Company helps Creative Writing Club at Rowland High

The Creative Writing Club at Rowland High School appreciates the help of a local business. The club had a busy year, hosting three writing competitions and producing an impressive literary magazine.

As the illustrations, narratives and poems were submitted, club members were amazed at the volume of submissions, but  the project was becoming cost-prohibitive.

Then the Envision Computer Design Company in Industry stepped forward to generously print 150 copies of the magazine at no cost to the club. T

The Creative Writing Club wants to thank Envision for its generosity. The magazines were sold at school as a club fundraiser.

Schools post gains in English and math on state tests

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State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell goes over charts related to the results of the 2009 Standardized Testing and Reporting Program. (Andy Holzman / Staff Photographer)

Nearly all school districts in the San
Gabriel Valley made gains in English and math scores on state tests,
according to data released Tuesday by the California Department of
Education.

ONLINE EXTRA:Find your school’s results

Valley
students in grades two through 11 posted scores slightly above the
state average in the 2009 Standardized Testing and Reporting Program.

Just under 51 percent of students across 14 school
districts were at least proficient in English-language arts, up from
about 46 percent last year. About 48 percent of Valley students were
proficient in math, an increase from 45.5 percent last year.

Statewide, 50 percent scored proficient or advanced in English-language arts, an increase from 46 percent last year.

In math, 46 percent of students scored at the proficient or advanced level, up from 43 percent in 2008.

“I
am pleased and encouraged to see that for the seventh year in a row,
California public school students continue to improve,” said State
Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell in a written
statement.

Walnut Valley Unified had the highest scores in the region.
Just under 77 percent of students were proficient or above in English
and about 73 were proficient or above in math.

The region’s largest school district, Hacienda La Puente, had increases in English, 50.2 percent, and math, 43.4 percent.

The rest of the school districts posted modest gains, although a few were still below the state average.

Read the whole story in the Hacienda, Rowland and Walnut Highlanders.

Rowland Unified holds kickoff event for teachers

Rowland Unified held a big rally for employees to kick off the new school year that begins on Monday.

The grand event was held at the Industry Hills Expo Center on Tuesday morning. Rowland students presented the program with the presidents of the Rowland and Nogales ASBs as masters of ceremony.

The teachers were also entertained by Rowland’s comedy team, as well as the choir and band. Cheerleaders were there to cheer the teachers on.

The keynote was a recitation by the Nogales Poetry Club titled “You Are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For.”

The event was sponsored local businesses.

Staff honored at Rowland High School

Rowland High School honored several faculty and staff honors. Employees of the Year included instructor Barbara Robbertze and plant supervisor Bruce Ekblad.  They were chosen for their hard work and dedication.

Rowland teacher Kelli Baumunk and Parent-Teacher-Student Association President Susan Shaver also got Golden Apple Awards. The awards are given to those who have made significant contributions to students and schools.

Teacher Sandi Wong received a $1,460 ECOLAB grant to purchase books for the READ 180 program. Her grant was titled “Adventurous Readers Who Reach for the Wong Sky.”

Hacienda Heights students win Junkyard Challenge

Congratulations to the Youth Science Center in Hacienda Heights. Volunteer Alaric Qin and teammate Daniel Tsai won first place in the Junkyard Challenge for the 2009 State Science Olympiad.

In the challenge, each team was given a paper plate that had to become an integral part of the project.

Qin and Tsai’s project was a coin sorter that offered 98 percent accuracy.

Their project went on to the national Science Olympiad in Washington, D.C., where it placed third.

Science labs near completion at Los Altos High School in Hacienda Heights

Just got back from a tour of the new science buildings at Los Altos High School in Hacienda Heights.

The Hacienda La Puente Unified School District is spending $12 million of Measure A Bond money to build the new science laboratories at Los Altos and renovate the labs at Wilson, Workman and La Puente High Schools.

The labs feature state-of-the-art work areas with sinks, fume hoods and preparation rooms. Board members say the new labs show the district’s commitment to enhancing its science curriculum.

Read about the new labs in an upcoming story in the Hacienda Heights Highlander.

Rowland Unified names two new administrators

Two more new administrative appointments have been announced by the Rowland Unified School District Board of Education.

Karen Magana is the new learning director at Alvarado Intermediate School. She is an experienced teacher in primary and upper grades and is fluent in Spanish.

She was most recently the assistant principal at Lakeside Middle School. Magana earned her bachelor’s and her master’s degrees in educational administration from Cal State Los Angeles.

Glenda Lisette Marin is the new learning director for Killian Elementary School and Ybarra Academy of the Arts and Technology. Her experience includes adjunct professor at Loyola Marymount University, assistant principal at Robert F. Kennedy Elementary in Los Angeles Unified School District, and coordinator of English language and academic intervention programs.

Marin earned her bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley and her master of science in educational administration from Pepperdine University.