Mission Statement: All San Diego students will graduate with the skills, motivation, curiosity and resilience to succeed in their choice of college and career in order to lead and participate in the society of tomorrow.

How does Proposition "S" improve the teaching and learning environment?
Proposition “S” is a $2.1 billion school bond measure placed on the November 4 ballot that will provide funds to make needed repairs and renovations to every school in the San Diego Unified School District. Proposition "S" will:

• Provide up-to-date technology and equipment
• Replace deteriorated plumbing/sewer/roofing systems
• Upgrade outdated electrical, heating/ventilation systems
• Upgrade classrooms, restrooms, and school facilities
• Improve school and playground safety, security and accessibility
• Provide new permanent classrooms to replace trailers
• Provide comparable facilities for all students

What will Proposition “S” cost local property owners?
Proposition “S” will extend the current Proposition MM tax rate of $66.70 per $100,000 of assessed property value for an additional 15 years, from 2029 to 2044.

The Proposition “S” website at www.sandi.net/PropS contains more information, including on site-specific bond projects for every school.

• Governor Convenes Education Coalition Leaders to Discuss Mid-Year Budget Cuts
  Gov. Schwarzenegger met with members of the Education Coalition to provide an update on the dismal condition of the state budget. The Governor indicated that the state is now facing a revenue shortfall in the current year budget between $5-8 billion, but that the actual number could be as high as $20 billion. He affirmed that he has called for a special session of the Legislature beginning on November 5 and stated his expectation that additional cuts to the K-14 budget could range from $2-4 billion. The Governor reiterated his support for additional revenues and, although he did not outline a specific proposal, he indicated that he planned to propose an increase in the state sales tax. He expressed his hope that the Legislature would complete their work by the end of November. Read a column  written by Dan Walters that discusses the budget problem and its potential impact on education.
  
  
• Federal Department of Education Releases NCLB Regulatory Changes
  Secretary Margaret Spellings has announced regulatory changes to the No Child Left Behind Act. According to the department’s press release, the new regulations focus on improved accountability and transparency, uniform and disaggregated graduation rates and improved parental notification for Supplemental Education Services and public school choice. Under the new regulations, all states will use the same formula to calculate how many students graduate from high school on time and how many drop out. The final regulations define the “four year adjusted cohort graduation rate” as the number of students who graduate in four years with a regular high school diploma divided by the number of students who entered high school four years earlier, adjusted for transfers, students who emigrate and deceased students. The final rules also require that parents be notified in a clear and timely way about their public school choice and supplemental education service options. The regulations seek to ensure that states better inform the public about what tutoring providers are available, how these providers are approved and monitored and, most importantly, how effective they are in helping students improve. Read more .

Chief Innovation and School Choice Officer Rich Cansdale talks about his new role and explains the significant changes to the Enrollment Options applications for the 2009-10 school year. Listen to the interview.

• State Honors San Diego Unified / USD Partnership
  The Induction Master's Partnership Program, a partnership between the San Diego Unified School District and the Department of Learning and Teaching, University of San Diego's School of Leadership and Education Sciences was recently awarded the 2008 State Partnership Award from the California Council on Teacher Education. The award was presented to Supt. Terry Grier and USD Dean Paula Cordeiro on October 17. For additional information, please contact Dr. Mariam True, executive director, teacher preparation and student support, at (619) 725-7136 or mtrue@sandi.net.
  
  
• Breakfast in the Classroom Program Video Now Starring on the Website
  Watch the Food Services Department’s award-winning Breakfast in the Classroom Program in action. The new Breakfast in the Classroom video is now available on the district website. Listen to comments from parents, students and school staff participating in this innovative program and observe first-hand the nutritional and educational rewards this program offers our students on a daily basis. For more information, please contact Gary Petill, food services department director, at (858) 627-7301. Watch the video.
  
  
• SDUSD GATE Department Partners with UCSD
  The district Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) Department and the University of California, San Diego have announced a new partnership involving four major components:
  • professional development for both site-level and district-level administrators in the fundamentals of Gifted and Talented Education and Differentiation, including university-based mentors throughout the academic year;
  • training, support and certification for parents addressing the unique cognitive and affective needs of gifted and high-performing students--and the way parents can support them;
  • continuing professional development for GATE-certified teachers in specific strategies for working with highly capable students (university credit can also be earned);
  • and the cultivation of grant monies to develop programming for a K-2 nurturing project in order to support younger children with promise, especially from traditionally underrepresented populations.
  For further information, please contact Marcia DiJiosia, GATE interim program manager, at (858) 573-5998.
  
  
• Big Wheels Go Round, Little Wheels Spin
  Most of our school bus drivers average over 100 miles a day transporting students to and from school. Now, some drivers accumulate almost as many miles riding their bikes to work. For the drivers who have decided to make their personal transportation two wheels instead of four, the “bike to work” program is their new “must-have.” Bike racks at the Transportation Center used to have 10-12 bikes per rack but now almost 40 bikes a day are parked in the bike area. Drivers who started riding because of gas prices are now finding it convenient, aerobic, and ecological as well as cost-saving. The ability to pull right up to the office rather than spending time looking for a parking space is a welcomed change. Since many district drivers have a 4 to 5 hour split-shift, breaks can now be spent riding their bikes to other locations, including lunch and partnership with schools. For more information on Transportation’s “bike-to-work” program, please contact Alex Robinson, director of transportation, at arobinson@sandi.net .

• Channel 8’s Cool School of the Week!
  Millennial Tech Middle was selected as Channel 8’s Cool School of the Week! It was featured on two broadcasts which are now posted on Channel 8’s website. For more information, contact Helen Griffith, principal, (619) 527-6933
  
  
• BioBridge Partnership Strengthens Future Scientific Workforce
  University City High School students along with teachers John Hayden and Marj Atkisson are partnering with the BioBridge Science Outreach Initiative. The initiative seeks to enhance the public image, understanding and support of science by empowering the next generation of potential scientists and strengthening the future scientific workforce. Students, teachers, world class scientists, and leading technology companies come together on a series of Saturday forums to develop innovative laboratory activities based on current research for replication in high school classrooms. Students are trained to be student leaders for the classroom lab experiences. For more information, please contact John Hayden at jhayden@sandi.net.
  
  
• ePal Links Henry High Students with Peers in China and Europe
  Henry High teacher Candy Pauchnick teaches literature lessons with students from China and Europe using ePals. The web-based program brings students and classes together to share lessons and writing assignments and to communicate through e-mail, blogs and a "face to face" web conference. Pauchnick has been a featured speaker at national technology conferences about her leadership in the integrating technology and providing a forum for her classes to collaborate on projects with students from around the world. She is currently featured on the ePals website. For additional information, please contact Patricia Crowder, principal, at (619) 286-7700.
  
  
• Students Participate in Disability Mentor Day
  Twelve San Diego Unified special education students recently participated in Disability Mentor Day events with the City of San Diego and the Port of San Diego. Each student was paired with a government professional for a day-long job shadow and mentoring activity. The students gained knowledge about various career opportunities and left with a community contact they can use as they develop their own career path. Mayor Jerry Sanders greeted the students at the city event. For more information, please call the Career and Transition Services program at (858) 693-5500.

Discover all the exciting events happening around the district. A complete list of San Diego Unified School District Upcoming Events is posted on www.sandi.net.

• Doing What Works
  Doing What Works (DWW) is an exciting new website led by the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development at the U.S. Department of Education. It is dedicated to helping educators identify and make use of effective research-based teaching practices. The website builds a bridge from research to action, to help educators implement research-based practices more effectively. Doing What Works provides examples of possible ways educators might apply those research findings, but these are not necessarily the only ways to carry out these teaching practices.

  The website’s newest topic features the National Mathematics Advisory Panel recommendations for preparing students for success in algebra. Other topics include: Encouraging Girls in Math and Science; the Psychology of Learning: How to Organize our Teaching; Early Childhood Education; Preschool Language and Literacy; and English Language Learners: Literacy in English K-5. More topics are being developed. For more information, please visit http://dww.ed.gov.

• Some U.S. Cities Can Compete Globally in Math
  A new "mash-up" comparison of NAEP and TIMSS math scores found that, despite some critics’ predictions, fourth- and eighth-grade students in six cities—Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Houston, New York City, and San Diego—actually held their own against international competitors from Singapore, Japan, England, and elsewhere. USA Today, 10/23/08
  
  
• New College Guides Available for Educators
  The National Association for College Admission Counseling has released two free guides for middle level and high school educators. Guiding the Way to Higher Education: Step-by-Step to College Workshops for Students and The Families, Counselors, and Communities Together Manual provide comprehensive tools for meeting the needs of first-generation students and their families during the college admission process.
  
  
• Key to Stemming HS Dropouts: Parents
  Low-performing schools must improve parental involvement if they are serious about curbing dropouts, a new report suggests. While the report indicates that parents of high school students want to get involved in their child’s education, it reflects a modest effort on the school’s behalf to initiate the relationships. The report , commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, offers steps that schools can take to get parents involved, including creating a way to check grades on the Internet and dedicating a single point of contact for parents. Read more.
  
  
• New NCLB Regulations Aim to Highlight Dropout Problem
  New federal NCLB regulations announced Tuesday require states to use a standard graduation-rate formula and do a better job at informing parents at poor-scoring schools about tutoring and transfer opportunities for their children. Some critics say the Bush administration should leave such decisions for the next president and Congress. MSNBC/The Associated Press (10/28)
  
  
• Research-Based Strategies to Engage Students in the Classroom
  Teachers use a variety of instructional strategies to engage with students, from "traditional" teacher-centered methods such as lectures to strategies that seek to stimulate access to the curriculum by letting students work together. ASCD is now providing an opportunity for educators to explore techniques and strategies for promoting high levels of student engagement and energy in the classroom in the Web seminar, "Research-Based Strategies to Engage Students in the Classroom." Find out more.
  
  
• Differentiated Instruction: Beginning the Journey
  "One size fits all" instruction does not serve students well, especially when the backgrounds of students are so diverse and their needs are so numerous. To help educators teach all students with different needs, ASCD offers a three-day institute that will provide participants with an in-depth understanding of how to recognize and respond to students' varied readiness levels for new learning, honor and celebrate their diverse interests, and understand their unique preferences for how they learn new information and practice new skills. Find out more.
  
  
• Counting on Graduation
  The Education Trust report, Counting on Graduation , provides information about what states are doing (and not doing) to boost graduation rates and offers specific recommendations for state leaders.
  
  
• Leadership Skills for Working with Kids in Poverty
  A recent ASCD blog post highlighted William Parrett and Kathleen Budge's work on the issue of improving schools with high concentrations of students living in poverty. A new blog post allows readers to listen to Part 2 of an interview with Parrett and Budge. In Part 2 of the interview, Parrett shares an example of how a veteran teacher and a 2nd-year teacher are collaboratively leading an effort to successfully transition 65 new limited-English-proficient students into their school. The interview also addresses some of the beliefs and practices that will help educators provide targeted interventions for students coping with poverty, without singling out or stigmatizing students as "the poor kids." Read more.
  
  
• Schwarzenegger to Push for Major Education Cuts, Tax Hike
  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reportedly told educators on Tuesday that he would push for $2 billion to $4 billion in education cuts, to be effective immediately, to help solve the state's financial problems, according to several people present at the meeting. "There is just no way we would be able to cut that much," said Scott Plotkin, the California School Boards Association's executive director. "For virtually every district I know of, this would be catastrophic." Los Angeles Times (10/29)