News
Press releases issued by the Sonoma County Office of Education and other news items related to Sonoma County schools are included here.
Twenty elementary students advance to county spelling bee
03/04/2010 - Over the past two weeks, the Sonoma County Office of Education has hosted four regional spelling bees for grade 4-6 students. The 176 students participating in these events are our county’s top spellers, having already won spelling competitions at their schools. The regional bees are designed to determine which students advance to the county spelling championship.
Twenty students, five from each region, earned the honor of advancing. These students will compete in the 2010 Sonoma County Elementary Spelling Competition at 4:00pm on March 29 at SCOE.
Kevin Bailey – grade 6, Santa Rosa Accelerated Charter
Dhyana Brylka – grade 5, The Healdsburg School
Sarah Jane Catarozoli – grade 5, Valley Vista School
Grace Cutting – grade 5, St. Francis Solano School
David Donaldson – grade 6, John B. Riebli Elementary School
Paul Gamboa – grade 6, Albert F. Biella School
Reny Grothen – grade 5, Binkley School
Noelle Heron – grade 5, Salmon Creek Charter School
Bianca Hillegas – grade 6, Hidden Valley School
Calvin Jin – grade 6, Harvest Christian School
Emily Lu – grade 5, Marguerite Hahn Elementary School
Anthony Martensen – grade 6, Madrone School
Erin Martin – grade 6, Two Rock School
Sienna McDonald – grade 6, Alexander Valley School
Acacia Mueller – grade 5, Salmon Creek Charter School
Whitney Nguyen – grade 6, Roseland Elementary School
Lilly Reinstein – grade 6, McNear School
Amandeep Singh – grade 6, Bellevue School
Lana Tan – grade 6, Guerneville School
Taylor Wang – grade 6, Strawberry School
Winners of the 2010 Science Fair announced
03/03/2010 - Four students earned top honors at the 2010 Science Fair held on February 24 at the Sonoma County Office of Education. These students won special recognition for their blue ribbon research projects from teams of community judges.
- Allen Chu
Maria Carrillo High
Project: Is there a correlation between short-term memory and IQ? - Jessica Conrad
Maria Carrillo High
Project: Are Wi-Fi radio waves harmful? - Cameron Crook
Maria Carrillo High
Project: Are phytoplankton affected by a decrease in light? (The answer could help determine if manmade cloud cover over the ocean would counteract global warming) - Samantha Royall
Mary Collins at Cherry Valley
Project: Which type of water filter is best: sediment or carbon?
Each of the four students earned a $100 cash prize and a matching $100 for their school, along with a telescope donated by the NASA outreach program at Sonoma State University. The students are eligible to advance to the San Francisco Bay Area Science Fair later this month and to compete in the California State Science Fair held in Los Angeles, May 17-18. More ..
New Career Pathways publication issued
02/23/2010 - SCOE has developed a new guide, High School Career Pathways in Sonoma County, to assist students and their parents as they make decisions about high school elective classes and the education and training that will prepare them for future career success. This 16-page guide is being distributed as an electronic publication and is available for download at www.scoe.org/career. It is available in both English and Spanish. More ..
Retired teachers and Social Security
02/22/2010 - On February 20, there was a Close to Home editorial in the Press Democrat on the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO), which impact the Social Security benefits available to retired teachers and other public employees. Sonoma County educators may learn more about this issue at the following websites:
California Retired Teachers Association
Social Security Fairness
Two local schools receive Title I Achievement Awards
02/11/2010 - Two Sonoma County schools – Piner Elementary School in the Piner-Olivet district and Robert L. Stevens School in the Wright district – have received 2009-10 Title I Academic Achievement Awards from the California Department of Education. They are among 238 schools selected for this recognition.
Over 6,000 schools in California receive federal Title I funds as authorized under the No Child Left Behind Act. This funding is designed to assist schools in meeting the educational needs of students living at or near the poverty level. To meet the rigorous criteria for the Title I Academic Achievement Award, a Title I school must demonstrate that all of their students are making significant progress toward proficiency. In addition, the school’s socio-economically disadvantaged students must attain double the achievement target set for them for two consecutive years, resulting in a narrowing of the achievement gap.
Title I Academic Achievement Award winners will be honored at a statewide reception and banquet scheduled for April 21, 2010.