School Board Meeting Wrap-Up
The following is from the Nov. 9 meeting of the Laguna Beach Unified School District Board of Education.
Board honors Reflections winners
PTA Reflections chairwoman Jennifer Baker presented the 19 student-artist division winners for the 2010-11 PTA Reflections Contest, “Together We Can,” which drew 150 young participants this year from Laguna’s schools.
The art education enhancement program provides opportunities for students to discover and experience a variety of different art forms, including literature, photography and visual arts, musical composition, dance choreography and film production — all while receiving positive recognition for their efforts.
Baker praised creating art as a valuable learning experience that challenges students to use both their critical thinking skills as well as their creative talents while producing art that illustrates a specific theme.
Organized by school grades, she said each student’s artwork is reviewed with other student works in the same grade level division. It is first judged at the school site PTA before selected works are chosen to represent the PTA at each subsequent level: PTA Council, PTA District, California State PTA and National PTA.
The Reflections Program, established in 1969 by Colorado PTA President Mary Lou Anderson, also increases community awareness on the importance of the arts in education.
Baker shared visual art and photography as well as excerpts from film productions and musical compositions by the students.
Mentors for parents of special needs children
Director of Special Education and Student Services Irene White introduced the district Parent Mentoring Program, “Every Age, Every Stage,” a family-friendly outreach program designed for parents of children identified eligible for special education.
An initiative that evolved from the Alternate Dispute Resolution Project, the program aims to provide parents with information that helps them make well-informed decisions on behalf of their children at every age and stage of development.
One-to-one and small-group parent meetings are some components of the program, which allow parents whose children are close in age to connect and exchange concerns and ideas.
Goals of the program are to prevent and resolve disputes at an early and informal level, and to build trusting relationships that promote partnerships between staff and parents in educating their children. The Parent Mentoring Program focuses on building effective family and school partnerships, resolving miscommunications early when they occur, providing emotional support at every age and every stage of development and information at critical periods of time.
White shared her belief that good communication between parents and district staff is vital in building trusting relationships and must be maintained as a top priority, and thanked the members of the board for supporting the program.