So here is the latest and GREATEST

Within the last hour Riverside was named as the "most intelligent community in the world" by ICF (Intelligent Community Forum) who holds the annual competition for the award.  You remember we were named one of the top 7.  This was the culmination of the work on this award.  It was preceeded by information being sent and visitations to Riverside by the ICF representatives.  I believe this is the first time the award was given to a US city.

Additionally, we won the "coolest app" part of the competition that was lead by Jay McPhail and the student learning aspect of all of this

Kudos to all!!!!

Here are 2 short videos.  http://bit.ly/LK5N3X and http://bit.ly/KUe7kc

You REALLY Missed It!!

If you couldn’t make it, you really missed it on Saturday night when we had our Red Carpet premier for our student acted and produced video on the A-G requirements that are necessary for University of California admission.  While it was not totally full, it was a very full house in the Ramona Theater (over 650).  Students were introduced and premiered including several red carpet interviews.  We even learned how to “shuffle” – kinda.

As indicated earlier in the week, we have a great staff across the District that is producing some incredible results with our students.  Many from the HS media arts and publications staff were involved in this effort along with many students – essentially all on non-school time.  There were student producers, camera-people, actors, choreographers, and you-name-it.  When people talk about preparing our students for the jobs of the 21^st century (which is now) – I believe this is a great example – that can translate into real jobs.  Additionally, these students have a very valuable piece for their job or college portfolio that is very credible.

Bottomline, if you or others don’t know what each of the 7 letters (A-G) represent in the A-G requirements you could and should check out this video (http://bit.ly/NhKqLm) that will explain it in some fun detail.  Your friends might even enjoy it.  Great job students and staff!!

Graduation Week

To follow yesterday’s theme of great teachers and staff doing great work – here is another (and the reality is that there are MANY). 

Each school and each situation is different -- much like our students and their families.  One size cannot fit all and arguably fits none.  At one of our high schools, graduation looks a lot less like pomp and circumstance in the stadium and is much more intimate.  One of our teachers, enlisting their own creativity and resources, recorded just one of those graduations and the story of completion and achievement.  It has been published for the world to see the creativity and achievement of our staff and students on YouTube.  It is the story of one EOC graduation.

Thanks Ann!!

As graduation week begins there is much to celebrate.  Certainly, we have many graduates, their families, their teachers, and their mentors that have worked hard to accomplish the celebrations of this week.

On the other side, it is also a time to look at the spectacular work of many of our teachers and staff that do extraordinary things for our students.  To point to one example, that in my view represents many, I would look at the Senior Exhibition event at JW North HS.  This is certainly a great example of preparing our students for the world beyond high school (next week!). 

Though it probably is not an “official” Senior Exhibition project – I am stunned by the work of just one of our teachers in this area.   In this case, AFTER graduation, the teacher contacts you and asks you to write another essay and make sure it includes a literary work as part of the overall theme.  Guess what, many students did exactly that and emailed their essays back to the teacher (had to use email as they didn’t show up for class anymore).  The teacher, of course, commented and edited the work and returned it.  All of it ended up as the most extraordinary book of these essays – that are very thought-provoking and insightful from our students about their various journeys in life.

The book is entitled:  Bookmarked by Ann Camacho (JW North teacher).  If you haven’t looked at it I would highly recommend it.  I was intrigued and impressed by the project -- I was even more impressed by the quality of writing and thinking by our students.  To that end, I would also thank Ann and all of the other teachers across RUSD that are so committed to our students and their excellence.

P.S.  Ann, please don't edit my work as it is not likely to be to the standard that you have demanded of your students.

May Revise

So theoretically, it is done …we now know what the state budget is to look like for 2012-13.  Yesterday, the Governor released his “May Revision” of the budget.  Typically, this is the “budget” that in one form or another becomes the basis for the Legislature to act and ultimately provide the state with their plan – and, of course, it trickles down to local school districts and our budgets.  Actually, the “May Revise” is not much different than we have projected.  Not surprisingly, the Governor is counting on the passage of his tax initiative in November – if it passes his budget works, if it doesn’t I guess we start all over in the middle of the year.

Certainly there will be a lot of conjure about the various pieces and parts.  Obviously, there is LOTS of detail on a state budget.  However, there are two things that strike me at this time.

1. If the Governor’s tax initiative should pass in November, it would theoretically provide an additional $7 Billion to the state.  At the same time, it was announced yesterday that the budget deficit rose from $9B to $16B.  By my math, it would seem that the hole got bigger by $7B and if the initiative passes it raises $7B – sounds like it is even and the initiative provides no gain – at least in the short term. Humm...
2. The Governor has instituted a trigger mechanism that should his tax initiative NOT pass; the state would allow the reduction of another 15 days from the current school year (5 are allowed now).  Overall, on our calendar that would mean the last day of school next year would move from June 12^th to May 15^th.  I am not suggesting that we will be interested in doing that – just that is the state plan.

It seems abundantly clear that Sacramento has not figured out its finances, and of greater concern it does not value public education that provides a skilled workforce that provides economic development and drives the state economy.

Great Evening Great Student Performance

This is the time of year when lots of GREAT things happen and the students as they are recognized for their performance.  Last night is one of my favorite events of the year when the Riverside County Superintendent and his office honor the top High School students in the county of Riverside.  We have about 430,000 students that attend school in our county.  This year there will be approximately 33,000 of those students that will be graduating from high school.  The evening was devoted to recognizing the top three students (academically) from each of the 51 high schools in Riverside County. 

In addition, the highlight of the evening is when Superintendent Kenn Young names the top 10 county academic team from those 33,000 HS graduates.  The determination is made based on a weighted scoring of a student’s GPA, SAT performance, extra-curricular activities, and accomplishments outside the school.  This year 3 of the top 10 Academic Team are from RUSD.  Their performance and that of the other team members are phenomenal.  As an example our three students included:

·         Alan Z from North HS with a GPA of 4.65 and a SAT score of 2270 (out of a possible 2,400)

·         Kevin Z from North HS with a  GPA of 4.63 and a SAT score of 2340

·         Jeffrey G from Poly HS with a GPA of 4.71 and a SAT score of 2400 (yes a perfect score)

Beyond great work by these students, they are obviously supported by committed parents and great RUSD teachers that can meet the challenge of these high performing students.

Enjoy the Break

So here we are on the last day before Spring Break.  It would seem that all are ready for the short respite as it has been busy and intense.  My thanks and kudos to all staff as they continue to do a great job even in the face of difficult times in public education.  I hope that you all have a restful break and re-energize for the return and final race to graduation.

Representative of the great work that our folks are doing is the recognition notice that we received yesterday that John F Kennedy Elementary has been recognized as a California Distinguished School for 2012.  Congratulations to staff, parents, leadership, and students that made that happen.

I should also note that our mascot has been making the rounds with his new name (was named through a student contest).  He will complete his tour of the winners (for naming) this morning at Jefferson.  His name is Rus D. Owl.

Again, best wishes to all for a restful week of R&R next week. 

Best regards,
Rick

Hidden Treasures

I was privileged last night to be involved in two “hidden” programs that are representative of the great things that go on in this community and school district.  My first visit was to a celebration of the HOPE conference that was put together with the local efforts of:  Ofelia Valdez-Yeager, Esther Velez-Andrews, and Gabriela Plascencia (counselor at Central).  Through this program 20 young Latinas went to downtown LA for a daylong conference to be encouraged by those that have gone before them and been successful.  The Latinas represented the 4 HS of Arlington, North, Ramona, Norte Vista, and Lincoln.  They dressed professionally and gave a public account of themselves.  All good.  Additionally, there were another 4 from Ramona HS that had the privilege of engaging in a year-long program that culminates with a trip to Sacramento to speak to Legislators. 

The second engagement of the evening was the graduation of parents at JW North HS from the PIQE (Parent Institute for Quality Education) academy that lasts for 9 weeks.  It was Standing Room Only in the Multipurpose Room and attended by families, parents, and students.  82 parents graduated from a program that informed and encouraged university readiness and matriculation.  Other than great and committed parents the highlight of the evening was a speech by an AEL student, Tanya, who gave her speech in Spanish and English.  In a 21^st century culture, being bilingual is an ASSET not a liability.

Again, these programs are “quiet” and somewhat unnoticed – but oh so powerful.

Congratulations JW North HS

Certainly a highlight of this past week was the Girls Basketball State Championship game held at the Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento.  After last Saturday’s game, we needed to get the girls and their supporters to Sacramento.  As such, we set about raising funds and raised something in the neighborhood of $4,000 in fairly short order from a very supportive community.

As to the game itself, it was a great game – though we came out of the bottom side of the scoring being down by two points when we finished.  Our team has nothing to "hang their head over" though, as they totally reversed their last season (from a 4-21 season to 30-6 this year).  They played a team that was very experienced in post-season playoffs and championship games.  Our team played hard, played well, and “left it all on the court.”  We received again very nice coverage (front page of Sports section and callout on front page) from the Press Enterprise as well as mention from the SacramentoBee and others.

What is probably most exciting is that they are only losing 2 seniors off of this team and there are 3 junior starters + 1 regular player (Junior) – all of whom are anticipated to return to next year’s team. 

What is also of interest, but not a huge surprise is the article/statements in the Sacramento Bee regarding the basic unfairness of private and parochial schools in the CIF competition – weather it be for football, basketball, etc.  While taking nothing away from the performance of Archbishop Mitty, this has been a long-standing problem in the CIF.

Great job JW North and Girls Basketball team!!

JW North Champions

I had the great opportunity to attend the Regional Championship (Southern California) for Girls Basketball on Saturday and got to see the JW North team beat Foothill HS (from Tustin).  It was a great game and a great win.  The girls are now on their way to Sacramento to play in the California State Championship game on Friday at 6 p.m.

At the beginning of the game, I was a little bit nervous as the Foothill girls were much taller (which can matter in BB).  Not to worry, our girls had speed, agility and a game plan.  With their full court press they confused and pulled away from the Foothill team and never looked back.  Great performance by these athletes, Coach De Coud, and JW North HS.

The Press Enterprise had a great set of articles and pictures on Sunday.  Here is the link:  http://www.pe.com/sports/high-school/hsg-sports/hsg-basketball/hsg-basketball-headlines/20120317-girls-basketball-north-wins-regional-title.ece

 

King HS Remembers

Friday was the 12th annual King High Remembers event. Once again John Corona and his Social Science Department (along with LOTS of other helpers) put on a great event with our veterans (275 of them) from a variety of wars. It was again essentially a standing room only affair that took up the entire gymnasium and the adjoining multipurpose room.

This event is so critical as it provides King HS students with the unique opportunity to meet with veterans and hear their particular stories and quiz them about the details.

The King Remembers event is important for several reasons:

1. These veterans and their brothers in arms need to understand we appreciate them and their service.
2. Students need to understand what this is all about and the importance of military service to our freedom and way of life. They are prompted beyond this event to discuss the military and related experiences with their families and those close to the family that have served.
3. This event is important for our entire community to celebrate the service of these veterans as well as remind each other about the price of our American freedom and values.
4. From a recent book I was reading, at the end of World War II there was 1 out of 10 citizens ACTIVELY engaged in the military. Which essentially represented 1 of the tables (which holds 10 people) in the main gymnasium. That is what used to be. According to more recent data, we now have 1 ACTIVELY engaged in the military out of 221 citizens (essentially 22 tables in that same gymnasium). Needless to say, unless we use a method like King HS Remembers, we forget what is involved in our freedom and the specific price involved AND our students/youth truly don't understand.

Thank you John, thank you King HS, thank you Riverside for helping us remember and learn on Friday.

Sacramento We Have a Problem!

Since money is in short supply, obviously our only other choice is to become far more creative.  I was reminded of the Apollo 13 movie scene (that was real life) where based on the emergency (which we are in) where the team on the ground needed to “invent a way to put a square peg in a round hole – rapidly.”  And they did!

I don’t know if square pegs and round holes have anything to do with public education in California at this moment – but probably the “rapidly” portion of the directive is relevant for us.  So it was interesting to me, when I recently was able to review a video clip of Dr. Sugata Mitra (Ph.D. in Solid State Physics) of the United Kingdom. 

While I certainly don’t advocate his particular research as the solution to California’s public education problem – it does cause one to think and reflect about the capacity of our students to learn well in a changing environment.  I would suggest that this video clip is not for those that may be faint of heart – as it challenges a lot of our assumptions and may be suggesting new ideas that are far beyond our California context.  But if you dare, you can find the video here.

National PI Day

Okay before the day gets totally away from me and you ...HAPPY PI DAY!!
Being a math focused District it is only appropriate to make sure we recognize this day and the significance of Pi.  The next recognition opportunity for Pi will be with Pi Approximation Day in July.

Third-world State?

Across the state we are all facing a difficult time as we once again make budget reductions in a public education system that has done nothing but take cuts for the last 5 years.  Five years ago, we would never have believed that, while being one of the least funded state systems in the nation, we would be required to operate without even the existing meager resources.  But so it has gone – we are now working on about 75 cents of those 2007 dollars.

This year’s budget is likely to be even scarier with state resources that are diminishing even now (from projections of the LAO’s and Controller’s offices).  Additionally, this is a year that makes a budget even more challenging.  The Governor’s budget (to date) is counting on passage of a November initiative to fund the budget and is using public education and schools to leverage the passage of such.  To make it all a bit more exciting there are 3 active tax initiatives – with at least 2 likely to be on the ballot.  So if these do not pass, we are to take a mid-year reduction followed by a further 2013-2014 budget?  Are we to lose a whole generation of students and ultimately a generation of citizens and workers?

For me all of this somehow seems to miss the point.  When are we in California going to begin to demand that our representatives and this state provide the same quality education that it did 40 years ago – when nationally we led the way?  Our state economy and relative economic development cannot do well unless we address these issues.  And for those of you that think I am talking about the K-12 system – I am but I am equally talking about the public higher education system which also has been disseminated.  From the funding (read state commitment) of public education we are on our way to becoming a "3^rd world state" in the national engagement.  Why would you want to move your company to California under the present circumstances?

It certainly does not have to be this way – but to do otherwise requires ACTION up and down and throughout our state.

MLK Day Activities

Well the walk and the company was great on the Walkathon from Stratton Center to the MLK Statute downtown and then to RCC.  It was great this year, in addition to City Officials to have a great representation from our high schools.  I saw three, but there may have been more.  Both ML King and Poly had their colors on.  I know that Principal Painton and Activities Director Porter were there with a number of students -- though their blue didn't stand out well from the MLK March blue. 

I know that there were a number of teachers and other staff there along the way -- and it was great to see them and their support.  I believe that this was Dr. Beaty's 19th march which is consistent with the 19th year of this event along with Mayor Loveridge's 19th walk as well.

Attached are some of the photos I got along the way.

  

Martin Luther King, Jr Day

I hope you all had a great weekend.  Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  I hope you get a chance to engage in the activities of the day in downtown Riverside.  I am planning to be part of the 19th annual Walkathon that starts at the Stratton Center.

I know the students from each of our High Schools that serve on the Student Advisory Group are planning to be there with a number of their colleagues.  It should be a great walk.  See you there.

Conundrum?

So this past week I had the opportunity to read USA Today and found a most interesting set of articles that were juxtaposed on the same page (6A) on opposite sides. 

On the one side, there is a description of a major and growing problem with schools and people that are trying to "cheat" their state test for the purpose of appearing "good" rather than being concerned about the primary mission of schools:  student learning.  The most egregious example cited being the Atlanta Public Schools in Georgia.  I am not sure why it would be a surprise that when there is extraordinarily high focus and penalty / reward of test results -- that people can and do try to beat the test in in unethical, immoral ways.

The interesting part was that right next to this article was another that brought us up-to-date on the whereabouts and achievements of Michelle Rhee, former Chancellor of the Washington DC Public School.  The curiosity is that Ms. Rhee continues to propose more "high stakes testing" as a great solution, while there is some evidence that under her short administration in DC there is substantial evidence on an unusually high rate of "erasures" -- which is commonly a sign of "extra" help on state assessments.

Juxtaposition???

When will we start talking about an improved learning?  Clearly assessment is important IF we don't forget that this is about the learning of students, not passing tests.  The other part of this conundrum is that most of our state assessments are minimalist and very narrow -- leaving out other important arenas of learning such as:  history, science, music, fine arts, etc.

So what did you learn over the holiday break?

Welcome Back!!

Welcome back, I hope you all had a great and restful holiday.  I had some good time with family. 

However, I also am aware that while many of us were resting and relaxing, there were those that were working very hard and were very focused.  Representing all the great value-added and performing arts programs in RUSD, we had Mr. Charles Gray and the King HS Kingsmen Band representing us in Arizona at the New Year's Fiesta Bowl Parade.  Not surprisingly, the King Band once again showed themselves well.  You can see them here on You Tube from the local ABC news channel (go to 11:30 on the tape).

Bottomline, the Kingsmen walked away with all the honors and the Grand Championship.  Congratulations and thank you for all your hard work.