Students in Buena Park, Fullerton, Santa Ana and Tustin headed back to school this week, and more districts are set to reopen next week. In case you missed it, we’ve got the start dates for every district in Orange County.
As part of its back-to-school coverage, the Orange County Register posted a photo gallery from Tustin Unified’s first day, along with a quick rundown of new principal assignments.
The newspaper also wrote about the merging of two Santa Ana schools into a single pre-K-8 campus with a dual-immersion focus and profiled Dana Hills High School’s new principal with a Q&A.
Meanwhile, EdSource reported that some California high schools are leveraging summer bridge programs to help incoming freshmen successfully make the transition from middle school.
And here are a few more education stories from the week ending Aug. 16:
- The Rancho Santiago Community College District has a new chancellor. After a national search, trustees selected Marvin Martinez to head the 52,000-student district that administers Santa Ana College and Rancho Santiago Canyon College. A reception was held this week.
- The phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline must be printed on student identification cards for middle and high schoolers based on a new law that recently went into effect. The number is 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
- Irvine students explored a replica mine and zip-lined during a STEAM camp offered through the Irvine Public Schools Foundation’s summer enrichment program. More than 500 STEAM classes serving 10,000 students were offered this summer.
- There’s still time to register for OCDE’s third annual Interpreters and Translators Conference, which will be held in Irvine Sept. 27-28.
- The latest OCDE Student Profile, a feature of the OCDE Newsroom, shares the story of Ryan, a student with special needs who recently graduated from the department’s Adult Transition Program.
- The state’s schools chief is asking for major revisions to a proposed ethnic studies curriculum that has come under fire from groups including the California Legislative Jewish Caucus.
- The Capistrano Unified School District announced the resignation of school board member Gary Pritchard, citing his move out of his trustee area.
- As California districts try to pull together instructional materials tied to new science standards, a nationwide project led by philanthropists, state leaders and curriculum writers is offering to assist teachers and students by providing free, open-source materials.
This is the part where we encourage you to keep up with local education news stories by bookmarking the OCDE Newsroom, subscribing for emailed updates or following us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.