-10 for preschools on a Track C schedule
  • June 23-24 for students on Tracks A, B and C at year-round elementary schools
The last day of school for students on Tracks A, B and C at year-round elementary schools will be Tuesday, June 22, 2010.

For more information on furlough days, please click
here.
Two elementary schools participate in 2nd Annual Simulated Congressional Hearings

For one night only, the gymnasium and classrooms at Laguna Creek High School were transformed into Capitol Hill when fifth grade students from Arnold Adreani and Foulks Ranch elementary schools participated in the Elk Grove Unified School District's 2nd Annual Simulated Congressional Hearings on May 19th.  The night's hearings focused on the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
 
"The hearings are a culminating activity for the 'We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution' program," said Mary Beth Kropp, principal at Foulks Ranch.  "The program teaches the principles and values of the Constitution and Bill of Rights and also provides students with a thorough understanding of their rights and responsibilities as American citizens."
 
The event featured teams of four to five students each.  These students had six minutes to offer prepared "testimony" on a series of questions.  Judges then had 4 minutes to ask follow-up questions to test students' depth of knowledge.
 
The "We the People" program is administered by the Center for Civic Education and funded by the U.S. Department of Education.  The simulated congressional hearings are non-competitive at the elementary level and serve to showcase student learning. For more information on the "We the People" program, visit www.civiced.org.
 
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.

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EGUSD now accepting registration
for Virtual Academy

EGVA


 The Elk Grove Unified School District's latest educational venture - the EGUSD Virtual Academy - is now accepting enrollment for the 2010-2011 school year.
 
Students enrolled in the EGUSD Virtual Academy will have the flexibility of an online education using the nationally recognized K12 curriculum.  EGUSD has partnered with K12, a nationally recognized online learning program, for online curricular materials. The curriculum is taught under the guidance of highly qualified Elk Grove Unified teachers. Unlike other online programs, the EGUSD Virtual Academy is offered through an award-winning school district with a proven track record of educational excellence.
 
The online nature of the program will allow Elk Grove Unified to offer the academy to more students in the area. The free educational program is available to any student in grades K-12 in Sacramento County - along with students in the neighboring counties of Amador, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Placer, San Joaquin, Solano, Sutter and Yolo.
 
Although the majority of the program's work will take place online, students will also have the opportunity to meet with their teachers in person. Students and parents will be able to interact directly with teachers at one of five convenient locations located throughout the district. The five school sites serving EGUSD Virtual Academy students are: Adult & Community Education, C.W. Dillard Elementary School, Las Flores High School, Elizabeth Pinkerton Middle School and Pleasant Grove Elementary School.
 
The next informational Open House for the EGUSD Virtual Academy will take place from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 8th at C.W. Dillard Elementary School in the computer lab. An additional Open House will take place from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Wednesday, June 16 at the Cosumnes Oaks High School Library in the computer lab.
 
For more information on or to register for the EGUSD Virtual Academy, call (916) 686-7747, email EGVirtual@egusd.net, or visit http://www.egusd.net/schools/EGUSDVirtualAcademy.cfm.

Tentative Agreement between
EGUSD and EGEA

On June 2, 2010 the Elk Grove Education Association (EGEA) informed the Elk Grove Unified School District that its members ratified a two-year Tentative Agreement (TA) with the district.
 
The agreement includes concessions from EGEA that total about $23 million for each year. In exchange, the teacher's association negotiated approximately $13 million in position restorations for each year. The remaining $10 million will assist the district with its $60.5 million shortfall for 2010-2011 and again in 2011-2012. 
 
The TA will allow the district to restore approximately 210 certificated positions including Elementary and Secondary Teachers, Secondary Counselors (29 already rescinded with 37 more restored), Secondary Librarians, 1 position per high school for 9th grade Class Size Reduction, some Adult Education and ROP Teachers and continuation of secondary adjunct duty stipends.
 
The concessions are for the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years.  The concessions for each year include: 9 furlough days (5 instructional plus 4 pre-service or professional development days); a suspension of the lottery checks; a column salary movement freeze; a salary reduction of $4 million for the EGEA unit; a 10 percent athletic stipend reduction; an increase in health benefits co-payments and the elimination of dual health coverage for spouses.
 
The superintendent and associate superintendents will take concessions equivalent to those taken by EGEA members. EGUSD also continues its ongoing negotiations with all other employee groups. 
 
EGUSD and EGEA are working to determine the five instructional furlough days.  As soon as the days are determined information will be shared with staff, parents, and the community.  The furlough days and revised calendar will be posted on the district's website.

For more information on EGUSD's budget visit Budget Watch.

Garden Club grows at
Franklin Elementary School

FranklinGarden


The official school day might be over, but there is a flurry of activity in the garden at Franklin Elementary School.
 
The idea for the Garden Club at Franklin took root in the mind of Kim O'Hair, a 2nd grade teacher at Franklin, when she passed a booth for Gardeners of the Grove - a local gardening group - at a farmers' market last summer. After meeting with Phil Teeter, the president of Gardeners of the Grove, O'Hair discovered that the group wanted to work with a school garden program. Thus, the partnership between Gardeners of the Grove and Franklin's burgeoning Garden Club began. 
 
The Garden Club meets every other Thursday after school from 2:15 p.m. to 3 p.m. Students have to apply to join the club by filling out an application demonstrating their interest in gardening and must have at least a C average with no behavior problems. There are approximately 55 students in the club. Each time the club meets, about 4-6 members of Gardeners of the Grove come out to help. Students are divided into six groups. Each group is assigned to an adult volunteer. The groups are given assignments to take care of throughout the garden, including weeding, harvesting, planting seeds and flowers, fertilizing, watering and area and tool clean-up.
 
Participating in the Garden Club covers several academic standards in the district, including math (measurements, time), science (life cycles) and writing (poetry, creative writing in the garden, thank you notes to Gardeners of the Grove).
 
"The members of Gardeners of the Grove have not only been generous with their time in volunteering in the garden with the students, they have also been quite helpful in building a raised bed in the garden," said O'Hair. "Next year, they have plans to start working on the pumpkin bed. They are so giving and selfless - we are very lucky to have them."
 
O'Hair has high hopes for the future of the Garden Club at Franklin.
 
"I would love for our partnership with Gardeners of the Grove to continue," said O'Hair. "The students get so much from working out in the garden. They get to try fresh vegetables, do productive work, have a hands-on learning experience about science and they also benefit from working with the ladies of Gardeners of the Grove. The ladies are like foster grandparents to the students."
Sport Stacking thrives at
John Ehrhardt Elementary School

sportstacking

 At the sound of a whistle, students' hands come to life, quickly stacking, unstacking and re-stacking piles of cups specially formulated for this original competition.
 
It's called "sport stacking" and the activity is popping up in schools across the country. For the past three years, John Ehrhardt Elementary School has fielded a team of about 70 students called "The Ehhardt Superstax."
 
Any student in grade first through sixth can join the team at Ehrhardt.  The group meets once a week to hone their sport stacking skills to compete in local tournaments. The new "sport" develops important physical skills, such as eye-hand coordination, quickness and focus and promotes self-confidence, teamwork and good sportsmanship. Sport stacking can be done as an individual event or in team doubles or relays. 
 
"Stack-It Sacramento, another local sport stacking club, hosts the Sacramento All-City Sports Stacking Tournament each year," said Kerry Anderson, a fifth grade teacher at Ehrhardt and coach of the Superstax. "This year, our students did very well at the competition in March. We took 22 students to the competition and all of them placed and came home with a medal."
 
One of Anderson's students had the opportunity to improve upon her performance at the competition in Sacramento.
 
"Nicole Pomicpic, one of our sixth grade students, had the opportunity to travel to Denver, Colorado to compete with Stack-It Sacramento when they had an opening for an additional competitor," said Anderson.  "Her team won second place in their division."
 
Although she is retiring at the end of this school year, Anderson is returning next year to run the sport stacking program at Ehrhardt.
 
"I've been very lucky to have such great support from parents, staff and administrators for the program here at Ehrhardt," said Anderson. "Even though the program is doing very well at Ehrhardt, I'd really like to see the program grow throughout the district. I'm more than happy to help set up teams at our district's elementary schools.
 
For more information about WSSA and sport stacking, visit http://worldsportstackingassociation.org/.