Administrator of Oak Knoll Center Day Treatment Program Also Named

Pasadena Unified School District Superintendent Edwin Diaz today announced that he has named new principals at Don Benito Fundamental School, Hamilton Elementary, and Loma Alta Elementary, and an administrator at the Oak Knoll Center.

Tom Selinske re-elected Board President, Scott Phelps selected Vice President

Recently-elected members of the Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) Board of Education were sworn in Monday evening at the annual organizational board meeting. Superior Court Judge Philip Soto administered the oath of office to new members Ramon Miramontes and Elizabeth Pomeroy, along with Ed Honowitz and Scott Phelps, both beginning another four-year term.

The Board voted unanimously to elect Tom Selinske to a second term as Board President for the 2009-10 school year, and selected Scott Phelps as Vice President.

Ramon Miramontes is Dean of Academic Affairs at Los Angeles Southwest College. Miramontes’ priorities include expanding career and technical education programs, and working with local municipalities to bring additional funding to PUSD. Elizabeth Pomeroy is an English professor at Pasadena City College and an author. Dr. Pomeroy is interested in expanding partnerships with community organizations to strengthen fields of study, and allocating resources to struggling contingents of students and schools not keeping pace with the rate of improvement elsewhere in the District.

Board members also appointed delegates to regional associations and established the membership of board subcommittees.

The Joint Meeting of PUSD Board of Education and Pasadena City College held at the Pasadena Senior Center on Tuesday, April 14, 2009 will be rebroadcast throughout the remainder of the week on KLRN Television, Charter Cable channel 64.

Read on for airtimes...

The Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) announced the launch of the “PUSD Board Highlights” program on KLRN Instructional Television, a three- to five-minute program which provides a summary of actions taken at the most recent Board of Education meeting. The new segment also offers an overview of key presentations and decisions for members of the public who are unable to attend the Board meetings in person.

Happy New Year! I hope the holiday season provided plentiful opportunities for rest, enjoyment and restoration. As we approach the end of the first semester, we are maintaining our focus on accelerating academic achievement, enhancing instructional rigor and relevance, and building organizational capacity. Guided by the Approach to Excellence II, which establishes the priorities for the 2008-09 school year, we are working hard to implement key instructional and organizational initiatives to serve all PUSD students. I would like to update you on our progress in several of these areas.

As many of you are probably aware, there are many changes ahead for PUSD and I hope you are as optimistic as I am about the transformation that is underway. Our focus on secondary reform gained momentum as the John Muir Reinvention Team made significant progress in three areas: academic program design, community engagement and definition of the staff reapplication process. Over the next several months, the reconstitution effort will accelerate with an increased focus on instruction and curriculum, partnership development and community outreach and engagement.

MESSAGE FROM SUPERINTENDENT EDWIN DIAZ
APPROACH TO EXCELLENCE UPDATE

I have learned a lot during my months in PUSD, and feel encouraged and hopeful because of the support I have received from the community. My work has been focused on implementing the priorities that are outlined in the Approach to Excellence: focus on student achievement, accountability, communications, system capacity, human capacity, guiding coalitions, and the creation of a bold 5-year strategic plan.

A PowerPoint presentation of 2006-2007 Unaudited Actuals is now available online.

As the school year comes to an end, I want to share with you what I have learned during my first 100 days with Pasadena Unified School District. I have talked with many residents of Altadena, Pasadena and Sierra Madre, and have spent an enormous amount of time at schools talking with students, parents, teachers and principals. This gave me to opportunity to learn for myself about the state of our schools.

I saw some great teaching and learning taking place at our schools. Now, we will expand those practices so they happen more often. At the same time, I have also identified areas that are in need of improvement.