A Press Democrat Blog

Extra Credit

Daily education news and conversation

Steele Lane’s Anderson is student of the month

Wednesday, at 6:01 by

Steele Lane Elementary School sixth grader Tom Anderson is Santa Rosa City Schools elementary school student of the month for January. Anderson has attended Steele Lane since kindergarten and stands out as a student with a ready smile and willingness to pitch in on myriad school activities, according to school officials. “Tom is an extremely funny, intelligent and hard working student,” Anderson’s teacher Jose Davila said in a statement. “He makes everyone around him smile with his wit and humor.”… Read More »

Which school has the best attendance rate? The worst? (And why it matters)

Wednesday, at 6:07 by

Santa Rosa City Schools has released its annual attendance rates for 2011-12, tallied by school. Here is are the average rates of absenteeism (ranked highest to lowest) on each campus: ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Brook Hill, 5 percent Steele Lane, 4.94 percent Doyle Park, 4.71 percent Monroe, 4.57 percent Lincoln, 4.24 percent Biella, 3.91 percent Burbank, 3.46 percent Hidden Valley Satellite, 3.37 percent Helen Lehman, 3.31 percent Hidden Valley, 3.28 percent Proctor Terrace, 3.17 percent   MIDDLE SCHOOL Cook Middle School, 6.79… Read More »

Steele Lane’s Anderson is student of the month

Wednesday, at 11:44 by

Alyx Anderson is Santa Rosa City Schools’ elementary school student of the month for February. Anderson, a sixth grader at Steele Lane Elementary School, is a member of Student Council and Girls on the Run. She is also active in GATE and was the school’s spelling bee champion as a fifth grader .She returns to the city bee as one of Steele Lane’s representatives this year. She is a terrific writer, said her fifth grade teacher Susan Wood. “She expresses… Read More »

Piner nabs Golden Bell award, hosting GIS Day Wed

Tuesday, at 6:28 by

Piner High School has nabbed the prestigious Golden Bell Award for its Geospatial Technology Program. Piner will be honored by the California School Boards Association at their annual meeting Dec. 3 in San Diego. Led by teachers Kristi Erickson and Kurt Kruger, the three-year pathways program teaches students global positioning technology, map making, surveying and other skills. “The really wonderful thing about it is they can differentiate the curriculum within the course. We have special education students who are doing… Read More »

Calloway to lead Mark West Springs District

Tuesday, at 10:13 by

Ron Calloway has been named the new superintendent of Mark West School District. Kay Schultz, who has led the district for six years, will retire in June. Calloway will take over July 1. Calloway is currently principal at San Miguel School. His background includes stints as assistant superintendent of human resources at Santa Rosa City Schools, principal at Steele Lane Elementary School, coordinator of operational services. He taught grades four through six in the Rincon Valley School District. Mark West… Read More »

UPDATED: Haley Ramos is student of the month

Wednesday, at 7:10 by

UPDATE: In response to the comment from reader Gerry below, ExtraCredit has made significant outreach efforts to encourage districts to send student of the month information. I’ll include it as I can. As yet, only Santa Rosa City Schools has taken up the offer so typically three students from Sonoma County’s largest school district are highlighted here each month. The offer still stands for other districts to participate. ______  Haley Ramos is Santa Rosa City Schools elementary student of the month for… Read More »

Dillon named new principal at Steele Lane

Monday, at 2:45 by

Helen Lehman teacher Kelley Dillon has been named principal at Steele Lane Elementary School in Santa Rosa. Dillon, who has taught second, third and fifth grades at Lehman, replaces Barry Kelly who retired in August. Dillon, who also taught elementary school in Cupertino, is slated to takeover at the school on Oct. 4. Stephen Nielsen has been acting as interim principal since the start of the school year. In addition to teaching, Dillon has worked as an instructional coach for… Read More »

Zoe Moore is elementary student of the month

Wednesday, at 6:10 by

Zoe Moore, a fifth grader at Steele Lane Elementary School, is Santa Rosa City Schools student of the month for April. Jose Davila, Moore’s teacher, told district officials that Moore is “the definition of an all-around exemplary student.” Moore is described as caring and thoughtful, both with her fellow students and her teachers, helpful and popular. Her math and reading skills are above grade level and she completes every assignment and logs extra reading pages, according to school officials. Moore… Read More »

New state system to help track kids — will it help locally?

Thursday, at 5:07 by

State schools chief Jack O’Connell announced this morning that the state is implementing a new “Migrant Student Information Exchange” system to help teachers and administrators keep track of students, their academic records and other information. As described by the California Department of Education, the system is designed to help track students whose parents are seeking temporary or seasonal work in the agricultural, fishing or dairy industries. Students who arrive at a new school will be followed by the transcripts and… Read More »