Mountain Views News          Saturday, August 24, 2013

7

EDUCATION & YOUTH

Mountain Views-News Saturday, August 24, 2013 

WHAT EVERY PARENT NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT 
CHANGES IN THE CLASSROOM

SCHOOL DIRECTORY

Alverno High School

200 N. Michillinda Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-3463 Head of School: Ann M. Gillick 

E-mail address: agillick@alverno-hs.org

Arcadia High School

180 Campus Drive Arcadia, CA 91007

Phone: (626) 821-8370, Principal: Brent Forsee

bforsee@ausd.net

Arroyo Pacific Academy

41 W. Santa Clara St. Arcadia, Ca, 

(626) 294-0661 Principal: Phil Clarke

E-mail address: pclarke@arroyopacific.org

Barnhart School

240 W. Colorado Blvd Arcadia, Ca. 91007

(626) 446-5588 Head of School: Ethan Williamson

Kindergarten - 8th grade

website: www.barnhartschool.org

Bethany Christian School

93 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-3527 Principal: James Lugenbuehl

E-mail address: jml@bcslions.org

website: www. bcslions.org

Clairbourn School

8400 Huntington Drive

San Gabriel, CA 91775

Phone: 626-286-3108 ext. 172

FAX: 626-286-1528

E-mail: jhawes@clairbourn.org

Foothill Oaks Academy

822 Bradbourne Ave., Duarte, CA 91010

(626) 301-9809 

Co-Principals Nancy Lopez and Diane Kieffaber

info@foothilloaksacademy.org 

preschool@foothilloaksacademy.org

The Gooden School

192 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-2410 Head of School: Patty Patano

website: www.goodenschool.org

High Point Academy

1720 Kinneloa Canyon Road Pasadena, Ca. 91107 

Headmaster John Higgins

626-798-8989

website: www.highpointacademy.org

LaSalle High School

3880 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. Pasadena, Ca. 

(626) 351-8951 website: www.lasallehs.org

Principal Bro. Christopher Brady, FSC

Monrovia High School

325 East Huntington Drive, Monrovia, CA 91016 

(626) 471-2800 Principal Darvin Jackson

Email: schools@monrovia.k12.ca.us

Odyssey Charter School

725 W. Altadena Dr. Altadena, Ca. 91001

(626) 229-0993 Head of School: Lauren O’Neill

website: www.odysseycharterschool.org

Pasadena High School

2925 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. Pasadena, Ca. 

(626) 798-8901 Principal: Gilbert Barraza

website: www.pasadenahigh.org

St. Rita Catholic School

322 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

Principal Joan Harabedian

(626) 355-9028 website: www.st-rita.org

Sierra Madre Elementary School

141 W. Highland Ave, Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-1428 Principal: Esther Salinas

E-mail address: salinas.esther@pusd.us

Sierra Madre Middle School 

160 N. Canon Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 836-2947 Principal: Garrett Newsom

E-mail address: newsom.garrett@pusd.us

Walden School

74 S San Gabriel Blvd

Pasadena, CA 91107 (626) 792-6166 

www.waldenschool.net

Weizmann Day School

1434 N. Altadena Dr. Pasadena, Ca. 91107

(626) 797-0204

Lisa Feldman: Head of School

Wilson Middle School

300 S. Madre St. Pasadena, Ca. 91107

(626) 449-7390 Principal: Ruth Esseln

E-mail address: resseln@pusd.us

PASADENA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

351 S. Hudson Ave., Pasadena, Ca. 91109

(626) 795-6981 Website: www.pusd@pusd.us

ARCADIA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

234 Campus Dr., Arcadia, Ca. 91007

(626) 821-8300 Website: www.ausd.net

MONROVIA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

325 E. Huntington Dr., Monrovia, Ca. 91016

(626) 471-2000 Website: www.monroviaschools.net

DUARTE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

1620 Huntington Dr., Duarte, Ca. 91010

(626)599-5000 Website: www.duarte.k12.ca.us

(StatePoint) Across the country, parents 
are beginning to notice that today’s 
classroom looks quite different from 
what they experienced in their own 
school days. From personalized learning 
technologies to new educational 
standards, teachers and administrators 
are using a variety of tools to ensure 
students are better prepared to succeed 
than ever before.

In this era of innovation in education, 
this school year will be particularly exciting 
in part because states will be piloting 
assessments aligned to the Common 
Core State Standards, the new set 
of K-12 educational standards designed 
to improve students’ readiness for college 
and future careers.

So just what do these changes mean for 
your kids?

Shift to New Standards

Schools nationwide are finding new 
ways to provide individually tailored 
lesson plans while addressing the Common 
Core State Standards, often relying 
on a new generation of educational 
technologies that help students learn 
and succeed at their own pace.

McGraw-Hill Education’s Reading 
Wonders is one such tool. Available in 
both all-digital and print/digital formats, 
it is the first K-6 core reading program 
designed specifically for the new 
standards.

“Even before the advent of the Common 
Core, we knew that preparing students 
for the demands of college and careers 
required setting a solid foundation in 
skills such as reading comprehension 
and writing,” said Christine Willig, senior 
vice president of products at McGraw-
Hill School Education. “When 
the new standards reiterated the importance 
of these skills, we saw an opportunity 
to build an entirely new program 
that would address the Common Core 
requirements, by leveraging contemporary 
cognitive science about how we 
learn, using cutting-edge digital tools.”

Personalized Learning

Education research has shown that instruction 
becomes more effective when 
tailored to students’ unique learning 
styles and needs. Personalized learning 
tends to lead to deeper learning – which 
will help students meet many of the new 
Common Core standards. As classrooms 
continue getting bigger however, 
delivering that sort of individual attention 
to students becomes more difficult.

With this in mind, Reading Wonders 
was built using entirely new educational 
technology, offering interconnected 
platforms personalized for students 
and teachers and accessible across any 
device.

Other digital learning tools use additional 
techniques to help students succeed. 
McGraw-Hill Education’s LearnSmart 
and FLEX Literacy, for example, 
each use “adaptive” technology to continually 
assess students’ knowledge, 
skill and confidence levels and to create 
a unique study path designed to help 
each student in the topics and concepts 
they need most – a level of personalization 
previously only available from a 
personal tutor. LearnSmart delivers this 
adaptive learning experience for a variety 
of high school subject areas, while 
FLEX Literacy incorporates it into a 
comprehensive, Common Core-specific 
reading and language arts intervention 
system for students in Grades 3–8.

More information about new digital 
programs, including those designed 
specifically for the Common Core State 
Standards, can be found at www.mheducation.
com.

In this ever-evolving educational landscape, 
keeping up with the changes can 
seem daunting – but it needn’t be. Parents 
can rest assured that teachers are 
increasingly equipped with new technologies 
that ensure their students are 
getting the personalized attention they 
need to improve their chances for long-
term success.


NEW DATES PICKED FOR SIERRA MADRE LIBRARY’S POPULAR 
PARENT/CHILD WORKSHOPS IN SEPTEMBER

Registration is now open for Sierra Madre Public Library’s popular Parent/Child workshop series, slated for September 5, 
12, 19, 26, and October 3. 

Sessions will take place at the Library on consecutive Thursdays from 10 to 11:30 a.m. and will be interactive including 
toys, crafts, books and play in addition to discussions of parenting issues and concerns. 

The parenting workshop will feature noted resource professionals from the community and each session will feature a 
different aspect of parenting, including early literacy, speech, hearing and language development, child development, 
nutrition, music, play, and health. 

Families with children ages 36 months and younger are encouraged to register now as past workshops have filled up fast. 
Enrollment is free, but in-person pre-registration at the Library is required to ensure a spot in the program.

This project is supported 
by the U.S. Institute of Museum 
and Library Services 
under the provisions of the 
Library Services and Technology 
Act, administered 
in California by the State 
Librarian.

For more information, 
please call Meegan Tosh, 
Youth Services Librarian at 
(626) 355-7186. The Sierra 
Madre Public Library is 
located at 440 West Sierra 
Madre Boulevard in Sierra 
Madre.www.sierramadre.
lib.ca.us 


THE REEL DEAL: by Ben Show

JOBS

 
Before seeing this movie, basically all I knew about Steve Jobs was 
that he was one of, if not the greatest, innovators ever. He revolutionized 
the personal computer and made technology cool. However, 
this movie gave me a whole other view on his life.

 'Jobs' follows the life of Apple founder Steve Jobs (Ashton Kutcher) 
from his college years up until he created the first iPod. The 
film shows all of his victories, losses, and the amazing transformation 
of one of the greatest men of the 20th and 21st centuries.

 This movie was wonderful except for one crucial detail: in the 
beginning, Steve Jobs was a total jerk. I'd heard that he wasn't the 
nicest man but this movie showed that he was downright crazy. 
But he is faced with a great obstacle and must change his ways 
about halfway through, so the movie gets more enjoyable. Overall, 
'Jobs' is one of the better films of 2013 and is definitely a must-see.