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Education
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Positive budget projections and responses to Shade Canyon’s online community interest survey have convinced the school initiative’s board that it is feasible to offer more grades from the beginning than originally planned. In keeping with the school’s commitment to fiscal responsibility, the grades offered would depend upon adequate enrollment.
After its first year, Shade Canyon plans to add one grade each subsequent year until the school reaches a full TK-8 program.
Having a Waldorf-style option for second and third graders in 2022 could be especially timely for families whose students have experienced loss of learning during the pandemic.
“Waldorf teachers are trained to ‘teach the student rather than the subject,’ using methods that meet multiple intelligences,” said Shade Canyon’s Founding Educational Director Savannah Mitchell. “For example, elements of math are taught through cooking, music and storytelling.”
Collaboration and learning among a broader span of grades would offer a fuller experience for students, as well as give more families the chance to send all their children to the same school.
If Shade Canyon had a total enrollment of 80 students in the first year, it would also be eligible to apply for up to $600,000 through the California Department of Education’s Public Charter School Grant Program, which awards grants for the planning and implementation of new public charter schools.
Shade Canyon will submit a petition this spring to the Kelseyville Unified School District Board to be authorized as a charter school in the district. If authorized, the school would offer a tuition-free, public Waldorf-style education option to all Lake County families.
A time-tested model, Waldorf education brings forth a sense of wonder, cognitive strength, self-awareness, and social fluency, as well as respect for self, others, and the environment--all while building a strong academic foundation.
Shade Canyon’s planned curriculum weaves together experiential learning, integrated subjects, outdoor exploration, and a deep awareness of child development.
Waldorf students become critical thinkers who are curious about the world, connected to their communities, and confident shaping them as they go on to high school, post-secondary education and meaningful careers.
Shade Canyon invites Lake County families and community members to fill out the community interest survey, which school founders will use to estimate enrollment and demonstrate community interest to the Kelseyville Unified School Board.
The link to the survey may be found at https://www.shadecanyon.org/.
Shade Canyon School is a tuition-free, Waldorf-inspired public charter school initiative. The school’s name comes from the saddle canyon on Mount Konocti that, long ago, shaded canyon oak seedlings so they could grow into a lush, towering forest.
The school initiative is guided by this vision: “by honoring simplicity, we nurture the spark of the individual and nourish a thriving community.” Their mission is to cultivate inspired learners.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
This legislation is meant to help ensure that more California students are eligible to attend a UC or CSU directly from high school.
SB 309 takes a multipronged approach to increase successful student access to the UC/CSU A-G course requirements.
Most importantly – in order to increase the availability of A-G courses – it funds $150 million dollars in access grants to local educational agencies with a UC/CSU A-G completion rate of less than 45 percent of all students.
The measure also funds $50 million dollars in success grants for local educational agencies that have taken on the challenge of incorporating the UC/CSU A-G course requirements into their local graduation requirements, but whose UC/CSU A-G completion remains below 80 percent overall – with an emphasis on directing funding to those students in danger of not achieving the requisite grade of “C” or better in an A-G course, in order to fulfill the promise of UC/CSU eligibility.
The bill also requires parents and guardians, beginning in 8th grade, to be notified and educated on the UC/CSU A-G course requirements and their local educational agency’s own graduation requirements and UC/CSU completion rates.
SB 309 also reemphasizes the requirement of school districts to offer all students a timely course of study that fulfills minimum requirements for admission to the University of California and the California State University, and expands that requirement to charter schools and county offices of education beginning with the 2026-27 school year.
“It is unacceptable that only half of graduating high school students in California meet the coursework requirements to attend a UC or CSU – and even fewer socioeconomically disadvantaged, homeless, English Learner and foster students meet those prerequisites,” Sen. Leyva said. “SB 309 will help ensure that all high school students, regardless of where they may live or study, have the opportunity to take coursework that will prepare them to attend a public university here in California. By leveling the playing field and empowering school districts to better help their students will certainly help to set even more California students on a path to success.”
California’s current statewide high school graduation requirements – dating back to the early 1980s – are out of alignment with the minimum admission requirements to the University of California and the California State University, known as the “UC/CSU A-G course requirements.”
Many local educational agencies have instituted graduation requirements that go beyond the minimum statewide requirements, and some have gone so far as to incorporate the UC/CSU A-G course requirement.
The contrast between the state’s minimum graduation requirements and the UC/CSU admission requirements – as well as variations across local education agencies – creates inequitable outcomes for California students and their eligibility to attend the UC or CSU.
As a result, only half of California high school graduates are eligible for admission to our state’s public universities, and some of the state’s most disadvantaged students are eligible at even lower rates.
According to the most recent data from the California Department of Education, only 50.9 percent of all students who graduate from a California public school meet the minimum requirements to attend the University of California or the California State University.
The numbers are worse for the state’s most disadvantaged students: 42.8 percent for those from socioeconomically disadvantaged families, 29.2 percent for homeless students, 24.7 percent for English learners and just 20.1 percent for foster youth.
Following referral by the Senate Rules Committee, SB 309 will be considered by pertinent Senate committee(s) later this spring.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Eligible students may apply for one of multiple scholarships; a total of $80,000 will be distributed in the eighth annual cycle.
Among the awards, four $10,000 scholarships will be given, with additional, smaller amounts of $2,500 to $5,000 provided.
To be eligible for the 2021 College Scholarship Program, students must be pursuing a degree in higher education and plan to enroll in a full-time undergraduate study program at an accredited college, university, or vocational-technical school for the upcoming academic year. Scholarships will be awarded based on academic achievement, community service, and financial need.
“As many of our neighbors and customers continue to face economic hardship due to the pandemic, providing financial assistance so students can afford a post-secondary education is more important than ever,” said Martin A. Kropelnicki, president and chief executive officer. “The scholarship program is part of our commitment to improving the quality of life in the communities we serve, and we encourage any students who meet the eligibility requirements to apply.”
The annual scholarships are part of group’s stockholder-funded philanthropic giving program and do not affect customers’ rates. The program is administered by Scholarship America, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. To date, group has provided $440,000 in scholarships to students through the program.
To learn more about the scholarship program or to apply, students may visit www.learnmore.scholarsapply.org/calwaterscholarships.
The application period will close on Friday, April 16.
Winners will be announced in the summer.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Each year Lake County’s Division 35 of the California Retired Teachers Association, or CalRTA, awards scholarships to local students pursuing a California Teaching Credential.
The Aspiring Teachers Scholarship is given to student teachers who are teaching full-time while attending classes through the Lake County Office of Education’s “Be A Teacher” program.
The “Be A Teacher” program provides training, coaching, mentorship and affordable certification pathways to support permit teachers and teacher credentialing.
“Division 35 is pleased to support the development of teachers in Lake County,” according to Dick Bode, treasurer and scholarship chairperson.
Bode announced in December of 2020 that scholarships were received by Brittany Rumfelt and Jessica Lauwers.
Rumfelt, a Clear Lake High School graduate, is teaching fifth grade at Lower Lake Elementary School.
Lauwers teaches transitional kindergarten also at Lower Lake Elementary School. Both are in their third year of the Lake County Office of Education’s training program.
CalRTA Division 35 also sponsors a scholarship for aspiring teachers through the Clearlake campus of Woodland Community College.
District 35 also lends support to local educators by awarding five $200 mini-grants for materials used in their classroom to benefit students. These recipients will be announced soon.
