Boca Raton High Teacher Receives Fulbright Award

Public Affairs - (561) 434-8228
June 18, 2009

Hakima Mazouz of Boca Raton Community High School has been awarded a Fulbright Teacher Exchange grant to teach in France, the United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board announced recently.

Ms. Mazouz is one of approximately 60 U.S. citizens who will travel abroad for the 2009-2010 academic year through the Fulbright Classroom Teacher Exchange Program.

The Fulbright Program, America's flagship international educational exchange program, is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Since its establishment in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Program has provided approximately 294,000 people – 111,000 Americans who have studied, taught or researched abroad and 183,000 students, scholars and teachers from other countries who have engaged in similar activities in the United States – with the opportunity to observe each others' political, economic, educational and cultural institutions, to exchange ideas and to embark on joint ventures of importance to the general welfare of the world's inhabitants. The Program operates in over 155 countries worldwide.

Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. Among the thousands of prominent Fulbright alumni are: Muhammad Yunus, Managing Director and Founder, Grameen Bank, and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006; Javier Solana, Foreign Policy Chief, European Union; Ruth Simmons, President, Brown University; Craig Barrett, Chairman of the Board, Intel Corporation; Shamshad Akhtar, the first woman to hold the position of Governor, State Bank of Pakistan; Alejandro Jara, Deputy Director-General, World Trade Organization; Raoul Cantero, Justice, Florida Supreme Court; Renee Fleming, soprano; Gish Jen, Writer; Daniel Libeskind, Architect; Aneesh Raman, CNN Middle East Correspondent; and Sibusiso Sibisi, President and CEO, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa..

Fulbright recipients are among over 40,000 participants annually in U.S. Department of State exchange programs each year. For more than sixty years, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has supported programs that seek to promote mutual understanding and respect between the people of the United States and people of other countries. The Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program is administered by the Academy for Educational Development.

For further information about the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, please visit the website at http://fulbrieht.state.gov or contact James A. Lawrence, Office of Academic Exchange Programs, telephone 202-453-8531 or e-mail fulbriuht@state.gov.

For more information about Ms. Mazouz please contact Boca Raton Community High School Principal Geoff McKee at 561-338-1400

Palm Beach County School District Updates

Northboro Elementary will remain at their temporary campus (D.D. Eisenhower) for one more year until their new school is complete.



Village Academy has added another grade level--they are now K-11.



Hope-Centennial Elementary (opening Aug. 2009) brings our total number of schools to 186.



The 2009-10 Student & Family Handbook (English, Spanish, & Creole) has been updated on the Public Affairs Web page (left menu-- "New to the District" and "Education Resources").



These updates and others that may follow will, of course, be posted in their normal locations/directories on the Public Affairs website, www.palmbeachschools.org

Sunshine Medallion Awards

School District Wins Three Sunshine Medallion Awards

Public Affairs - (561) 434-8228
June 16, 2009

The Sunshine State School Public Relations Association (SUNSPRA) recently announced this year's Sunshine Medallion Award Winners. The awards are given for excellence in communications and stake holder relationships. Three School District entries received winning honors and will be recognized by the Board at the July 15, 2009 School Board meeting.

Hagen Road Elementary, Multicultural Diversity category - "Murals" - The murals created at Hagen Road Elementary make a contribution to the mental, emotional single school culture, a positive school climate, cultural diversity and social growth of students. It stimulates thought and acts as a medium for developing creative and critical thinking and expression.

Public Affairs Departments, Other Programs/Projects category - "Engaging the Community with Art History" - The Personal Treasures of Bernard & Shirley Kinsey: In The Hands of African American Collectors, was on display at the Norton Museum of Art. The collection of more than 90 rare sculptures, paintings, books, documents, manuscripts and vintage photographs tells the story of African-Americans in the Americas. The School District partnered with the Norton Museum of Art and the Kinsey family and staged three events in conjunction with the exhibit to further the School District's education programs, including African-American studies.

Supplemental Educational Services Department, Promotional Video or Radio category - "Guidance Counselors in Palm Beach County" - With the help of six school counselors, the video captures how they and their colleagues use their hearts, minds, and spirits to touch children's lives and guide them toward a successful future.

Students designed Posters Using theme “Real People, Real Needs”

Palm Beach County Recognizes Refugees’ Plight - Students designed Posters Using theme “Real People, Real Needs”
Public Affairs - (561) 434-8228
June 16, 2009

Strength. Determination. Perseverance.

Those qualities will be celebrated on Saturday, June 20, in Palm Beach County and throughout the world, as the Florida Department of Children and Families’ Office of Refugee Services joins in recognition of World Refugee Day.

DCF’s Office of Refugee Services helps refugees gain economic self-sufficiency and social adjustment within the shortest time following their arrival into the United States. For the first time, Palm Beach County will join Floridians and others around the world in the annual World Refugee Day celebration, recognizing the plight of more than 30 million refugees who have fled their home country or have been internally displaced because of fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group, or political opinion.

The World Refugee Day Work Group invites everyone to Forest Hill High School’s cafeteria on Saturday, June 20, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for a celebration that will include a Girl Scout flag ceremony, local proclamations, children performing cultural dances, musicians of varied heritage sharing their traditions and keynote speaker, Boynton Beach City Commissioner and former refugee Jose Rodriguez. A Venezuelan refugee also will display his paintings, and local students who competed in the UNHCR World Refugee Day Poster Contest will be recognized. The students – elementary, middle and high school – designed posters on the theme, “Real People, Real Needs.” The school is located at 6901 Parker Ave., West Palm Beach.

Throughout the month of June, the Palm Beach County Library System will display books about refugees, post a bibliography of such stories on its Web site, and host relevant storytelling and other activities for children and adults. The West Palm Beach Public Library also will host storytelling focused on refugees, and the Barnes & Noble book store at CityPlace is showcasing books about refugees.

Florida’s Refugee Services Program partners with several agencies and organizations to provide adult education, case management, child care, youth and family services, job skills training, employment, health services, legal services, interpretation and integration assistance. The Community Liaison (Miriam Bracero-Rosario in Palm Beach County, (561- 837-5022) collaborates with community-based organizations, the school district, the community college, libraries, adult literacy programs, government agencies, law enforcement and others addressing the needs of refugees.

For more information, please call Lesline Alexander-Gregory, Project Transition-Adult & Community Education, at (561) 687-6370.

No Longer Letting Scores Separate Pupils

STAMFORD, Conn. — Sixth graders at Cloonan Middle School here are assigned numbers based on their previous year’s standardized test scores — zeros indicate the highest performers, ones the middle, twos the lowest — that determine their academic classes for the next three years.

Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times
Aidan Bracken, left, and Evenson Andre in class.
But this longstanding system for tracking children by academic ability for more effective teaching evolved into an uncomfortable caste system in which students were largely segregated by race and socioeconomic background, both inside and outside classrooms. Black and Hispanic students, for example, make up 46 percent of this year’s sixth grade, but are 78 percent of the twos and 7 percent of the zeros.

Read more at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/15/education/15stamford.html?_r=1

Allamanda Elementary Student Wins Writing Competition

Allamanda Elementary Student Wins Writing Competition

Public Affairs - (561) 434-8228
June 9, 2009

Allamanda Elementary School’s Lindsay Lonano, 4th grade, won first place in WLRN Radio Station’s “Write Under the Sun” elementary school writing competition. Allamanda runners-up include 4th grade students, Alex Woodward and Connor Voorhees.

Lindsay, in Ms. Connie Howe’s class, wrote the winning entry, entitled “The Swamp.”
Alex, in Ms. Deborah Long’s fourth grade class, wrote a piece called, “The Vicious, Ferocious, Terrifying Killer Monster in Palm Beach County.”
Connor, from Mrs. Nicole Wilson’s class, wrote an essay called “South Florida.”
Lindsay will record her winning entry, to be broadcast on WLRN. She will also participate in events WLRN is having with local authors, poets and literary figures in South Florida. All three entries, along with student biographies, will be posted on WLRN’s “Under the Sun” Web page. The students are also invited to read their essays at WLRN’s “Write Under the Sun” live event June 21 at the Hollywood, Florida, library.

For more information, please contact Marilu Garcia, Principal, at (561) 803-7200.

Artist’s Work To Hang In The Capitol For One Year

Dreyfoos Students Win Congressional Arts Competition - Artist’s Work To Hang In The Capitol For One Year

Public Affairs - (561) 434-8228
June 10, 2009

Dreyfoos School of the Arts visual art students Vinh Pham, a graduating senior from Royal Palm Beach, and Jessica Kleinman, a Dreyfoos junior from Boca Raton, were recently announced as the first place winner and runner up winner, respectively, of the Congressional Arts Competition. The other runner up winner was Danielle Zfat of Donna Klein Jewish Academy.

Congressman Ron Klein (D-FL) made the announcement at a reception May 29 at the Boca Raton Museum of Art. As the first place winner, Pham and his parents were presented with three roundtrip tickets to Washington, D.C., courtesy of Southwest Airlines, where they will join Congressman Klein on June 24 for a ribbon-cutting ceremony and reception honoring the young artists. He also received a year pass to the Boca Raton Museum of Art.

The 28th Annual Congressional Art Competition, An Artistic Discovery, provides Members of Congress with the unique opportunity to showcase the talents of their creative, dynamic high school constituents. Since the competition’s inception in 1982, thousands of students have participated. This year the theme was left up to the artist’s imagination.

Pham’s winning piece, representing the 22nd Florida Congressional District, will be showcased at the Capitol in Washington, DC, along with the pieces created by the winning artists from Congressional Districts across the country.

For more information about the Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, call the School of the Arts Foundation at 561-805-6298 or visit www.soafi.org.

Media Contact: Margie Yansura, Wordsmith Communications, 561-313-5028; mywordsmith@bellsouth.net