Elizabeth Wilson
Staff Writer
LAKE COUNTY ? It”s back-to-school time, and families are facing either excitement or blues as they gear up and get ready to make that trip to the window-posted listing of classrooms to see what teacher they have, and whether or not they”ll share a classroom with their best friend. Each of the schools have been experiencing new changes and new agendas for the 2007/2008 school year.
According to Superintendent Dave Geck, projected student enrollment for the 2007/2008 school year will experience a slight decline.
“Last year Lakeport and Konocti schools experienced a decline, and another decline is expected this year, total enrollment is going to be just under 9,900,” said Geck.
That number has dropped from 2006/2007 enrollment of 10,091 in the 38 K-12 schools in Lake County. According to executive administrative assistant to the superintendent Marty Aarreberg, she and other school officials cannot begin to speculate on the reasons for the drop in enrollment, other than it is a state-wide phenomenon.
“We have all been facing a declining enrollment, it”s happening throughout California. I think the reason being that we are in a high transitory area. However, new enrollment is increasing, and we won”t know how many of the enrolled students we lost until two weeks into the school year when those numbers are counted. Basically, every report I”m hearing is that throughout California, except in Sacramento, enrollment is dropping,” said Aarreberg.
According to Geck, to enroll, new students need to contact each school site. In general, they can expect to receive a welcome packet with forms, and an introduction or tour of the school site.
Elementary school students need to get immunizations, and must come prepared with a copy of the new student”s birth certificate and a proof of residence.
— Konocti School District: First day of school is Aug. 27. 994-6475.
“At Konocti School District, we”re basically encouraging people to access our website: www.konoctiusd.lake.k12.ca.us,” said Aarreberg.
“We”ve been working on this for about two years?really pushing it this last year and summer to make it more user-friendly. Everything from test scores if parents want to know how the school is doing as compared to other schools, parents rights, district events, back to school nights, PTA meeting schedules ? all of this and more is available on the Web,” Aarreberg said.
— Kelseyville School District: First day of school is Sept. 4. 279-1511. www.kusd.lake.k12.ca.us
The district calendar on the web includes information on the first day of school, minimum days, holidays, and parent conferences.
Mountain Vista has an orientation for all new students on Aug. 27 at 6:30 p.m. in the gym.
Kelseyville High School has a walk-through registration for juniors/seniors in the student center Monday Aug. 28 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The sophomore pre-registration is Aug. 29 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the student center. The freshman pre-registration will take place Wednesday Aug. 30 in the student center from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
— Lakeport School District: First day of School: Sept. 4. 262-3000 www.lakeport.k12.ca.us
On the Web: check out bus schedules and routes, as well as the district calendar and links to each of the schools with information on various programs.
School accountability report cards are available online to see how each school compares within the district, state, and also information such as demographics and student performance.
To get an idea of what expectations are for computer literacy at Lakeport Schools, Lakeport Elementary Schools Kindergarten goals as listed on the Web site are for each student to have competency in: using a mouse with reasonable control, using headphones, identifying parts of a computer, learning basic Kid Desk program functions.
n Lucerne School District: First day of School is Aug. 22. 274-5578. www.lucerne.k12.ca.us
According to school secretary Lisa Cockerton, there are no walk-through registrations “We”re a small school. Back to school night on Sept. 19 is the only scheduled time that something is official. We sent out packets to all returning students, and on Tues. Aug. 21 at 4:30, classes will be posted on classroom windows so that students and their parents can come down to see what classroom they have for the year,” said Cockerton.
— Middletown School District: First day of school is Aug. 29. 987-4100.
According to the school secretary, refer to the Web site for “Welcome Back” information, as well as the district calendar, transportation, and lunch/food services at www.middletownusd.org.
Welcome back day is Friday for Middletown High School at the Tallman Gym. The 8th grade welcome back day is Aug. 21 at 7 p.m., the 7th grade welcome back day is Aug. 22 at 7 p.m.
Assigned classrooms are posted on the windows of each school site”s office the Tuesday before the first day of school. At Middletown Elementary, a new full dental screening for kindergartners is required and will take place during the first week of school on the campus.
— Upper lake Elementary School District: First day of school is Aug. 22. 275-2357. www.uluesd.lake.k12.ca.us
There are no orientations or walk-throughs for the Elementary or Middle schools. According to the school secretary, “Nothing”s going on here, we”re good. Just make them show up on Aug. 22!”
— Upper Lake High School: First day of school is Aug. 22. 275-2338.
According to Principal Pat Iaccino, a pre-registration occurred this summer for all classes. “From Aug. 1 through Aug. 3 we brought the students here for orientation, ID pictures, senior portraits ? this way we won”t have to pull them out of class. For the freshman, we had seniors give them a tour of the campus, answered any questions they had, and had a BBQ,” said Iaccino.
He estimates that the new orientation program attracted about 85 percent of the student body. “We”re going to track down the rest this week and get them taken care of. Basically we wanted to do it a little differently and get to know the students and spend some personal time on them. We gave a copy of transcripts to the sophomores, juniors, and seniors and went over the areas that they need to concentrate on,” said Iaccino.
Students at Upper Lake High School can expect a “regular type of day” with a meeting in the gym for a short presentation where they will receive their schedules.
— Other programs through the Lake County Office of Education for 2007-2008
The Lake County Office of Education currently provides numerous programs to support the goals of each school district. According to assistant superintendent Chris Thomas, a program that is highly popular with both schools and parents is the Child Development Program.
LCOE operates 15 preschool programs located on the following campuses: Burns Valley, East Lake, Kelseyville, Lakeport, Lower Lake, Lucerne, Minnie Cannon and Pomo Elementary Schoools. Services provided are free to 3-5 year olds who qualify. They focus on developing early literacy skills to prepare children for Kindergarten.
After school programs are located on the following campuses: Burns Valley, East lake, Kelseyville Gard Street, Lower Lake, Lucerne, Pomo, Riviera, Upper lake Elementary, Minnie Cannon, Upper Lake Middle, and Oak Hill Middle. All programs focus on helping children develop study skills, and offer homework support.
The College-Going Initiative, a partnership between LCOE and the University of California, has a goal to increase the number of students who graduate ready to attend a four year college. All high schools provide activites including Summer Algebra/Geometry Academies, college readiness and financial aid workshops for students and parents.
Career Technical Education programs are offered the high schools. At the secondary level, both the Regional Occupational Programs (ROP) and the Transition Partnership Programs (TPP) provide instruction for students to prepare them for employment. They can learn skills and go directly to work after graduation, or receive college credits for the ROP classes they completed in high school.
Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com
