Valley Center/Pauma Schools will begin Tuesday, Sept. 7.
SCHOOL HOURS:
Primary School
• Kindergarten, early morning session -- 8:20 a.m. to 12:20 a.m.
• Kindergarten, late morning session --10:00 a.m. to 2:05 p.m.
• Grade 1,2 -- 8:20 a.m. to 2:05 p.m.
Elementary Lower School
• Grades 2-3 -- 8:15 a.m. to 1:55 p.m.
• Grade 4 – 8:30 am – 3:00 pm
Elementary Upper School
• Grades 5 -6 -- 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Middle School
• Grades 7-8 -- 8:30 a.m. – 2:45 p.m.
High School
• Grades 9-12 -- 7:37 a.m. – 2:40 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday & Friday (traditional schedule days)
• 7:37a.m. – 2:07 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday (block days)
Pauma
Kindergarten, extended day – 8:30 am – 2:45 pm
Grades 1 – 8 - 8:30 a.m. – 2:45 p.m.
Lilac School
• Kindergarten, early morning session – 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Kindergarten – late morning session – 10:15 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.
• Grades 1 - 3 -- 8:30 a.m. – 2:15 p.m.
• Grades 4 – 5 8:45 a.m. -- 3:15 p.m.
Playground supervision begins at 7:30 a.m. at the K-8 schools.
Traffic congestion around the schools the first day is always a problem. Parents wishing to transport their children the first day should plan on arriving well before school begins.
School lunches will be $1.50 for grades K-8 and $2.00 for grades 9-12. Milk will also be available for students bringing their lunches at a cost of 25¢ for milk. Breakfast will be served at a cost of 75¢ for grades K-8 and $1.00 for grades 9-12. It is highly recommended parents pre-pay their children’s lunches. Schools may be called for more information.
Classroom assignments for grades 2-8 will be posted at their respective schools starting Friday, August 27, at 3:00 p.m. Parents of students in K-1 will receive a letter notifying them of their child’s placement. Students and parents are encouraged to review the posted listings prior to school opening. This will familiarize students with their homeroom assignments prior to the first day.
Parents will receive a packet of information at the end of the first day of school for grades K-8. They should take time and care to fill out this paperwork. Included in the package will be a data card advising how we can reach parents in case a child becomes ill at school or in case of emergency. A new data card is required for each student each year, K-12th grade.
Kindergarten teachers will be holding “Getting Acquainted” meetings with their prospective students the last two weeks of August. Parents should receive a letter with the name of the teacher and the time their appointment is scheduled.
Parents, please call the Primary School office at 749-8282 or Lilac School at 751-1042 if you do not receive the letter by Aug. 27.
Just a reminder that K-1 students who ride the school bus home will be brought back to school if a parent is not at the bus stop to pick them up, or unless they have a note on file with the school district.
For the first time Pauma Elementary School will be offering both an extended day Kindergarten and an early admission Kindergarten program. For more information call Pauma Elementary at (760) 742-3741.
The Tiny Tots Program begins Sept. 7. Registration will be on Aug. 23 from 9 a.m.-noon at the Primary School.
The YMCA and Boys & Girls Club sponsor after school child care and recreation programs. Their phone numbers are 749-7951 for the YMCA and 749-9822 for the Boys & Girls Club. A Head Start Program for 3 and 4 year-olds is also available. Their phone number is 751-0865. We will be providing after school day care at Pauma and Lilac this year. Prices will be comparable to the YMCA. Contact the school office if you are interested.
Those with questions regarding the start of school may call their child’s school. The telephone numbers for the schools are: Primary School – 749-8282; Elementary-Lower – 749-1631; Elementary-Upper – 749-8555; Middle School – 751-4295; Pauma School – 742- 3741; Lilac 751-1041; High School – 751-5500; Oak Glen High School – 751-0455. You can also visit the school district’s web page: www.vcpusd.net
* * *
Bus schedules are published in the Back to School publication mailed to all Valley Center/Pauma residents. Please clip and save. Bus Evacuation Week is scheduled for the week of Sept. 20.
By DAVID ROSS
Math is apparently the weak subject at VC schools.
Comparisons of four years of California Standards Tests in grades K-12 at VC-P schools show slight improvements this year in some areas, no improvement in others, and the need to improve in math, according to a report issued two weeks ago by Director of Curriculum, Ken Clark.
Note: For a complete summary of California Standards Test Results, see The Roadrunner web site www. valleycenter.com after Thursday.
“Math seems to be the area that we need to focus on because there are more declines in math,” said Assistant Supt. Sarah Clayton, who presented the report at the Aug. 12 school board meeting.
There is some difficulty in arriving at conclusions of these four years of test results because the standards being tested, say, in first grade, are not the same standards that are being tested in second grade. So it’s difficult to determine how a particular class is doing as it progresses through the school system.
“Although the scores are longitudinal [i.e. tracking the same grade or “cohort” from grade to grade] they are testing different standards in each grade,” she said.
Mrs. Clayton alerted the board that there will be some problems getting accurate test results when the new scores are released next month because the special ed student scores were not identified by the district.
The district will be watching closely to see if Pauma Elementary scores have improved. For two years Pauma’s scores have not met federal “No Child Left Behind” standards.
“Pauma should be a concern to you because it has been in program improvement status,” Mrs. Clayton told the board.
“We don’t know yet whether they made their goals. So far it looks like we made our target participation (95%).” One reason that Pauma didn’t reach its goals last year was that not enough students participated in the test. This year that was not the case.
“My main criticism of ‘No Child Left Behind is that it is an all or nothing thing,” said Mrs. Clayton.
Grade by Grade Comments
Clark made observations about each grade’s test scores.
• Grade 2 results are flat with a slight gain in mathematics and a slight decline in ELA (English Language Arts).
• Grade 3 results indicate a slight gain in mathematics and a slight decline in ELA.
• Grade 4 results indicate a slight decline in ELA and a significant decline in mathematics.
• Grade 5 results are consistent in ELA and indicate a significant decline in mathematics.
• Grade 6 results indicate improvement in ELA and slight improvement in mathematics.
• Grade 7 results indicate steady improvement in ELA and mathematics.
• Grade 8 results indicate slight improvement in ELA and History-Social Science. Mathematics results are consistent. A strong performance is indicated in Algebra I while the number of students taking the Algebra I test has increased. Geometry results are consistent with the make-up of the student group.
• Grade 9 ELA results indicate slight growth. Numbers of students taking the general mathematics test has declined. Algebra I scores have declined. Geometry scores have declined significantly. Biology results have increased significantly although the number of students tested has decreased.
• Grade 10 ELA results have remained flat. Results on the World History test indicate steady growth. Algebra I proficient and advanced levels have remained consistent with significant numbers on the basic level and below. Geometry results have declined over a three year period. Biology results indicate a slight decline. Chemistry results improved significantly with a sharp reduction in the number of students testing.
• Grade 11 results indicate slight improvement in ELA and U.S. History. Algebra I and Geometry are static with Algebra II indicating a decline in results and in numbers tested. There are significant gains in Biology. Chemistry results have fluctuated but remain flat. Results of the Physics test are encouraging.
Clark added the following comment: “Results of CST’s given at multiple grade levels are interesting. Although there are grade levels that indicate strengths, the mathematics scores overall remain similar in low percentages in the advanced range. Biology and Chemistry have demonstrated significant improvement."
In the final candidate list provided by the Registrar of Voters, 17 candidates are running for the VC planning group.
Two names previously mentioned as planning candidates, Mike Morasco and George Speer, are not running. Morasco is a candidate for the school board.
The election is Nov. 2.
Planning Group
Among incumbents running are Carol Prime, Richard Rudolf, Frank Shoemaker, Sandy Smith, and Andy Washburn.
Challengers include Don Richards, Leon Schwartz, Keith Simpson, Oliver Smith; Deborah Hofler, Roger Ingraham, Craig T. Johnson, Cherie Marek, Elaine Nolan, Kristine L. Preston, Terry Van Koughnett, Jonathan Vick.
Valley Center Parks & Rec
Incumbent John M. Scibilia will defend his seat against Earl Brown and Tom Litchfield. Two seats are in contention.
Deer Springs Fire Protection District
Three residents of the Deer Springs Fire Protection District have filed for the two full term seats on the board: incumbent Frank L. Asaro, appointed incumbent Jean F. Slaughter and challenger Craig Webster.
Dave Herbert, who, when he is in Valley Center runs the Sheriff’s substation, will be unopposed for a two year “short” term on the fire board.
Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District
Five candidates will compete for two seats on the school board.
Incumbents Wendy Zeug-schmidt and Patrick Simpson are both running. They are being challenged by Don Martin, Dennis White, and Mike Morasco.
Valley Center Municipal Water District
Doug J. Ohara will contest the seat in Div. 4 with incumbent Chuck Stone of the VC Municipal Water District Board.
* * *
The Roadrunner and the Friends of the Valley Center Library will be co-hosting candidate forums. The dates have not yet been firmed up, but they will probably be in October.
Look in the paper for an announcement of the dates and locations.
Members of the Road Safety Subcommittee of the VC planning group hope the Chamber will be well-represented when the subcommittee meets Monday, Aug. 30, 6:30-9 p.m. in the Lower Elementary School.
They want to dispel some misconceptions about the Valley Center Road median that merchants may have by showing plans for the median strips.
Those misconceptions may have been the impetus behind a recent phone survey conducted by the Chamber. The survey of some business owners along the road, showed that the median is highly unpopular with many merchants. However, several commercial owners said they weren’t called and several whose opinions were cited in the survey said they weren’t contacted.
But more to the point, according to Sandy Smith, chairman of the subcommittee, is that many who answered the survey may have assumed that their earlier input about the median had been ignored.
Mrs. Smith, who is also chairman of the VC planning group, said she thought members of the Chamber and the subcommittee were victims of a lack of communication about previous meetings when merchants along the road were consulted by the subcommittee about the placement of medians.
Most of the merchants along VC Road were contacted by subcommittee member such as Jon Vick and Allen Olson. They may have not been contacted again and so were unaware that their input had been incorporated into the median design.
Almost all requests by merchants who asked not to have medians in front of their stores were honored. The only exceptions were where safety mandated such a median. An example would be the intersection of Cole Grade & Valley Center Roads, in front of California Bank & Trust.”
“That’s purely a safety matter,” said Mrs. Smith. “A median has to go there.”
No Quorum?
The survey by the Chamber, and the results incensed members of the subcommittee, as well as people such as Allen Olson and Eric Laventure, who felt that their work on the medians was being passed over by the Chamber.
The survey was authorized at the Chamber’s June 1 meeting.
The board voted to go forward with the survey shortly after hearing and bypassing a request by Barbara Olson who reported gathering several hundred signatures asking Supervisor Horn to support a landscaped median.
She had requested that the Chamber support her effort. Instead, the Chamber board present at the time voted to do the survey.
In a new development, Tom Bumgardner, vice president of the Chamber, said this week that he didn’t think the Chamber board had a quorum when it met in June and voted to have the poll done.
Bumgardner was absent when that vote was taken.
“I don’t think there could have been a quorum. There have to be eight of the 12 directors to have a quorum. I found out about the meeting after it happened, at the following meeting. I didn’t know what the heck they were doing,” said Bumgardner.
The minutes of the June 1 Chamber meeting do not show which directors attended, but customarily such meetings are not held unless there is a quorum.
Bumgardner says he supports a median, “because it will make the town look better and slow the traffic down so that we won’t look look like the freeway going through Bell Gardens in Los Angeles.”
“I think the board should take another vote on it and poll the whole Chamber, the whole board and all the business people. Go further than just a phone survey,” he said.
Meeting Agenda
Subcommittee members include Sandy Smith, Jon Vick, Don Martin, Steve Flynn, Andy Washburn, Brian Bates and Mary Meade.
Agenda:
1. Quorum & Minutes approval from last meeting (attached)
2. DPW Update (Brendan McNabb)
A. Valley Center Road South
B. Valley Center Road North
i. Review of latest schematic showing planned landscaped median
ii. Bidding and construction timetable
C. Valley Center Road East
i. Lake Wohlford Road Intersection
3. Update on EEMP Grant
A resident of San Diego’s North County and Pauma Valley Country Club for over 25 years, Thomas John Turnbull died at his home on Saturday, Aug. 21, 2004. He was born in Detroit, Michigan, May 1934.
His professional background was as well-rounded and distinguished as his personal life. He retired from American Airlines as a senior Captain, also having served as a Check Pilot. Earlier in his career he served with the United States Air Force as a B-52 Aircraft Commander with 332 hours of combat time in Southeast Asia, flew in the Strategic Air Command, and achieved the rank of Major.
He followed with the California Air National Guard attaining the rank of Brigadier General and Commander of the 146th Tactical Airlift Wing. He was the recipient of numerous military awards.
Friends and family speak of Gen. Turnbull as a man of great moral character, strong in his convictions, a mentor, giving and willing to lend a helping hand whenever it was needed, possessing great leadership skills that made him respected by his peers, and, above all, a family man.
His daughter, Laura, acknowledges “He did groundwork for his children.”
Eldest son Tommy noted “He never asked you to do something he wouldn’t do himself—longer, stronger and harder than you would ever do it.”
Son Donald recounted that he “liked to see people ‘do right’, and would try to guide you, but let you make your own decisions.”
All the children agreed it was hard for him to be critical, but he knew it was his responsibility as a parent and he showed love through discipline. To universal acclaim of the next generation, he was the “greatest grandfather that ever walked.”
His wife of over 31 years, Sue, recalls him as very tender and sentimental, able to make tough decisions, but always by her side in strength, wisdom and love. They enjoyed flying together, horse training, building projects, travel with friends, skiing, bridge and an astonishing array of pranks in which he was unmatched.
Thomas Turnbull is survived by his wife Sue, daughter Laura Marie and husband Dr. Earl Shaw, sons Tommy and wife Kimberly, Paul Allen and Sandra Turnbull Scholz and Donald Richard and wife Cheryl, grandchildren Dejournette, Candice Marie, Whitney Lauren, Brendan Maree, Shelby, Skyla Renae and Taylee Dinae, his sister Jacqueline Linson and nephews Craig and Mark.
Graveside services at Fort Rosecrans will be private, but a “Celebration of Life” with family and friends will be in late September. In lieu of flowers, contributions to the Elizabeth Hospice are gratefully appreciated.
The Valley Roadrunner
P.O.B. 1529, Valley Center, CA 92082
Tel. 760.749.1112 Fax 760.749.1688
Website: www.valleycenter.com
Email: editor@valleycenter.com
Copyright © 2002, Palomar Community Newspapers, dba Valley Roadrunner. All rights reserved. This content may not be archived, retransmitted, saved in a database, or used for any commercial purpose without the express written permission of the Valley Roadrunner.