CJUSD Meetings Should Be of Interest to All

The CJUSD has an open ear. They say they want input from Parents, and Community Members. There are many issues facing the Children and Citizens of Grand Terrace which also have a relationship with CJUSD.

The Short List:

Improve Middle School Instruction and Transition so that High School Drop Out Rate is also Improved.

Improve Parent/ Teacher Communication and Information Sharing.

Improve Existing School Facilities and Programs.
Low Budget Improvements:

Ball Room and Square Dance Program at ALL SCHOOLS
Public Singing ( Song Books) or Choir at ALL SCHOOLS (This aids in Reading and Diction)
Walking 15 minutes every morning as a school warm up activity.

Remove the Jail like Bars around the Football field

INSIST ON SOCIAL Behavior and Conduct at all School Activities. ARREST and REMOVE People who are Noisey at Graduations, and rush the Field during a Game. Are we so uncivil that we have low standards of public conduct? Are the Students on the field gladiators being fed to lions for our Entertainment? There is a school of thought that if you build a fence, it keeps honest people out of the school yard, and criminals and nare do wells a safe place to work.

Schools should not look like a Jail.

Mid Budget Items:

Healthy Food: Low Salt, Low Fat, and Nutritional Balance... INCREASE VEGGIES and FRUIT.
Fresh Fruit and Veggies available at low or no cost to students.

Master Teachers mentoring new teachers for 2 years.

Encourage Parents or Block Parents to Walk their Students to and From School. A walking School Bus Program. Increased physical activity, and cuts use of carbon fuels, and cuts down on traffic problems and risks around the schools.

Plant Fruit Trees and have a garden at every school as a science and nutrition lab. Encourage students to eat fruit off the school trees when in season.

Higher Budget Items:
Marching Band for EVERY SCHOOL... *This could be part of the 15 Minutes walking..

High Budget Items.

Building of High School #3 in a SAFE PLACE, if AES and the Rail Road is going to exist where they are the HIGH SCHOOL #3 should be relocated.

Moving GT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL to the East... using Eminent Domain to Take the Day Care Center, and Pink House and perhaps some additional lots to make up for lost land due to Freeway Construction. The City of Grand Terrace has designated the entire area of GT ELM as Commercial Zone so Schwab and Friends want the entire School to be Developed by .... a designated Developer other than the School District. The City has failed to identify to the public a site for a replacement School or an offer to Pay to Replace GT ELM at the Cost of the Developer. With Freeway Plans moving forward this is an issue that must be resolved in the process of eliminating the darn Grand Terrace 215 Bottle Neck. ( Let us hope this will encourage folks to stop using Barton Road and Mt. Vernon and Michigan as Freeway Detours.)

Include in Freeway Construction, Sound Wall, and Trees along the Cal Trans Right of Way.

Modern Public/School Computer Library / Lab and Wi Fi Service for all community in CJUSD Students and Parents.

Solar Energy PV Pannels on Roofs and Covered Parking areas, can generate all the power needed at school and perhaps additional power for the Power Grid.

Trash Reduction and Recycling Plan:

Visual and Auditory Checks in K-3 the FIRST MONTH OF SCHOOL. Learning Styles and Differences and Needs Identified EARLY. Accommodation, and Mitigation and Remediation DONE EARLY AS NEEDED IMMEDIATELY, not years down the road.

Zero Books may be a possibility. It may be time to have all books on line and all students trained to use a computer for reading data and texts. There is still a need to learn to use a pen and paper, but there is no reason for 40 lbs of books in a back pack.

I am sure you'll think of more than what is on my short list.

http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_7583985

Colton Unified seeks input
Parents, community urged to help plan district's future
Carolyn G. Schatz, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 11/28/2007 06:50:28 PM PST

GRAND TERRACE - Colton Joint Unified is asking the community to get involved and help chart the course of how its schools operate.

"You can't change the direction of the river," Superintendent James Downs told about 20 parents assembled Tuesday in the cafeteria at Terrace Hills Middle School in the first of five scheduled community meetings on mapping out strategies for the district.
But you can guide its direction, he said.

"Tonight, we're taking you on a tour of our plan for the future," Downs said.

Downs enthusiastically encouraged all willing to volunteer their time to join one of six action teams that will spend the next few months redesigning Colton Joint Unified.

The teams, to be composed of parents, teachers and community stakeholders, are to help flesh out a five-year action plan, addressing everything from evaluating district programs and curriculum to developing a facilities master plan.

"This has never been done before," said Todd Housley, who sat on the initial planning team of parents, community members, civic leaders, and school district employees that met in October to create a draft strategic plan for revamping district policies and procedures.

"We need to do this to correct errors of the past," he said.

Housley mentioned the district's yet-to-be-built third high school and a proposal to move all elementary schools to a single-track year-round schedule as continuing issues of concern for parents.

Downs - who told parents that despite years of delays, the new high school would open by 2011 - said parents would now have an active voice in how school policy develops.

"You're not going to be watching anything," he said. "You'll actually be part of the creation. The strategic plan affects your child in every way - how they're taught, how they learn and the facilities they learn it in."

Having recently taken over as interim superintendent in March and then as superintendent in July, Downs is eager to bring about positive changes that will benefit students.

Goals for the next five years include doubling the percentage of students who perform at the proficient and advanced level on California Standards Tests; having at least 95 percent of students graduate with a high school diploma; and preparing all students for college entrance and/or certification in a career/technical field.

Some 120 slots are open for community volunteers to help start turning things around, Nichols said. Action team volunteers must be willing to spend 40 hours in evening meetings over the next three months, with the finished product to go the school board in May.

Sign-ups for volunteering are available at the community meetings.

Planning sessions

Four more hour-long informational meetings are scheduled. To volunteer to help build Colton

Joint Unified School District's plans for the future, attend one of the following meetings:

6:30 p.m. Monday: Jurupa Vista Elementary, 15920 Village Drive East, Fontana
6:30 p.m. Tuesday: Ruth O. Harris Middle School, 11150 Alder Ave., Bloomington
5:30 p.m. Dec. 10: Wilson Elementary, 750 S. Eighth St., Colton
6:30 p.m. Dec. 11: Grant Elementary, 550 W. Olive St., Colton

The work begins with the first action team meeting at Ruth O. Harris Middle School: 5:30 p.m. Dec. 13