Students in the Anaheim Union High School District will soon have the opportunity to take job-specific training courses and earn specialized certificates as part of a new — and first of its kind in the nation — partnership with Google.
The Google Career Certificates program, which launched in 2018, was designed to help prepare students for entry-level roles in high-growth fields with no experience required. The district will start by offering three Google Career Certificate options for students in the fields of data analytics, IT support and project management.
Designed and taught by Google employees, each certificate is available on a platform called Coursera and includes over 150 practice and graded assessments, quizzes and writing assignments, the district said in a recent press release.
Once a student completes a course, the certificates can be used as a credit toward a four-year degree at select colleges, universities and community colleges throughout the United States. And as an added program benefit, graduates can also use the courses as stackable resume builders.
“We feel that these are important, transformative courses that allow a student to have hands-on, applied skills, which are needed in the workforce,” AUHSD Superintendent Michael Matsuda told the Orange County Register. “We’re very grateful to Google for allowing us to be the first in the country to have this partnership.”
And here are some additional stories we are tracking this week.
- Thousands of Orange County students are headed back to classrooms this week. The Orange County Register captured first day highlights from Anaheim Elementary, Garden Grove Unified, La Habra City, Saddleback Valley Unified, and Tustin Unified school districts.
- In related news, as more Orange County school districts head back to school, the OCDE Newsroom provides a quick snapshot of COVID-19 school safety measures and standards set by the California Department of Public Health.
- The California Supreme Court denied a petition from the Orange County Board of Education that sought to end the mandate that face masks be worn indoors in classrooms, reports the Orange County Register.
- The Medical Board of California issued a statement this week warning it may take disciplinary action against illegitimate mask exemptions. The state agency said it encourages the public to file a complaint if they feel that a physician is granting mask exemptions inappropriately.
- Culver City Unified may be the first school district in California to require all eligible students to be vaccinated against COVID-19, along with teachers and staff. Students and teachers also must be tested for the virus once a week.
- To help students prepare for a return to in-person learning, EdSource reports that local schools are planning to offer grief support as part of their social-emotional learning curriculums.
- An executive order signed by Governor Gavin Newsom will now allow retired school staff to return to school campuses to help fill staffing shortages without waiting 180 days after their retirement, as has previously been required.
- The California Teachers Association has launched an advertising campaign that thanks parents for working with educators to implement safety measures such as masking and hand sanitizing in schools.
- Newport-Mesa Unified School District officials voted unanimously to renew a contract with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to provide anti-bias training for secondary school staff and select students.
- And finally, the Huntington Beach City School District board unanimously voted to update the district’s 2021-22 COVID-19 safety plan as consistent with the most recent CDPH guidance. Yet, the board voted 3-2 to formally request that the CDPH allow local district guidance on mask-wearing for children.
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 and following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.