September 07, 2005

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Publication Date: Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Back to School 2005: Portola Valley School District

By Marjorie Mader

Almanac Staff Writer

Superintendent Anne Campbell forecasts a "busy year ahead" for Portola Valley schools, where the major focus will be developing a new strategic plan for the district.

That will be "in front of everybody's radar screen," said the superintendent, now in her third year at Portola Valley.

The community will be involved in the planning process. During the summer, three graduate students from Stanford's School of Education researched "best educational practices." Superintendent Anne Campbell and Assistant Superintendent Tim Hanretty compiled data about the district. Consultant Jim Brown, a former superintendent of the Palo Alto Unified School District, will be the facilitator for the project.

School got off to a smooth start for students August 29. The staff came back to school a week earlier for a series of staff development meetings, including an all-day session on "Quirky Kids," students who don't fit the norm, with the book's co-author Eileen Costello.

Superintendent Campbell and the teachers are focusing on curriculum and tailoring instruction to meet students' needs and learning styles.

"We're challenging students academically as much as we can to move them along as far as possible," she said.

The district's Character Education Program will continue at both Ormondale and Corte Madera schools with an emphasis on building community. The serving-learning program received a financial boost with a $30,000 CALSERVE grant for a third year. All grade levels are planning a variety of service-learning projects.

The middle school math review team will continue its work and pilot new materials for the upper grades.

During the summer, "Power School," a new student information database, was installed. This system will enable the schools to keep better track of student data, and they're already finding it's much friendlier than our previous system, said Ms. Campbell.

Staff members will receive technical training. The district hired Karen Lucian as the student information technician, and she began inputting information in July.

There won't be a contested election in the school district in November because incumbents Donna Carano and Ray Villareal were the only candidates to file for the three openings.

The school board decided August 26 to take the option of appointing a new board member before the election. People interested in applying for the position should contact board President Donna Carano or Superintendent Campbell.

Following are reports on the district's two schools, where classes started August 29.
Ormondale School

200 Shawnee Pass Portola Valley

Phone: 851-1777 Eva Gal, principal Grades: K-3

Enrollment: 315, about the same as last year

Small classes. With a significant increase in enrollment at the second- and third-grade levels, a combination second-third grade class was formed shortly before school opened August 30. Classes will be close to 20 students in kindergarten through third grade. There are four sections each of kindergarten through third grade plus the combination class.

New teachers. With the retirement of Alicia Seebold in first grade and Karen Hayes in kindergarten and the change of assignment for Anna Henderson, new teachers have joined the Ormondale team. They are: Silvia Martinez, kindergarten; Jennifer Houlton, first grade; and Kris Govani, who will be job sharing with Jean Turri in third grade.

Staffing changes. Kelly Kuebler, who taught second grade last year at Ormondale, will teach the combination second-third grade. Anna Henderson is taking on multiple assignments: math coach, sharing the second language learner position with Christine Hunner, science resource person and coordinator for the school's Character Education program.

School secretary. Denise Schectman, a "para-educator" in the district, is the new school secretary. She takes over from Jan Manzo, who has requested a leave of absence.

Focus. Ormondale's continuing challenge and goal is to differentiate instruction in language arts and math to meet the individual needs and learning styles of students, said Principal Eva Gal. Teachers are working to meet the needs of increasingly diverse learners. Pilot programs in writing and spelling also are being piloted.

PRIDE assemblies. A series of all-school assemblies, focusing on character education themes such as pride, responsibility, initiative, decision-making and empowerment, is planned by the team of Deena Bertolina (formerly Ms. Gardyn), Jennifer Bloom-Smith, Annie McKee and Anna Henderson.

Art in Action. This program continues with parent Amber Ramies as the coordinator. Art in Action offers a sequential curriculum that combines art history and art appreciation with visual expression in drawing, painting, sculpture and design. It provides training and ready-to-use materials for teachers.

Character Education/Service Learning. Students and teachers will take part again this year in these district-wide programs that focus on the core values and building community.

A garden grows. Ormondale's school garden will be the focus of science projects and provide opportunities for service learning.

Back-to-school night. Parents and guardians will come to school on Thursday, September 8, to meet teachers and learn about the classroom programs. The times are: 5:30 p.m. for kindergarten, 6 p.m. for first grade, and 7:30 p.m. for third grade. An assembly for all will be held at 7 p.m.

Family picnic. Ormondale families will gather for a picnic on Saturday, October 8, at 11 a.m. in Flood Park in Menlo Park.

"Turkey Trot." Save Saturday, November 19, for a new event, a 5K and 10K run and walk and a kids' walk at Ormondale. The school's PTO is sponsoring the "Turkey Trot."

Child care. New Horizons School-Age Center, a private organization offering child care for school children from ages 5 to 13, is located at Ormondale in the portable classroom, adjacent to the kindergarten playground. Ajmir Thompkins is the director. For information and fees, call 851-5671.

Corte Madera

4575 Alpine Road

Portola Valley

Phone: 851-l777

Joel Willen, principal

Grades: 6-8

Enrollment: 361

Class size. Classes will range from 18 to 24 students.

Teachers return. All teachers at Corte Madera have returned except for Eloise Fredrickson Pollock, who retired in June. Denise Falzon, who shared the fifth-grade teaching assignment with Ms. Pollock, will teach fifth grade full-time.

School secretary. Gretchen Baker is the new secretary in the school office. She takes over from Rani Sengottaiyan, who is going to law school in Washington, D.C.

Focus. Principal Joel Willen and teachers will continue to focus on the district's character education goals and core values of respect, responsibility and service. Teachers will continue to work to make sure students learn the curriculum, set forth in the state standards in all areas. Teachers are working with all sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders in strengthening their writing skills. New math materials are being piloted in seventh and eighth grades.

Algebra for eighth-graders. All eighth-graders are taking algebra this year. One eighth-grade section is taking an advanced algebra class.

Eight-period day. Corte Madera will keep the same schedule of "A" and "B" days and the eight-period day as last year. English will continue as a double period, and the electives will be scheduled throughout the day.

School garden. Corte Madera's garden project that started last year will be a focus for student service projects and science. Art students of teacher Brigid Corboy learned the art of making mosaics by creating colorful stepping stones to be installed in the garden.

Watch CMS-TV. Students in the TV-video production elective will be producing shows that will be aired over closed circuit TV under the guidance of teacher David Macomber.

Overnight field trips. This year's overnight field trips, approved by the school board, will take fourth-graders to "Gold Country," sixth-graders to Yosemite, and eighth-graders to Washington, D.C. Fifth-graders will learn about the "Age of Sail" on the "Balcutha," berthed at the San Francisco harbor.

Information night. Principal Willen is scheduling a high school information night for parents of eighth-graders.

Back-to-school barbecue. The date for this annual event is Friday, September 9 at 5:30 p.m.

Back-to-school night. Parents are invited to come back to school on Tuesday, September 13, to learn about school programs and meet their children's teachers.

DISTRICT INFORMATION