January 2012 Archives
If you think moving is hard, try moving an entire school. Rowland Unified accomplished this monstrous task twice over the winter break.
Northam and Jellick elementaries moved back into their newly renovated campuses. And everyone is excited to see their sparkling new facilities.
"I love my new classroom," said Northam teacher Araceli Gamboa. "They're very comfortable."
As well they should be with new insulated walls and windows. There's also energy efficient lighting and heating.
Gamboa's kindergarten students scampered across the new carpeting. Brightly colored posters decorated the tackable walls at the La Puente campus.
"The move back went pretty smoothly," said Northam Principal Gerardo Yepez. "This is one of the reasons I took this job, because of the significant support the district gives our schools."
Read more in Rich Irwin's story MOVESo we thought we'd go out and see what's changing at the new academy that has absorbed the students and staff from the closed Glenelder Elementary School. Read our report in an upcoming story.
Last year's event had 350 participants. They expect the same amount of participants this year.
Hacienda La Puente Unified schools competing will be Baldwin Academy, Cedarlane, Fairgrove, Lassalette, Mesa Robles, Newton, Orange Grove, Sierra Vista, Sparks Elementary, Sparks Middle, Sunset Elementary, Valinda, Torrance Chinese School, and Workman Elementary.
A group of parents has appealed a recent decision by the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District that radically changes the start and end dates of the school year to a county agency that oversees public education.
The parental group, long opposed to the "early start calendar," has asked the Los Angeles County Office of Education to review the program. The parents say the new calendar will negatively impact the district's budget and student academic performance.
But the appeal could be to no avail.
Although the county education office does have regulatory authority over 93 school districts, it mainly adjudicates disputes over inter-district transfers and expulsions.
"I can say our office would have no authority to override a
school district's action on a calendar situation," said Margo Menecki, a
spokesperson for the County Office of Education.
Read more in Steve Scauzillo's story Calendar.
The program is open to the first 50 boy and girl athletes in grades 5th - 8th. Students must be able to swim 25 yards. It is free with 3 volunteer hours to the program. Parents must attend registration. Session Dates: January 23 - March 14, Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:45 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
C.A.S.A.
Athletics is also seeking community sponsorship and encourages everyone
to come see the program in action.
The Nogales High School Pool is located at 401. S. Nogales Street in La Puente. For more information, please contact Coach Timothy Tobin at (626) 965-3437 or at seadevilswaterpolo@yahoo.com.
"I wrote the book as an outlet of grief over the death of my grandmother," Ting explained. "She was always an angel to me, she was a great role model."
Her first book "Crossroads" is the story about a forbidden love between a young woman and her guardian angel, who half mortal. They meet at a place between heaven and Earth called the crossroads.
Her teen novel has ranked as a top seller on Amazon.com. The romance can also be downloaded in Kindle and Nook formats.
On Saturday, the budding author will hold a book signing from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Barnes and Noble Bookstore in Fullerton. The former PTA president will donate a portion of her sales to Los Molinos school.
"We're all going to be there to support our teacher," said Principal Angela Lin. "We've planned a breakfast as well as activities for families to enjoy."
Rowland High Principal Mitch Brunyer stands in the closed pool at Rowland High School.
Rowland High School is looking for your input.
It wants to build a new $2.5 million swimming pool. Rowland Unified
will present the plans for the aquatic center on Monday, Jan. 23, at
6:30 p.m. in the Hideout at Rowland High.
The school board previewed the project at a recent meeting. Families will find a design for a striking center to replace the old pool that had to be closed for health and safety reasons.
"Last May, we discovered the pool was leaking 6,000 gallons of water a day," explained Vice Principal Bob Withers. "There was also seepage that lowered the water quality."
The district decided to close the aging pool immediately. It later learned the leakage had undermined the decking around the pool.
Read more in Rich Irwin's story Pool.
Registration for English as a Second Language or Citizenship classes takes place in the classroom on the first day.
Asian cooking workshops will include: Thai Cooking Made Easy, Sushi Made Easy, Chinese Dim Sum Made Easy Japanese Cooking Made Easy and Fancy Sushi Made Easy.
Other classes are Basic Drawing for Beginners, Line Dancing, International Folkdance, How to Become a Mystery Shopper and Other Fun Ways to Earn Extra Money, and Public Speaking.
Also returning are classes on Accent Improvement, Conquering Your Computer Phobia, Conversation Spanish for Adults and Children, Notary Public, Traffic Violator School, First Aid/CPR, Floral Design and Zumba.
In partnership with Boston Reed College, Rowland is offering Clinical Medical Assistant, Pharmacy Technician, Veterinary Assistant, Electronic Health Records System Technologist and Billing and Coding Specialist.
For more information, call 626-965-5975 or visit the office at 2100 Lerona Ave., Rowland Heights.
The reward is for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the thief or thieves.
District officials think the thieves are hitting campuses after school hours.
Sergio Cazorla, coordinator of risk management for the district, said that typically, said the estimated damages per school ranged from $5,000 to $15,000.
"We're already strapped for cash and for these people to steal copper wire from a school. It's saddening," he said. "We want to put an end to the thefts."
The unidentified suspects struck at Newton Middle School, 15616 Newton St. in Hacienda Heights, Los Robles Academy, 1530 Ridley Ave. in Hacienda Heights, Cedarlane Academy, 16333 Cedarlane Drive in Hacienda Heights, Sunset Elementary, 800 N. Tonopah Ave. in La Puente.
School Police Chief Anthony Argott said the most recent theft occurred at Orange Grove Middle School, 14505 Orange Grove Ave., on Jan. 3.
Cazorla said they have no description of the thieves.
"We have no information so we really needhelp," he said.
Anyone with information is asked to call WeTip at 1-800-78-CRIME. Tips can also be left
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Violence can happen anywhere and school is no exception. Red Dragon Karate in West Covina has long since recognized this and the martial arts studio started a program to combat bullying in schools. It's called the Bully Proof Workshop - and it's free.
"We've had this program for over five years," owner Mike Casamassa said. "We've always had parents come in with their kids and tell us that their kids are being bullied. That's when we decided to put together this free workshop."
These days, it's hard to find much of anything for free. But
the Bully Proof Workshop is a testament to the fact that some businesses
still care about their community. So far the course has been successful
and made a difference in West Covina's youth, at least for the ones who
turned to Red Dragon Karate for help.
Read more in Hillary Smith's story Dragon.
The 2011 boys water polo season might have been one of the best ever. Nogales and Bonita won CIF-Southern Section division titles and Damien advanced to a division final as well.
All three teams had enough superstars to fill out the boys water polo first team, but Nogales' Nick Estevez stood above the rest.
Estevez's record-breaking season and back-to-back CIF titles with the Nobles earned him Player of the Year honors for the second year in a row.
Estevez set a single-season CIF-SS scoring record with 233 goals, eclipsing the mark of 229 set by Hoover's Hakop Kaplanyan in 2009.
The Nobles senior broke the record in the Division 7 championship game by scoring four goals in Nogales' 8-6 victory over Don Lugo.
In addition to his 233 goals, Estevez also had 57 steals and was named Valle Vista League and Division 7 Most Valuable Player for the second year in a row.
Read more in Fred Robledo's story POLO.The old pool was closed in May when it began leaking 6,000 gallons a day and the water quality dropped below healthy standards.
Since then the water polo and swimming teams have been practicing at nearby Nogales High School. With the summer swim lessons, school officials figure more than 100,000 used the pool every year.
A community meeting will be held Monday night for input from local residents. Come out and see what you think of the new facility.
Parents must submit an application for each student. Applications are available at:
* Telesis Academy, 2800 E. Hollingworth Street, West Covina,
CA 91792
* Pupil Services Office, 1928 S. Nogales Street, Rowland
Heights, CA 91748
* Rowland Unified District Office, 1830 S. Nogales Street,
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
* Rowland Unified School District Website
www.RowlandSchools.org
For further questions, call the Pupil Services Office at 626-935-8201.
A new program called Creating Honorable Aspiring Mentors with Purpose (C.H.A.M.P.) is the concept of Head Football Coach Ryan Maine who also happens to be a Castle Rock alumnus from the Class of 1994. His football players will begin their new assignment on Jan. 27.
They will visit the elementary school each week to mentor, tutor, read, and "hang out" with select students.
"I can't wait to see the smiles on our kids' faces when they meet and develop friendships with these caring guys," said Castle Rock Principal Carol Sullivan.
Maine wants his players to be positive role models on and off the football field. "I believe this will really help develop their character," he said.
In Jay Chen's 2011 Year-in-review, he mentioned various milestones from 2011 for the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District. These included a failed recall attempt against him, a HLPUSD board member, and his free college application seminars.
But what he did not mention may be more important:
The changing of the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years. School will start three weeks earlier and end three weeks earlier. The change was controversial and may be trend-setting.
Here's a section from our story which ran in December:
The Hacienda La Puente Unified School District board voted 4-1 Thursday night to start the next school year on Aug. 7, three weeks earlier than usual. It is the first local school district to adopt an early start calendar for the entire PreK-12 population.
School will let out May 21, 2013, instead of in late June. A similar calendar was adopted for the 2013-14 school year. </em>
Some may call that decision of the San Gabriel Valley's largest school district one that affects the most people -- parents and children.It affect thousands of families in La Puente and Hacienda Heights. It could also lead to other districts doing the same thing.
Quite a milestone.
Students can find out which test is best suited for them at a free practice test sponsored by Kaplan on Tuesday, Jan. 24, from 6 to 7 p.m. in the Rowland Heights Library.
Kaplan will also be holding feedback night where a representative will help interpret scores and give test taking advice.
The library is at 1850 Nogales St. For information, call 626-912-5348.
Cal Poly Pomona reopened Tuesday after the campus was shut down last week as employees performed maintenance on high-voltage electrical equipment. The shutdown started Dec. 27 and the work was completed by Thursday, officials said. Power was restored to the entire campus by Friday.
Most university buildings were closed last week and students, faculty members and staffers were asked to stay away from campus. The shutdown of the university was in the works for some time, said Ron Fremont, the associate vice president for university relations.
"It's been quite a complicated process. It took several months of planning," he said.
The need to carry out the work was discovered in June after Southern California Edison made repairs to an electrical substation.
Plan to attend on both days. You will be learning choreography and music so come prepared to sing and move! Auditions will be held the following week.
While other districts return to the classroom, Rowland decided to begin the school year a week earlier, so teachers and students can enjoy a three-week holiday break.
So the kiddos don't go back to school until Jan. 9. Happy New Year!
