September 9, 2004

SCHOOL SCENEin Almaden Valley

Schools and PTAs gearing up for the year

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

As children head back to school and parents “secretly” express relief in recapturing a sense of routine after the long summer break, schools and PTAs are actively gearing up for a year filled with events, fundraisers, accomplishments, and accolades.

Students are now settling back into classroom schedules—reacquainting with old friends, making new ones, perusing fresh textbooks, and packing homework assignments into their backpacks, teachers, administrators, PTAs, and parent volunteers jump head first into planning curriculums and special events.

It is a perfect segue into the launch of the Almaden Times Weekly “School Scene,” where readers will now be able to keep abreast of what is happening in their schools. And schools will have an ongoing opportunity to share their victories—large and small with the community.

Each week, School Scene will invite Almaden schools to list upcoming events and notices, while showcasing the outstanding contributions of students, teachers, and volunteer parents who deserve a pat on the back.
This week, principals share their excitement, anticipation, and expectations for the coming months:

Graystone Elementary School, (Back to School Night: Sept. 14)
In addition to the installation of a new kindergarten playground, Graystone welcomes two new faces to the front office, including principal David Beymer and assistant principal Sherry Garza.

“To be able to get reassessed to Graystone is quite an opportunity,” admits Beymer. “The biggest thing that hit me was all the enhancement activities in math, music, and science classes that I haven’t seen these at other schools. And the support from the parents and volunteers—the whole community is behind this school.”

Beginning Sept. 24, Beymer will host monthly chats with parents, where he will share school and district information, while fielding any questions and concerns that may arise.

“I have found monthly Chats to be an excellent way to get to know each other,” he says. “A lot of the activities Jerri Kazmierczak put into place were able to hit a pretty big span of people. I want to continue that by working with parent groups and maintaining an open door policy.”

Celebrating their 17th year, “Roots and Wings” is a parent-volunteer program designed to encourage and develop positive self-esteem in students, while learning life skills and values associated with making good choices.

“It ties in with the Cornerstone and Peace Builders projects,” says Beymer. “It all dovetails with being strong in academics, but also being a decent person and working with people. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication by the staff and parents to make this happen.

Los Alamitos Elementary, (Back to School Night: Sept. 21)
According to principal Lisa Gonzales, in addition to acquiring several new staff members and four new teachers, outgoing PTA president Greg Finch passes the gavel to Jim Kately, who will now preside over the association.

Later this month, volleyball, basketball, cheerleading, art, tennis, science, and Spanish will be added to the after school program, and leadership roles will again be offered to students interested in safety patrol, fire drill captain, student council, and conflict mediator positions.

As students settle in, parent volunteers and committee members hit the fundraising trail with their second annual “Family Night” on Sept. 15. The S.M.A.R.T. Foundation and Robotics committee have coordinated an evening out, where a percentage of the evening’s proceeds from Chevy’s, Barnes & Noble, and Baskin Robbins will be donated to the Robotics program—a venture that raised an estimated $2,000 last year.

On, Friday, Sept. 17, the school playground will be transformed into a drive-in-style [no cars please] movie night to kick off the pledge drive for “ROCK ‘N WALK” their annual walk-a-thon, held this year on Oct. 9. The school’s largest annual fund-raising venture raised over $72,000 last year—thanks to a successful silent auction and 500 students who logged nearly 6,000 miles.

“We’re real excited about our silent auction and the class baskets that are put together by the parents,” she says. “The two keys to this are the children’s enthusiasm and parent participation.”

Simonds Elementary School, (Back to School Night: Sept. 21)
Although major construction at Simonds Elementary School boasts welcomed upgrades, including double pane windows throughout, along with new white boards and tack-able wall surfaces in the classrooms, delays found staff and administrators clamoring to get moved back in days before students returned on Aug. 22.

“The move did come down to the wire, but it’s thrilling to be in fresh clean classrooms,” exclaimed principal Linda Kakes. “People worked through the weekend and we moved in on the 20th. It was awesome the way the parents got together and brought us lunch on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday—which was really a kind and generous thing to do.”

Kakes is elated with the school’s API score of 914, which she says fits their vision of academics “first and foremost.”

“We are also looking at the whole child,” she says. “That’s why we love our music program, which gives every child in the school an opportunity to be on stage in costume in a grade level musical and allows our fourth and fifth graders to take part in the Simonds band. We’re grateful to our foundation for making that opportunity possible.”

Simonds annual Walk-a-Thon will be held on October 9, followed by their Harvest Festival.

Williams Elementary School, (Back to School Night Sept. 14)
New technology programming takes center stage list this year as the school embraces the Edusoft software program, which will allow teachers to pull standards-based questions for their students from the website.

“It uses assessment to guide instruction,” explains principal Susan Walker. “We’re very excited about it.”

Three new teachers join the faculty, including Barbara Moore and Nancy Vaccarezza, along with resource specialist Chris Hawkins, who will work with special needs kids at both Williams and Simonds schools.

Noon League will offer parent/student-based activities during lunch recess in an effort to build a more caring school climate-especially nice, according to Walker, for new students who haven’t need something to do during lunch recess.

The Scholastic Book Faire will run from Sept. 13-17, while students ready for the Sally Foster gift-wrap fundraiser, beginning Sept. 15.

Plans are now in place for another series of parent-orientated Project Cornerstone meetings, along with a second Leadership Challenge workshop with Simonds and Graystone schools, designed to guide student leaders in asset building and being positive role models.

It will also be another litter-free year for Glenview Park, which has again been adopted by the fifth grade class as part of their community service project.

Walker feels that the opening has been their best yet—as evidence by the level of student engagement and teacher preparation.

“This will undoubtedly be another wonderful year for the students at Williams,” she says.

Castillero Middle School, (Back to School Night Sept. 24)
As the dust settled on a second summer of construction, Castillero students returned to new gym facilities and locker rooms, while 12 new teachers join the staff—three of whom will focus entirely on technology.

“I feel we are truly ready to move forward in our technology instruction in the classrooms,” Says Engel. “Debbie Richardson will train our other teachers with the technology equipment, while Heather Russell gets everyone back on line. We’re ready to go.”

With the release of the API scores, Engel is elated with the school’s ongoing progress, but admits that there is still work to be done.

“The test scores were excellent,” she exclaims. “We went up 21 points to 786 and we’re getting real close. In some of our subgroups, we doubled our scores from last year and are looking at continuing to improve those.”
Throughout the summer, students have been rehearsing for their annual CPA show, which will be held this year on Nov. 24 at the Center for the Performing Arts in downtown San Jose.

This week, Castillero students are canvassing the neighborhoods for their annual magazine drive, with expectations to raise $40,000 to $50,000—a perfect opportunity for residents to renew their favorite subscriptions and help their local school.

“It’s huge,” says Engel. “And Gary Fowler promises to allow the students to duct tape him to the flagpole again this year if they reach their goal.”

Engel says she also plans to revisit the success of their recent visionary retreat—funded in part by the school’s foundation.

Bret Harte Middle School, (Back to School Night Sept. 1)
A smooth transition and successful Sept. 1st Back-to-School night has principal Don McCloskey optimistic for the coming year at Bret Harte.

“Everything went very smoothly and we’re excited to have a very nice crop of sixth graders to compliment our seventh and eighth graders,” he says. “Our next big event on Sept. 17 will be the first dance of the year to welcome everybody back.”

At barely a year old, the Bret Harte TV station broadcast class will expand to accommodate the more than 90 students who have committed to produce daily programming for their channel 40 station—a dual format that will feature ann-ouncements, events, and activities, as well as individual “60-minutes” style reports on teachers, students, and school-related issues.

“We’re looking forward to the expansion of this class,” McClosky says. “Last year, it started with one class and we made a commitment to make the system work. This year, we have two classes dedicated to putting out a show every day after lunch. It’s in big demand and now we’re just trying to refine it.”

Upcoming events include the school’s magazine drive, as well as their annual membership drive for Community Club—a parent-run fundraising arm that benefits programs, classroom equipment, and teacher requests.

“They were incredibly successful last year,” notes McCloskey. “And we hope they will be again this year. We owe them a lot of credit for their work.”

Leland High School, (Back to School Night: Sept. 16)
As major construction nears completion and will soon reveal a host of upgrades, principal Bob Setterland joins 15 new faculty members at Leland High School.

“The school has marvelous potential, he says. “We’ve taken in a really talented freshman class and the faculty is really positive about their students. We think it’s going to be an outstanding year.”

Setterland is also pleased with the school’s API score of 826—an 18-point increase, along with the successfully meeting their Adequate Yearly Progress [AYP] requirements. But he is equally excited with the numbers on their advanced placement scores.

“381 students took a total of 733 advance placement tests, with a 69-percent pass rate,” he says. “This year, we’re adding courses in English language and economics.”

While an outdoor stage presentation area now graces the school quad, students await the completion of the new gymnasium floor and electric bleachers in the coming weeks. Additionally, three new chemistry labs will be up and running by November, along with a renovated athletic stadium that Setterland says may soon bear a popular name.

“Meetings are now being held to potentially name the stadium after Pat Tillman,” he says.

Pioneer High School, (Back to School Night: Sept. 23)
After a devastating fire destroyed the Performing Arts Center [PAC] last fall, reconstruction is underway. According to principal Barbara Lepiane, the overhang is now complete and the burned out PAC will be torn down over the Holidays. The new facility is due to be operational by Sept. 2005—one year ahead of schedule.

But the show must go on, as the Glue Factory presents their first parent production Sept. 29 through Oct. 2.

“This is our first big fundraiser of the year and will fund our other drama productions,” Lepiane explains. “We’re holding it out in our quad—what we’re now calling the ‘Out PAC.’”

Pioneer will also be the first high school to implement the Edusoft software program this year, Lepiane says.

“High schools weren’t going to get this until next year, but our teachers have already been trained so we won’t have to wait. It’s an amazing tool that will help the teachers create tests and homework along the benchmarks in each subject area.”

The new football stadium will be the first in San Jose Unified to be completed and a grand opening celebration will be held on Oct. 2, prior to their first varsity game of the season.

Upcoming events include the first PTSA meeting on Sept. 16, followed by Annual Pride Day on Sept. 18, where parents, students, and staff plant, trim, and beautify the campus.

According to Lepiane, the transition into the new school year has been seamless.

“Within an hour after school began, all the kids were in class—it’s been amazing. We’re packed to capacity with 1,500 kids and we now have a waitlist.”