Looking for a great way to get rid of your household clutter and make some extra cash at the same time? Join your Denair neighbors on Saturday, May 6, 2017, and have a garage sale! It’s a great way to recycle all of those items around your house that are collecting dust, but may have along life ahead of them, for someone else.
Grandma’s Treasures is sponsoring the city-wide yard sale. You can contact Grandma’s Treasures to get put on the map for the event.
Submitted by Denair Unified School District
Denair Unified School District trustees Thursday night enthusiastically approved the introduction of a sweeping assessment program for all grade levels that will provide greater clarity about students’ strengths and weaknesses.
Trustees heard a presentation by principals Kara Principal of Denair Charter Academy, Kelly Beard of Denair Middle School and Brian LaFountain of Denair Charter Academy in support of a program called Measures of Academic Progress, or MAP.
MAP measures student growth over time in English, math and science via computerized achievement assessments. Backman said MAP assessments provide detailed, actionable data about where each child is on his or her unique learning path.
“It allows teachers to identify areas of deficiency and proficiency and accelerate learning through both of those areas. It identifies where students are ready to learn,” she said.
Backman said MAP assessments differ from other data sources to inform instruction by being nationally normed, by tracking student progress throughout a year and across school years, and by being linked to software tools that can assist teachers and administrators in planning instruction.
“The whole idea is to provide real-time data that allows us to make course corrections now, not in May when state tests scores are released,” Superintendent Aaron Rosander said. “Our teachers need this data. We’re trying to better understand our students so we can better target our instruction.”
The tests are available in English and Spanish. LaFountain said the exams are adaptive – meaning they get harder as students provide more correct answers and slightly easier for those struggling. Teachers can follow the results in real time. Students at all grade levels will take the tests three times a year.
Color-coded reports are generated that can be shared between teachers, parents, administrators and students. Continue reading “Innovative Assessment Program Approved for All Denair Unified Students” »
Submitted by Denair High School
Denair High School long has been a leader among all Stanislaus County campuses when it comes to graduating its students. That trend continued with the Class of 2016.
Denair compiled a 97.1% graduation rate – 66 of its 68 seniors earned a diploma last spring. That compares with an 83.8% rate among all schools in Stanislaus County and 83.2% in California.
In the past seven years, graduation rates at Denair High have been as high as 100% (2010-11) and never lower than 93.7% (2013-14). By comparison, Stanislaus has fluctuated between 74.9% and 84.6% while the state was as low as 74.7% as recently as 2010-11.
“Student graduation rates reflect the dedication of our community and schools to the education and success of our students,” said Aaron Rosander, superintendent of the Denair Unified School District. “We are proud as well of our teachers and staff who continue to raise the academic rigor that best prepares today’s students for their challenges that await them in college and their professional careers.”
Many of Denair’s graduates attended public and private universities in California, while others have been accepted at prestigious colleges out of state.
College attendance is emphasized and encouraged at all grade levels, there are college application workshops, presentations from schools from the UC and CSU systems, and Denair High School’s counselor works with students and their families on enrollment, grant and scholarship applications.
“Going to college improves students’ job opportunities,” said Cherie Gresham, the counselor and college advisor at Denair. Continue reading “DHS’s 2016 Grad Rate Continues to Exceed State and County Averages” »
Submitted by Denair Elementary Charter Academy
There’s nothing like a book to open a child’s mind. No matter the age, a picture book, a fairy tale or a more modern story can spark a lifelong joy for reading and learning.
The children at Denair Elementary Charter Academy – and the larger Denair community – now have one more source for books.
Two weeks ago, a Little Free Library was installed on the DECA campus. As its name suggests, there is no cost for students of all ages to borrow a book from the library, return it when they’re done and even donate gently used titles from their own homes.
The Little Free Library program is a national movement that has grown in popularity in the past few years. DECA’s library is one of more than 30 in Stanislaus County.
The library was donated to the campus by Becky and Eric Julien, two retired teachers who live in Turlock but have strong connections with Denair. Becky taught for many years at Denair Elementary School and later at the Denair Academic Avenues charter school. Eric was a science instructor for 37 years at Turlock High School.
The Juliens live not far from and are close friends with DECA fifth-grade teacher and leadership adviser Brenda Ranes. When she mentioned the possibility of adding a Little Free Library to the DECA campus, the Juliens jumped at the chance.
They ordered a library kit online for $460 that included all the materials for the structure, plus $100 worth of books. It has two shelves, a Plexiglas door and shingles to help make it weatherproof. The library was pre-painted lavender, the closest color to Denair purple the Juliens could find.
When it arrived in February, Eric Julien oversaw construction of the project one day after school by DECA’s leadership team – fourth- and fifth-graders Vanessa Hulbert, Julia Hayes, Emily Roland, Isabelle Prescott and Alaiza Campos.
“I brought a power drill, hammer and the kit,” he said. “I don’t think any of the kids had used a power drill or hammer before. … It was a ton of fun. They traded using the safety glasses and took turns helping. The holes were pre-drilled. When they squeezed the trigger on the drill, I was afraid they were going to drill right through the wood.” Continue reading “DECA Establishes Little Free Library on Campus” »