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Monday, June 28, 2010

100 percent of school's first class college-bound - Boston.com

100 percent of school's first class college-bound - Boston.com

100 percent of school's first class college-bound

By Sharon Cohen
AP National Writer / June 28, 2010
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CHICAGO—For each boy, the new school offered an escape and a chance at a life that seemed beyond reach.
Krishaun Branch was getting D's, smoking reefer a lot, skipping school twice a week. His mother was too busy working to know what he was doing. He liked to hang out in the streets; having relatives in gangs was his armor.
When a young man came to tell his eighth-grade class about a new high school on Chicago's South Side, Krishaun wanted no part of it -- until he heard students would have laptops. Suddenly, he was on board.
Marlon Marshall was nonchalant about everything, school included. His mother pressed him to go to college, but it seemed like a pipe dream. Sometimes she'd yell at him and his brothers for his bad grades. Once she just cried when she

GLOBE EDUCATION NEWS

Burlington firm joins crowd on the cloud

Highlights from Scott Kirsner’s Innovation Economy blog. (By Scott Kirsner, Globe Correspondent)

Must-win school jackpot

“If I win, I’ll try to be humble,’’ Schanna James Lender said. “I’ll resist the urge to jump up and scream.’’ (By Yvonne Abraham, Globe Columnist)

Minuteman wages campaign to boost image beyond trades

Katherine Breen was appalled when her son announced that he wanted to attend Minuteman Career and Technical High School in Lexington. (By Jennifer Fenn Lefferts, Globe Correspondent)

Applause for schools keeping music at core

Whether it’s marching band, jazz, choir, or music theory, if you offer it they will play. (By Taryn Plumb, Globe Correspondent)

Principal to take his final leave

Next Wednesday marks the final day for Natick High School principal John Hughes, who retires after working in the Natick schools for 40 years. (By Megan McKee, Globe Correspondent)

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How Should Schools Handle Cyberbullying? - NYTimes.com

How Should Schools Handle Cyberbullying? - NYTimes.com

Students at Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Ridgewood, N.J., are old hands at text messaging, but not all of the words are friendly.
Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times
Students at Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Ridgewood, N.J., are old hands at text messaging, but not all of the words are friendly.
Affronted by cyberspace’s escalation of adolescent viciousness, many parents are looking to schools for justice, protection, even revenge.

New Diploma Standard in New York Becomes a Multiple-Question Choice

The impact of a tougher requirement for passing Regents examinations remains unclear, five years after it was adopted to take full effect in 2012.
Ten students at Lyons High School in Colorado shared top ranking this year as co-valedictorians.

How Many Graduates Does It Take to Be No. 1?

The valedictorian is losing its meaning as administrators dispense the title to every straight-A high school student.
WORK AND PLAY Pedro Santana, principal of Middle School 391 in the Tremont neighborhood of the Bronx, at the eighth-grade prom.

The Principal’s Office

Students call Middle School 391 a “Lean on Me” school, but instead of a principal with a bullhorn, they got one who deploys white office curtains and even irons their shirts.

City College official files defamation suit

City College official files defamation suit

City College official files defamation suit

A City College of San Francisco official who has been the target of investigation at the community...

Students merge artistry, entrepreneurial spirit

Students merge artistry, entrepreneurial spirit
Student fashion designer Justyna Fiuk, who is 29, had her midlife crisis early. "I had a career as a...

Oregon schools consider eliminating programs and restructuring to cover state funding shortfall | OregonLive.com

Oregon schools consider eliminating programs and restructuring to cover state funding shortfall | OregonLive.com

Oregon schools consider eliminating programs and restructuring to cover state funding shortfall

Published: Sunday, June 27, 2010, 7:35 PM Updated: Sunday, June 27, 2010, 9:45 PM

CaroleSmith1.JPGPortland Schools superintendent Carole Smith (right), here listening to public testimony in May, has proposed cutting the equivalent of 178 teachers, mostly through reducing high school faculty by 10 percent and eliminating elementary and middle school physical education.

Skip textbook purchases. Dip into reserves. Keep vacant jobs open. Those are among the first ways that school districts try to trim budgets. But for most Oregon districts, those options have been exhausted.

Now, many school leaders face a third consecutive year of reductions and are planning cuts that will hit the core of Oregon's K-12 education system -- school days, teachers and programs.

The North Clackamas School Districtis lopping 10 days from the 2010-11 school year, and Hillsboro, Forest Grove and Lake Oswego are planning to cut four. Portland Public Schools has proposed program cuts that would eliminate physical education in elementary and middle schools.

From Beaverton and West Linn to Gresham and Oregon City, nearly all Portland metro area districts expect to eliminate staff positions, ranging from 15 in some areas to as many as 180 in others.

Oregon's trends mimic those in about 45 other states, says Mike Griffith, a senior policy analyst at the Education Commission of the States. Nationally, school districts are making deeper cuts

Education - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Education - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

1W28LUNCHES.JPG
Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch? There is. But it's becoming more of a rarity.
Five students from California State University, Chico, are spending the summer on Alcatraz Island helping to preserve and repair deteriorated concrete structures, some dating from the 1850s.

7M27KINDER
Child development experts say parents should begin preparing their children as early as possible for kindergarten.
The University of California, long beleaguered by financial woes, has finally lost it over what it calls a 400 percent increase in subscription costs for 2011.

Education Research Report: Healthier Cafeteria Food, More Intense Gym Classes Lower Students' Obesity

Education Research Report: Healthier Cafeteria Food, More Intense Gym Classes Lower Students' Obesity

Healthier Cafeteria Food, More Intense Gym Classes Lower Students' Obesity

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Healthier cafeteria choices, longer and more intense periods of physical activity and robust in-school education programs can lower rates of obesity and other risk factors for type 2 diabetes, according to a national study called HEALTHY.

UC Irvine was among eight academic medical centers nationwide chosen to participate in the three-year effort, funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive & Kidney Diseases, a branch of the National Institutes of Health, and the American Diabetes Association.

"This is the first-ever study to show you can reduce obesity and other risks for type 2 diabetes in kids and do it in schools with at-risk, high-ethnic-minority populations," said pediatrics professor Dr. Dan M. Cooper, UCI's principal investigator for HEALTHY. "It emphasizes that schools can have a tremendous positive impact on a

First ever Parent University graduates celebrate a year of hard work | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

First ever Parent University graduates celebrate a year of hard work | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

First ever Parent University graduates celebrate a year of hard work

by Brad Gibson on Jun 27 2010
“When you have an opportunity to better yourself and your children, take it,” said Nicola Byfield, as she spoke to her fellow graduates of Parent University.
Byfield was one of dozens of parents who attended the first ever graduation ceremony of the Parent University held at District headquarters Thursday night.
The ceremony honored parents who attended and completed courses throughout the past year with a certificate of completion and a dinner for them to enjoy with their families. Some of the graduates donned white caps and gowns for the occasion, which for many of them was their first graduation experience.
The Parent University is a District initiative that offers free day and evening workshops and classes to parents in subjects ranging from basic math and literacy to parenting seminars on character development and health and wellness.
“Parents are the first and most important teachers for their children,” said Karren Dunkley, deputy chief of the District’s Office of Parent, Family, Community Engagement, and Faith-Based Partnerships.
Dunkley has been in charge of implementing Superintendent Ackerman’s vision for a program that would facilitate greater parental involvement with the educational