A Pie in the Face for Jog-A-Thon

As a reward for meeting the goals of the fund raiser, students enjoy watching Marcus Lam, Principal, and Clinton Puckett, Vice Principal, get a pie in the face. The students actually exceeded their goal of $25,000. Make sure you watch the video all the way to the end as it really gets wild at the end. This video was prepared by the students in Mr. Guernseys 5th grade class.

Sadness At AE and All of New Haven

Sara Anderson and son William

Teachers at Alvarado were deeply saddened at the news of the death of 36 year old Sara Anderson on Oct 3rd, 2013. Sara was a well liked and respected primary teacher. She had taught at Searles and Hillview Crest. Her death was caused by a sudden brain aneurysm. Her only child, William, was only 7 weeks old at the time of her death. New Haven teachers are known for the hours spent in collaboration by grade level, since Mrs. Anderson had been in the district for 9 years, the faculties at every school are in mourning.  She leaves behind her firefighter husband, Edwin, and her infant son.

New Leadership

Chief Academic Officer Dr. Arlando Smith and Chief Business Officer Akur Varadarajan were appointed Aug. 23, 2013, to serve as co-interim superintendents of the New Haven Unified School District

Dr. Arlando Smith

Dr. Smith, who became Chief Academic Officer in June 2012, is a former assistant professor of educational leadership and administration at San Jose State University, and also served as an adjunct professor of educational leadership and leadership development at St. Mary’s College. He previously taught at both John F. Kennedy University and the University of California, Santa Cruz, as well as at the New Teacher Center at UC-Santa Cruz and at Cal State-Fullerton. He earned his doctorate in Educational Leadership and Organizational Management at the University of La Verne in 2005.

Dr. Smith spent seven years as principal of Gunderson High School in San Jose and two years as principal of Graham Middle School in Mountain View before being named coordinator of academic improvement for the Gilroy Unified School District. He has served as a school reform facilitator for both West Ed and for the Stanford School Redesign Network.

Mr. Varadarajan became Chief Business Officer in April 2010 after three years as Assistant Superintendent of Business Services for the Salinas City Elementary School District.

A native of India, Mr. Varadarajan was educated at the University of Madras, with a masters degree in commerce. He started his career in New York City, working first for the Department of Finance and the Office of Management and Budget and later for the Board of Education. He came to the Bay Area in March 1997, joining the San Francisco Unified School District, where he spent seven years, the last three as Director of Purchasing. In September 2004, he joined the Ravenswood City School District as the Chief Business and Operating Officer.

Retired Alvarado Teachers Celebrate

In October 2013 nine former Alvarado teachers met to enjoy lunch and each other's company. The occasion was Liz McGuire's return to the bay area for a short visit. It was good to see old friends and catch up on everyone's lives.

 Margo Zanzinger, Bernadette Muhlstein, Paul Brewer, Liz McGuire, Nancy Bordenave,

Middle row:  Mary O'Connor, Rita Deselle,

First Row: Sharen Valles, Marty Brown

Race to the Top

The New Haven Logo is about providing equity for students of all cultures, races, faiths, languages, and goals. According to local Union City historian, Timothy Swenson, this logo was designed in 1977 by an Alvarado student, Thomas Schumann. Thomas was paid $50 for this design. The video below shows how equity is defined in the goals of the Race to the Top grant.

Union City Education

Lisa Duncanson

Stephen Polizer

Lisa and Stephen discuss Race to the Top.

Race to the Top is a Federal Grant for 29 Million.

Moving On: End of School Year

Kari McVeigh

On June 5th, 2013 the New Haven School District superintendent, Kari McVeigh, resigned by taking early retirement. New Haven has begun hunting for a new superintendent. Miss McVeigh resigned after a dispute with the school board over their role regarding management decisions in the district. The final straw seemed to be the school board's failure to support McVeigh's recommendation for the principal of  Ceasar Chavez Middle School. This is a particularly difficult time to find a well qualified new superintendent due to the upcoming district changes regarding technology and curriculum. 

The Race to the Top Grant and Common Core Curriculum changes are both going to begin to be implemented in the new school year. This means changes in teacher's lesson plans and instruction. This means new trainings for all new school personnel.

At the end of this year students enjoy a fun day outdoors to celebrate moving on to new teachers and classes, new friends, and a new start of another school year.  Alvarado will be losing two outstanding teachers. Carolyn Labrie, a long time second grade teacher, and Sonia Wong, a teacher who has taught second, fourth, and fifth grade will be leaving. Mrs. Labrie is retiring. Miss Wong is making a career change. We wish them well and are grateful for all their hard work at Alvarado. 

Parents paint nails for kids and staff.

Clinton Pucket, Marcus Lam, Joe Fritgerald

Dave Trier, and Keith Guernsey had their 

nails painted.

Photos by Maureen Tecson

2013 Teacher Dance

Outstanding choreography by Maureen Tecson.

Welcome Marcus Lam

Happy Chinese New Years 2013

First Grade Chinese New Year Parade

AE Teacher of the Year

Nominations are made yearly by students, principals, teachers and administrators for the State Teacher of the Year awards. The staff at AE votes for the teacher they recognize has the ability to inspire children from all backgrounds and abilities and those that have the respect of colleagues, students, and parents. Each school nominates a teacher and then the district people choose one out of that group to represent the entire district. That person then goes to an Alameda County selection contest and one is chosen to represent the county. Out of all the winners of the county contests one person is chosen to be the State of California's teacher of the year. Out of the 50 states then one person is chosen to be the United States teacher of the year. This year Shauna Heaton a Special Day kindergarten teacher was chosen as Alvarado's teacher of the year. Shauna has one of the most comprehensive web sites I have ever seen for her parents. Nicolasa Gonzales was chosen as Alvarado's Classified person of the year.

Catherine Schoon, a longtime kindergarten teacher at Pioneer Elementary School, has been selected as the New Haven Unified School District’s Teacher of the Year. Robin Hernandez of the Educational Services Center was chosen as New Haven's classified Employee of the Year. For many years Robin has been the contact person for teachers to arrange and coordinate subs when teachers had to be absent.

School Libraries Are BACK

On Febuary 12th the school libraries went somewhat back to normal at Alvarado Elementary and in New Haven School District. Each school will have a full time librarian, but their job description has changed. Their official description was Library Media Specialist. Now they are called Library Media Technicians. The change of title is due to the Race to the Top grant. When the district applied for the grant, their intention was to have a full time Media Technician assigned at each school. However, the district did not get the full amount of money for which they applied. To make up for the gap the district changed the job title and description of the librarians and added to their duties.

Now librarians will not only teach most classes at every school, but almost all librarians will also be on the advisory technology committee of New Haven. Librarians are assigned or volunteer for technology committees to chart the technology course for the district. This alone is a very big commitment. They will also barcode all the books and textbooks and do all their own cataloging of books in their library. This adds considerably to the burden of elementary school librarians. In the past they taught classes and purchased books, but the district office had a library technician who did the barcoding and cataloging for all the elementary schools. New Haven no longer has a district library technician.

Librarians will continue to purchase books if funds are available for their own libraries. They will also be responsible for billing students for lost books, including textbooks, and weeding (deleting obsolete books), maintaining the high quality of books expected in a school library, and maintaining the physical surroundings parents and teachers desire for a pleasant learning environment for students. As of now, at some schools, some librarians will also be teaching physical education, while a colleague teaches some media classes. It is hoped at Alvarado the prep classes will be held for a grade level all at the same period for each of the preps, PE, music, science, and media. This way grade levels will be able to have professional collaboration time while their children are at their prep.

Paula Figdor is back at Pioneer as librarian. Ron Bragg is the Library Media Technician at Emanuele. Carolyn Vranjas is back at Kitayama, and Carol Engberg is now at Searles. Alvarado now has Donna Leaf as Library Media Technician. Hillview Crest does not have a permanently assigned Library Media Technician. The former librarian at Alvarado, Alisha Valine, is assigned to Ceasar Chavez. The staff and students thank Mrs. Valine for all her hard work at Alvarado.

Alisha Valine at Halloween

Congratulations Tracie

It's been a big year of honors for Alvarado's principal, Tracie Noriega. She was honored by the Union City Human Relations Commission on Oct 24 with a 2012 Make a Difference in the Community Award for her commitment to the youth. She is the Athletic Director for the Christian Youth Organization and Principal of Alvarado Elementary School. Her accomplishments include Girls Basketball Coordinator for St. Anne CYO since 1997, Southern Alameda County CYO Girls Sports League Secretary since 2009, plus teacher and administrator for the New Haven Unified School District since 1996.

A lovely thank you to Mrs. Noriega from the students, staff, and teachers at each grade level.

On Jan 7th, 2012 Tracie announced to the staff that she will be leaving Alvarado on Jan. 28th.  According to Kari McVeigh, Tracie will be the Assessment Coordinator for New Haven School District's new grant program, Race to the Top, pending Board of Education approval.

Marcus Lam will be the new interim principal at AE. The Superintendent also announced that Lisa Metzinger, principal of Kitayama Elementary, will oversee grant programs at all schools.

Safety at AE and New Haven Schools

On Monday, Dec 17, 2012, New Haven spokesperson, Rick LaPlante, released a statement regarding student safety at all their schools. An online brochure on Helping your Child to Cope was revealed to help parents talk to their children after a school emergency. This is a response to a deadly incident in Connecticut during which 26 children and teachers were killed by an intruder in an elementary school.

Every parent as they watch their child leave for school in morning assumes they will be safe. New Haven has various drills in place for fire, earthquake, and intruders. Fire laws actually state how many fire drills a school must have during the school year. In California fire drills are to be conducted and recorded at least once a month for elementary and intermediate and twice a year for, secondary. All students, staff, and volunteer parents are required to leave the facility during the drill. Each class has an assigned spot where they are required to stand with their teacher until the emergency is over.

Different states have different natural disaster drills depending on the types of natural disasters occurring in the state. Kansas and Texas have tornado drills. California has Drop or Duck and Cover drills for earthquakes with reminders not to be by a window. Students are taught to cover their neck and close their eyes. After the shaking subsides then everyone goes outside in an orderly fashion. In California these are twice a year. In some schools there is an earthquake emergency supply of water in each room. 

A Code Red is initiated over the PA system when there is a possibility of violence on the campus. This is a Lock Down. Teachers lock the doors. No one is allowed in or out until given the all clear signal. In a dangerous situation sometimes students are locked down for a very long time. Teachers keep students away from windows and sometimes cover the windows. Specific staff members are assigned to check the bathrooms and bring everyone inside. I can remember a student who had to urinate, but there was no bathroom available. So the teacher found a private space and the child went in the waste paper basket. None of the other students even noticed.

During a non emergency situation, students sometimes need to go to the bathroom. This can also be a safety hazard as during class time, bathrooms are sometimes unsupervised. As a precaution teachers usually send young children two at a time to use the bathroom. The safety hazard can actually be an older student not necessarily an adult.

For all these situations, teachers have an emergency back pack with first aide supplies and Emergency cards for each child. Only parents, guardians, or adults listed on the emergency card are allowed to pick up their students. Parents should always be sure their emergency card is up to date.

Principals and staff are looking at ways to improve school safety. Some schools have safety gates on the fences surrounding the school. New Haven is in the process of adding more safety gates as soon as possible. Some schools have volunteer or visitor badges which indicate the individual checked in at the front office. Alvarado has a visitor sign in sheet, but I believe not badges. Some schools require the door to each classroom is locked after students are inside except during passing time. This seems like prison to me but maybe in some neighborhoods a necessity. At elementary schools there are so many resource personnel, parent volunteers, and even school board members visiting classrooms, this may affect the ability of schools to function well. Doors should be able to be locked from the inside with a key or code. At this time this is not possible for Alvarado. If a Code Red signal is given, the teacher has to go outside to lock the door. Parents should attend the school site council meetings to voice their concerns.

RACE to the TOP Grant

New Haven’s School District will receive a federal Race to the Top grant of more than $29 million over the next four-and-a-half years, to personalize student learning, improve student achievement and educator effectiveness, close achievement gaps, and prepare all students to succeed in college and careers.

According to Rick LaPlante, Director of Parent and Community Relations, New Haven plans to hire literacy, assessment and math coaches for all schools to provide in-classroom coaching in personalized learning for literacy, math and use of assessments. Summer teacher institutes will be expanded for reading, literacy and mathematics. Smaller class sizes for high school English Learners will be created. The district will purchase more K-8 library books and classroom libraries of non-fiction books and is thinking about expanding the positions of library media teachers. A full time librarian in every school is important to improving student achievement.

New Haven also plans to purchase mini-computer tablets for every 6-12 grade student and for every two K-5 students, as well as tablets, laptops and document cameras for all teachers. Additional IT technicians, a data specialist and technology trainers will be hired. All of the new technology will be phased in with strong teacher professional development to ensure usage.

The New Haven Unified School District was 2nd in the nation of 16 finalists for this grant. The focus of this grant is to take full advantage of 21st century tools to prepare students for college and careers. It is interesting to note that the American Association of School Librarians entitled their standards as 21st Century Learning Standards.

This grant lasts for 4 and 1/2 years. The real question is sustainability. Once the grant is gone can New Haven sustain the personnel, equipment, print resources, and drive to keep this effort moving forward. Now that New Haven has the Grant, the education sharks (businesses), such as the Wireless Generation, will move in and try to sell the district testing and resources they may not need. Whoever is watching the $$$ is going to have to fight to maintain the district's integrity. However, I am not going to say give the money back. New Haven and all schools are in dire need of financial support. Districts have to do what they need to do and worry about sustainability later. Certainly when the money is gone, New Haven may need to get other grants to keep afloat unless the state of California is more forthcoming with money.

There is no question fulfilling the goals of this grant is going to be similar to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. The  superintendent down to the principals, teachers, and resource staff are going to have to hang on for their life. Hopefully it will be fun and rewarding for the staff and especially the students.

School Librarians in Common Core Standards

Thrilled to see school libraries in the California Common Core Standards. However, as I looked at them for each grade level they seemed to be very watered down, especially those for grades 3, 4, and 5. CCCS generally states that school library standards are aligned with content standards of each grade. A school librarian often works with the classroom teacher on gathering materials suitable for the class. However, in the California standards there is no mention of having a qualified credentialed teacher and credentialed librarian or MLIS librarian in the library. MLIS is Master of Library and Information Science. In California librarians who work in schools should have both a teaching credential and a librarian credential. A credentialed librarian is prepared to engage students in higher level thinking skills by teaching students to find, interpret, and organize information. Don't you want someone with these qualifications for your child?

There are standards for for school libraries. The American Association of School Librarians has Standards for the 21st-Century Learner. New Haven School District's own last plan for school libraries went through 2010.

According to the national Common Core Standards starting in 4th grade students will have to have to read the same amount of non fiction text as literary text or fiction.  All 5th grade students will begin to be trained to read to learn by gathering information. Realistically this should begin much before 5th grade. This means reading non fiction.  Readers have to be trained to find and synthesize useful information. By the time students are in the 12th grade 70% of their text reading will have to be informational. A credentialed librarian is most suited by training and skill to provide this service. Just like fiction, all non fiction is not created equal. Plus building up to the 4th and 5th grade a credentialed librarian will identify excellent non fiction for students to read; can give non fiction books talks to all grades even kindergarten; identify non fiction features, such as bold fonts, bullets, and captions; text cues; and graphics (diagrams, cross sections, charts, graphs); Text organizers, index, table of contents, glossary; and teach students about online hoaxes, by using sites such as snoops.com. These should be done long before students reach the 4th and 5th grades.

At this time Alvarado has an excellent duel credentialed librarian, Alisha Valine.  However, she is only at AE 2 days a week and all students do not go to the library. With the requirements of the Common Core Standards it is important to have her full time, 5 days a week.

Changes at the Top

It's time to look at some of the changes of personnel in the administration of New Haven Union school district. In May of 2012 Chief Academic Officer, Wendy Gudalewicz, notified the school board she was leaving New Haven. She was leaving to become the Superintendent of the Cupertino Union School district. She came to New Haven in June of 2009.

Wendy Gudalewicz

On June 6th, 2012, Dr. Arlando Smith was appointed by the New Haven School Board to be the new Chief Academic Officer. Dr. Smith was previously an assistant professor of educational leadership at San Jose State University. Dr. Smith was familiar with New Haven as in the past he provided professional development for New Haven teachers and had coached the district principals. He is married to Wendy Gudalewicz.

Dr Arlando Smith

In April of 2006, Chris Hobbs joined the New Haven School District as excutive director of technology. He has faced overwhelming cuts to the techology department while keeping up with the challenges of ever changing technologies. On November 27, 2012 the Pleasanton school board appointed Chris Hobbs as Director of Technology. Mr. Hobbs will leave New Haven on Jan 12, 2012.

Chris Hobbs

The District Communications Director, Rick La Plant will be officially retiring from full time work in the district.  He will still be working on an on call bases for the district. 

Education's Public Defender

Education's advocate, Diane Ravitch is revealed in an article in the New Yorker by David Denby. At one time she was a supporter of No Child Left Behind, but due to disappointing results for students, she has tirelessly fought for a better system for our nation's children and grandchildren. According to Ravitch the reform movement took on a business format when test-based accountability (NCLB) spearheaded a detour from professional teachers to teaching technicians by turning schools over to non-union for-profit charter school, including some that are totally online charter schools.

The constant test prep in reading and math has required schools to cut back on science, history, languages, art, and in some cases physical education. A 2009 survey, conducted by Stanford, concluded that only 17% of charter schools outperformed the local public schools in math and 37% had worse results than the public schools. Plus cheating scandals were found in some states and some states made the tests too easy so students would pass.

Even Rupert Murdoch, of the British News Corporation phone tapping scandal, has put his wallet into the education game by forming an education subsidiary in the US called Amplify. Education is a place to make millions or billions in the software business for testing and Charter schools. If you look at the website, it looks really amazing. But when you see what they do, they develop technological software for devices. It's all about the money. The rest is smoke and mirrors. Do we really need a guy who ran a company that invaded people's privacy for profit involved in our educational system for our children?

Miss Ravitch believes that poverty is one reason that student achievement is low. That does not mean that poor students can't learn. It means that their needs may be different and need to be addressed. We have immigrant children, who may not speak English, students with disabilities (some which may be caused by lack of nutrition), and kids with no quiet place to study or even sleep. Combine this with the growing number of autistic children with special needs in public schools, educationally motivated families moving to charter schools, and increasing class size due to lack of funding, and it is not rocket science to see why public schools are at a disadvantage.

Although the future is uncertain, Diane Ravitch believes in public education. She believes in tenure for teachers and believes that union representation gives professionals a seat at the table when state legislatures try to make cuts in school funding. She does not believe  merit pay should be the primary measurement for teacher performance.  She is tentatively supporting Common Core Standards which began to be implemented in 2010 in some states (not California), but reminds us that they have not been field tested anywhere. If you are a teacher, Diane Ravitch believes in you. She believes teachers are highly dedicated. She believes neighborhood public schools fulfill a democratic function where those of all faiths, races, countries, ethnicity's, and social status can meet, learn, and support each other. Daily, as teachers teach each subject, they help children learn to work and play together in peace. If you are a parent or grandparent, she believes American public schools are not failing your child. Need more information take a look at Diane Ravitch's blog.

Common Core Standards

On March 12, 2012, State School Chief of California, Tom Torlekson,  introduced a plan to Implement Common Core Standards in California.

What are Common Core Standards and where did this come from?
These are a set of standards for Math and English Language Arts that were designed for all states to adopt so learning could be more uniform across the country.  In 2010 the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association released the standards that spell out what children are expected to learn in those two subjects from kindergarten through the end of high school. To find these standards through high school go to Common Core Standards for San Francisco and the bay area. These are very detailed and you have to go through many pages to find the standards for each subject and grade level. The high school standards are set to provide students with the skills to compete in the global marketplace. The idea is to uniformly boost student achievement across the country. President Obama and his education cabinet member, Arnie Duncan, both support this effort to improve public education.

What are these standards for elementary school?  The California Common Core Standards from the California Department of Education for elementary is specifically for each grade k-8. They are much easier to read and include history, art, science, physical education, music, visual and performing arts, and school libraries. The link I have given you in this paragraph states that standards unique to California are in bold print, such as write fluidly and legibly in cursive or joined italics in fourth grade. Some schools stopped teaching cursive a while ago.

How do these standards affect our children? Many of the standards are the same standards that students have had in the past. However, there seems to be more emphasis on creativity. This is fantastic for students and teachers. Creativity puts the joy back in schools and makes students critical thinkers. The writing standards for 3rd grade are higher than in the past. Students will be expected to use technology to produce and publish writing, gather information from print or digital resources, take notes, and write over extended time frames for specific purposes. Implementation will begin in 2013-2014. However textbook materials will not be ready until 2016.

What challenges are ahead? If students are expected to use computers to write over extended time frames and gather information, schools will need to update computers and provide plenty of them. With 30 kids in the classroom the logistics of providing time for all students to have access to computers, could be a nightmare. They will also need to have access to Google Docs or some form of digital saving that is easy to set up and use. Ink will also be necessary as teachers will want to print some. New Haven has applied for the federal grant Race to the Top. New Haven is one of 61 that has made it to the next round of approval. One of the things New Haven have asked for is mini ipads for every 2 elementary students. This would certainly help with the technology needed. However, schools will need to expand their technicians to keep all these computers or mini tablets running without delay. Just the updates on mini ipads will be demanding. Technicians are going to cost $$$$.

 Maureen Tecson's students using 

ipads and itouch's in the classroom.

I also see committees on new report cards being formed. This is just my initial post on what lies ahead for children and schools. I am sure I will have more to say about this. Having common goals with the rest of the nation is good. However, schools still have to fund it (provide resources), provide training for teachers, and figure out some kind of sensible testing or portfolio system to evaluate the child. Hopefully this is goodby to NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND.

It's the American Way: Vote 11/6/2012

Another great video from the students at Alvarado Elementary. Produced and directed by Keith Guernsey.

Proposition 30 passed. Thanks to all who supported California schools.