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New classes, the value of college and some awesome musicians

Education Roundup

SVHS is offering an expanded slate of courses this year including the addition of agricultural chemistry, dance virtual enterprise, world geography and culture, earth science, introduction to Spanish lit and creative writing. The high school is also adding AP computer science – bringing their total number of AP offerings to 12.

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Whether or not college is “worth it” is a hot topic in the news right now. With tuition exceeding $50,000 at some private colleges, the debate is understandable (and important). Georgetown’s Center for Education and the Workforce just released a new study, however, that found that students with a B.A. degree earn 84 percent more over their lifetime than those with just high school only (and that number has increased from 75 percent in 1999).

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I hear that Zach Rockafellow, SVHS ’11 is attending the Musicians Institute College of Contemporary Music in Hollywood this fall. He is studying performance guitar with a plan to get a B.A. in music. Congrats to Zach on following his dream. I heard him play last spring and he is a truly impressive musician.

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SVHS is holding auditions right now for their fall production of Josefina Lopez’s “Real Women Have Curves.” The play is set in a tiny sewing factory in East Los Angeles in the late ’80s. It covers themes of gender politics and the Latina immigrant experience. The lead character is young factory worker named Ana who yearns to go to college, but doesn’t have the money. Sounds like a great production.

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The Middle School Summer Jam Band Camp sounded awesome. This eight day camp featured three hours of instruction daily. The camp was free, thanks to support from Sonoma Jazz Plus, and the week culminated in a concert in the Plaza amphitheater.

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Last week nearly 40 of Sonoma’s elementary school teachers took part in a three-day training for the Exploratorium science program combining science and literacy. They will take these lessons into the upcoming school year, as the Exploratorium program expands to all Sonoma elementary schools. The program was in a beta phase for the past two years at El Verano School. According to Sonoma Valley Education Foundation head Laura Zimmerman, we are the first school district in the nation to utilize this innovative program. If your child comes home talking about this, please let me know. By the way, the Ed Foundation has moved its office to the school district headquarters at 17878 Railroad Avenue.

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Did you know that there are several different ways to keep abreast of news coming out of Sonoma’s schools. Superintendent Louann Carlomagno is a dedicated communicator. You can follow her blog at
louannsvusd.wordpress.com; you can follow SVUSD on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SVUSD1 and join the Facebook group at www.facebook.com/#!/pages.sonoma-valley-unified-school-distric/112141125510931. You’ll find these hot links on the Index-Tribune’s online “Our Schools” page.

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There is a very cool new website called Scribblitt (www.scribblitt.com) where students can produce their own (self-published) book. The site features writing contests, word games, an illustration center and more. If your child loves to write, or read writing by others, it is worth a look.

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How can you tell if your child is over-scheduled? Jacqueline Golding of UCSF says, “If you have to schedule a child’s play dates more than a week or two ahead … or if kids have to stay up at night past a reasonable bedtime more than once in a great while in order to do their homework after their after school activities … they’re definitely doing too much.”

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I read an interesting article by Julia Williams on www.education.com recently on what teachers really want from parents and her suggestions were:

1.  Start the day smoothly so the transition to school is an easy one.
2.  Get to school on time.
3.  Feed your kids a big breakfast and arrange for a healthy lunch.
4.  Support good homework habits by setting aside the time and place.
5.  Plan time to reconnect at the end of the day to hear from your child.

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Moldovan Academy has opened a junior kindergarten this fall to help meet the needs of Sonoma families affected by California’s changing kindergarten admissions laws (moving California’s “must be 5 by-” cut-off date for kindergarten from Dec. 15 to Nov. 1). Each year from now untill 2013, the cut-off date will move one month earlier so that eventually all California children will need to have turned five by Sept. 1 in order to start kindergarten. Moldovan’s junior kindergarten students attend five days per week from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for the school year starting Aug. 17 and ending in May. As someone who moved around a lot with small children, the fact that every state’s cut-off date was different made life very difficult. I’m glad the U.S. is moving toward somewhat of a national standard.

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Congrats to Crescent Montessori on East Napa for its recent accreditation from WASC (Western Area Schools and Colleges). Director Karin Niehoff reports that the school is celebrating the successful completion of a five-year plan to move toward offering a full spectrum of Montessori programs for children and students age 2 to 15.

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Sonoma Valley Adult School will be holding an Open House and Community Education Registration Day on Saturday, Aug. 27, from noon to 2 p.m. at 20000 Broadway. This is a chance to learn more about class offerings, meet teachers and to register. You can also register online now at www.sonomavalleyadultschool.com or call 933-4033 for more information.

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Last column I asked about Sonoma grads with Teach for America experience. I heard from her parents that Sarah Barbulesco, SVHS ’99, spent two years with TFA after graduation from UC Davis. She taught high school English in a magnet school in Newark, N.J. and had a great experience. Since then she has been inspired to continue her teaching career and now teaches at a private school that she started herself in Sacramento.

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Thank you for the story ideas and feedback to date. Keep it coming!