Very soon, our town is going to feel less populated with the upcoming exodus of hundreds of college students. Many are not only reaching the end of the academic year, they are wrapping up their entire collegiate experience and saying farewell to the campus, the city, the friends, the professors and the tests and term papers that have dominated their lives over the last several years.
The Claremont Unified School District board of education met in closed session Thursday night to discuss the search for a new superintendent. A public comment period was provided, however, no community members attended the meeting to present comments to the board.
According to Bill Diedrich of Dave Long & Associates, the district has 33 applications from the pool of candidates provided by the search firm. Of the 33 applicants, 3 are from out of state.
Who: Scott LaFleur joined the staff of Claremont’s Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden as its director of horticulture in March. Coming to Claremont from the east coast, he previously worked at the New England Wild Flower Society, the oldest plant conservation organization in the US.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to work here at Rancho Santa Ana. I’ve always been in love with California and with Rancho, and now I can experience it, immerse myself in it. It’s like a dream come true,” Mr. LaFleur said.
Foothill Country Day School students are embracing character-building through the school's interfaith chapel program, which is teaching students to focus on global awareness rather than the particulars of any one religion.
At the private K-8 school, a variety of interfaith topics and presentations are helping students and teachers alike to cultivate open-mindedness and a well-rounded spiritual education.
"Chapel time is about everyday community gathering. It's a fantastic time to celebrate each other, and we work hard to strike a good balance," said Head of School Mike Silva.
The regular meeting of the Board of Education Thursday, April 19 took on a celebratory aura as board members heard of achievements in various areas of the Claremont Unified School District.
First up in the area of recognition was a report from the inaugural Regional Student Art Exhibition held in early March in the Millard Sheets Gallery at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds.
Sponsored by the Career and Technical Education Center of the Fairplex, the exhibition “ArtReach: The Art of Poetry” attracted participants from 67 high schools in 17 districts in the area.
This week, a who's who of writers and poetry lovers gathered to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Kingsley and Kate Tufts poetry awards, given each year to a new writer of startling talent and a mid-career poet who has created work of significance.
Tufts prize alumni, Claremont Graduate University president Debbie Freund and literary luminaries like Asian-American writer Maxine Hong Kingston were on hand at an awards ceremony and dinner hosted by CGU on Thursday, April 19 to speak to the talents of the latest winners and the importance of poetry.
Claremont Faculty Association
President Joe
Tonan agrees with Los
Angeles Unified School District
Superintendent John Deasy on
2 key points:
School districts must address any siteby-
site inequities that prevent schoolchildren
from receiving a top-notch
education.
For Los Angeles Unified School District
Superintendent John Deasy,
improving the state of public education
is an important civil rights issue.
Until all students have access to AP and honors
courses, effective teaching, successful schools and
counselors intent on preparing them for college, the
promise of Brown vs. the Board of Education—the
landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision that declared
school segregation unconstitutional—has not yet been
fulfilled.
Claremont High School Chamber
Singers got a taste of paradise when
they headed to Hawaii for the prestigious
Pacific Basin Music Festival, held
March 24-31 in Honolulu.
The event brought 42 CHS students together with
members of 10 choral and instrumental ensembles
from the US, New Zealand, Australia and Singapore.
Their acceptance to the festival places the local vocalists
among the top 5 percent of high school-aged
choirs.
Claremont High School vocal music director Joel
Wilson learned that his students would be attending—
on the strength of a CD audition—at the end of
the last school year.
Seeing a blue-tongued skink or an
American alligator in Claremont isn’t
your everyday, run-of-the-mill experience,
let alone touching them. But last
Monday, clients at AbilityFirst had the opportunity
to meet and feel these reptiles as
well as a rosy boa snake, a desert tortoise
and a couple of frisky schnauzer-mix pups.
The animals’ visit to AbilityFirst was made possible
by 2 of America’s Family Pet
Expo community partners,
Barks of Love Animal Rescue
and Forever Wild Exotic Animal
Sanctuary.
All 52 sixth graders
from Sycamore departed
Monday for a stay at the
Los Angeles County
Outdoor Science School
(OSS), a weeklong educational
experience in
Big Bear. The OSS curriculum
focuses on the
study of ecosystems utilizing
the "outdoors as
the classroom and the
natural environment as
the laboratory."
Sycamore School office
manager Damaris
Hankins reports that the
students "arrived at
camp, safe and sound,
without a single incident
of car-sickness."
Sixth grade students
from Vista Elementary
School met up with the
Sycamore kids in Big
Bear. The 2 schools will
share cabins and study
together until their return
this Friday. COURIER photo/Steven Felschundneff
Lately, news from educational institutions
has been grim, with budget
concerns, cutbacks and layoffs
dominating headlines.
This climate makes Claremont McKenna College's
latest achievement, the successful conclusion of its
George R. Roberts Faculty Leadership Initiative, especially
encouraging.
Planning for the Claremont school
district’s financial future while not
knowing what funding may come
from the state, Claremont’s board of education
approved its second interim report
Thursday night certifying that it is financially
solvent.
A second step in the process was the adoption of a
resolution authorizing the school district to issue
TRANs (Tax and Revenue Anticipation Notes) for the
2012-2013 school year, enabling the district to borrow
up to $10 million.
"Maintain contact.
Get in
their face.
Make them respond to you,"
advised State Senator Carol
Liu (D-Glendale), as one of 5
members of the California
Legislature taking part Saturday
at El Roble Intermediate
School in a program called
What (About Our) Future?,
presented by Region 23 of the
California School Board Association.
Senator Liu was advising Californians
to make their views clear to all
members of state government at all levels.
