Education

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Written by: Editor

Published: 21 March 2012

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Middletown Unified School District is pleased to announce the establishment of an exciting new program called Transitional Kindergarten starting in the 2012-13 school year.

Transitional Kindergarten will serve as a bridge year between preschool and kindergarten for five-year-olds with birthdays between Sept. 1 and Dec. 2 at no additional cost to parents.

Beginning next school year, MUSD will be offering Transitional Kindergarten at Coyote Valley School, taught by Debby Carter.  

Carter has been teaching at Coyote Valley for 17 years; ten of those years she taught kindergarten.  

“History has been made in California education this year, with the development of a new grade. It is the bridge year between preschool and kindergarten for our young five year olds,” Carter said.  

If you have a child who will turn five between Sept. 1, 2012, and Dec. 2, 2012, you can register for transitional kindergarten by attending the screening at Coyote Valley Elementary School on April 2, 2012.

Transitional Kindergarten is the first year of two-year Kindergarten program.

This first year will provide the foundation, for mastery the following year during traditional kindergarten instruction by offering opportunities to learn important academic and social skills presented in a developmentally appropriate way.

There will be more opportunities for play-based learning where children have opportunities to experiment and develop understanding at a slower pace, without the pressure to master all of the core kindergarten standards in the first year.  

“The program will provide students with more concrete, interactive, hands-on learning opportunities in a language rich environment incorporating math, science, art, social science and physical education,” Carter said. “Transitional Kindergarten will give our students the best possible start, with curriculum that is designed just for them.”

Carter said she is passionate about the benefits this program will provide and is thrilled to offer this opportunity for success to our students.  

Her own son attended a program similar to this many years ago in Rohnert Park; experiencing first hand the positive results this gift of time can provide.  

Carter would be happy to talk about Transitional Kindergarten. She can be reached at 707-987-3357, Extension 6003 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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Written by: Editor

Published: 20 March 2012

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson joined parents, teachers, and business leaders last week in opposing further cuts to California’s beleaguered child care system, and called for the state to renew its commitment to quality early learning programs.

The proposed state budget would cut more than $500 million from child care programs statewide, cutting services to as many as 62,000 low-income children.

The new cuts would come on top of nearly $700 million in reductions to these programs over the last four years – a 42 percent reduction in state funding.

“For decades, California has been committed to a simple but powerful idea: Children deserve more than just a safe place to wait while their parents work. They also deserve a chance to learn and to grow. It pains me to say it, but California’s budget crisis has put that commitment to our children in jeopardy,’’ Torlakson said at a news conference at Proyecto Pastoral’s Centro de Alegría (The Joy Center), one of many child care providers threatened by the proposed budget cuts.

Torlakson was joined at the news conference by Assemblymember Mike Eng (D-Alhambra); David Rattray, vice president of the Greater Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce; Rafael Ramirez, director of the Proyecto Pastoral Early Education Centers; Kathleen Malaske-Samu of the Los Angeles County Policy Roundtable for Child Care; and by parents who depend on the program.

“Early child care is key to helping young children develop the linguistic, cognitive, social, and emotional building blocks necessary to succeed in school and in life,” Assemblymember Eng said. “I believe this is especially true for children that come from low-income and working-class families. While I understand that reductions are necessary to balance our $9.2 billion deficit, I believe that slashing our support for child care and development programs is unwise and will ultimately cost the state more in the long run.”  

“California is experiencing a looming budget deficit and is faced with difficult decisions,” said Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President David Rattray. “It is instrumental that through this painful process, we carefully maintain our investment and infrastructure of early childhood education, which is the foundation of a skilled future workforce.”

“At Centro de Alegría we provide our children with high-quality learning experiences that will prepare them academically, socially, and emotionally not just to excel in kindergarten but to succeed in life,” said Rafael Ramírez, Director of Early Education Centers at Proyecto Pastoral. “The proposed budget cuts could shut out half of the children we currently serve, and have a ripple effect on the community who relies on the programs.”

There also is a proposal to reduce the quality of these programs by severing the tie between providers and the California Department of Education (CDE), which provides training, curriculum, guidance, and oversight of quality preschool and child care programs statewide.

“These proposals fly in the face of literally decades of research into the benefits of strong early childhood education programs,” Torlakson said. “The consensus is clear: invest in kids early, and reap the rewards of a better-educated, more productive workforce, and a healthier state, or pay the price later—with more high school dropouts and more young people headed for trouble.

“For decades, our early learning and child care system has been a model for the nation. Teachers are well-trained. The curriculum is carefully developed. And longstanding partnerships exist between the Department of Education and local providers,” Torlakson said. “The proposal to sever that connection and place oversight of these programs in the hands of overworked county welfare offices—with no background, no training, and no support—would be a huge step backward for California. Elmo and Barney are great TV characters, but they’re no substitute for a dedicated teacher and a quality early learning and child care program.”

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Written by: Editor

Published: 20 March 2012

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lower Lake Community Action Group, in partnership with the Clearlake Car Club, is offering college scholarships to high school seniors graduating from high schools in Lower Lake.

Scholarship applications may be obtained at the high school counselor’s office.  

Complete applications must be submitted to the counselors office or mailed to P.O. Box 614, Lower Lake, CA 95457, by April 15 for consideration.