Glen Ellen’s Dunbar School showcases its AVID program

At the start of the 2018 school year, Dunbar Elementary School rolled out AVID ,or Advancement Via Individual Determination, across the elementary school. The AVID program grooms students for college.

Principal Jillian Beall, who started at Dunbar in 2017, was a natural choice to bring the program to the elementary grades for the first time for Sonoma Valley Unified School District, having previously overseen the program at the middle and high school levels as the district's AVID director.

Today, each student at Dunbar is assigned to a homeroom that is named after a college. Each student belongs to a 'university' and gets a T-shirt to match.

In addition to gaining a sense of belonging and demystifying of the idea of college, students learn practical study habits such as taking notes, and do a lot of collaboration, working in teams, Beall said.

The AVID program is currently offered at Sonoma Valley High School and Altimira and Adele Harrison middle schools.

Last week, Dunbar invited teachers and administrators across Sonoma County, particularly those interested in exploring adding AVID, to the Glen Ellen campus for the school's AVID Elementary Showcase. avid.org/showcases.

AVID Showcase events provide an opportunity for educators to share best practices and learn more about AVID hands-on. The showcase includes classroom observations and a chance to speak with experienced AVID teachers, administrators and students.

'We are focusing on college and career readiness for all of our scholars, from transitional kindergarten through grade five,' said Beall. 'This year, we will also be adding a career day in spring, so the idea of 'career' becomes more tangible and defined.'