The Merced City School District has been chosen as one of 56 recipients of the state’s leading educational honor, the Golden Bell Award.  The Golden Bell Award, now in its 37th year, is sponsored by the California School Boards Association. 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 21^st 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 4^th 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.

The Merced City School District will receive this award at a recognition ceremony to be held on Saturday, December 3rd at CSBA’s Annual Education Conference and Trade Show at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis.

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

The Merced Police Department has determined social media threats discovered on Monday are part of a nationwide hoax, which does not pose a risk to our schools.  The accounts where the threats appeared to originate from are not even based in California.  Although the threats are not credible, we will continue to monitor social media sites and cooperate with local law enforcement agencies.  Thank you for your patience and understanding in the wake of this hoax.  The complete Merced Police press release is below: