State and federal grant money is going a long way to help soften the financial blow of Claremont Unified School District’s reopening and pandemic-related expenses. The district will have received $19.3 million in government grant money when all is said and done, most all of it earmarked for specific COVID-19 mitigation related expenses. Thus far it has spent $4.2 million and has received $4 million, with much more on the way soon.
Lucinda McDade, Ph.D., Executive Director and Judith B. Friend Director of Research at the California Botanic Garden, has been named the 2021 recipient of the American Horticultural Society’s Liberty Hyde Bailey Award, the organization’s highest honor. The award is given to an individual who has made significant lifetime contributions to horticultural fields.
It’s been a long, arduous 13 months since Claremont public schools shut down March 13, 2020 as the rapidly advancing coronavirus pandemic made its way across the country. And now, after a rollercoaster year in which hopes were buoyed and dashed as the virus surged, kids will once again roam the halls at Claremont’s seven elementary schools when they open on Monday.
Math: it’s a dirty word to some, a source of endless fascination to others. Members of the former camp might well have been convinced otherwise if only they had benefitted from a thoughtful math education, says Judith Grabiner, who clearly knows of what she speaks.
The 51-year Claremont resident spoke to the COURIER on the occasion of her latest accolade.
In an anticlimactic, but not unexpected move, all Claremont Colleges seniors will graduate via virtual ceremonies this year.
Many institutions are doing their best to spice up the ho-hum ending by bringing in an array of distinguished and well-known commencement speakers.
When college graduates reflect on their senior years, I imagine many recall memories like savoring friendships or dancing at Saturday evening parties.
When the Class of ‘21 looks back at its senior year, those classic memories, for many, will instead be composed of online classes and social deprivation.
At the beginning of last year, when the U.S. had only a handful of confirmed coronavirus cases, I took off to Amsterdam to study abroad
Pomona College sophomore Corinne Bobb-Semple has been selected as a 2021 Frederick Douglass Global Fellow. The winners of the award were announced March 17 at a St. Patrick’s Day roundtable where the fellows were congratulated by Vice President Kamala Harris and Ireland’s Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheál Martin.
Activist Ady Barkan, renowned conductor Gustavo Dudamel and Pulitzer Prize-¬winning journalist Bill Keller ’70 will deliver commencement addresses to the Pomona College class of 2021. The College’s 128th commencement exercises will be a virtual celebration that will take place in early summer. Barkan, Dudamel and Keller will be each recognized with an honorary degree by the College. Planning is underway for an in-person gathering in May or June 2022.
With the County of Los Angeles’ recent move into the red tier under the State of California’s COVID-19 reopening framework, The Claremont Colleges welcome the reopening possibilities including the potential return of students to residential housing as early as this summer pending County approval.
Pomona College’s Benton Museum is hosting a free virtual film series and conversation, “7 x 7 // 7 Artists, 7 Years,” beginning at 4:30 p.m. today. The films included in the screening include the documentaries “Carrom,” directed by Nashwan Sadek, “Ozazah,” by Ala'a Hafed, “Made of Gold,” from Saber Wasel, and “The Last Resort,” by Noordeen Morgan.
An enterprising songwriter might do well to jump on creating a counterpoint to “School’s Out,” Alice Cooper’s gleeful, evergreen 1972 anthem celebrating end of term rebellion.
“School’s ... In,” perhaps? Many Claremont families, and yes, students, are preparing happily for what will be the first day of school in about 13 months, with elementary level classes beginning April 12 and now secondary starting April 19.
With COVID-19 numbers continuing their welcome downward trend in Los Angeles County, and Claremont elementary schools tentatively set to reopen April 12, it appears inevitable middle and high schools will soon be eligible to bring students back as well.
And while virus numbers are cooperating, is it possible to get secondary school kids back in class before the end of the school year?
Hunting for a match at the top level of public education administration mirrors this concept: paying someone to minimize risk of exposure, financially and emotionally, when bringing someone new into your life.
Consider Claremont Unified School District’s Board of Education as having taken that bold first step.
The board met over Zoom on Thursday with its newly hired executive search firm, Educational Support Services Group, and described what it was looking for in a superintendent.
Barring a hiccup, some elementary level students will be back in classes April 12, Claremont Unified School District announced last week. “We’re aiming for it,” Ms. Olesniewicz told the COURIER. “We’re very optimistic. I don’t see too many obstacles in our way, so we’re aiming for the twelfth [of April].”
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