Media advisory: Sessions Elementary School is Safer for Students

MEDIA ADVISORY--April 5, 2012 Contact: Cynthia Reed-Porter, 619-546-3378

Sessions Elementary School is Safer for Students

WHAT:  San Diego Unified School District dedicates a new student drop-off/pick-up zone at Sessions Elementary School on Monday. Students, parents, staff and district leaders will mark the first day of use with an official dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony. The safety project improves traffic and parking, and ensures safer conditions at the school.

WHEN:  Monday, April 9, at 10 a.m.

WHERE: 2150 Beryl Street, SD (Pacific Beach) 92109 (map attached)
Media parking will be available next to ceremony site.
School phone: 858-273-3111 School website: http://sandi.net/Sessions

VISUALS: Ribbon-cutting ceremony with ASB students, parents and school officials; demonstration of how the students are dropped off in the new zone

GUEST SPEAKERS/INTERVIEWS: Sessions ES ASB President Bethany Kepner, Principal Susan Devicariis, Board of Education Member Scott Barnett and parents (interviews in Spanish will be available)

BACKGROUND: The safety improvement project included widening and relocating the existing driveway into the parking area, adding fencing and landscaping, installing dedicated left-turn lanes on Beryl Street, and adjusting traffic signals.

This nearly $2 million project was funded by Proposition S, San Diego Unified School District's general obligation bond that was passed November 2008 for capital facilities improvements at district schools.

Construction began in May 2011 and was completed in March 2012. The project partners were Group Christilli Architects and Summit Builders.

# # #

Cynthia Reed-Porter, Communications Supervisor | Communications Office | San Diego Unified School District
Offices: (619) 725-5579 or (858) 637-3607 | Mobile: (619) 546-3378 | E-mail: creed-porter@sandi.net

Post Mtg Notice & Agendas, April 10, 2012

PLEASE NOTE:

·         Notice and Call of Special Meeting—Tuesday, April 10 2012
Meeting Information: http://www.sandi.net/page/3248

·         Special Meeting Agenda—Tuesday, April 10, 2012, 10:00 a.m., Room 2226
BoardDocs Agenda Link: http://www.boarddocs.com/ca/sandi/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=8STT9T761A1B

·          Closed Session Agenda—Tuesday, April 10, 2012, 2:00 p.m., Room 2249
Open & Closed Session Meeting Information: http://www.sandi.net/page/3248

·          Regular Meeting Agenda—Tuesday, April 10, 2012, 5:00 p.m., Auditorium
BoardDocs Agenda Link: http://www.boarddocs.com/ca/sandi/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=8MMRMF68431A  

Please forward to staff and as appropriate, print notice(s) and/or agenda(s) and post in a prominent, accessible location at your site.

Thanks.

 

Josefina Viorato

Confidential Administrative Assistant II

Board Services

4100 Normal Street, Room 2231

San Diego, CA  92103

( (619) 725-5551

7 (619) 297-5624

* jviorato@sandi.net

 

 

 

‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.’ --Nelson Mandela

 

Post Special Board Meeting Notice, April 10, 2012

PLEASE NOTE:

 

·         Notice and Call of Special Meeting, Tuesday, April 10, 2012.
Meeting Information: http://www.sandi.net/page/3248

Please forward to staff and as appropriate, print notice(s) and/or agenda(s) and post in a prominent, accessible location at your site.

 

Thank you.

 

 

Josefina Viorato

Confidential Administrative Assistant II

Board Services

4100 Normal Street, Room 2231

San Diego, CA  92103

( (619) 725-5551

7 (619) 297-5624

* jviorato@sandi.net

 

 

 

‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.’ --Nelson Mandela

NEWS RELEASE -- SD Unified Recognized for Absence Reduction

NEWS RELEASE from the San Diego Unified School District, April 3, 2012

SAN DIEGO UNIFIED RECOGNIZED FOR ABSENCE REDUCTION

Largest District in State Named 'Model of Attendance Improvement'

SAN DIEGO ­ Tom Torlakson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction,
traveled to San Diego today to congratulate the San Diego Unified School
District on its successful efforts to reduce absenteeism.

Torlakson has named San Diego Unified one of 11 districts in California
that are "models of attendance improvement."

San Diego Unified is reporting its third year of attendance gains, with
more than 96 percent of students in school or on excused absences every
day.

"We can't teach students if they're not in class," said San Diego's
Superintendent, Bill Kowba. "This has been a total effort among staff and
the community to do everything possible to make sure kids are in school."

The effort was a combination of teams from the district's School
Attendance Review Board; the ORBIT team, which implemented new computer
software to track absenteeism; and the Dropout Prevention program, said
Kowba.

Contributing to the results were efforts by school attendance clerks, as
well as principals, teachers, counselors and other school staff members.

"Our great support by the parents, our community partners and the
wonderful residents of San Diego contributes to this success," said Dr.
John Lee Evans, Board of Education President. "They know that if they see
a school-age child out and about on a school day, there should be some
questions asked. Specifically, why isn't that child in school."

Districts awarded by the Model SARB program are those that are taking
positive approaches to help students and families improve attendance,
rather than just seek to punish offenders.

"While we need to address problems with truancy, we cannot overlook
students and families that may need support due to health or emotional
problems, or who may simply not realize the importance of regular school
attendance, even in kindergarten," Torlakson said.

# # #

CONTACT: Jack Brandais | Communications Department | San Diego Unified
School District | (619) 725-5570 (Desk) | (619) 607-0477 (Cell)

You are a subscriber to the news release mailing list for the San Diego Unified School District. To unsubscribe, send a message to "media@lists-sandi-net" with the word "unsubscribe" in the body of the message. For an archive of these releases, go to http://sdusd-news.blogspot.com/

Post Career Technical Education Advisory Committee (CTEAC) Mtg Notices

PLEASE NOTE:

 

·         Notice of Special Meeting: Career Technical Education Advisory Committee (CTEAC), April 9, 2012
Committee Meeting Information: http://www.sandi.net/page/3160

·         Notice of Location Change: Career Technical Education Advisory Committee (CTEAC), April 11, 2012
Committee Meeting Information: http://www.sandi.net/page/3160

Please forward to staff and as appropriate, print notice(s) and/or agenda(s) and post in a prominent, accessible location at your site.

 

Thank you.

Josefina Viorato

Confidential Administrative Assistant II

Board Services

4100 Normal Street, Room 2231

San Diego, CA  92103

( (619) 725-5551

7 (619) 297-5624

* jviorato@sandi.net

 

 

 

‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.’ --Nelson Mandela

 

FW: State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson to Participate in Attendance Improvement News Conference in San Diego

Reporters and editors: In case you didn't receive this, I hope you'll join us tomorrow.

Jack Brandais | Communications Department | San Diego Unified School District | (619) 725-5570 (Desk) | (619) 607-0477 (Cell)

On 4/2/12 3:13 PM, "COMMUNICATIONS" <COMMUNICATIONS@cde.ca.gov<mailto:COMMUNICATIONS@cde.ca.gov>> wrote:

[Description: News Advisory]

ADV#12-32

CONTACT: Tina Jung

FOR PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY

PHONE: 916-319-0818

April 2, 2012

E-MAIL: communications@cde.ca.gov<mailto:communications@cde.ca.gov>

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson to Participate in
Attendance Improvement News Conference in San Diego

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson will participate in a news conference Tuesday in San Diego to discuss the school district's success at boosting school attendance. Torlakson recently named the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) one of 11 models of attendance improvement by the state School Attendance Review Board<http://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr12/yr12rel28.asp>.
Torlakson will speak about SDUSD's successful system and what other school districts may learn from it. Other speakers will include SDUSD's Superintendent of Schools Bill Kowba and School Board President John Lee Evans. Also on hand will be the district's information technology director and a principal from a school that is using Orbit software, a "dashboard" that allows schools and the district to monitor attendance on a daily basis.
For more information on the district's attendance improvement and dropout prevention efforts, please contact Jack Brandais in SDUSD's Communications Department at 619-725-5570.

Date

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Time

10:30 a.m.

Place

San Diego Unified School District Headquarters,
4100 Normal St., San Diego

# # # #

The California Department of Education (CDE) is a state agency led by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson. For more information, please visit http://www.cde.ca.gov<http://www.cde.ca.gov/> or by mobile device at http://m.cde.ca.gov/. You may also follow Superintendent Torlakson on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/TorlaksonSSPI and Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/CAEducation.

California Department of Education, Communications Division
1430 N Street, Suite 5602, Sacramento, CA 95814
Main: 916-319-0818; Fax: 916-319-0100
E-Mail: communications@cde.ca.gov<mailto:dfernandez@cde.ca.gov>; URL: www.cde.ca.gov/nr/<http://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/>

State Superintendent To Honor San Diego Unified Attendance Improvements

MEDIA ADVISORY from the San Diego Unified School District, April 2, 2012

STATE SUPERINTENDENT TO HONOR SAN DIEGO UNIFIED'S ATTENDANCE IMPROVEMENTS

WHAT: News conference with Tom Torlakson, State Superintendent of Public
Instruction, who will discuss San Diego Unified School District's
improvements in student attendance and its designation as one of 11 model
attendance improvement districts in California. One of the contributing
factors is the district's ORBIT computer program, which gives schools
faster and more accurate data about student attendance.

WHEN: 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, April 3, 2012

WHERE: Auditorium, Eugene Brucker Education Center, 4100 Normal St.

DETAILS: Chronic absenteeism that starts in kindergarten can cause
students to have major reading problems by the third grade and dropouts
the dropout rate also trace many of students' academic struggles to early
attendance problems. Over the past three years, San Diego Unified has had
a concentrated effort to reduce absenteeism at all grades, which has
resulted in an increase to 96.20 percent of students in class every day,
up from 95.28 percent in 2009-10.

Schools with the highest daily attendance are: Birney, E.B. Scripps and
Torrey Pines elementary schools; and Millennial Tech and Challenger middle
schools. Schools with the largest gains are: Crawford MVAS High School;
Roosevelt Middle School; and Encanto, Zamorano, Crown Point and Foster
elementary schools.

SPEAKERS: State Supt. Tom Torlakson; Bill Kowba, Superintendent, San Diego
Unified School District; Dr. John Lee Evans, San Diego Unified Board of
Education President; Daryl LaGace, San Diego Unified Chief Information and
Technology Officer; principals and staff from schools with largest gains.

CONTACT:
Jack Brandais
Communications Department
San Diego Unified School District
(619) 725-5570 (Desk)
(619) 607-0477 (Cell)

# # #

You are a subscriber to the news release mailing list for the San Diego Unified School District. To unsubscribe, send a message to "media@lists-sandi-net" with the word "unsubscribe" in the body of the message. For an archive of these releases, go to http://sdusd-news.blogspot.com/