Submitted by Denair Municipal Advisory Council
The Denair Municipal Advisory Council has posted the agenda for their February meeting, scheduled for February 3, 2015. The meeting starts at 7:00 pm. The meeting will be held in the DUSD Leadership/Board Room.
Submitted by Denair Unified School District
Erin Kirkley, who was once a dropout and now is on the brink of graduation, calls Denair Charter Academy “her second home.” Darlene Contrell credits DCA with turning around her grandson’s life. A teen father says the independent study program allows him to balance school with a job to support his daughter. Aspiring church missionary Tabitha Harrison appreciates the flexibility of the schedule.
Though each student’s situation is unique, they all reflect an approach to what Principal Michelle Bush calls “personalized education.” The appeal and effectiveness of that philosophy is reflected in the small campus’ impressive growth: Just since August, DCA’s enrollment has risen from 225 students to 320 today.
“I think the kids are seeking a different kind of experience,” explained Bush, who blends high academic expectations for her students with equal portions tough love and emotional support. “The magic in this place comes from the relationships teachers establish with their students that extend beyond the lessons.”
DCA is not a traditional school. It offers comprehensive support for parents who home school their children (46 this year) as well as a rigorous independent study program for high school students who need a different path to their diplomas. Those teens arrive from throughout the region for a variety of reasons – they have fallen behind in a traditional setting, they have behavioral or emotional issues, they have to work to support their families or they have specific scheduling needs.
Whatever the circumstances, Bush and her staff work on-one-one with the student and his or her family to create an Individual Learning Plan, which guides what will follow. Students spend only an hour or two on campus each week to meet with their teachers, who grade and review previous assignments, answer questions and give the teens the next week’s worth of lessons to be completed at home. There also is one parental meeting a month and a counselor on staff to work with families.
The expectations are high and the responsibility all on the student to complete the work.
“The image of it being a quick and easy way to get an education is the myth that is blown away,” Bush explained.
Kirkley arrived last year as a junior, admittedly with “a bad attitude toward school … and toward life.” She had bounced between high schools in San Antonio, Texas, and Modesto before being directed to DCA. Continue reading “Denair Charter Academy Students Connect with Teachers” »
Submitted by Denair Sports Boosters
The Denair Sports Boosters will be holding a drive-thru Chicken Enchilada fundraiser on January 28, 2015, 4:30 pm-7:00 pm, at the Denair Middle School cafeteria. Cost is $10.00. Tickets are available in the Denair High School Office or by contacting Carissa Borba at (209) 410-3516. Proceeds for this event will go towards paying spring sports umpires and referees.
Submitted by Denair Unified School District
A contract with Storer Transportation Services of Modesto to take over transportation services was approved Thursday night by the Denair Unified School District Board of Trustees.
Storer has furnished drivers to operate Denair’s buses on an emergency basis since the first of the year. The new contract will pay the company $75,400 for the remainder of this school year. The conditions of the deal require Storer to use and maintain Denair’s four buses and offer an equivalent position to the district’s former transportation supervisor.
Denair needs two drivers each in the morning and afternoon to handle its routes. Repeated recruitment efforts last fall generated no qualified applicants. Instead, other district employees certified to drive a bus – a custodian, a utility worker and a transportation supervisor – had to take time away from their other duties.
About 120 of Denair’s 1,300 elementary through high school students ride the bus daily. District officials said the outsourcing arrangement will be re-evaluated at the end of the school year.
Submitted by Denair Unified School District
One of Denair High School’s best baseball players in the past decade will return this spring to take over as varsity coach.
Shawn Stuart was a standout pitcher, infielder and outfielder for the Coyotes who graduated in 2007. He went on to star as a pitcher at Merced College and Long Beach State University before being drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 31st round in 2012. He spent two years in that organization’s minor-league system before deciding to leave pro baseball to pursue a teaching career.
“Teaching was always part of the plan. I knew I wanted to become a teacher. Obviously, I hoped it would be after a long pro career,” said Stuart, whose time in the minors was cut short by an arm injury.
He has one semester left in an online program offered by Fresno State to earn his teaching credential. He aspires to teach at multiple grade levels during his career, with a long-term goal of ending up on a college staff.
In Denair, he replaces Darrin Allen, the school’s athletic director and fill-in baseball coach last season when the Coyotes were 3-13.
Stuart plans to lean on his own network of former coaches and teammates for coaching advice as well as his own pro baseball experience. He helped during the pro offseason at Merced College and has coached youth baseball and basketball teams, but never a high school club.
“Practice begins in February. … We’re going to do the little things right. We might not have the most talent or big-name players from cities, but we’re going to do all the fundamentals,” he promised.
A right shoulder injury suffered in Stuart’s first year at Long Beach never quite healed, reducing his college fastball from the low 90s to the mid-80s by his final season in the Rockies’ system. Surrounded in the minors by younger players drafted much higher (and paid much more), he accepted his status as middle reliever and mentor to the kids. Continue reading “Former Coyote Shawn Stuart Hired as DHS Baseball Coach” »