POWAY – A majority of voters in the Poway Unified School District would support extending the current school bond to raise $150 million to renovate local schools and improve education, according to a survey conducted this month.
For the rest of the story--> SignOnSanDiego.com > News > North County -- Support seen for extending school bond
"I said to myself that I'd show her! I went to an adult education school which was a branch of the Poway Unified School District in California and told them I wanted to receive my HS diploma.
Based on how well I did on my GED, they said I had enough units to graduate, but in order for them to issue me a diploma, I would have to take one class at their school. I did, and 16-weeks later I had a HS Diploma. Well the girl was long gone, but hey! I now had both a GED and HS Diploma. But in reality, I learned two valuable lessons that has served me well in life."
for the rest of the story-->The Student Operated Press
SearchPowayUSD Comment: You know, you never know who or how you will affect someone...
POWAY -- A survey of 600 residents who live within the boundaries of the Poway Unified School District found that two-thirds of them probably would support the district's bid to extend its multimillion dollar bond measure for another 14 years, officials said Monday.
Deputy Superintendent John Collins said the first wall recently went up at Del Norte High School in 4S Ranch, the district’s fifth comprehensive high school. Also, the foundation is ready to pour at Del Sur Elementary School, which will be the district’s first fully enclosed two-story school.
Superintendent Don Phillips announced the district had an increase of 366 students at the start of the 2007-2008 school year, bringing the student population of PUSD to 33,209. He said the district is “adding staff members at the last moment to balance that out.”
— About 20 classified positions will be reinstated this week after the district learned that a $1.2 million grant from the California Department of Mental Health will be awarded for the district’s PIP program in 10 schools.
PIP, Primary Interaction Program, helps kindergarten through third-grade students tackle issues ranging from cultural diversity and shyness to adapting to a new baby in the family. PIP is available at all of the district’s 23 elementary schools and is funded through grants.
Prior to the grant, which was awarded to the district on Sept. 7, the district had to serve layoff notices to 20 employees working as student services assistants and student services specialists. However, according to Associate Superintendent Bill Chiment, the district’s personnel department is in the process of rehiring those employees.
PIP has several components and serves “thousands” of students each year, according to Elaine Cofrancesco, the district’s executive director of Student Support Services.
POWAY – As the first wall of a new high school goes up, walls in old elementary schools come down.
It's all part of Poway Unified's building program, including major modernization projects at several schools. While work nears completion at Poway High, Mt. Carmel High and Garden Road Elementary schools, old buildings are gutted at Los Peñasquitos and Painted Rock elementary schools and construction has started at the future Del Norte High School, and Del Sur Elementary School in the western area of the district.
SignOnSanDiego.com -- Trustees hear update on school projects
WorldNetDaily: State's 'hate crimes' code used against 'pure speech'
"When you start down the list of Western countries, Australia, Canada, Britain, France. Everywhere hate crimes plans have been adopted there are examples of problems. It's gotten to the point even pure speech is being criminalized, with no actions or violence," he said.
"That's where hate crimes legislation inevitably has led in other Western societies," he said. His organization has worked on a number of such cases already involving California's own version of a "hate crimes" plan.
"The law of unintended consequences – or perhaps intended consequences cleverly disguised – is starkly illustrated by the ongoing federal case Harper v. Poway Unified School District," he wrote in a summary of the problems. "In Harper, a student responded to the annual pro-homosexual 'Day of Silence,' which was being heavily promoted on his high school campus, by wearing a T-shirt which expressed his religious viewpoint that homosexuality was 'shameful.'
"Instead of allowing a differing viewpoint, school officials pulled aside Harper, demanding that he change his expression or face suspension. An assistant principal even suggested to Harper that he needed to leave his faith in the car while at school, in order not to offend homosexual students," according to McReynolds.
"Such a result clearly undermines basic Constitutional protections," including free expression and religion, he noted.
WorldNetDaily: State's 'hate crimes' code used against 'pure speech'
“Apparently losing the murals was unavoidable,” Brommer said. “We have a ‘70s school and it really needed the new stucco and paint.”
Parents wonder why Chaparral mural wasn’t saved | The Pomerado Newspaper Group
quote from commenter on story below;
District One Voter wrote on August 16, 2007 6:52 AM:
"Having lived in the City of San Diego all my life, I have seen the good and the bad. Carl DeMaio is one of the BAD. If you ever to get a chance to talk to this guy (good luck he never shuts up to listen to anyone) you will understand. Phil (Money Bags) Thalheimer is another example of someone with money who thinks he/she can buy their way into political office. What is sad is that the press helps by labeling them "front runners" placing the candidates who would do the most good for all of us and not willing to prostitute themselves at a disadvantage. Case in Point: Steve McMillan, 12 year Trustee for the Poway Unified School District who represented District 1 and 5 with honesty and professionalism. He would have been a GREAT choice but opted out of the $$$ chase. Too bad for Dist 1"
Ranking our top elementary and middle school districts can be a subjective call. But there are guideposts. Using state and federal standards, here are 45 San Diego schools that measure up.
Poway USD and Creekside Elementary Principal Robin Robinson mentioned.
Since 1999, Stewart has filed at least 10 unsuccessful administrative actions on her son's behalf against the District.
POWAY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT v. LINDSEY STEWART, No. D048901 (107 LRP - SchwabLearning.org
More info:
Yet more info:
That's what the Ninth Circuit holds today, as to student speech in K-12 schools, in a remarkable -- and in my view deeply unsound -- decision (Harper v. Poway Unified School Dist.).
The Volokh Conspiracy - Sorry, Your Viewpoint Is Excluded from First Amendment Protection:
Survival Skills for the Principalship: A Treasure Chest of Time-Savers, Short-Cuts, and Strategies to Help You Keep a Balance in Your Life (Paperback)
Author acknowledges ...
Susan Van Zant
Former Principal, Meadowbrook Middle School
Poway Unified School District
The city just awarded IBM a five-year contract to create a massive system to manage, track, analyze, and share information about student and school performance. But it won't buy Johnny new pencils.
Poway is mentioned wayyyyy at the bottom...
For the rest of the story...
San Diego, CA — When the three car dealerships saw the concepts for their new television ad, they knew they had a winner. The Poway Honda, Toyota, and Chevrolet representatives also felt sure that the production company making the pitch would create a glossy, broadcast-quality product. Quite a vote of confidence, considering the entire crew was composed of students from Rancho Bernardo High School (RBHS).
BY RAY WILSON
Making the shift from traditional, long-standing, institutional behavior is difficult for any organization. For those of us in public education, a shift that must be aggressively pursued is abandonment of our single-minded emphasis on an assessment model that relies almost entirely on measures of student status at a single point in time for a more balanced approach that also values student growth over time...
Follow link below for the rest of the story.
2007 Growth Academic Performance Index Report