The Summerville Union High School District board will meet at 6:30 tonight in the Summerville High library, 17555 Tuolumne Road, Tuolumne.

Summer fun can give kids a head start for the next year, but others fall behind and force teachers to spend weeks reviewing.

Think of it as the difference between reading the recipe and baking the cake. In classrooms across California, teachers have gotten amazingly good at helping children read what amounts to recipes, memorizing ingredients and mastering vocabulary. Common core standards, however, expect everyone to get in there and cook.

Modesto's Class of 2013 marched into history Thursday night, with about 2,500 seniors taking bows and throwing caps across the city. For Gregori High, history was in the making as Modesto City's newest school celebrated its first graduating class in its just-finished stadium.

Brock Blakeley struggles with schoolwork, but making friends comes easy — especially when kids such as fifth-grader Andres Guerrero of Modesto's Freedom Elementary School take the first step.

Whitmore Charter High School Principal Lynnette Chirrick was in Sacramento this month to take a bow for Whitmore as one of two area high schools named as California 2013 Distinguished Schools. Hughson High is the second.

Davis High celebrated its 50th graduation Wednesday night.

The practice word was "Agosto," or August. That stumped no one, but it got tougher from there for 36 top Spanish spellers from area dual language school programs.

Gregori High senior Michala Wyrsch was voted in as the 2013-14 student representative to the Board of Education on Monday.

Color coded cards most likely special offers tied to GPA, not identification, and weeks of May are all significant.

How many kids will be in my daughter's class next year? Will there be Advanced Placement classes next year? How do we stop kids from leaving Denair High? Can we afford to pay you $600 a day? Parents peppered Denair Unified Interim Superintendent Walt Hanline with frank questions and got no-nonsense answers Monday night.

George Gardner blew his first trumpet notes in Earl Smith's music class at Tuolumne Elementary School, just south of what is now Mancini Park. Gardner went on to stand in Smith's shoes, as well as MoBand conductor Frank Mancini's.

The Modesto City Schools board will consider a raft of end-of-year changes and standard contracts at its meeting tonight. But first, board members will salute retirees with a 5 p.m. reception.

The Turlock Unified School District board will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Turlock High School Performing Arts Building, 1600 E. Canal Drive.

For the Class of 2013, the next few weeks will be a blur of yearbook signing, senior celebrations and saying goodbye. Among the celebrations will be Gregori High's first graduating class, set to walk in the first event held in its just-finished stadium.

For inspiration, the 460 graduates of the University of California at Merced on Saturday could draw upon the wisdom of an ex-astronaut, their chancellor, and a fellow student and researcher as they chart their futures.

Sylvan teachers have rejected a proposal to change next year's school schedule to give them time to collaborate, leaving the length of school days unchanged for 2013-14, the district announced.

That's a lot of cans and bottles. Shackelford Elementary won a three-month contest among several schools in Modesto to collect recyclables for the Soldiers Far From Home group.

The Denair Unified School District Board will gather Sunday afternoon for a training session, and Monday evening interim Superintendent Walt Hanline will host a community meeting.

Rising costs to transport severely disabled special education students across the county are testing the bonds of a regional oversight consortium.

Fewer California teachers found pink slips in their mailboxes this week, but that was scant solace for Denair Unified teachers. The financially strapped Denair district sent notices to 13 teachers, Interim Superintendent Walt Hanline said.

High schoolers snooze through first period while elementary kids raring to go.

Bands will be serenading seniors with "Pomp and Circumstance" next week across Modesto. Families have hair appointments to make, parties to arrange and graduation tickets to mete out like precious gold. Craigslist posts already offer $20 to $50 each for tickets that seniors get for free.

Cameras flashed as filmmakers and movie stars entered. Programs featured their names and speakers praised their art. Gold statuettes awaited the lucky few.

Anyone whose hand has cramped while signing real estate documents knows the sticker shock of those huge numbers. Spending school bond money, on the other hand, usually happens with an "aye" and a community cheer.