Schools
by John M. Zukoski on May 31, 2010 | 
No Comments | Topics: Schools
Livermore Valley Charter Preparatory High School (LVCP) will educate students from Livermore and the greater Tri-Valley area whose families are seeking a college preparatory education in a small school environment. Based on the California State Standards and admission to the University of California system, all course work at LVCP will be designed to help students prepare for the rigors and challenges of a four-year college or university. Successful completion of the academic program at LVCP will expose students to the particular academic challenges they will face in college: extensive reading, large-scale research papers and projects, lecture-format classes, and high-stakes testing. The culture of LVCP is built around the notion of college success for all.
Starting this fall, LVCP will have partnerships in place with regional higher education institutions including California community colleges like Chabot College, Las Positas College, Diablo Valley College, and Ohlone College; California State University at East Bay, San Jose, San Francisco, and Stanislaus; University of California at Berkeley, Davis, Merced, and Santa Cruz; and private universities like Stanford University, University of San Francisco, University of the Pacific, Mills College, St. Mary’s College, and Alliant International University. Along with these higher education partners, LVCP will be developing a “College Pathways” program under the leadership of Dr. Douglas Treadway.
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by John M. Zukoski on May 22, 2010 | 2 Comments | Topics: Development · Schools
Dublin Unified School District (DUSD) has started grading for Kolb Elementary School at the school’s Lockhart Street site across from Fallon Sports Park in Dublin, CA. DUSD plans to open Kolb Elementary in Fall 2011. In light of California’s state budget crisis, DUSD is required to use at least $28M of interim financing to build Kolb Elementary. Most projections assume that the state will not be able to deliver on the $28M for at least two years.
Construction of Kolb Elementary is critically important given that DUSD expects to have 100-200 more students than current capacity in East Dublin by 2011-2012. The District does currently have sufficient capacity for the 100-200 additional students when the schools in West Dublin are included, but diversion of up to 200 students from East Dublin to West Dublin is not politically expedient to DUSD at this time. In addition, DUSD is implementing facility and program standards that may decrease capacities in schools district wide.
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by John M. Zukoski on May 16, 2010 | 33 Comments | Topics: Opinions · Schools
Dublin’s school board recently took the first step towards levying an additional parcel tax on all homeowners in Dublin, CA. The latest parcel tax measure stems from the red ink-soaked operating budget of Dublin Unified School District (DUSD). The DUSD estimates that it will have a $2M deficit in 2010-2011 and a $5M deficit for 2011-2012. Dublin’s school board members have identified $1.5M of mostly one-time revenue enhancements and $3.5M in cuts that could be made for the 2010-2011 fiscal year and presumably for the 2011-2012 fiscal year as well. Most of the $3.5M in budget cuts would lower district compensation expense through fewer work days, teachers, and programs.
Rather than implementing all $3.5M of the budget cuts in anticipation of the expected $2M deficit in 2010-2011 and $5M deficit in 2011-2012, DUSD will likely only implement $500K of cuts in 2010-2011 and pray that voters will pass the parcel tax on the November 2010 ballot. In other words, the new parcel tax being proposed by DUSD and the Teachers Union would not be necessary, if Dublin’s school board implements the $3.5M of approved budget cuts in 2010-2011.
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by John M. Zukoski on May 3, 2010 | 2 Comments | Topics: Schools
Dr. Lawrence Lezotte is known as the preeminent spokesperson for Effective Schools research and implementation. He has written numerous books based on the Seven Correlates of Effective Schools. As a nationally renowned education consultant and commentator, he touches the lives of thousands of educators and tens of thousands of students each year through workshops and conferences across North America. In recognition of his efforts, Dr. Lezotte received the 2003 Council of Chief State School Officers’ Distinguished Service Award and, in 2009, he became the ninth recipient of the Brock International Prize in Education.
Dr. Lezotte and his colleagues have identified the common characteristics of successful schools where all children learn. An Effective School can be defined as an institution “that can, in outcome (performance or results) terms, reflective of its learning for all mission, demonstrate the presence of equity in quality.” The research of these dedicated individuals refuted the notion that schools had no impact on learning and, in doing so, identified the Correlates of Effective Schools. The question Tri-Valley parents may want to ask themselves is whether or not their child’s school meets these criteria:
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by John M. Zukoski on April 26, 2010 | 187 Comments | Topics: Schools
Dublin, CA – In California, a good measure of how well a high school does at motivating and preparing its students for college is the percentage of its graduating seniors admitted to the well-respected and highly-competitive University of California (UC) System. This statistic is calculated for each high school as the Number of Graduates Admitted to the UC System divided by the Total Number of Graduates.
As the graph below shows, a wide disparity exists among the Tri-Valley public high schools in terms of the percentage of graduates admitted into the UC System for the 2008-2009 school year. The three top performing schools using this measure were Monte Vista High School (43%), Foothill High School (36%), and San Ramon Valley High School (34%). The three lowest performing schools in the Tri-Valley were Granada High School (18%), Dublin High School (17%), and Livermore High School (16%).
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by John M. Zukoski on April 19, 2010 | 5 Comments | Topics: Schools
Race to the Top is a $4.35 billion federal initiative to reshape America’s educational system and to prepare our students for success in a competitive 21st century economy and workplace. The US Department of Education’s goal with Race to the Top is to spur progressive reforms in K-12 education at both the state level and local district level. California was one of 40 states seeking Phase One funding from Race to the Top. Unfortunately, California did not make the cut in this round of the competition. “I am disappointed that California was not selected as a finalist in Phase One of the Race to the Top competition,” shared California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell.
As noted by Theresa Harrington of the Contra Costa Times, each school, district-run or charter, that participated in Phase One of Race to the Top signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that outlined the following requirements:
- Pilot new student achievement growth accountability data.
- Train teachers in using data to enhance teaching.
- Improve teacher and principal effectiveness based on performance.
- Turn around lowest-achieving schools.
- Collaborate in statewide reform efforts.
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by Around Dublin Team on March 25, 2010 | No Comments | Topics: Announcements · Schools
Dr. Douglas Treadway has joined the Tri-Valley Learning Corporation (TVLC) to help in several areas critical to the ongoing development of three world-class schools. He offers his expertise in creating innovative, sustainable facilities and learning environments to the TVLC facilities projects. Dr. Treadway will be also be working to formalize partnerships with top-tier regional higher education institutions to provide students at Livermore Valley Charter Preparatory (LVCP) in Livermore, CA, and Tassajara Preparatory High School (Tassajara Prep) in Dublin, CA, with the opportunity to take university-accredited courses and receive full college credit from many of the premier colleges and universities throughout the region. As a first step toward that overarching goal, Dr. Treadway will bring the research and expertise of Stanford University as a higher education partner in the planning and construction of the Livermore Valley Charter School (LVCS) and LVCP facilities. By applying the latest research and best industry practices, Stanford University will be helping LVCS and LVCP build state-of-the-art schools that maximize learning for all students in Livermore, CA, and beyond.
Dr. Treadway is currently serving as Director of the China Extension Program for the University of California Berkeley. Dr. Treadway is also currently serving as Interim President of San Jose City College, a community college with 35,000 students in San Jose, CA. In addition, he has a private consulting practice specializing in organizational and individual leadership development and serves as a visiting professor in Leadership Studies at the University of San Diego. Dr. Treadway received his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Northwestern University. He received two post‐doctoral fellowships, one to study international environmental sustainability at Harvard University and the other with the Kellogg Foundation and the University of Minnesota to study the higher education and economic development relationship in Asia/Pacific Rim countries.
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by John M. Zukoski on March 22, 2010 | 127 Comments | Topics: Schools
Based on the latest data available for Tri-Valley high schools from the California Department of Education (CDE), students from high schools in Pleasanton, Danville, and San Ramon, CA, have significantly outperformed those from high schools in Dublin and Livermore, CA, on the SAT Reasoning Test (SAT). This observation is consistent with the trend in API and the trend in AP exam scores for Tri-Valley high schools. SAT results for 2005-2008 reveal that Dublin High School students scored lower on average than students at Livermore High School and Granada High School. Additionally, students at Dublin High School have progressively scored lower on the SAT each year from 2005-2006 to 2007-2008.
The SAT is a standardized test used by nearly all college admissions throughout the United States to evaluate a student’s college readiness. Owned, published, and developed by the College Board, the SAT consists of three distinct sections that objectively measure the critical reading, mathematical reasoning, and writing skills of the students. Each year, more than two million students take the SAT.
SAT scores are arguably the most reliable measure of a high school’s ability to prepare their students for college. The scores from each of the three sections can range from 200 to 800, so the best possible total score is 2400. Since the average score for each section is roughly 500, the average total score is about 1500. Nearly all traditional four-year colleges require SAT scores as part of the application process for high school students.
In general, most high school students must achieve a combined SAT score of at least 1500 for admissions into the mid-tier colleges. To be considered by the top-tier colleges and universities like Stanford and MIT, students need a total score of at least 2000.
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by Around Dublin Team on March 18, 2010 | No Comments | Topics: Announcements · Schools
Livermore Valley Charter Preparatory (LVCP) has just hired Dr. Jeffrey Watkins as its Principal in Livermore, CA. Dr. Watkins comes to LVCP as the newly appointed Principal for the 2010-2011 school year from Buckeye, AZ, with over seven years as a high school teacher and 8 years as a secondary school administrator in Southern California and Arizona. Dr. Watkins has a BA in economics from The Ohio State University, an MS in Special Education from National University, and an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership from Pepperdine University in 2006. In addition, Dr. Watkins holds CA Clear credentials in Administration, Social Science and Special Education, and Arizona credentials as a Principal and a specialist. He has also been a successful varsity and collegiate soccer coach.
As an administrator and consultant, Dr. Watkins developed inclusive models for students with disabilities, resulting in CA Distinguished School designations, improved test scores, and duplication at other sites. In 2004 and 2006, Dr. Watkins presented at Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) national conferences on school wide reform in New Orleans and Chicago, respectively. Areas of interest are producing high quality learning experiences while supporting struggling students, and nutritional impacts on student learning. As LVCP Principal, Dr. Watkins will emphasize the importance of differentiated instruction through a rigorous, college preparatory curriculum.
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