News Briefs

Community Conversation makes progress toward achievement gap issue

November 21, 2008

By Ann Marie Bowlus
Sports Editor

Davis is one of three school districts making serious efforts to follow the latest recommendations of the report made by Superintendent Jack O’Connell’s California P-16 Council, which concerns the achievement gap that English learners at DHS are experiencing.

“Davis can hide behind the numbers, but you’re not,” said Shadidi Sia-Maat, guest speaker from the California State Department of Education.

“The district is no longer in denial” about the achievement gap, said Rick Gonzales, event organizer of the Concilio of Yolo County.

Teachers, students and community members gathered at the DHS theater Nov. 15 for the Community Conversation regarding the achievement gap.

Although there were “fewer people this time, the conversation was better,” Gonzales said. He felt that people were more invested and more passionate during their conversations because of the smaller groups. Da Vinci senior Charlotte Krovoza, a monitor of a conversation, agreed that the conversation of her group “flowed” and was easy to manage, compared to the last community conversation in which each group consisted of 14 people.

The organizers of the conversation gathered information from the Community Conversation and will present compiled solutions to the board of education on Jan. 15. The organizers hope to notify participants of the results by mid-December.

The discussions focused on different factors of the achievement gap and on what parents, teachers and community members can do to contribute.

While students were scarce in numbers, those who were present voiced their opinions on the gap. “I wanted to be more involved,” senior Reza Naemeh said. “I was in [English learner] classes, [and] I see the problems,” he said. Naemeh also feels that this community conversation will “work in the long term.”

Gonzales said, “[English learning] kids are slipping through the cracks,” but for now he feels that DHS needs to take “baby steps” towards improving English learning students’ learning environment. The achievement gap is an “important issue, [that is] parallel with the hate crimes and diversity issue[s] in Davis,” Gonzales said.

One solution that Gonzales’ group proposed at the Community Conversation was to place a full-time employee at the Learning Center on campus. What DHS has right now is “location, no program,” he said.

Also attending the conversation was history teacher Tim McHale, who said, “The fact that there were different representatives of the stake holder groups, [namely the] teachers, students and community members, it moves us forward in a positive way,” he said.

While Davis has made some movement towards solving the issue of the achievement gap, McHale said, “It’s a process and we are [still] trying to find solutions to these problems.”









Dance for cans

November 17, 2008

By Emily Lam
Web Entertainment Editor

Student government's annual canned food drive is coming to a close. With only a week left in the can drive, teachers are now pushing students to bring in cans before it is too late.

The cans are being collected in 4 th period classes

Mrs. O'Keefe's class is in the lead, however there are no tallies yet.

For the winning 4 th period class, every member will receive free tickets to the spring Valentines dance, and the teacher gets a special prize as well.

Foods that are approved include canned stew, chili, soup, tuna, low sugar cereals, juice boxes, fruit packages and canned vegetables. They however cannot accept goods that are in glass.

The student government food drive ends on Friday Nov. 21.

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