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Drawing Guns in the Classroom?
What began as a simple weigh-in from Bay Area parents on whether kids should be allowed to draw guns with historical figures in schools, exploded into much larger topics on what is deemed inappropriate, policy consistency, societal dysfunction and personal expression in and outside of the classroom. There is no blanket law in the state of California on what is and what is not allowed to be drawn in schools, rather, it’s up to the discretion of the individual teacher. This is just a preliminary discussion on this topic, let’s keep it going… CONSISTENCY IN THE CLASSROOM“School districts are not given standards on what age can be drawing guns; there’s…
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Family Fun at Summit for the Planet Earth Day
From barn owls and bearded dragons to California kingsnakes and turkey vultures, the opportunity to get up close and hands-on with wildlife at Mount Madonna School’s annual Summit for the Planet Earth Day festival is always a huge draw. Children and adults alike enjoy the many birds, reptiles, and amphibians shared by the Bay Area Herpetological Society (BAHS) and Wildlife Education Rehabilitation Center (WERC), two participants in this community eco-festival. Everyone is welcome to check out the wildlife and family-friendly activities at the 17th annual Summit for the Planet on Saturday, April 29 from 9:00am to 1:00pm at Mount Madonna School. This FREE admission public event begins with a 5K…
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Students Take Science Seriously
Kids in Santa Cruz County are busy with all kinds of activities, and some in our next generation are taking scientific research seriously as evidenced at the Santa Cruz County Science Fair held March 18 at the County Office of Education. One-hundred-forty students from schools across the County representing 123 science projects competed in this annual event. I had the pleasure of interviewing organizers, judges, and participants. Emma Smith, a sixth grader from Mountain School, is concerned about climate change and flooding. Her project explored whether a living shoreline might mitigate damage from ocean flooding better than the standard impervious sea walls which are built for this purpose. “I knew…
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Kids on the Trapeze with the Greatest of Ease
Ladies and Gentleman! Orchard School presents CircOrchard, its 8th annual children’s circus, featuring the entire 60-strong student body performing clown antics, juggling, acrobatics, unicycling, stilt walking, and circus spoofs. The not-to-be-missed public show will be April 23 at 2pm at the Scotts Valley Cultural and Performing Arts Center. See ticket information below. Over the years, audiences have been wowed by the expertise and creativity of the school’s young performers, as well as impressed by their confidence level and powerful stage presence. The show, under the direction of teacher and professional performer, Rock Lerum, is created fresh every year with the addition of new, kid-generated skits, and an ever-growing student skill…
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ChatGPT – How Will This Change Education?
When spell check and grammar check features became available in the late 1970s, critics feared that we would rely on technology to edit our work and that the quality of our writing would diminish. Then when the internet first appeared in 1983, critics worried that people would lose the ability to think critically. Both the internet and spell/grammar check features have become a mainstay in writing and we rely on them for research and editing our work. Today ChatGPT – an artificial intelligence software program that provides instant research results and can write an original essay in a matter of seconds – is the new obsession. Teachers and administrators are…
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Tips for Music Teachers
My greatest satisfaction, after 70 years of musical experience, has been teaching piano to people of all ages. I’ve found it to be an art of empathy, perception, intuition and constant appraisal. Teaching is about preparing and encouraging a student to continue conscious and creative learning as a life long practice. Here are some tips that may be useful.
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Community College is Best Path to University of California
Each year more than two million people enroll in a California Community College. While each student has their own personal goals during their time at community college, many have aspirations to transfer into a four-year university — the most popular of these universities being University of California. In April of 2018, the UC president and California Community Colleges issued a memorandum of understanding (an “agreement”) that guarantees admission for all CCC students who complete one of the UC pathways and has qualifying GPA. The GPA standard is set at 2.4 or 2.8 for non-residents. While this base GPA varies between majors, it offers a reasonable expectation for students who want…
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Teen Twins Fight Water Pollution at TEDxMeritAcademy
Kids these days! We’ve left them holding the bag of unintended consequences of our own indulgences, yet our children are still vested in righting our wrongs. What solutions might they find if given the opportunity and resources?Ishan and Alisha Bhatia are twins. People ask: Do you think alike? You could say so. Both tackled the same global crisis: water pollution, each from a unique perspective. Before they were out of high school, each had discovered viable solutions and showcased them in talks at TEDxMeritAcademy. Here’s what they have to say: Ishan Imagine a contagion that popped out of nowhere, threatening 385 million lives with cancer, birth defects, and DNA degradation.…
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Santa Cruz’s Oldest School Celebrates 160 Years
When Holy Cross Catholic School opened its doors on top of the hill overlooking downtown Santa Cruz for the 1862-1864 school year, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves, the Union Army was starting to turn the Civil War toward victory and the country celebrated its first Thanksgiving. Patty Patano has been the school’s principal since 2016. Before that she was head of school at an independent school in Los Angeles. Her favorite part of the job is being part of the lives of her students. “They are smart, funny and examples of what it means to have pure joy,” she says. “Helping them navigate times of conflict…
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About the Cover
The two students pictured, a sixth grader and a first grader, are participating in one of Spring Hill School’s buddy activities. Having a buddy helps younger students feel secure and looked out for as they learn from a role model, while older students learn from leading by example and exercising compassion. Spring Hill School is celebrating its 45th anniversary this year! Since 1977, this kindergarten through sixth grade school has cultivated engaged and inspired learners. We foster a community of students and families who create a supportive environment through inclusion, compassion, and embracing diverse perspectives. Through a versatile curriculum and a Design Thinking approach, Spring Hill keeps pace with each…
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The Pandemic in the Classroom
As expected, students suffered academically during the COVID pandemic. While students are now back in the classrooms, math and reading scores plummeted in 2022. Compared to 2019, math dropped 8 points in eighth grade and 5 points in fifth grade across the nation. Scores dropped 3 points in reading for both grades. In California, fewer than half of the students (47%) passed the English language arts test, which was a 4 point drop from pre-pandemic 2018-2019. In math, only one third of the students passed, which was a 6% decline. Stanford, USC and the UC system say that this massive decline has never been seen before and that this is…
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Paying for College
Free Money for College by Susan Tatsui-D’Arcy This year, the budget includes $170 million for children entering 1st grade (2022-2023).Every year, the state will open an account for any child born after July 1, 2022, regardless of income or school child will eventually attend, and has set aside $15.3 million for these newborn accounts. California children born on or after July 1, 2022 will qualify to receive up to $100 for newborns and up to $1500 for low-income students. CalKids is a state-funded college savings program designed to encourage all students to consider higher education by giving them a small, long-term college savings account. Research shows that children, and their…
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Back in the Classroom
A New Kind of Classroom Safety By susan Tatsui-D’Arcy Whether we’re talking about guns on elementary, middle school, high school, or college campuses, we’re opening doors to more carnage. As teachers prepare for the new school year, besides books and class supplies, some teachers are stocking their classrooms with military-grade devices to protect their students. One Bay Area teacher purchased a metal bat and the Barracuda, a metal bar that prevents entry, for her classroom. She also plans to run drills for her elementary school students to teach them how to stay quiet and to listen to her directions when there is an intruder who can harm them.It seems to…
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Morning Routines
Don’t Forget Your Lunch! Back-to-School Health Tips From a School Nurse By Sandra Fong, RN Nobody can get it all done and be the perfect parent. Pick one or two goals for a healthier school year and take a baby step in the right direction As the back-to-school season is in full swing, parents are busy filling backpacks and teacher wish lists and squeezing into that last spot on the after-school care roster. Among all the activities and supplies, parents should also make sure to do a quick health check-in! Fueling Your Body with foodSnacks and meals are an important part of the “fuel” children need to get through their…
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Wildfire Season
5 Easy Steps to Prepare For Wildfires by Susan Tatsui-D’Arcy Children, and adults, are anxious about the negative effects of wildfires and climate-related disasters. The uncertainty of when they will strike and the restrictions it puts on after-school activities, family vacations, and even on-site classes are taking its toll on all of us. I recently hosted the North Rodeo Gulch Firewise event to encourage residents to take action to mitigate wildfires. With over 17 expert speakers from Supervisor Manu Koenig to Central Fire’s top brass to SC County Sheriff to ARES (ham radio), they addressed concerns and offered excellent tips on how to navigate the upcoming fire season. My daughter,…
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College Rejections Up This Year: Here’s Why
College Rejections Up This Year: Here’s Why By Susan Tatsui-D’Arcy So, chin up! Those colleges will miss out on what you could have brought to their campuses this fall. Watch out world – here you come! This year, the most competitive colleges rejected record numbers of applicants than in recorded history. That means that colleges like Harvard that had admit rates of around 5% last year have dropped to 3.19%. We’ll get more data when other selective colleges release their admissions statistics for this year. So, what caused this uptick in applications this year? Over 1,300 colleges offered test-optional admissions due to COVID and difficulty finding testing sites during the pandemic.…
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Fun Summer Activities
Fun Summer Activities – Plan Them Now! Summer’s Just Around the Corner, and It’s Time to Make Plans! By Susan Tatsui-D’Arcy With 12 weeks off, even the busiest kids get bored. You can only sign them up for so many weeks of Junior Guards or summer camps. To make this summer the best ever, consider creating a custom summer program that meets the needs and desires of your children – at no cost to you! By creating a special summer “camp” for just a few kids, you can set up your kids’ favorite activities and new outings that will keep them engaged all summer. I did this with my girls…
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Education
Schools Look at New Forms of Discipline By Suki Wessling Once they looked through the lens of equity, they realized that school discipline had to be reformed—now. When you say “discipline,” most people imagine punishment. When you say “suspension,” people imagine kids being sent home. When you say “behavior,” people imagine bad behavior rather than behavioral health. Santa Cruz’s County Office of Education is trying to turn all these suppositions on their heads, and it all started with the numbers. “We started asking the question, are we treating students differently based on their ethnicity?” said County Superintendent of Schools Faris Sabbah. “We have been gathering data from a variety of…
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Independent Schools Review
Independent Schools Serve the Whole Child By Suki Wessling At these independent schools, there’s a helping hand next to every potential crack, waiting to give a student a hand up. January is our Independent Schools issue, and every time I write an article for this issue, I’m reminded of my own family’s search for education that suited our kids’ needs. At one point another parent said to me, “We’re just sending our kids to the neighborhood school; we’re not picky about education.” But it isn’t always pickiness that sends parents looking for alternatives—it’s necessity. Although we often talk as if most kids are some imagined “average” student, all of us…
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Self Esteem in Teens
Secret to Building Self-Esteem in Teens By Susan Tatsui-D’Arcy Being a teen today has many complexities that the rest of us old folks never had to maneuver. We didn’t have 18 months of social isolation where most of our interpersonal interactions were spent perusing social media posts. We didn’t have bullies who hid behind digital screens while they blasted hateful messages and photos to us for everyone to see. Most of the teens I work with today suffer from depression and devastating self-esteem issues. Teens so desperately need to receive affirmations to feel that they’re normal. Whether it’s knowing that their favorite sweatshirt looks good on them or that they’re…
