Focus on Education (4/13/15)
TURLOCK UNIFIED BOARD TO MEET
The Turlock Unified School District board will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Professional Development Center, 1100 Cahill Ave., Turlock. Trustees will start the meeting by saluting students who succeeded despite challenges. The 2015-16 contract for interim Superintendent Dana Salles Trevethan and 2015-16 salary schedule for management will be up for a vote. The board will also consider refinancing school bonds passed in 2007, Measures N, Y and Z, and a 2005 facilities loan, estimated to save taxpayers $3.8 million over the life of the loans. Find the agenda at http://turlockusd-ca.schoolloop.com/onlineagenda.
FREMONT COMMUNITY MEETING SET
The Fremont Elementary School community meeting will be at 5 p.m. April 23 in the school cafeteria, 1220 W. Orangeburg Ave., Modesto. The meeting will involve the asphalt replacement project and removal of playground trees at the campus, said Principal Susan Fisher. Students held a letter-writing campaign after learning 14 shade trees were being taken out. Modesto City Schools plans to add lawn area and replace seven trees nearer to the school’s baseball diamond over the summer. The school blacktop is believed to be original to the 1949 campus.
APRIL’S BUSY SCHEDULE
April is Autism Awareness Month, Mathematics Awareness Month, Month of the Military Child, National Child Abuse Prevention Month, National Poetry Month, Public Schools Month and School Library Month. This week, April 12-18, is Week of the Young Child and National Library Week. In time for Earth Day, April 22, comes National Environmental Education Week. The week of April 20-24 is Public School Volunteer Week. Today is Thomas Jefferson’s Birthday. Thursday is Holocaust Remembrance Day and National Librarian Day. April 21 is John Muir Day, and April 22 is Administrative Professionals Day.
LEARNINGQUEST IS SEEKING TUTORS
LearningQuest needs tutors for adult students learning to read and write. A one-hour orientation will be at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. The training for those completing the orientation will be 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Both are offered at the LearningQuest building, 1032 11th St., Modesto. Tutors are assigned a student based on the times and days the tutor prefers. Instruction, twice a week for at least 90 minutes, is in a public place such as one of the county libraries. For more information or to reserve a spot, call (209) 558-4505, email nmelton@lqslc.com or go to www.lqslc.com/volunteer.
SCOE HAS FREE STOP-SMOKING CLASSES
The Stanislaus County Office of Education will hold a series of classes designed to help people stop smoking tobacco and/or nicotine product use. The eight-session course is 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, beginning with orientation May 5. It is free of charge, but capped at 15 participants. The programs are conducted by the Stanislaus Advocacy Action Team. For more information or to register, call Erikka Perry at (209) 238-1367.
GLSEN DAY OF SILENCE FRIDAY
The GLSEN Day of Silence will be Friday. It is a national day of protest against campus bullying, name-calling and harassment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth. GLSEN stands for Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network. In the latest GLSEN National School Climate Survey, 56 percent of such students felt unsafe at school and 10 percent had missed four or more days of school in the last month because they felt unsafe or uncomfortable.
DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAM WORKSHOPS
Kindergarten parent workshops for Modesto City Schools’ Dual Language Academy, where students study subjects in both English and Spanish, will be at 5:30 p.m. Thursday and 9 a.m. April 21 at Bret Harte School, 909 Glenn Ave. The application deadline for students is April 30. This is a program of choice, open to students living anywhere in the district. For more information, call (209) 576-4655.
This story was originally published April 12, 2015 at 9:43 PM with the headline "Focus on Education (4/13/15)."