Internet Safety Tips
TIP: Internet accounts should be in the parent's name with parents having the primary screenname, controlling passwords and using blocking and/or filtering devices. |
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Honoring Our Volunteers
Doug LaBeff of James Rutter Middle School 
Doug LaBeff was recognized as an Education Partner at the October 2, 2012, meeting of the Elk Grove Unified School District Board of Education. Affectionately known as "Santa Claus" by James Rutter Middle School students, LaBeff began volunteering at Elk Grove Unified in the Watch D.O.G.S. program at John Reith Elementary School. He has been a key volunteer at Rutter for the past two and a half years. LaBeff spends his time at Rutter walking through the halls - where he knows most of the students by name. He also rides his bike up and down Palmer House Drive during the school day, at night, on weekends and throughout the summer, just to help keep an eye on things. While "patrolling the neighborhood," he reminds students that Rutter is their school and they need to take care of it. LaBeff recently used his mechanical skills to build a piece of equipment to drag the Rutter track before track meets. He also volunteers his truck and trailer to assist with moving equipment for the promotion ceremony, bike giveaways or anything else the school needs. Rutter staff shared their favorite "Doug LaBeff story" recently. A new student at Rutter had just earned a "Caught Being Good" card and chose to redeem it for lunch with the principal. Since the student saw LaBeff so much, he assumed that LaBeff was the principal. The student showed up in the office, expecting to have lunch with LaBeff - only to find Rutter principal Yuri Penermon waiting. After some initial confusion, the student and Penermon enjoyed their lunch together. LaBeff, an alumnus of William Daylor High School himself, is married to Whitney LaBeff, a paraeducator at Reith. They have two children: Cynthia - a graduate of William Daylor High School and currently serving in the U.S. Air Force and Colton - a freshman at Florin High School. |
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Laguna Creek High School wins 2012 GOT MILK? Breakfast Challenge
In the beginning, there were four. But at the end, one school rose above the rest. Laguna Creek High School (LCHS) was deemed the winner of the 2012 GOT MILK? Breakfast Challenge, winning a $3,000 grand prize for increasing their breakfast participation compared to the same time period last year. LCHS increased their breakfast participation by 16 percent compared to the same time period the year before. LCHS principal Doug Craig joined EGUSD Superintendent Dr. Steven M. Ladd in accepting the $3,000 check during halftime at the October 12 varsity football game against Monterey Trail High School. Sponsored by the California Milk Processor Board (CMPB), the creator of the GOT MILK? campaign, the contest sought to challenge high school students across California to start the day off right with a nutritious breakfast with dairy milk for better academic performance and overall health. Florin, Pleasant Grove and Valley high schools also participated in the contest. Elk Grove Unified was one of 14 school districts participating in the contest. |
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Carroll Elementary School donates scooters and bikes to Healthy Start
After discovering that he had 15 unclaimed scooters and three bicycles, Carroll Elementary School Paul Hauder wanted to make sure these items were put to good use.
Hauder's answer? Donate them to students in need.
Hauder contacted EGUSD Healthy Start to see if they could find happy homes for the scooters and bicycles and Healthy Start graciously accepted. Healthy Start contacted Kinetic Bikes in Elk Grove who donated their staff and resources to service the bike to assure they were in good working order.
The scooters were in good condition, but just needed cleaning. Students in Valley High School's Adult Transition Program volunteered to carefully clean each scooter and replaced the old handle grips with new ones purchased with donated funds.
The refurbished scooters were distributed to students at Charles Mack, Barbara Comstock Morse and Prairie elementary schools. During the recent Family Fun Day at Prairie Elementary School, one bicycle was raffled to a well-deserving student at Roy Herburger Elementary School. The remaining two bicycles will be donated to other deserving EGUSD students.
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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 elementary school students
learn bullying prevention techniques
from Harlem Globetrotters
 Students at Isabelle Jackson and Irene B. West elementary schools experienced a special treat when the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters visited their schools to present their new community outreach program, "The ABCs of Bullying Prevention," on Monday, October 15th. The ABCs of Bullying Prevention, created in coordination with the National Campaign to Stop Violence (NCSV), focuses on Action, Bravery and Compassion. The 30-40 minute program targets six to 14 year old students and uses Harlem Globetrotters players to discuss the three key words in the ABCs of Bullying Prevention. Students will learn tools to use on a daily basis to reduce bullying through the Globetrotters analogy that students are a part of a team and can use one another to help stop bullying. The Globetrotters presentation conveys the important message of preventing bullying and violence through students participation - and the Globetrotters signature ball handling skills and humor. The well-balanced program also provides program certificates to teachers and/or administrators to be distributed to students in the days after the presentation. The ABCs of Bullying Prevention program will be presented at over 300 schools and youth centers as a part of the Globetrotters 2013 "You Write the Rules" World Tour, celebrating the team's 87th consecutive year. For more information about the program, visit www.harlemglobetrotters.com. |
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EGUSD teachers challenge students with Common Core State Standards
The 39 elementary schools in the Elk Grove Unified School District are challenging students with the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS)! The standards define the concepts and skills that every child will learn. As the CCSS are gradually implemented throughout the country, students will be better prepared than ever before to demonstrate the skills and understanding needed for college and the workplace.
While testing on the Common Core is almost three years away, Elk Grove teachers have wasted no time in guiding their students into the transition to the new standards. This year, kindergarten through 2nd grade students are learning using the Common Core math standards. Students in grades three through six are transitioning to Common Core in English/Language Arts. Teachers have trained over the summer and into the fall in order to be prepared to assist students with the new challenges.
How do the Common Core Standards challenge students? For example, in mathematics, students from very early ages are taught to reason like a mathematician and to problem-solve in ways that are both practical and consider multiple pathways to solutions.
As a 1st grade example, when students in the past were asked to learn 8 + 6, they first counted on their fingers and then memorized the math fact. Now, they will still learn the math fact, but first they will also learn to think of a variety of ways to solve the problem. They learn to "decompose" numbers in order to make the numbers make sense in the problem. "Six" can be thought of in more than one way. It could be one group of six, but it is also 1+1+1+1+1+1 as well as four and two more. For a child who understands how numbers work at this deep level, "8+6" can be expressed as:
Students combine the eight with the two to group a ten. The mathematical calculation "10+4" seems easier than "8+6." By learning that they can take numbers apart and recombine them in new ways, children become flexible and efficient mathematical thinkers.
Common Core Standards help students to become thinkers and problem-solvers rather than merely memorizers. Excitement over CCSS continues to grow in EGUSD. In the coming year, Common Core will be coming to students in additional grade levels and in additional subjects.
For more information about Common Core State Standards, visit our blog at http://blogs.egusd.net/ccss.
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Standardized test scores continue to improve at EGUSD
Elk Grove Unified School District students are continuing to make improvements each year on the California Standardized Testing (CST) exams and California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE), as evidenced by the increase in the district's Academic Performance Index (API) score.
EGUSD's API gained seven points, raising the district's API score to 807 - which is also seven points higher than the statewide target score of 800. This latest increase continues the trend of increasing the district's API score over the past three years. Last year, the district's API score improved by nine points. In 2010, the district saw an increase of six points on its API score.
This year, schools throughout the district reached API milestones. This year marked the first year the district had four elementary schools - Arnold Adreani, Cosumnes River, Elliott Ranch and Sunrise - surpass the 900 point mark on their API score. District schools also marked another achievement, with all comprehensive schools earning API scores of over 700 for the first time.
As one example of some of the great work being done in EGUSD schools, Samuel Jackman Middle School also posted impressive gains in multiple areas. Not only did Jackman students increase their school API score by 42 points. This was the highest middle school schoolwide gain. They also posted the largest gains in subgroups, increasing their Asian subgroup score by 60 points, their Hispanic subgroup score by 59 points, their English Learners subgroup by 53 points and the socioeconomically disadvantaged subgroup by 42 points.
CSTs are standards-based tests that measure the achievement of state content standards in English-language arts, mathematics, science and history-social science. CAHSEE is meant to improve the achievement of students in public high schools and ensures that public high school graduates can demonstrate grade level competency in reading, writing and mathematics. This test helps school districts identify students who are lacking the skills that are necessary for life after high schools. The CAHSEE is divided into two parts - English-language arts (ELA) and mathematics.
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Walk to School Day comes to rural schools at EGUSD
On October 3, thousands of students throughout the Elk Grove Unified School District celebrated Walk to School Day by taking to the sidewalks and streets as they walked or biked to school. But for some students attending schools in rural areas in the district, walking or riding a bike to school can be a safety issue as the path to these schools often do not have sidewalks or safe areas for students to walk or bike to school.
Students and staff at these schools still seized the opportunity of Walk to School Day to stress the importance of making healthy choices, even if they do not have the option of walking or biking to school.
At Cosumnes River Elementary School (CRES), students were encouraged to form "walking trains" to walk to their bus stops, instead of being driven to the bus stops in cars and golf carts. At school, the CRES Walking Club encouraged students to walk with buddies during lunch recess and earn beads for lanyard for each lap they completed on the school track.
"By participating in the Walking Club, students can earn mileage certificates that are displayed in the multipurpose room for the school year," said Michael Gulden, principal at CRES. "Student may also earn credits toward the California International Marathon's (CIM) maraFUN run. Registered children - which is free for children 13 years old and under before November 18 - who log 23.6 miles at school or home by December 2 are eligible to run the last 2.62 miles of the CIM. They earn ribbons along the way and receive the CIM medal that all marathon runners earn."
Pleasant Grove Elementary School (PGES) planned their 3rd Annual PGES Walk-A-Thon on October 12 in recognition of Walk to School Day. The Walk-A-Thon is PGES' way of recognizing Walk to School Day.
"The Walk-A-Thon is an event that all Pleasant Grove Tigers look forward to as they are walking or jogging with their grade levels to music provided by Dave Hushbeck, one of our sixth grade teachers, and enjoying refreshments," said PGES principal Joe Donovan.
Students and staff at Sierra Enterprise Elementary School spent Walk to School week learning about healthy lifestyle choices. Displays in the multipurpose room provided students with information about food choices, exercise and making healthy decisions in their daily lives. Classroom teachers emphasized healthy eating, as well as walking, riding bikes and playing as forms of exercise. On Walk to School Day, Sierra Enterprise held a school-wide morning walk around the track to music.
The first National Walk Our Children to School Day was started in 1997 by the Partnership for a Walkable America. By 2002, the second International Walk to School Day had nearly 3 million participants in all 50 states. Click here for more information about International Walk to School Day.
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