From the Superintendent
Happy
May Day!
As
we begin the month of May we certainly find ourselves in an “interesting”
period of time. The combination of a possible pandemic, the conclusion of a local parcel tax
election, and the continuing uncertainty about the state budget
has generated some anxiety as we also work to complete the school year in a
productive way for all of our students.
The
H1N1 (swine) flu emerged as a major focus for staff and parents over the last
few days. The good news is that, so far we have not had a confirmed case in our
schools and also, that the threat of this illness has forced us to revisit all
of emergency procedures related to external and internal communication. All schools have communication systems in place to
inform parents, and the district office will continue to update parents and media about
the status of the virus in our school district. I personally suspect that should the H1N1 virus
continue to spread we may face some confirmed cases, but we feel confident
that we can respond effectively and quickly communicate information as directed by the
County Department of Health.
After
what seems like a very long time I am pleased that we will soon know the
results of the Measure C election. Regardless of the result, this ballot
measure has generated significant conversation about the role that public
education plays in the community. I am very appreciative of the hundreds of
community members and staff members, as well as those elected leaders who chose
to spend time on this important measure. This election has created an excellent
opportunity for parents and community members to reflect on what the district
has accomplished during the period of the expiring parcel tax, and what
challenges and opportunities await us in the years ahead.
What
will undoubtedly be frustrating to many is that even after we know the results
of Measure C, the Board of Education will most likely not be able to take immediate budget action
because so much uncertainly still exists with the state budget. The state of California has already
announced that it has an 8 billion dollar deficit, and we are told that it
could double depending on the outcome of the May 19th ballot measures.
Given this information, the Board most likely will not be able to take
any action until after May 19th.
Despite these "interesting" times, our staff continues to provide high quality education and support for the students we are honored to serve.
Thank
you for reading and for your continuing support of our schools. Have a good
month of May.
Sincerely,
Steven Enoch
Superintendent of Schools
Swine Flu precautions
The school district
continues to carefully monitor the swine flu situation. As of this
writing, there are no confirmed cases of the H1N1 (swine) flu virus at
any of our schools. Please visit the district's website at
www.srvusd.net for more information and updates. We will continue to
keep our community informed if and when information changes. Also, for
more information regarding precautions, visit the following:
Community Bike Rodeo - Admission is Free; Bring Your Bike!
Wednesday, May 13th
4:00-7:00 PM
Iron Horse Middle School
12701 Alcosta Blvd., San Ramon
- BMX and Skateboarding Demonstrations
- Obstacle Course provided by the San Ramon and Danville Police
- Bike Helmet Safety Check
- Bike Inspection and Safety Check
- Learn How to Repair a Flat Tire
- Bike Crime Prevention
- Learn the Rules of the Road for Bike Riders
- Basic First Aid Demonstrations
- Food by Blue Sage Catering
- Skateboard Inspections courtesy of Skate Works
- PRIZES and DRAWINGS FOR ALL AGES
- PRIZES FOR CLASSROOM WITH LARGEST ATTENDANCE
- RAFFLE FOR HELMETS AND TWO BIKES!
Sponsored by: The San Ramon
Valley Unified School District, City of San Ramon, Town of Danville,
Streetsmarts, Boy Scouts of American, Dublin Cyclery and Valley
Spokesman.
For more information - 925-973-2700 or www.SanRamon.ca.gov
3 SRVUSD Teams Advance to Top "Odyssey" Competition
One elementary and two high school teams to participate in
Odyssey of the Mind World Finals.
Three teams from schools in the San Ramon Valley Unified School
District qualified to compete in the “Odyssey of the Mind” World Tournament May
27-30 at Iowa State University. They earned that honor by placing in the top
two teams in their problems and divisions at the California State Odyssey of the
Mind Tournament, held April 4 in Brentwood. Over two hundred teams performed
at the state tournament, including thirteen San Ramon Valley teams that advanced
from the San Francisco Bay Regional Tournament March 28.
Rancho Romero Elementary School's Kyle Bartley, Connor Pollak, Jaime
Chandler, Jillian Freeborn, Nick Rango and Sean Thomas created a humorous
performance about a mythical creature that acted like a real mammal or bird and
learned lessons. The creature was taught two lessons by a Creature Teacher and
"accidently" learned a behavior by observing others. Parents Wendy Thomas and
Judy Bartley coached the Rancho Romero team.
Both teams representing San Ramon Valley High School qualified for the OM
World Tournament. Andrew Raymond, Nathan Polanco, Trevor Okamoto, Emily Neary
and Natalie Fong (who attends Monte Vista High School) designed and built a
vehicle that traveled to four locations, changing appearance with each travel.
One time, the single vehicle had to appear as a group of vehicles. Cheri
Raymond and Donna Okamoto were the parent advisors for this team.
Ariana Weckstein, Mark Warwick, Rachel Mazer, Panayiota Kuvatakis, from
SRVHS, with Jack Schramm and Jake Neustadt from Monte Vista, created and
presented an original performance about the Greek hero, Heracles (better known
as the Roman god, Hercules). The performance included one of Heracles’ 12
labors and a team-created the thirteenth labor lost in history. Karen Denevi
served as the adult coach for this team.
Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides
creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through
college. Team members apply their creativity to solve problems that range from
building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary
classics. They then bring their solutions to competition on the local, state,
and World level. Thousands of teams from throughout the U.S. and from about 25
other countries participate in the program.
- National website: www.odysseyofthemind.com
- S. F. Bay Region: www.sfbayodysseyofthemind.org.
"Visions" High School Art Show
Featuring Student Sculptures, Drawings and Paintings from District High Schools.
When: May 5-29
Where: Museum of the San Ramon Valley, 250 Railroad Ave., Danville
Opening Reception: Tuesday, May 5th, 5-8PM
Museum Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 1-4PM, Saturday, 10AM-1PM (Closed Sunday/Monday)
Parent Education Corner
Go Green! (article from EPIC Healthy Choices newsletter)
Most
of us are aware that energy use all around us needs to become more
efficient…our cars need to be more fuel efficient, our homes also need to use
energy and fuel more efficiently. There
is, however, one machine that deserves more attention than it is getting. That
machine is YOU, your body, and yes, it needs the most efficient forms of fuel
to power the brain, the skin, the heart, the muscles, the bones, the blood and so
on…
Unfortunately,
many Americans feed their bodies with very inefficient
fuel (in other words unhealthy foods).
Examples of unhealthy food include many processed foods, everything from most breakfast cereals to beverages sold as
”sports drinks” laden with high-fructose corn syrup and sugar. In his book “The World’s Healthiest Foods,” author
George Mateljan points out that the United States is a prime example of a
nation whose diet depends on nutrient-depleted foods. In our fast-food
nation, this eating pattern is referred to by its ironic acronym S.A.D., which stands
for Standard American Diet. The health effects of the Standard American Diet
are revealed most clearly in today’s almost epidemic statistics of childhood
obesity and Type ll diabetes. At least
30% of US children are overweight, having more than doubled in the last 25
years. Corresponding with this trend, childhood diabetes has increased 10-fold
in the last 25 years. (Olshanky, et al., New
England Journal of Medicine, 2005)
To access the entire article, click here.