Claremont High School English teacher Dave Chamberlain just received his 25th request from a junior in need of a recommendation for college applications.
Somehow Mr. Chamberlain, who devotes 25 weekends a year to leading the CHS debate team in a vigorous competition schedule, will find a way to squeeze in the paperwork for his college-bound students.
This year, he is also finding time for another demanding commitment as he takes on the role of president of the Claremont Faculty Association (CFA).
How are our schools doing? It’s a crucial question answered annually by the Single Plan for Student Achievement, a report public schools are required to present to their respective school boards and communities.
Condit and Mountain View Elementary were the first local schools to deliver their SPSAs this year, presenting at the October 4 meeting of the Claremont Unified School District Board of Education.
Delegations from each site delivered an update on the achievements and challenges of the 2011-2012 school year and the school’s plans for the coming year.
Sixth graders at Sumner Elementary School caught election fever last Friday when state Assembly candidate Chris Holden stopped by for a morning chat.
Mr. Holden, a Pasadena city councilman, is vying for a seat in the 41st Assembly District in the November election against Republican Donna Lowe, who spoke to Sumner students several weeks ago. These visits were arranged by 6th grade teacher Joe Tonan to complement the government component of the students’ curriculum.
Mr. Holden, a Democrat, confined his presentation largely to non-partisan issues.
Pomona College, the founding member of The Claremont Colleges in 1887, will mark its 125th annviersary on Sunday, October 14 with a festive celebration and open house from 1 to 5 p.m., centered on the Marston Quadrangle. The guiding theme of the occasion is “community,” and Pomona College invites the public to join in its Founders Day festivities.
Members of the Claremont Unified School District Board of Education have unanimously voted to lend their support to Proposition 30.
At their Thursday meeting, each board member expressed frustration with the failure of state legislators to come up with a meaningful solution to California’s education funding crisis. While Governor Jerry Brown’s tax initiative is far from a permanent fix, it does buy the district time for maintaining crucial programs, said board member Sam Mowbray.
“I feel I have no alternative but to support this resolution,” added board member Hilary LaConte.
Outgoing Claremont Educational Foundation President Liz Weigand will be recognized at the next meeting of the Claremont Unified School District Board of Education, set for Thursday, October 4 at 6:30 p.m.
Another ceremonial item will be the appointment and swearing in of the non-voting CUSD student board member from Claremont High School for the 2012-2013 school year.
Don’t give her fantasy. Don’t give her sci-fi. When it comes to reading, Barbara Cheatley, owner of Barbara Cheatley Antiques in Claremont, wants a slice of life.
Most often, this reality check comes in the form of biography, her favorite literary genre.
Recently, she read Frank and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage, a book by Hazel Rowley charting the unconventional union of the 32nd president and his outspoken first lady, which prevailed through political strife and infidelity.
Jack Scott, scholar in residence in Claremont Graduate University's School of Educational Studies and chancellor of the California Community Colleges from 2009-2012, will deliver this year's 29th annual Howard R. Bowen Lecture on Tuesday, October 2.
Mr. Scott’s talk will focus on how California's higher education system has gone from being a world leader to being one of the country's most challenged over the span of 40 years.
Local fifth and sixth graders recently got a lesson in how to turn creative ideas into concrete accomplishments when the authors of 2 popular sci-fi/fantasy series, Lisa McMann and Margaret Peterson Haddix, visited Vista Elementary School.
Vista librarian Cindy Dewey coordinated the visit with the help of Mrs. Nelson’s Toy and Bookshop, which the authors visited later that evening.
Ms. McMann, the New York Times bestselling author of 9 books, appeared as part of her promotion for Island of Silence, the second book in her The Unwanteds series Kirkus Reviews has called “The Hunger Games meets Harry Potter.”
The Friends of the Claremont Library has announced its forthcoming program for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, the amazing story of a virtually unknown woman whose cells have become one of the most important tools in modern-day medicine. The book is this year’s On The Same Page selection for the city-wide community read.
Heavy-hitting items on the agenda included the district’s Annual Report on Assessment and Accountability, a preliminary roundup of how CUSD students did on testing last year, set against the context of how the district has performed in the last few years. The agenda additionally featured the also-preliminary Unaudited Actuals Reports for the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2012, which indicates how the district is doing financially.
News was good on both fronts.
Jazz music and the chatter of some 55 community members filled the boardroom of the Richard S. Kirkendall Education Center on Thursday during a welcome reception for new Claremont Unified School District Superintendent Jim Elsasser.
“It feels like you’ve been welcoming me for a long time,” joked Mr. Elsasser, who inked his contract in May and took the reins of the CUSD June 1. “I promise this is the last welcome event.”
A welcome reception for new CUSD Superintendent Jim Elsasser will precede the next meeting of the Claremont Unified School District Board of Education. Set for Thursday, September 13 from 5 to 6:30 p.m., the meet-and-greet is open to the public.
The reception will be followed by the school board meeting, which begins at 6:30 p.m. and will feature another welcoming ceremony when Mr. Elsasser swears in new student board member Maggie Elizalde, a senior at San Antonio High School.
There’s change in the wind for public schools across the nation, including those in the Claremont Unified School District, in the form of a new set of state standards called the Common Core.
Its development is incomplete because assessment methods are still being devised, and its implementation is unfunded, but Common Core is set to start in 46 states, including California, in 2014. Here’s a little background.
