Lorna Sheridan: Education Roundup, Dec. 1

An app that helps teach kids to read, free art kits and more in this week’s Roundup.|

Book donations: There is a read-aloud book drive going on now through Sunday, Dec. 20 coordinated by the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation in conjunction with Readers’ Books. The goal is to provide a full set of books for every elementary school. One hundred percent of every donation will be used to purchase books. Stop by Readers’ Books on East Napa Street for details.

Learning to read: Duolingo is a popular language-learning app. A new service, Duolingo ABC teaches kids the basics of reading with fun and simple lessons. “By taking everything we know about how people learn — and especially what we know about how to keep learners motivated with gamification — we believe we can help make a dent in global illiteracy rates,” said the company in its announcement.

Headed to DC?: Linda Darling-Hammond, president of the California Board of Education, is heading the education transition team for President-elect Joe Biden, where she is expected to emphasize support for teachers and traditional public schools. She is the founding president of the Palo Alto-based Learning Policy Institute and helped redesign the Stanford Teacher Education Program.

Grant: Sonoma County Vintners Foundation announced a grant of $140,000 to the Sonoma County Office of Education COVID-19 Technology Support Fund. The grant was made possible by a fund-a-need initiative during the 2020 Sonoma County Wine Auction. With these funds, SCOE will provide individual grants, based on the unique technology needs, to school districts within the county.

SRJC dorm update: Thanks to a $1 million grant from Kaiser, SRJC’s affordable housing complex, including apartments and dorm-style residence halls for about 350 students at the Santa Rosa campus, is back on track. The $46.5 million development will start before the end of the year, and be done by fall 2022. The five-story development is slated for the corner of Elliot Avenue and Armory Drive next to Highway 101.

Learn to code: The #HourOfCode starts next week and live, interactive computer science mini-lessons are hosted twice daily by Code.org staff. Every episode features a new lesson that blends computer science with real-world topics. Check the schedule, sign up for the mailing list, and join the fun on Dec. 7. ️code.org/codebytes

No high school merger: Support for new tax measures in west Sonoma County means that a controversial cost-cutting move to merge its two high schools, Analy and El Molino, is unlikely to happen, at least in the near term.

Art kits: Sonoma Valley Museum of Art is offering take-away art kits for local students. Families are invited to stop by the museum and bring home a fun and easy-to-make holiday art project.from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5 and Sunday, Dec. 6, curbside at Sonoma Valley Museum of Art at 551 Broadway.

Open house: Credo, the free Waldorf high school in Rohnert Park, is enrolling students now. There is an open house video and info session with the school’s enrollment director, Jodi Boyle, available to learn more. Boyle can be reached at enroll@credohigh.org or 794-6004.

Contact Lorna at lorna.sheridan@sonomanews.com.

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.