School Notes School Notes (January 21, 2004)

Menlo meeting on 'differentiated instruction'

A study session focusing on "differentiated instruction" and curriculum is scheduled by the Menlo Park School District board for 7 p.m. Wednesday, January 21, in the district board room, 181 Encinal Ave., Atherton.

"Differentiated instruction" presents information in different ways to match the different learning styles of students.

Jo Mitchell, assistant superintendent, will facilitate the discussion to give board members an overview and an understanding of the principles that guide this approach to teaching and learning.

The board also is slated to approved the guidelines, developed by Superintendent Ken Ranella, for the use of Measure B parcel-tax funds for the 2004-05 year.

Joe Simitian to give views on state finances

State Assemblyman Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto and chair of the Assembly's budget subcommittee on education finance, will give his views and take questions on the proposed 2004-05 state budget, state funding for education, and the Schwarzenegger administration in a visit to Menlo-Atherton High School from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 29.

The free event, sponsored by the school and the Foundation for the Future, is open to the public and will be held in the school library at 555 Middlefield Road in Atherton. For more information, call Angela McIntire at 322-5311, ext. 5206 or send e-mail to amcintir@seq.org.

Portola Valley forum on eating disorders

Part of parenting revolves around food: packing lunches, grocery shopping, preparing meals and helping children develop a healthy relationship to food and their bodies.

To address the topic -- "Food, Body Image and the Sense of Self" --the Portola Valley PTA has invited Dr. Nancy Marx to speak at the next parent education program on Wednesday, January 21, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. in the Corte Madera multi-use room, 4575 Alpine Road, Portola Valley. Dr. Marx runs the eating disorders program in the department of psychiatry at Kaiser Medical Center in Redwood City.

The program is free and open to the public.

Dr. Marx plans to talk about the spectrum of eating disorders in children, adolescents and adults. She will describe the factors that lead to eating disorders and a distorted body image, and discuss early warning signs and the physical and psychological consequences. She will describe treatment options, the parent's role in the treatment process, and interventions to prevent relapse.

Melodrama at Hillview School

Students in the Hillview School drama department will stage another melodrama spoof with oddball characters on Friday and Saturday, January 30 and 31, at 7:30 p.m. in the school's multipurpose on Santa Cruz Avenue in Menlo Park.

Tickets to "The Saga of the Prospector's Daughter" or "She Was only a Minor's Minor" by Pat Cook are available from cast members or at the door the evening of the performance. They are $5 for adults, ninth grade and above; $3 for children, ages 5 and up; and $2 for Hillview's Block "H" holders. Directing the production is drama teacher Bob Crabb.

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