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OCDE NEWSROOM
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Behind the lens of the Sunburst Youth Academy media team |
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“Turn your head a little to the left, and now keep your hands to your side,” graduate Armando Ortega of Class 33 directed one of his former instructors, or cadre members, as he captured his staff portrait. This reversal of roles greatly amused the surrounding group of Sunburst Youth Academy staff, who just months ago were the ones giving Ortega orders. At Sunburst Youth Academy, located on Joint Forces Training Base, Los Alamitos, the primary goal is to accept struggling, at-risk high school students and set them back on track by instilling the same discipline required of the military. However, with the recent addition of the student media team, Sunburst is providing students like Ortega with an alternative path to a new sense of purpose. |
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https://newsroom.ocde.us/behind-the-lens-of-the-sunburst-youth-academy-media-team/ |
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LOS ANGELES TIMES
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DAILY PILOT |
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Auditions open for Santa Ana school whose goals extend beyond dance |
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Each year the Wooden Floor in Santa Ana holds open auditions for the opportunity to step onto a path to higher education. Although the first step begins on the dance floor, the organization’s chief executive officer, Dawn S. Reese, says it is much more than a dance school. “The Wooden Floor is a creative youth development organization; we are not a dance studio. We inspire and transform the lives of young people through the power of dance and access to higher education over a 10-year journey,” said Reese. |
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https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/entertainment/story/2024-07-24/auditions-open-for-santa-ana-school-whose-goals-extend-beyond-dance |
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DAILY PILOT |
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O.C. Girl Scout’s Asian American and Pacific Islander ethnic studies class wins award |
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Kai Yamamoto helped developed the class as a high school freshman in response to anti-Asian racism during the pandemic. It won her a $5,000 scholarship from the Girl Scouts of the USA. |
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https://lat.ms/4cVzd11 |
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USA TODAY
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American students are losing ground in reading and math as COVID relief dollars run dry |
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Academic progress is heading in the wrong direction in the years since the pandemic. Students are falling further behind as schools face the impending loss of COVID-19 relief funding aimed at helping them recover from severe setbacks in math and reading.
New research published Tuesday shows that more than four years since the start of the pandemic eighth graders are a full year behind in math and reading. The average U.S. student needs more than four months of school to catch up to pre-pandemic achievement levels, the study found.
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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2024/07/23/why-students-behind-reading-math/74509972007/ |
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EDSOURCE
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Biden immigration order could help thousands of California children |
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Tens of thousands of children in California stand to benefit from a new executive order by the Biden administration that would provide a pathway to citizenship for their parents. Advocates said the new program will improve children’s financial security, physical health, mental health and will help them stay focused in school. Biden announced in June a new program that will allow undocumented immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens to apply for permanent residency without returning to their home countries, if they have lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years and have no criminal record. |
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https://edsource.org/2024/bidens-latest-immigration-order-could-help-thousands-of-california-children/716237 |
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Transitional kindergarten is growing but also might be sapping other programs, study shows |
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California’s newly expanded transitional kindergarten program is growing, but it’s also sapping resources from other early childhood programs, a new study shows, leading to declining enrollment. Transitional kindergarten has grown by about 51,000 children since the pandemic, a 52% bump in enrollment, researchers note. However, federal Head Start centers have lost about 43,000 California preschoolers. There were also 9,000 fewer 4-year-olds enrolled in the California State Preschool Program in 2023, compared with 2021 numbers. |
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https://edsource.org/updates/transitional-kindergarten-is-growing-but-also-might-be-sapping-other-programs-study-shows |
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West Contra Costa temporarily closes elementary school amid lawsuit alleging poor building conditions |
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An elementary school in the West Contra Costa Unified School District will be closing this summer for repairs after “environmental hazards” were found, according to a message Superintendent Chris Hurst sent families Tuesday evening. Students and staff at Stege Elementary will be relocated this upcoming school year, Hurst said, to ensure safety and for the rebuild to start earlier than planned. It’s unknown where students and teachers will be relocated. |
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https://edsource.org/updates/west-contra-costa-temporarily-closes-elementary-school-amid-lawsuit-alleging-poor-building-conditions |
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Students heading to high school a year behind pre-Covid times, study shows |
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Eighth graders are roughly one school year behind pre-pandemic levels in math and reading, The 74 reported, according to new test scores that paint a grim portrait of the efficacy of federal recovery efforts in the wake of Covid. This data from 7.7 million students who took the widely used MAP Growth tests from NWEA bodes ill for teenagers entering high school in the fall. Completing fourth grade when the pandemic hit, many students not only lost at least a year of in-person learning, but also graduated to middle school amid the disruptions of teacher vacancies and soaring absenteeism. |
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https://edsource.org/updates/students-heading-to-high-school-a-year-behind-study-shows |
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OTHER NEWS OUTLETS
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New awards program to recognize high school musical stars |
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BroadwaySF, which presents Broadway shows in San Francisco, has announced the launch of the BroadwaySF High School Musical Theatre Awards, a regional awards program designed to recognize outstanding achievement in high school musical theater.
Part of the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (NHSMTA) program — known as The Jimmy Awards — the BroadwaySF High School Musical Theatre Awards celebrates artistic excellence in high schools throughout Northern California, as does Broadway San Jose’s Rita Moreno Awards in the South Bay.
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https://edsource.org/updates/new-awards-program-to-recognize-high-school-musical-stars |
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VIDEO: Urban agriculture oasis at Magnolia High School in Anaheim |
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Students and staff community from Magnolia High in the Anaheim Union High School District are on a mission to transform the area from a food desert to a food oasis. |
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https://www.foxla.com/video/1490307 |
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