District Actions and Accomplishments

By Catherine Bonnar

During my term on the School Board, the district has moved forward on many fronts, including the development and implementation of an innovative futures plan, including academic excellence, capital improvements, technology development, and partnerships with parents, businesses, and the community -- all aimed at fostering student learning.

• We adopted an ambitious futures plan, emphasizing strong basic skills and academic excellence for all students and continued strong programs in art and music.

• We continued class size reduction.

• We have invested in technology, leveraging our Measure B funds with partnerships and grants with Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, Oracle, Perkin Elmer, Joint Ventures Silicon Valley, Hewlett Packard, and others. Our aim is not just to acquire technology, but to use those tools to help our students learn better and our teachers to communicate more effectively with parents and with each other. All of our classrooms are wired -- teachers now have not only computers with e-mail and internet access on their desks, but telephones in their classrooms as well. We have computer labs with internet access and extensive networking abilities at each school and mini labs in many of our classrooms. Equally important, we have invested in extensive teacher training in this area, so that our investment in technology will be used to directly and positively impact our children's learning.

• We completed construction of Sandpiper School.

• Major renovation and repair work has been undertaken or is in the pipeline at Central, Nesbitt, Cipriani, and Fox.

• Using Measure B funds, we launched a much needed major facilities expansion at Ralston Middle School to meet the demands posed by our increasing enrollment. We are planning to break ground this year on the first phase of the Ralston Project (two new science wings, a gymnasium, and classroom modernization).

• Partnering with Joint Ventures Silicon Valley through the Family of Schools has contributed to significant improvement in our students' math scores.

• We have developed positive relationships with the City of Belmont and Redwood City, cooperating on projects of mutual benefit.

• As always, student safety remains a high priority. Traffic flow at and around our schools is a continuing challenge; during the last two years we have worked to improve traffic flows and parking at several of our schools. Last year we worked with the City of Belmont to assure crossing guards at some of our most problematic crossings.

• Recognizing the great need in our communities for after school supervision of our children, we have worked hard to facilitate private daycare programs at each of our schools. This year, RAMS (Ralston After Middle School) program began operating, providing after care for middle school students. As waiting lists lengthen for many of these after care programs, the district must continue to explore innovative ways to help meet this critical need.

• We have begun exploration of ways to deliver regular foreign language instruction to our K-5th grade students.

• We have continued to involve parents, teachers, staff, and the community as a whole in our decisionmaking. Open communication is a priority for this Board.

• We have remained financially responsible.