1€¦ · space shuttle.” Surowiecki may as well add technology in the classroom to his list! Our...

www.burtonschools.org 1

Dear Burton Families,

Already this year, your school district is teeming with exciting celebrations on every campus! Our schools opened their doors to the bright faces of children eager to return

to school. BSD teachers continue to prioritize connecting with their students. Capturing Kids’ Hearts has gone a long way to ensuring that every student on every campus knows they are cared for, every day. Teachers, administrators and staff continue to make the effort to genuinely connect with students. Small actions like greeting students at the door or taking the time to make eye contact, reap rich rewards. I am proud of Burton’s blossoming family-like culture.

While Capturing Kids’ Hearts is changing the climate and culture throughout your district, other changes are on the horizon. One notable change includes our increasing use of technology as an instructional tool while teaching students to be digital citizens. Students are learning to be more responsible as they are required to care for their own devices at school and at home. We are proud to report minimal damage and loss for BSD devices across all grade levels. I encourage you to engage your student by asking pointed questions about how their devices are being used in their classroom. Also, be sure to visit your child’s school website, sign up for SeeSaw, and follow us on FaceBook to see how instruction is changing across the district.

As we explore ways to incorporate technology into classroom instruction and learning, we are also looking for extraordinary experiences for

students through STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), Robotics, Visual and Performing Arts, and Project Based Learning. Aside from engaging lessons, creativity, collaboration, and just plain fun for students at every grade level, our teachers are connecting learning to real life. Exposing students to learning through exploration and creativity captures students’ attention in meaningful ways. When you dialogue with your student about what they learned at school, be sure to ask them why they are learning that particular concept or lesson. They should be able to connect their learning to something in the real world that will benefit them long after the lesson ends. As teachers build on these engaging lessons, we will begin to see a different kind of learning across the district. Students will begin to take intellectual risks without the fear of failure, make connections and explore new ideas.

Finally, I want to reiterate the need for a strong partnership between home and school in order for all students to be successful. Parents can support this partnership by creating a time and place for their student to complete homework, ensuring that their student’s physical needs for enough sleep and a healthy breakfast are met and committing to getting to school on time. Once at school, we are committed to providing the most engaging, safe and positive learning experience in the world for every child. Together we can prepare our children to be College and World Ready. We appreciate your partnership in this worthy endeavor. Have a safe and blessed holiday,

Sincerely, Dr. Sharon L. Kamberg, SuperintendentBurton School District [email protected]

Together we can do so much

InsideISSU

E

PG. 3Digital Citizenship: Safe to Create

PG. 4Burton Elementary School

PG. 6The BSD Mobile App!

PG. 7William R. Buckley Elementary

PG. 8Burton Horizon Academy

PG. 9Jim Maples Academy

PG. 10-11Chronic Absence

PG. 12SCA, Lombardi

PG. 13SCA, Mathew

PG. 14Oak Grove Elementary

PG. 15Summit Charter Collegiate Academy

Our Vision: The Burton experience will prepare students to be college and world ready.

All pictures of BSD students and staff taken by Roberto Escudero and other BSD staff members.


Technology can be overwhelming! Journalist James Surowiecki agrees that “Technology is supposed to make our lives easier,

allowing us to do things more quickly and efficiently. But too often it seems to make things harder, leaving us with fifty-button remote controls, digital cameras with hundreds of mysterious features and book-length manuals, and cars with dashboard systems worthy of the space shuttle.” Surowiecki may as well add technology in the classroom to his list!

Our district’s One-to-World initiative has afforded students and teachers access to a world of resources at their fingertips. Communication between students, teachers, and parents has become instantaneous. At Burton School District, we see evidence of technology improving education in many ways. However, we also have found that navigating this brave new world has become increasingly difficult for students, many of whom are entering the digital space for the first time. BSD recognized the need for additional support and introduced the Common Sense Media Digital Citizenship Curriculum.

The curriculum consists of five lessons per each grade level for a total of 65 lesson plans based on the research of Dr. Gardner of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Students navigate cyberbullying, privacy, safety, and other digital dilemmas that present real challenges for today’s children. Using some of the most advanced technological tools in the world, teachers and students work together to learn, connect, create, and collaborate in ways never before imagined. Student iPads are linked to teacher iPads to foster a positive school culture that supports the safe and responsible use of technology.

Currently over 99% of BSD classes have completed the Digital Citizenship Curriculum; the remaining lessons have been scheduled for completion. This qualifies BSD for the Common Sense Certified District: Digital Citizenship status. We are proud to have made a district-wide commitment to teaching students how to behave safely, participate responsibly, and think critically in our digital world.

As our One-to-World initiative continues to grow, emphasis on digital citizenship is essential. District support of digital citizenship ensures that students are safe to pursue their passions and learn well. The results have been astounding! Students are creating multimedia projects that display their understanding of the content. Green Screen, stop motion, and short films are just a few of the ways our student are displaying their knowledge. Collaboration, critical thinking, ethical discussions, and decision making are becoming the norm as students engage with real world problems and are encouraged to wrestle with difficult material. Students are now asked to design and model solutions to open-ended challenges and to construct and defend answers to difficult questions. Our emphasis on digital citizenship has become the doorway for increased student creativity.

Only within the boundaries of thoughtful digital citizenship are students safe to create. Author and management expert, Gary Hamel, put it this way: “As human beings, we are the only organisms that create for the sheer stupid pleasure of doing so. Whether it’s laying out a garden, composing a new tune on the piano, writing a bit of poetry, manipulating a digital photo, redecorating a room, or inventing a new chili recipe - we are happiest when we are creating.” BSD is honored to be the educational home for thousands of happy, creative students.

DIGITALCITIZENSHIP: Safe to Create

The Burton Beacon WINTER, 2016 Vol. 13 Issue 24

Your office staff includes some new faces: Mrs. Gonzalez, ClerkMrs. Dominguez, SecretaryMrs. Torres, Vice Principal (Returning for her third year!)

Mrs. Miller, Principal

Please contact us at 559-784-2401 if you have any questions. If you are interested in becoming a school volunteer or going on field trips with your children’s classes, please come in and ask for the appropriate forms.

Kindergarten Registration Date: March 2

BES Student Council is making big plans for their work this year. These are our chosen and elected school leaders.

BES Bullpups participated in dress up days to celebrate Red Ribbon Week. We are excited to be a Drug and Bully Free school!

Our Fall Festival was a great success this year. A big thank you to our staff, PTA and parent volunteers for helping to make the festival a fun family event!

In collaboration with Stanford’s Carnegie Foundation and Mathematical Mindsets author and researcher, Jo Boaler, Burton Elementary’s 5th grade teachers are working hard to improve math education for their students. Our teachers are being trained to help students develop a positive math

mindset to meet our school math goal. The steps taken to accomplish this task include explaining how our brain understands and processes math, providing students with rich hands-on math tasks and by understanding that mistakes and struggles grow the brain when turned into valuable learning experiences. We are hopeful that teaching students the strategies of developing a “growth mindset” will successfully replace the feelings of math “self-doubt” with feelings of “self-confidence” and perseverance in their mathematical journey.

Fifth Grade Math Initiative:Mrs. Phillips, Ms. Sidhu (BES Site Mentor Teacher), Mr. Deroma and Mr. Funderburk


Burton Middle School is now a “Leader In Me” campus! Because we believe that every student has the potential to be a leader, we have created a leadership class where students learn and apply the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Students are then encouraged to participate in at

least one of our 28 Leadership Clubs on campus. Leadership Clubs are designed to create a platform in which students have the opportunity to develop their leadership skills while providing a service to the community. Step-Up, Girls On The Run, Public Art, Legos, Folkloric Dance, Random Acts of Kindness and Poetry Club are just a few of the clubs our students have created. We are excited to be a “Leader In Me School” and see our staff and students grow in their leadership capacity!

7 Habits Mural by Mrs. Serrano “The Leader In Me”

Leadership club Leadership club

Save the date: 1/24/17 - Parent Teacher Conference from 4:00 - 6:00pm

1/27/17 - Awards Assembly at 8:30am

4/7/17 - Spring Fling Carnival from 4:30 - 7:00pm


THE BSD MOBILE APP:Coming to iTunes & the Google store in January 2017

Maintaining a positive connection with parents requires more than annual back-to-school nights, class parties and seasonal carnivals.

Personal engagement throughout the year builds positive relationships that may last a lifetime. Burton School District is creating a mobile app to empower parents with access to specific knowledge about their child during the school day.

School communication has become multifaceted over the years; we have moved away from relying on backpack fliers, robo-calls and standard web sites and are now boldly embracing classroom app notifications and text messages. Busy parents are requiring instant information; BSD has been quick to meet their needs. We will be releasing the new mobile app in itunes and the Google store in January 2017. Parents who have previously provided their email addresses will have the opportunity to download the new mobile app early.

According to the National School Public Relations survey of parents, parents want a convenient place to obtain school information. BSD’s mobile app will include information about:

• School announcements• Calendars• Lunch menus• Staff and teacher e-mails• A tip line• Portals where parents can replenish

cafeteria accounts• Student attendance records and grades• Emergency alerts

With the number of smartphone owners growing rapidly in recent years, school officials see mobile technology as a promising way to bridge the digital divide. According to a report by the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project, more than half (56% percent) of U.S. adults have smartphones. For some parents, their smartphone is their only source of reliable Internet access.

Though the data is overwhelming, making intentional connections with parents and families is our ultimate goal. Communicating with parents a few times during the year is insufficient; we want to keep families informed and connected to our school. Our ultimate goal is to create an open, trustworthy atmosphere where parents and families have the opportunity, tools and resources to participate in their child’s education.


Happy holidays from William R. Buckley Elementary School! We hope you enjoy your winter break from December 19th through January 9th. Students will return to school on Tuesday, January 10th. Here are some upcoming events:

January 15th: MLK Day - No SchoolFebruary 13th & 20th: President Days - No SchoolFebruary 2nd: Science Fair February 17th: Poetry and Prose March 3rd: End of the 2nd Trimester

WRB Reaches Out

Important Dates:

At William R. Buckley Elementary School, we understand that communication is the key to a successful educational experience. With your help, we will continue to improve the quality

of our school community and provide the best education possible for our students. Education is a partnership between the school, students, parents/guardians and community. All children are more successful when we work as a team to achieve educational goals. We look forward to your participation as a member of the Buckley community.

Our Halloween Parade and Carnival took place on October 28th. Both events were a hit and brought our families and community together with the WRB staff. Thank you for your support.

Red Ribbon Week took place on the week of October 24th. The week-long event featured a daily dress up challenge! Students were excited to wear crazy socks on “Sock it to Drugs” day. Wearing neon colors another day, students proved they were “too Bright for Drugs.” An art contest for each classroom concluded the fun week.

Our Spirit Assemblies take place the first Friday of each month. Two students per teacher are recognized at this event for demonstrating the 12 Steps to Being a Successful Scholar. We also continue the tradition of singing the Buckley song.


3D printing brings a new dimension to hands-on learning at Burton Horizon Academy as students learn to use Computer Aided Design (CAD) applications to design their own models; students print their models using the school’s new LulzBot TAZ 6 3D printer. Ms. Marin, Burton

Horizon’s science and robotics teacher and a former NASA employee, has expanded the school’s STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) programs with the addition of this innovative technology. Robotics students are excited to learn to use the 3D printer to transform their ideas into components that will be incorporated into their robotics projects.

Burton Horizon Academy believes that success breed success. We are excited to celebrate your student! We believe that honoring students in the presence of their friends and family will begin a cascade of future success. Burton Horizon Academy’s second quarter awards ceremony will be held on Wednesday, January 25th at 1:00pm. Parents and family members are invited and encouraged to attend. According to Principal McCracken, “In that moment, when a parent is there to bear witness to their child’s achievements, more parental influence and encouragement is wielded than in any words that might be spoken. I have seen it time and again in the faces of students as they receive their awards and turn to look and confirm that their parent saw their success.” We hope you will stand with us in celebration and support of your student!

Exciting News:

Students expand their horizons by investigating a moon rock!

Burton Horizon students demonstrate and explain 3D printing at the Burton School District STEM night.

ROBO

TICS


At Jim Maples Academy, we believe every student can be creative, innovative and

successful. We strive to educate the whole child by providing an energetic, robust and meaningful curriculum. Both teachers and students embrace our hands-on approach. We provide opportunities for students to build and problem solve through inquiry based methods. JMA embraces core subjects and expands the use of student creativity through engineering and the arts. Club Wednesdays are amazing! JMA currently boasts 23 clubs. Many clubs focus on giving back to the community while others focus on developing the interests of the students through arts, photography, fashion design, coding and robotics.

• Our Student Leadership is currently working on a food drive; proceeds will be donated to the Crisis Center. The Student Leadership team has also submitted a Christmas mural for the Porterville Developmental Center.

• JMA has several wonderful, upcoming opportunities for students to showcase their talents. Burton School District is hosting their 1st Annual Student Media Festival. Videos are due February 2nd. The winning videos will be featured at the galaxy 9 Theatre. Students will also have an opportunity to participate in our Young Author’s Faire and the District Art Show in April.

• The JMA staff looks forward to serving our families in the coming months. We wish you a happy, restful holiday break!

• Kindergarten Registration Date: March 3

In Other News:

A recent project day provided a unique opportunity for students: redesign the existing playground or design a new outdoor classroom space. An aerial view of JMA was taken by our district drone and transferred into the classroom through an app on the iPad. Students used the photo as a basis for their design.

Wednesday Garden club enjoying the wonder of nature! Our garden is beginning to come alive with the special care of these students and their advisors, Mrs. Ramsey and Ms. Holterman.

Our Kindergarten classrooms were invited for an afternoon of trick-or-treating with Summit Charter Collegiate Academy. This was such a fun experience for our JMA little ones!

JMA student becomes engaged in her Scrapbooking Club.


How do you judge the quality of a school? Test scores? Culture? Attendance?In the new federal education law (which has replaced No Child Left

Behind), states are asked to use five markers of student success. The first three markers are related to academics — like annual tests and graduation rates. The fourth marker measures the proficiency of English language learners. The fifth marker is the wild card — aimed at identifying “student success or school quality” — and the law leaves it to states to decide. There are many ideas out there for what schools could choose.

BSD agrees with a new report from the Hamiton Project at the Brookings Institution which suggests that the best choice states could make is to require schools to use chronic absence as the fifth marker for success. Chronic absence, a relatively new metric for schools, looks beyond the umbrella of average attendance rate to investigate how many days each student misses — and how many students are missing 10 percent or more of the school year. 10 percent of the school year equals approximately two days a month. The latest national numbers suggest that more than 6 million students are “chronically absent.”

Research shows that chronically absent students are much more likely to fall behind and eventually drop out. There is also a strong connection between missing class in elementary school and low scores on third-grade state tests.

States must decide soon what information they will send to the feds.

Regardless of what California decides to send to the feds, BSD is committed to reducing chronic absenteeism and thereby improving student success. Our district maintains a very high attendance rate (96-97%). However, this percentage reflects the average of all students enrolled, rather than the individual. By investigating the daily attendance status of each student, we will hold each other accountable for daily learning and the culture of our district.

Being accountable for student learning happens at home as well as on campus. While “Perfect Attendance” is a sought after title and a special honor, parents should never bring a sick child onto campus. Illness, resulting in an absence, can be disappointing, but it is part of life (and in the long run, not a big deal). We want to clarify that it is never appropriate to bring a sick child to the school office with the intent of

Reasons Schools Should Measure Chronic Absence5


signing in and leaving in order to avoid an absence. Please only bring your child to school with the expectation that your child will remain in school for the entire day. Even if you bring your child’s doctor’s note into the office to have the absence “excused,” he or she will be recorded as “absent” and forfeit the title of Perfect Attendance.

We would like to help you avoid the pitfalls of chronic absenteeism. While illnesses and unavoidable family events do occur, chronic absence is avoidable. Perhaps the most important method for ensuring your child gets to school everyday, is a shift in your mindset. If you child senses that her education is important to you - important enough for you to make sure she gets to school everyday on time - she will adopt a similar attitude. Children do not listen to what we say as much as they watch what we do. The millions of little things that must be handled on a daily basis to prioritize their education really adds up. Involved, committed parents produce like-minded children. Education then becomes a privilege instead of drudgery. Together we can make chronic absenteeism a thing of the past, so

that when the new and completed federal education law makes its debut, BSD will be ready!

Adapted from LA Johnson/NPR


SCA, LombardiIt is almost time for registration at Summit Charter Academy,

Lombardi Campus. Our registration day will be held on Wednesday, February 8th from 8:00am- 4:00pm. If you have a child entering kindergarten, please come on February 8th to enroll for the 2017-2018 school year. Limited spots are available for first through sixth grades as well.

Important Dates:Happy holidays from Summit Charter Academy Lombardi Campus! We hope you enjoy your winter break from December 19th through January 9th. Students will return to school on Tuesday, January 10th. Here are some upcoming events:

• January 26th: Science Fair• February 3rd: Poetry and Prose • March 3rd: End of the 2nd Trimester

Lombardi families enjoyed the Fall Festival on October 14th.

Students enjoy hands-on learning projects. Student participating in digital literacy.


SCA, Mathew

Our kindergarten registration is coming very soon! Our registration for the 2017-18 school year is scheduled for February 9th from 8:00am-4:00pm in our library. If

you have a child entering transitional kindergarten or kindergarten and would like to enroll them in the dual-immersion program, we invite you to come to our registration day on February 9th. Spots are limited. If we have more students register than we can accommodate, we will hold a lottery. We would love to have your student join our bilingual bears!

Red ribbon week took place during the week of October 24th. We had dress-up days all week to encourage students to say no to drugs. At the end of our week, the entire student population and staff created a “red ribbon” and used a drone to capture the moment.

Important Dates:Summit Charter Academy, Mathew wishes you a happy holiday season! We hope you enjoy your winter break from December 19th through January 9th. We will miss our students during the break, but we hope that you have time to create some amazing memories with your family. Students will return to school on Tuesday, January 10, 2017.


Exciting News:

Oak Grove

Oak Grove Elementary recently held tryouts for a newly formed, after school Drama Club. 64 students in 4th through 6th grades tried out for 30 available positions. The club, led by Mentor Teacher Hector Marquez and 1st Grade Teacher Daniella Lovato, meets Tuesdays and Thursdays

after school to experience theater arts. The club will produce multiple performances throughout the school year. According to Mr. Marquez, “the arts are so critical and beneficial to kids...not only for academic purposes, but also for social and emotional purposes.”

Stars Jose Luis Morales, Landon Silva, Wyatt Daniels, Tristan Bates, Zavier Fernadez-Zepeda and Joel Flores hang out at the Oak Grove Fall Festival.

Samantha Dolan, Grace Funderburk, Charlee Ray and Faith Covert pose at the Fall Festival selfie station.

Stephanie Chambers takes video footage of Wyatt Neyenhuys for his multimedia speech.

Oak Grove students recently participated in a real world voting experience during student council elections. Candidates running for office created multimedia presentations that were shown to all classrooms wirelessly. Teachers created voting booths to provide students with an authentic voting experience. All students in grades K-6 cast their votes via a Google form on their iPads. Under the direction of Mentor Teacher Hector Marquez, the results were electronically tallied and reported at the end of Election Day.

Oak Grove Star, Eva Feliz Parra, discovered her voice does matter, and proudly wore an “I voted” sticker after casting her vote.


SCCA

Important Dates:Semester 1 Finals, 12/14 - 12/16 (1:30pm Dismissal)

Winter Concert, 12/15 at 7pm

Winter Break, 12/17 - 1/9

Perfect Attendance Field Trip, 1/13

High School Winter Formal, 1/21

The 2016-2017 school year is off to a great start at SCCA! The College Express Pathway is in full swing with seven college classes being offered first semester and another eight classes being

offered second semester. We are extremely proud of our students’ dedication and hard work. This year our middle school students were given the opportunity to participate in “Project Lead the Way,” a program which promotes hands on activities to engage, inspire and empower students to solve real world problems. We are excited about our students’ desire to think critically, as they work collaboratively, to solve problems through their participation in this amazing program.

Students were inspired by his story and those who met their SBAC goals were thrilled to grab lunch and a picture with Blanton and his gold medal!

Olympic Gold Medalist Dain Blanton visited SCCA on October 14th to share his story of “Getting to Gold.”

SCCA is fully committed to the Capturing Kids’ Hearts program. Students and staff are enjoying their time together.

SCCA advisory classes welcomed kindergarten students from JMA to our campus trick-or-treat event on Halloween. What fun!

Nonprofit OrgUS Postage

PAIDVisalia CA

Permit No. 50

264 N. Westwood St.Porterville, CA 93257

Eddie Hernandez - PresidentJay Rice - Vice PresidentJohn Burkey - ClerkDaniel Figueroa - MemberObdulia Alvarado - Member

Our Mission: Burton will be acknowledged as a “lighthouse” school district in our commitment to

educate the “entire” child. We will inspire our students to be excited, curious, engaged and self-confident learners. We will foster leadership among our students, parents, staff and

community as we prepare each student to succeed.

Obdulia Alvarado, [email protected] expires 12/13/20- (Area 2)

Eddie Hernandez, [email protected]

Term expires 12/7/18- (Area 1)

John Burkey, [email protected] expires 12/13/20- (Area 5)

Jay Rice, Vice [email protected]


Daniel figueroa, [email protected]


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