The cafeteria at Gracey Elementary was filled with special guests Friday morning as the school hosted a breakfast for all of their students’ fathers, father figures, and role models.
The adults could enjoy doughnuts, pan dulce, coffee, and juice provided by the Parent Teacher Club or purchase a school breakfast (which is always free for all students). Then they sat down for some quality time with their children and a chance to interact with other parents.
Principal Jose Munoz said he and his staff held this event because Gracey has great participation from mothers and other female relatives of their students, but they want to make sure fathers and other male relatives feel comfortable being involved as well. He explained, “We wanted to encourage dads to come to school, come and visit their kids, see the school, be with their kids, and learn a little more about what their kids are doing at school.”
Fourth grader Catalina Ramirez was one of the many children who enjoyed spending the morning with her father. She said, “It feels fun, and it feels like a lot of company with him…I love him for coming.”
Students, parents, staff members, administrators, and Board members from the Merced City School District honored the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by participating in the annual march and celebration service in Merced on Monday.
Band members from Cruickshank, Hoover, Rivera, and Tenaya middle schools performed "Let There be Peace on Earth" while marching from the Amtrak station to the Merced County Fairgrounds.
Students from Burbank and Muir elementary schools performed several songs during the service at the fairgrounds, including "Put a Little Love in Your Heart."
Thank you to everyone who came together to make these performances possible!
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During a ceremony prior to the start of the Merced City School District’s December 13 Board of Education meeting, three newly elected Board members took the oath of office.
Mike Crass, Emily Langdon, and Miguel Lopez join Adam Cox and Jessica Kazakos, who both began their terms in December of 2009. During Tuesday’s meeting, Mr. Cox was unanimously approved as Board President, and Mrs. Kazakos was unanimously named Board Clerk.
Mr. Crass has served on the Board for Area 1 since he was appointed to the vacant position in May, and he was elected to continue in that role by voters in November. Mr. Crass is a retired educator and consultant.
Dr. Langdon was elected to serve on the Board for Area 4. She is a university educator whose children attend schools in the Merced City School District.
Mr. Lopez was elected to serve on the Board for Area 2. He is a community relations representative at UC Merced.
While Board members are elected by the area in which they live, they each represent all of the district’s 11,000 preschool through 8th grade students across 18 campuses.
At the conclusion of Tuesday’s meeting, Mr. Cox said he looks forward to working with his colleagues to serve all MCSD stakeholders. He added, “We have wonderful staff, great parents, and outstanding students.”
Santa made a special visit to the Merced Mall Tuesday morning to meet several students from the Merced City School District, and he got a helping hand from the Merced Police Department.
Merced Police Liaison Eugene Drummond explained, "We are having Shop with a Cop. It was started in 2009 by Chief Andrade. He thought it was something the community needed, but also something the officers needed to have that connection with our community. So we’re happy to partner with the Merced Mall and be out here with the kids.”
The students were recommended as deserving of this treat for a variety of reasons, and they were all excited to get started. After taking photos with Saint Nick, the children set out on a shopping spree with money from a previous police fundraiser, which was matched by the mall -- but not before a message of gratitude from the students and our Superintendent. Dr. RoseMary Parga Duran thanked the officers for their act of kindness and generosity.
The students were then off on a mission to check off their Christmas lists as they visited store after store, but their new friends in blue also encouraged them to pick something special for themselves.
Drummond said, “A lot of these kids are really selfless, and they’re thinking about mom and dad and brothers, and they don’t think about themselves. These are kids that are an example of giving and what Christmas is about.”
The Merced City School District received the state's leading educational honor, the Golden Bell Award, during the California School Boards Association Annual Education Conference and Trade Show at the San Francisco Marriott Marquee on Saturday, December 3. MCSD also received a $1000 award from Cisco during the ceremony.
The CSBA sponsors the Golden Bell Award, which is now in its 37th year. The award recognizes public school programs that are innovative and sustainable, make a demonstrated difference for students, and focus on meeting the needs of all public school students.
The Merced City School District earned this award for its STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) program, which provides experiential learning in those subjects to help prepare students for bright futures in high demand fields. The program includes 21st century learning opportunities during regular school hours, through extended day offerings, and during the Summer Academy for Academic Achievement. Students have the opportunity to perform plays, compose music, build and program robots, work with 3D printers, design vertical gardens, grow and study plants, build electric circuits, and much more. The district’s STEAM program also includes collaboration with other agencies for opportunities such as “Every Kid in a Park,” which allows all of the district’s 4th grade students to take an educational field trip to Yosemite National Park with correlating classroom lessons before and after the excursion. Efforts are currently underway to continue developing and expanding the program including the recent groundbreaking for a cutting edge STEAM Center next to Ada Givens Elementary, which will serve all students in the district. The MCSD Board of Education has provided critical support for this program by approving plans for the STEAM Center and the addition of specialized staff members, while maintaining a clear vision for the district’s future.
Experts from school districts and county offices of education made up the 16-member judging panel that reviewed the written entries and made the initial recommendations for the awards. On-site validators assessed the programs in action.
“California’s K-12 public schools continue to produce some of the nation’s best and brightest students, and our Golden Bell recipients are a reflection of that excellence as well as the spirit of innovation which is so characteristic of this state,” said CSBA CEO and Executive Director Vernon M. Billy. “The Golden Bell Awards recognize the quality and the determination of school leaders from across California in meeting the needs of California's students through award-winning programs and services.
CSBA is the non-profit education association representing the elected officials who govern public school districts and county offices of education. With a membership of nearly 1,000 educational agencies statewide, CSBA brings together school governing boards and district and county office administrators to advocate for effective policies that advance the education and well-being of the state’s more than 6 million school-age children. Learn more at www.csba.org.
To learn more about the MCSD STEAM program, click here: http://www.mcsd.k12.ca.us/District/Portal/steam-center
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