A Press Democrat Blog

Extra Credit

Daily education news and conversation

Sonoma Academy hosting forum with college admissions advisors

Monday, at 6:52 by

Just a quick reminder on this free event upcoming: A panel of admissions officials from leading colleges will share advice and answer questions in a forum being hosted by Sonoma Academy on May 17. The event, which is free to the public, will begin at 7 p.m. Universities represented include Sonoma State, the University of California at Berkeley, Stanford, Santa Clara and the University of Southern California. The program is recommended for sophomores, juniors and their parents. For more information,… Read More »

Locals ahead of the curve in kissing gags

Monday, at 6:22 by

Sorry. The first posting of this was entirely cut off. Let’s try again. The most recent edition of California Educator, the monthly magazine put out by the California Teachers Association, had a story about innovative fundraising events, including teachers and administrators kissing pigs. It brought to mind at least two local schools who used animal kissing rallies not as a fundraiser but a motivator to reach academic goals. To read about former Comstock Middle School principal Bob Dahlstet kissing a… Read More »

Schools of Hope growing rapidly, still looking to expand for ’12-13

Friday, at 6:32 by

At the Santa Rosa School Board meeting Wednesday night, officials recognized the rapidly expanding Schools of Hope program backed by the local United Way and Volunteer Center of Sonoma County. I featured the program 18 months ago (read that here: http://bit.ly/IWnlw0 ) but in the ensuing year and a half it has more than doubled in the number of volunteers spending at least an hour a week in area schools working with a particular student and in the number of… Read More »

Do you have photos from Bike to (School) Day?

Thursday, at 11:48 by

I’m re-running this post because I failed to mention that if parents or teachers have photos of kids walking or riding to school, send them in and I’ll post them here. Please send as jpg attachments, no larger than 1mb per shot. Thanks. _____ Thursday, May 10 is Bike to Work Day but what about the school kids? A bunch of schools around Sonoma County are taking advantage of the great spring weather and using “walking school buses” to shepherd… Read More »

Maria Carrillo’s Michelle Shao is student of the month

Wednesday, at 6:03 by

Maria Carrillo High School’s Xiaoyi “Michelle” Shao is Santa Rosa City Schools student of the month for May. Readers may recall that Shao was honored last week as one of the Press Democrat’s 10 outstanding seniors in the Community Youth Service Award. Shao won in the music category for her work in establishing and then dramatically expanding the “Chance to Dance” program with the Boys and Girls Club. The program is now active in other cities in California and across… Read More »

Rincon Valley’s Rebecca Plattus is student of the month

Wednesday, at 6:02 by

Rincon Valley Middle School’s Rebecca Plattus is Santa Rosa City Schools student of the month for May. Plattus, a straight A student for the Falcons is also a two year starter on the basketball team. “She is one of those players who worked as hard at practices as she would in a game,” said Donna Wade, Rebecca’s coach and P.E. teacher. “Rebecca never makes excuses and consistently inspires and encourages her peers to do their best.” Plattus is an outstanding… Read More »

Cook’s Vivianna Torres is student of the month

Wednesday, at 6:01 by

Cook Middle School’s Vivianna Torres is Santa Rosa City Schools student of the month for May. Torres is an honor roll student at Cook and has been accepted into the academically rigorous University Center program at Elsie Allen High School. She is also a member of Cook’s volleyball, cross country and track teams. Torres is a leader of the Project Committee in the school Builders’ Club and is in charge of planning projects such as Beautification Day and Teacher Appreciation… Read More »

Doyle Park’s Karla Ayala is student of the month

Wednesday, at 6:00 by

Doyle Park Elementary School sixth grader Karla Ayala is Santa Rosa City Schools student of the month for May. Ayala is described by Doyle Park staff as an “excellent, motivated student.” “Karla is the epitome of a life-long learner,” the staff wrote in endorsement of Ayala’s being honored. “She is highly motivated and often does extra credit work, unprompted by the teacher…Additionally she always goes above and beyond the stated expectations on assignments, adding creative flourishes, and extra research on… Read More »

Get on the bus, the walking bus

Tuesday, at 11:59 by

Proctor Terrace mom Kathy Doig leads a walking school bus to the Bryden Lane campus.     Thursday, May 10 is Bike to Work Day but what about the school kids? A bunch of schools around Sonoma County are taking advantage of the great spring weather and using “walking school buses” to shepherd students to campus. The concept is simple — one or two parents “drive” the bus and pick up kids on an established route and walk them to… Read More »

Meadow School says thank you

Friday, at 1:23 by

Normally, I would not print a thank you letter verbatim in ExtraCredit, but this one comes under atypical circumstances. So here it is in full:   April 30, 2012  Dear Petaluma,  The passing of one of our beloved teachers, Kim Conover, was devastating to our Meadow family and to our community.  This tragedy touched the lives of many, and we are working hard to take small steps forward toward recovery.  In a time of such deep and unexpected loss we… Read More »