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Autism, Sophia.org, graduate school, candy, LGBT

Education Roundup

The Sonoma Valley Unified School District must make additional cuts to balance its budget. Short-term, it is estimated that the district will have to cut $1.5 million more of programs and services to remain solvent and, if Gov. Brown’s proposed tax hike fails in November, our district will have to cut an additional $1.77 million for the 2013-14 school year.

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A lot of people are still trying to wrap their minds around the new Linked Learning Pathway (Engineering, Design & Technology) starting at Sonoma Valley High School next year. Here is the best description I have read recently: “The goals of Linked Learning include breaking down the silos that separate college preparatory academics from career and technical education and workforce experiences; moving education reform from a school- or program-wide endeavor to one that is district- and system-wide; and removing the barriers of where, when, how, and by whom learning takes place in order to prepare more youth for success in both college and a career.” (source: Linked Learning Alliance)

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I have heard some parents wonder what our local public school teachers are paid. During its most recent meeting, Sonoma’s school board approved the salary scale that starts at $35,117 for a new teacher and reaches $69,000 for a teacher with 27 years experience, a master’s degree and 30 additional credit hours.

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I am a big fan of International Baccaleureate high school programs because of their rigor and global focus. The nearest high school to Sonoma offering the IB curriculum is Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa. I was interested to read this week that many IB schools will soon begin offering career-related certificate programs for high schoolers in engineering, culinary arts and automotive technology. (www.ibo.org)

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The top 50 STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) apps for smart phones and iPads can be found here: tinyurl.com/c5odezo. There are some truly great ones for all different ages to explore this summer.

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Carnegie Mellon University researchers have found that a fifth grader’s understanding of one narrow and particular set of math facts – knowledge of fractions and division – is a very accurate predictor of his or her future math achievement, even after statistically controlling for parents’ education and income and for the children’s own age, gender, IQ, etc. This finding can help teachers and parents focus attention on this key area within general math instruction.

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Middle-income parents who welcomed a new child last year can expect to spend nearly $300,000 over the next 17 years, according to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s latest numbers. That figure does not include college, which can add $75,000 to $250,000 more. For families in the highest income brackets, the total cost of raising each child without college nears $500,000 (before taxes).

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One-hundred-twenty rising sophomores planning on taking Advanced Placement World History, and 120 A.P. U.S. History rising juniors, will be checking in with their teachers at Sonoma High on Tuesday, July 3. Their teachers, Darian Tucker and Andy Gibson, will look over the first half of their summer assignments and award credit for work completed thus far. On the same day, the 40 new College Accelerated Application Track seniors, and the 30 AVID seniors, are invited to stop by the high school’s College & Career Center with questions, or to receive help with their college applications and essays. Since the Common Application will be available on Sunday, July 1, students are encouraged to start the application immediately.

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There is a movie trailer currently in theaters promoting an upcoming film called, “Won’t Back Down,” about parents triumphing over bad teachers. The mom in the film is played by Maggie Gyllenhaal and it is supposedly a true story, set in California, about parents taking over a struggling school. There is controversy swirling, however, over the message. The movie is produced by the same group that produced, “Waiting for Superman.”

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Sonoma Valley Teen Services’ free ARTWednesday program is open to all Sonoma students. This year-round program is overseen by local artist Annie Falandes. In the summer, there is an open studio format for all ages, in which students can work in acrylic, water colors, oil painting, mosaics, papermaking, sewing, candle making and more. The studio is open from noon to 4 p.m. every Wednesday at the No Name Café at Sonoma High. www.svteens.org.

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A new ad campaign by the Autism Speaks Foundation puts forth these three warning signs of autism: no smiles or joyful expressions by six months, no babbling by 12 months and no words by 16 months. Learn more at www.autismspeaks.org/signs.

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The government has created a new website to try to help parents better understand the costs of various colleges and the aid available. The summer is a good time for parents with high school students to get a head start on thinking about this issue: www.collegecost.ed.gov/.

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Other organizations are following Khan Academy’s lead in offering free online video tutorials. One worth checking out is www.sophia.org. Sophia has been described as a combination of Facebook, Wikipedia and YouTube, focused solely on education. The site’s 25,000-plus, bite-sized tutorials are tagged to specific academic subjects or topics, including some subjects I don’t see available at Khan Academy. This summer, the site is giving away an iPad every week for students who try their free tutorials.

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I wrote recently about how sugar consumption can mar a student’s success on tests. Unreal Brands, the brainstorm of a 15-year-old, is a new line of candy launching next month at CVS and Target, with natural ingredients but mimicking children’s current favorite name brands. It might be worth checking out.

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Artescape is offering a sand-casting class for ages 3 to 7 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday,  July 18. Email classes@artescapesonoma.com, or call 938-5551. Space is limited.

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US News & World Report recently listed what the richest people in America majored in in college. The 1 percenters’ majors, in order, were: 1. Economics. 2. Political science. 3. Art history (OK, this one took me by surprise). 4. Finance. 5. Religious studies (another shocker). 6. Pharmacy and 7. Accounting.

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Indian Americans have surpassed Latinos as the fastest-growing racial group, and they are the highest-income and best-educated people in the United States, according to the Pew Research Centre. Indian Americans have a median household annual income of $88,000, much higher than for all Asians ($66,000) and all U.S. households ($49,800).

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PBS-TV aired a report earlier this year on child abuse that pointed out that America leads the industrialized world in the number of children under 15 who die from physical abuse or neglect. This piece was titled, “America’s Death Shame,”and it continues to get a lot of press and lots of hits on YouTube. How is it that America has the worst child abuse record in the industrialized world?

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UC Santa Barbara, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, UCLA and UC Riverside are among 28 U.S. universities – out of a total of 326 participating campuses – to be rated a five-star school in an ongoing assessment of LGBT-friendliness (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) by the national nonprofit Campus Pride.

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Save the date of Saturday, Aug. 18, for the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation’s Red & White Ball. This is by far their most important fundraiser of the year and they have a lot of great programs in the works to support our schools over the course of the 2012-13 school year. They need and deserve the entire community’s support.

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Minor correction: In my article last week about Sonoma Valley High School grad Greg Rosalsky, I wasn’t clear that he was one of a team of staffers who reviewed letters for President Obama to read.