Elk Grove Unified School District

Excellence by Design

EGUSD News and Notes

January 21, 2014

In This Issue

Project GROW

CCSS Parent Info Nights

SSP Grant

DUI Courts in Schools Program @ SHS

Helpful Links
District Event Calendar

College and Career

Common Core State Standards

Digital Citizenship

Digital Citizenship Safety Tips

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Help your kids understand that they should:

Never share their names, schools, ages, phone numbers, or addresses;
Never send pictures to strangers;
Keep passwords private (except to parents);
Never open email from strangers - it may contain viruses that can harm a computer; and
Immediately tell an adult if something mean or creepy happens.

Honoring our Volunteers

Ray & Jennifer Ishima of Florin High School

Ray and Jennifer Ishima were recognized as Education Partners at the January 7, 2014, meeting of the Elk Grove Unified School District Board of Education.

The Ishima's have been active in a number of Florin High School programs since 2006. Ray has constructed a number of items for Florin's choir program, including three wardrobe racks, a rolling storage rack and signs for a multitude of choir functions. Both Ray and Jennifer have spent countless hours helping at rehearsals, chaperoning field trips, setting up events and raising money for the choir program.

In addition to their work with the choir, Ray and Jennifer also support the theater program at Florin by building sets and props, running the snack bar and being present at every production. For last year's production of "Aladdin," Ray applied his craftsmanship to build a flying carpet that amazed the audience. Both Ray and Jennifer helped build props and design costumes for this year's production of "Seussical the Musical."

Ray and Jennifer have also volunteered their assistance with class activities. They helped students design and build floats for homecoming, chaperoned the senior picnic and manned the BBQ at major events. Ray built a podium for Florin - complete with a panther profile - and constructed a scorer's table for the baseball team.

Ray and Jennifer have had three children who attended Florin High School: Angelica - a 2010 graduate, Christian - a 2012 graduate and Evan - a current senior at Florin High School.

EGACE releases 2014 winter/spring class catalog

The Elk Grove Adult and Community Education (EGACE) 2014 Winter/Spring catalog of classes, programs and services is now arriving in Elk Grove Unified School District residents' mailboxes. The catalog highlights programs offered through EGACE, which include: English as a Second Language, High School Diploma, GED^Ž Preparation, Career Technical Education, Always Learning community education classes and services offered by the EGUSD Sacramento Works Training Center.

Always Learning offerings include a variety of enrichment classes such as watercolors, drawing, computer basics, Spanish basics and conversational Spanish, sign language and Italian for the Traveler. Over 300 online classes are available through a partnership with Ed2go and a variety of business and career class and writing workshops are also being offered.

The EGACE Career Training Institute (CTI) offers career training programs in the Allied Health Care and Office Occupations fields that lead to one or more industry-recognized certifications. The programs are affordable, have flexible schedules, and have a low teacher/student ratio. EGACE CTI Programs offered include: office specialist, accounting clerk, comprehensive certified nurse assistant, home health aide, national certified medical assistant, medical assistant - administrative, medical assistant - administrative with billing and coding, and billing and coding specialist.

Students wishing to obtain their GED^Žcertificate, High School Diploma or attend an English-as-a-Second Language class will also find a variety of options available.

Students can visit the EGACE website at www.egace-egusd-ca.schoolloop.com or call (916) 686-7717 for more information. The main campus is located at 8401-B Gerber Road in Sacramento.

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

Counseling program sprouts at elementary schools with Project GROW

Thanks to a $1.2 million elementary school counseling grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Project GROW (Getting Ready for Our World) will be implemented at five Elk Grove Unified School District elementary schools later this year through a school psychologist, two counselors and community partners.

Project GROW is an integrated school/community/home model that links school administrators and teachers, grant-supported mental health staff and community-based mental health service providers through a common vision of serving the unmet social/emotional needs of children in ways that increase their academic success. The five elementary schools currently participating in the program are Herman Leimbach, Samuel Kennedy, Charles Mack, Barbara Comstock Morse and Union House.

"The program is a three-tiered service delivery model," said Paul Teuber, school psychologist for the district. "Tier 1 covers positive behavior interventions and support. Tier 2 provides two district counselors who will work with groups of two to five students for 12 weeks to enhance school adjustment, social competence and leadership skills. Tier 3 provides more intensive counseling services to students in need. These services will be provided by community partners."

Community partners for Project GROW include Asian Pacific Community Counseling, Child and Family Institute, La Familia, WellSpace Health and Hmong Women's Heritage Association. Direct implementation of Project GROW in the elementary schools is slated for the week of February 18, 2014.

"School administrators and teachers at the participating sites are eager to begin receiving Project GROW services," Teuber said. "EGUSD's Department of Student Support and Health Services is elated to have this opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of an elementary school counseling program."

EGUSD to offer CCSS
parent information nights

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EGUSD parents interested in learning more about the Common Core State Standards are invited to attend four informational nights being held in the coming months.

The evening events will offer parents an opportunity to learn more about the Common Core State Standards from Elk Grove Unified's curriculum experts, who will provide training and answer questions. All information nights will be held in the Board Room at the Robert L. Trigg Education Center (9510 Elk Grove-Florin Road, Elk Grove 95624) from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. The dates of the informational meetings are as follows:

January 22 - Introductions to the Common Core State Standards

February 26 - Getting to Know the Common Core State Standards

March 26 - Getting to Know the Common Core State Standards

April 23 - Supporting Students Through the CCSS Transition

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are an updated set of academic standards that have been developed with the intention of unifying learning expectations for students across all states. Common Core State Standards bring strong advantages to students in California and in the United States. First, by unifying the expectations, assessments of educational quality and the federal funding that is based on such assessment will be more equitable. Second, students throughout the United States will be in a better position to compete with students throughout the world for university admission and for jobs in a global market. Finally, these standards define kindergarten through twelfth grade learning that will ensure that students are well prepared for post-secondary education and careers.

The CCSS have been adopted by 46 states across the United States. California's State Board of Education adopted the CCSS in August 2010. The National Education Association, American Federation of Teachers and California Teachers Association were included in the discussion and were given a voice in providing their input into the final version of the CCSS.

With the implementation of the CCSS, California will move away from the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) assessment system, which was set to end in June of 2014, and move to a new system in the 2014-2015 school year. This new system will be referred to as the California Assessment of Student Proficiency and Progress (CAASPP).

Within this system, students will take assessments referred to as Smarter Balanced Assessments, which includes shifting from paper-and-pencil tests to computerized assessments starting in the 2014-15 school year. The new assessments are designed to meet federal and state-level accountability requirements and provide teachers and parents with timely and accurate information to measure and trace individual student growth.

For more information about EGUSD's implementation of the Common Core State Standards and to find more resources for parents, visit http://blogs.egusd.net/ccss/.

EGUSD receives $50,000 Specialized Secondary Programs grant for Digital Media Academy at Pleasant Grove High School

The Elk Grove Unified School District has received a $50,000 Specialized Secondary Programs (SSP) grant to be used to enhance the Digital Media Academy at Pleasant Grove High School (PGHS). SSP grants help school districts develop innovative programs to help students learn and develop real-world, 21st-century skills. These programs can cover a variety of subjects, including English language arts, math, science, history/social science, foreign language and visual/performing arts. The programs may include Linked Learning pathways, career academies and arts-integrated models.

With the SSP grant, PGHS will build a sequence of two new animation courses and two new academic core classes integrated with career technical education (CTE). The PGHS Digital Media Academy's goal is to develop a two-year animation sequence. The academy will offer Animation I beginning with the 2014-2015 school year.

The new academic core courses were created through a highly collaborative process sponsored by the University of California and public high school educators through the University of California Curriculum Institute. One class is an English 10 class integrated with video production. The other class is a World History class integrated with graphic design. These A-G approved courses are integrated with academically rigorous core content and quality CTE instruction.

The PGHS Digital Media Academy is a four-year program in video production that allows students the opportunity to learn and participate in all aspects of video production including editing, camera work, script-writing, story boarding, producing and directing using the school's television studio. Articulated post-secondary credits are available. Click here for more information about the PGHS Digital Media Academy.

Sheldon High School students experience DUI court through
the DUI Court in Schools Program

On January 17, 2014, Sheldon High School students got a firsthand look at an actual DUI sentencing through Sacramento County's DUI Court in Schools Program.

A Sacramento County Superior Court Judge conducted a sentencing of a first-time DUI offender in the main gymnasium at Sheldon. Following the sentencing, the judge made a brief presentation and co-facilitated an interactive portion of the assembly. The intent of the assembly was to allow for significant dialogue between the students, defendant, judge, attorneys, law enforcement officers, teachers and special guests.

The goal of the DUI Court in Schools Program is to provide an interactive, multifaceted and substantive experience for young drivers to change perceptions and attitudes about alcohol and drugs and reduce impaired driving by youth throughout Sacramento County. It also encourages informed choice for prevention of becoming a passenger where a driver has been drinking.

The DUI Court in Schools Program is funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It brings together the best resources of the Sacramento County Superior Court, Sacramento County District Attorney's Office, the Law Enforcement Chaplaincy and Mothers Against Drunk Driving.