Orange Ca Education

Santiago Middle School Principal Mary Ann Owsley must resolve a host of weighty issues before she opens the county's first charter school next fall, but she is finding that the simplest issues can be the most controversial. Students took three ballots before they agreed on colors for the mandatory school uniform, and Owsley said she anticipates a few struggles before everyone agrees to wear the white, gray or teal shirt with navy pants, skirts or shorts.

Buoyed by a recent court ruling, administrators of the Orange Unified School District tonight are prepared to tear up their application for a waiver from state-mandated bilingual education. . Supt. Robert L. French said he will advise school board members that they can stop worrying about seeking formal release from rules that, until last week, required bilingual instruction for elementary students who are not fluent in English.

The Orange Unified School District on Thursday became the largest school system in California to win permission to drop traditional bilingual education since state officials eased limits on English-only teaching two years ago. As a result, dozens of elementary classrooms will be transformed within months as instruction in Spanish for about 1,500 students gives way to a curriculum dominated by English.

Setting the stage for a possible statewide showdown, a coalition of Latino parents and civil rights organizations has sued the Orange Unified School District over a plan to abandon bilingual education. The suit in Sacramento Superior Court seeks to block the Orange school district from dismantling its traditional bilingual education program, in which about 2,000 students are enrolled with another 5,000 receiving "limited English" instruction.

Setting the stage for a possible statewide showdown, a coalition of Latino parents and civil rights organizations has sued the Orange Unified School District over a plan to abandon bilingual education. The suit in Sacramento Superior Court seeks to block the Orange school district from dismantling its traditional bilingual education program, in which about 2,000 students are enrolled with another 5,000 receiving "limited English" instruction.

Buoyed by a recent court ruling, administrators of the Orange Unified School District tonight are prepared to tear up their application for a waiver from state-mandated bilingual education. . Supt. Robert L. French said he will advise school board members that they can stop worrying about seeking formal release from rules that, until last week, required bilingual instruction for elementary students who are not fluent in English.

The Orange Unified School District on Thursday became the largest school system in California to win permission to drop traditional bilingual education since state officials eased limits on English-only teaching two years ago. The 29,000-student district won only temporary approval, however, after the State Board of Education voted 5-2 in favor of the plan, with some modifications.

Say goodby to dull educational filmstrips and talky documentaries. Teachers in the Orange Unified School District, like educators throughout the country, are aiming to bring "Star Wars into the classroom." At a recent teacher-training session at El Rancho Middle School in Anaheim Hills, two representatives from each of the district's 10 middle schools sat in the darkened library for an introduction to interactive laserdisc technology.

To give high school Latin students a head start, the Orange Unified School District this week unanimously approved teaching the language at the middle school level. For the last year, Latin has been taught before regular classes begin at El Rancho Middle School. The program will now be expanded for students at all five of the district's middle schools.

A pilot program that will recruit volunteers to tutor Orange Unified School District students will be considered for adoption by the Board of Trustees this week. The program will match skilled, retired professionals with two or three students for tutoring sessions in a range of academic subjects. "The idea is to immediately improve the quality of education we're giving our children," said Trustee Robert Viviano, who proposed the program.

The Orange Unified School District on Thursday became the largest school system in California to win permission to drop traditional bilingual education since state officials eased limits on English-only teaching two years ago. As a result, dozens of elementary classrooms will be transformed within months as instruction in Spanish for about 1,500 students gives way to a curriculum dominated by English.

The Orange Unified School District on Thursday became the largest school system in California to win permission to drop traditional bilingual education since state officials eased limits on English-only teaching two years ago. The 29,000-student district won only temporary approval, however, after the State Board of Education voted 5-2 in favor of the plan, with some modifications.

Smart, self-assured and bored, 15-year-old Steven was on a two-week spree of carefree living last January--ditching school, skateboarding with his friends and "just kickin' back"--when police picked him up for truancy. They took him to the Truancy Learning Center at Richland High School in Orange and called his mother to get him. Lectures followed. They didn't sink in. "I don't really see how ditching's so bad," Steven said recently. (His mother asked that their last name not be used.

Santiago Middle School Principal Mary Ann Owsley must resolve a host of weighty issues before she opens the county's first charter school next fall, but she is finding that the simplest issues can be the most controversial. Students took three ballots before they agreed on colors for the mandatory school uniform, and Owsley said she anticipates a few struggles before everyone agrees to wear the white, gray or teal shirt with navy pants, skirts or shorts.

A pilot program that will recruit volunteers to tutor Orange Unified School District students will be considered for adoption by the Board of Trustees this week. The program will match skilled, retired professionals with two or three students for tutoring sessions in a range of academic subjects. "The idea is to immediately improve the quality of education we're giving our children," said Trustee Robert Viviano, who proposed the program.

Say goodby to dull educational filmstrips and talky documentaries. Teachers in the Orange Unified School District, like educators throughout the country, are aiming to bring "Star Wars into the classroom." At a recent teacher-training session at El Rancho Middle School in Anaheim Hills, two representatives from each of the district's 10 middle schools sat in the darkened library for an introduction to interactive laserdisc technology.

Smart, self-assured and bored, 15-year-old Steven was on a two-week spree of carefree living last January--ditching school, skateboarding with his friends and "just kickin' back"--when police picked him up for truancy. They took him to the Truancy Learning Center at Richland High School in Orange and called his mother to get him. Lectures followed. They didn't sink in. "I don't really see how ditching's so bad," Steven said recently. (His mother asked that their last name not be used.

To give high school Latin students a head start, the Orange Unified School District this week unanimously approved teaching the language at the middle school level. For the last year, Latin has been taught before regular classes begin at El Rancho Middle School. The program will now be expanded for students at all five of the district's middle schools.