Claremont School News

According to the terms of his contract, signed at last week’s school board meeting, incoming Claremont Unified School District Superintendent James Elsasser, EdD will be paid $218,000 per year. His paycheck is higher than that of his predecessor, Terry Nichols, notes CUSD board president Jeff Stark. However, because certain benefits were taken out of the […]

Heavy-hitting news like the presentation of the Classified Staff Member and Teacher of the Year awards, which went to Oakmont office manager Rosie Bister and Chapparal kindergarten and first grade teacher Karen Corrette, respectively, was overshadowed by the D’Emilio controversy. So was the instatement of Jim Elsasser, EdD as the new superintendent of the Claremont […]

Near the start of her address to Pitzer College graduates on Sunday, May 13, Angela Davis (world-famous political activist, author and educator) shared a quote that was surprisingly pessimistic for a commencement speech. Ms. Davis, who studied French during her undergraduate years at Brandeis University, recalled an observation by the French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir. […]

Claremont McKenna President Pamela Gann will be stepping down from her post following completion of the 2012-2013 academic year, she announced in an email sent to members of the CMC community on Tuesday, May 15. Ms. Gann, the 4th president of the 66-year-old college, took her place at the helm of CMC in 1999. In […]

Shortly after coming to Claremont at age 10, Jill Zavidowsky started keeping a journal. Now, at 57, a suitcase in her Claremont home holds more than 50 journals in safekeeping, ready for moments when she feels like examining her former self.  “Sometimes I go back and see what was really going on in my life,” […]

Every day, the staff of Sumner Elementary School cultivates the potential of students on the diverse Sumner/Danbury campus. It’s little wonder that Sumner has been selected as a 2012 California Distinguished School. The award, which goes to only 3 percent of the state’s schools, recognizes those that demonstrate “educational excellence for all students and progress […]

Each day, the kids of Danbury Elementary School, many who live with multiple disabilities, face overwhelming obstacles. On Monday they enthusiastically took on another challenge, a 25-foot adaptive rock-climbing wall brought to the campus by Mark Wellman, an acclaimed author, filmmaker and motivational speaker. As 12-year-old Ivy Adalpe scaled the epoxy-and-concrete tower with the help […]

Foothill Country Day School students are embracing character-building through the school’s interfaith chapel program, which is teaching students to focus on global awareness rather than the particulars of any one religion. At the private K-8 school, a variety of interfaith topics and presentations are helping students and teachers alike to cultivate open-mindedness and a well-rounded […]

This week, a who’s who of writers and poetry lovers gathered to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Kingsley and Kate Tufts poetry awards, given each year to a new writer of startling talent and a mid-career poet who has created work of significance. Tufts prize alumni, Claremont Graduate University president Debbie Freund and literary […]

All 52 sixth graders from Sycamore departed Monday for a stay at the Los Angeles County Outdoor Science School (OSS), a weeklong educational experience in Big Bear. The OSS curriculum focuses on the study of ecosystems utilizing the “outdoors as the classroom and the natural environment as the laboratory.” Sycamore School office manager Damaris Hankins […]

Lately, news from educational institutions has been grim, with budget concerns, cutbacks and layoffs dominating headlines. This climate makes Claremont McKenna College’s latest achievement, the successful conclusion of its George R. Roberts Faculty Leadership Initiative, especially encouraging. The college has matched and doubled the largest gift for direct faculty development in its history, resulting in […]

George Hickman, one of the original Tuskegee Airmen, has dealt with war, racism and the Great Depression in the 1930s. Yet the war hero and educator had a single message for the students of Foothill Country Day School on Thursday—live your dream. Mr. Hickman was the special guest speaker of Foothill’s International-Grandparents’ Day, an event […]

Equipped with iPhones and camcorders, Claremont High School students were the stars of a 24-hour film fest last week. CHS students collected nearly 3 hours of footage over a 24-hour period as a part of Claremont High School’s “Through Your Eyes” project, capturing video of students, filmed by students for a unique Claremont documentary.   […]

The Claremont Unified School District board unanimously elected Jeff Stark as it new board president during the board’s annual organizational meeting on Thursday night. Mr. Stark had served as board vice president throughout the 2011 governing board year and now succeeds former board president Beth Bingham, who chose not to run for board member re-election […]

The Claremont Unified School District board unanimously approved a resolution that will require communication with district legal counsel to be funneled through the superintendent, superintendent’s designee or by the board’s majority vote. But the discussion before the approval centered on an alleged Brown Act violation at a board meeting on May 19, 2011. Board member […]

Citrus College received a College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA) grant to encourage under-represented students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in 2008. The campus’ STEM Center was opened one year later. Last Thursday, Citrus College held a press conference to announce that it had been awarded a $4,285,000 Title V Hispanic Serving […]