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! 0UBLICATION OF THE &RESNO 5NIFIED 3CHOOL ISTRICT#VJMEJOH 'VUVSFT! 0UBLICATION OF THE &RESNO 5NIFIED 3CHOOL ISTRICTBoard of EducationLuisa MedinaPresidentCarol MillsClerkPatricia R. BarrValerie F. DavisManuel G. NunezJanet RyanTony Vang, Ed.D.AdministrationMichael E. HansonSuperintendent of SchoolsRuth F. QuintoAssociate Superintendent/CFO, Admin. ServicesNancy RichardsonAssistant to the SuperintendentTerry SimerlyAssociate Superintendent, Instruction DivisionBarbara BengelAsst. Supt. State and Federal ProgramsProfessional DevelopmentJacquie CanfieldAdministrator, Fiscal ServicesSandra CarstenAsst. Supt. Leadership AcademyEva ChavezAdministrator, Labor RelationsElva CoronadoAsst. Supt. K-8 EducationHolland LockerAsst. Supt. K-8 EducationJohn MarinovichAsst. Supt. High School DivisionKim MecumAdministrator, Human ResourcesBob PankratzExecutive Director, Student ServicesCynthia QuintanaAdministrator, Human ResourcesCaran RescinitiAdministrator, Curriculum & InstructionBuilding FuturesSusan BediCommunity Relations OfficerBuilding Furtures is published October and December,2005 and February and June, 2006 by the CommunityRelations Office of Fresno Unfied School District. Thedepartment can be reached at (559) 457-3733 oronline at www.fresnounified.org.Fall 2005#VJMEJOH 'VUVSFT Superintendent’s MessageA new school yearis an exciting time,with new challengesand new opportunities to support students. I am veryproud to be hereto serve as your Superintendent and toMichael E. Hansonwork with the entireSuperintendent of Schoolscommunity to makethis the best schooldistrict in the state. If we want our students tobe successful then we must prepare them fortheir futures by giving them the best educationpossible. Though it is a great responsibility toprepare so many students for college and forcareers, it is also a goal that our district canreach by focusing on four simple things: studentachievement, teamwork in schools, staff development and community/parent engagement.First, we must remember why we are here.Our primary goal is to teach students and toincrease their academic achievement. Our children deserve this above all else.Second, we must work together. It is notgood enough to plan to do good work on ourown. We have thousands of employees who areworking hard, but we won’t go anywhere untilwe all start rowing together in the same direction. We need teachers to design lessons andtests together, principals to collaborate withother principals, activities directors to coordinate programs with other directors, and centraloffice staff to provide support to our schools. Iam committed to supporting our teachers, siteleaders, and classified staff because our students’ success rests on how well we work andhow well we work together.your child to school on time each day, it is alsoyour obligation to become an active participantin your child’s education. Here are some thingsthat you can do that will have a profound impacton your son or daughter’s education: visit theirschool, meet with their teacher(s), work withother parents to sponsor new programs, helpyour children with their homework.Above all else, talk to your son or daughterabout what they learned in school each day,Third, we must build capacity from within.Our school district requires strong leadershipat every level of the organization and a centraloffice that supports staff development. I stressthat this is not a time to sit back and wait fordirection. Our district needs leaders, now morethan ever before, who are innovative, dedicated,and persistent. We also need to prepare each ofour leaders for the work ahead by giving themnew skills and new knowledge.Finally, each of our teachers will tell you howcritical it is for you to be involved in your child’seducation. Just as it is your obligation to getand talk to their teacher or principal frequentlyabout the progress your son or daughter is making in school.Every student in our district deserves a highquality education with talented teachers, safeschools, and a challenging curriculum. Likemany of you, I am a proud parent of childrenwho attend school in the Fresno Unified SchoolDistrict and I am committed to making all of ourschools the best schools in the state. Thank youfor a great start to the 2005-2006 school year.I look forward to meeting you and working withyou on behalf of our children.The Fresno Unified PTA Council would liketo wish a warm welcome back to our students,teachers, parents, administrators, and staff. Fallis always an exciting time of year. The undercurrent of enthusiasm is felt on each campus asstudents greet old friends, meet new teachersand settle in for the year ahead.After the summer break, we are often refreshedand ready for the challenges and opportunitiesthat come with a new school year. We are reminded that each of us play a role in helping ourchildren be successful in school. Our teachersbring dedication to ensure students grow bothacademically and socially. Our children mustcommit to participating in class to learn all theycan. Most importantly, parents must recognizethe critical role they play in helping studentssucceed in school.As greater academic demands are placed onstudents each year, it is essential that parentsbecome partners with educators to support theirchild’s progress. Studies tell us that parent involvement is the strongest element in determining a student’s success in school. While yourrole is not to relearn algebra, there are a fewsimple things you can do to help your child attain that success. Fresno Unified PTA would liketo offer some helpful suggestions.The first, involves attendance. Studies showthat daily attendance is the most important aspect of learning. It is imperative that your child,unless truly ill, attend school each day. Dailyattendance ensures that students will progresswith their peers. Each day missed is a day theyfall behind.However, simply getting your student toschool is not enough. To support the efforts ofteachers and your child’s efforts in the classroom, here are a few suggestions you should tryat home: Finally, we encourage all parents to join theparent clubs at your schools. Whether it’sa PTA, PTO or Booster Club, be a part ofyour community of parents to support theeducation process at your school. Unitedeffort brings success to all.“Our primary goal is to teach students and toincrease their academic achievement.”Message from Fresno Unified PTABuilding Futures Make sure your child is well rested and hasbreakfast before school. Limit television, video games and computergames until homework is completed. Provide a quiet place for your student tocomplete homework. Talk with your child about school. If he/sheis having problems academically or socially,communicate your concerns with your child’steacher. Get involved in your school’s campusactivities. Parent’s support of school shapestheir student’s attitudes about school andfuels their child’s enthusiasm for learning. Above all, talk with teachers about your childprogress.This year begins a new chapter in the historyof Fresno Unified. As we commit to supporting student success, we welcome a man to ourcommunity who is equally committed to thatsuccess, our new superintendent, Michael Hanson. We are encouraged by the leadership anddedication he brings to our District.We wish you an exciting and successful schoolyear.Fresno Unified PTA CouncilBuilding Futures wins praiseBuilding Futures, a publication of the Fresno Unified SchoolDistrict, was recognized by the National School Public Relations Association at its annual convention.Building Futures is the centerpiece of the District’s commitment to communicate with its stakeholders. This is the secondyear the newspaper has been published by the Community Relations Office. The District recently expanded the distribution of Building Futures to include awider area of Fresno.Building Futures was one of 830 special purpose publications reviewed by the school association. It received an honorable mention award.NSPRA’s mission is to advance education through responsible communication. It accomplishes that mission through a variety of diverse services that provided to its members and toother school leaders who contract with or buy from it.www.fresnounified.org

9\15\05 9:19 AM Page!10UBLICATION OF &RESNO 5NIFIED 3CHOOL ISTRICT#VJMEJOH 'VUVSFT 93686 10.375x11.475 4C936865x11.4754CTEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO BANKNOW AND YOU MIGHT NOT HAVETO BE THEIR BANK LATER.As parents, you’re always concerned with providing your children with the right guidance —especially the importance of making the right financial decisions — and that’s where we come in.We offer resources and products that can help provide your child with a solid financial future —like Hands On Banking (handsonbanking.org), a free online financial education program. Plus, weare a leader in student loans and have indispensable tools like our online College PlanningChecklist, credit education materials, and free Wells Fargo College Checking when you receive yourstatements online — everything you need from Wells Fargo’s150-plus years of experience. We caneven link your accounts to your children’s for easy funds transfers. Providing your children withfinancial independence provides you financial independence. Speak with a banker today or visitwellsfargo.com/student for more information.wellsfargo.com 2005 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC. www.fresnounified.orgBuilding FuturesFall 2005

! 0UBLICATION OF THE &RESNO 5NIFIED 3CHOOL ISTRICT#VJMEJOH 'VUVSFT Khmer hope to KEEP history aliveDesigned to empower Khmer students ofFresno Unified through the education of Khmerhistory, language, and culture, the KhmerEmerging Education Program (KEEP) providesKhmer students with the tools needed for notonly academic achievement, but also for betterrelationships with their families and peers. KEEPis a K-12 after-school program which meets atGreenberg Elementary School. It began in 1991by several FSU students who were once Khmerchild refugees. The Khmer, the preferred termused by those who have immigrated from Cambodia, began arriving in the U.S. in increasingnumbers in the 1980’s (after the fall of Pol Potand the Khmer Rouge).Dr. Pamela L. Dungy began working withKEEP almost 10 years ago and recently completed a doctoral dissertation for the Universityof San Francisco on the impact of KEEP. “Therewas just a dynamic there that I hadn’t ever seen,”she recalled. The program was inspired to reachout to the children of Khmer refugees who “wereparticularly vulnerable,” she said. Growing upas English-speakers, Khmer youths were losingvaluable knowledge of the Khmer language usedby their elders. As a result of this, Dungy said,“their parents were not able to pass down theirvalues and history.” Through KEEP, studentswere better able to build a connection with theirparents and community through exposure totheir heritage. Not only as a way to assist theseEnglish-learning students, the program alsoworks as a deterrent from gang involvement byproviding Khmer youth with better ties to theirparents and by giving them a stronger sense ofself. Though English-learning is a big part of theprogram, learning their Khmer heritage is alsosignificant. As Dungy explained, “When theysee [their heritage] as negative, and yet theydon’t fit in to the mainstream because they’restill in between, then they don’t know where togo. And that’s where this gang influence really,really takes hold.”Following the strict discipline that is customary in Khmer schools, KEEP students mustcomply with a zero-tolerance policy and wearuniforms. KEEP staff meet twice a month to planand coordinate lessons which typically focus onnot only Khmer language arts, reading, writingand speaking, and Khmer culture, but also involve health and physical education, computers,cross-cultural education, and awareness of crimeprevention. In 1998, a traditional Khmer dancegroup was also formed. Assessment tests and report cards are given out along with a graduationceremony concluding every school year. After 4years of this program, students are able to read,write, and translate Khmer into English and viceversa. Additionally KEEP students accomplishacademically in their regular studies, testingbetter in English than mainstream students. Thereason being, Dungy said, is that “wheneveryou have to learn in two languages – in yournormal school you’re learning English, and inthis school you’relearningKhmer— and your brainhas to cognitivelytravel those different roads, it opensup. You do betterin testing, you dobetter in life.”Dungy furtherresearched the impact of KEEP between June 2004and March 2005using“Photovoice,” a relativelynew research strategy which relieson communicationthrough photogra- Khmer Emerging Education Program (KEEP) provides Khmerphy. Four sopho- students with the tools needed for better relationships.more KEEP students where given cameras and turity level because they are good students inasked to use them to answer research questions school, they were toggling school and activiabout KEEP. The research questions were not ties and going to KEEP and this project.”answered by the KEEP students with a simpleDungy continues to present her KEEP reverbal response, instead Dungy told them that search – even traveling to Cambodia – using“the image is the trigger and from that we will 13 display banners which not only tell a historydialogue about how the image answers the ques- of the program and the research, but show overtion.” It was important to Dungy that they not 40 images and the students’ collective answerswork together so that their responses would be to the research questions. Research can be acunique and personal. “They were unique in my cessed at http://www.fresno.k12.ca.us/divdept/opinion with their commitment and their ma- keepstudents.Honors for Edison gradThe Fresno Unified School District Board of Trustees honored Edison High Schoolgraduate and NBA star Bruce Bowen over the summer for his basketball campand work with Fresno youth. The San Antonio Spurs’ small forward and defensivespecialist returns to his hometown every summer to conduct a basketball camp foryoungsters. At 6-foot-7, 200 pounds, the 34-year-old Bowen is a big man in moreways than one.Fall 2005Building Futureswww.fresnounified.org

#VJMEJOH 'VUVSFT ! 0UBLICATION OF &RESNO 5NIFIED 3CHOOL ISTRICTDistrict adopts Character CountsTeachers and administrators in Fresno Unified School District will instill the six Pillars ofCharacter in the District’s students during the2005/2006 school year.Fresno Unified has adopted CHARACTERCOUNTS!, the most widely implemented approach to character education in the UnitedStates.CHARACTER COUNTS! is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian framework that teachesthe Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness,respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. The CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalitionembraces thousands of schools, communitie

Low rate loans and high yield savings FREE Checking 24 hour account access And much more.! www.eecufresno.org NCUA 437-7700 or 1-800-538-EECU EECU serves members in 10 counties with branches in Fresno (6), Clovis (2), Hanford, Selma, and Visalia. Do You Have A Child Enrolled in School? C