Construction still underway as school starts
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

The sound of backhoes and hammers could still be heard on some campuses as school began Tuesday in the Pleasant Valley School District.

To accommodate the addition of nearly 500 seventh graders to Santa Rosa Technology Magnet and 32 at Los Senderos Open School, two portable classrooms were to be ready at each campus. The manufacturer, howeverdidn't deliver the classrooms in time, Assistant Superintendent Jan Maez said. She expects the new classrooms to be ready for students by the end of the month.

Los Senderos Principal Janet Kanongata'a said the sixth and seventh graders who were to occupy the new classrooms will be temporarily housed elsewhere on campus.

The sixth-grade class will use the library, which generally opens a few weeks after the semester begins, and the seventh graders will use a classroom formerly reserved for art and science lessons.

"It will be very, very little disruption to our school," Kanongata'a said.

The Aug. 29 opening of Rancho Rosal Elementary School, in the Village at the Park development, was postponed because a rainy spring set back foundation and exterior work.

"We're confident that the construction company will complete the school in November and we can open the school in December," Superintendent Thomas Dase said

The building of computer labs for Los Primeros Structured and Camarillo Heights schools is expected to begin sometime during the school year. The labs are expected to have between 33 and 35 computers.

The district also is implementing in stages the web-based student data management program Zangle.

When the program is fully operational, parents will be able to review online information about their child's attendance, class assignments, report cards and progress reports, results of standardized testing, behavioral incidents, food service transactions, as well as email links to teachers, counselors and administrators.

The software is designed to help schools comply with the state's new reporting requirements and the No Child Left Behind legislation.

Jennifer Clark, director of educational technology, said that because of the depth and breadth of the program, it may be one or two years before parents are able to use it.

For now, teachers at five schools can take attendance with Zangle. The rest of the district's teachers should be able to access the program in the coming months, Clark said.

Students at Monte Vista Middle School started the year with a new schedule. They attend three classes a day instead of six, spending more time in each class-100 minutes

compared to 55 minutes-although they ultimately will cover the same number of subjects.

Other changes include Tom Holtke as the new principal of Santa Rosa Technology Magnet School, and Heather Hendrix as an assistant principal of Los Altos Middle School.

Meanwhile, the Pleasant Valley School District Board of Trustees approved spending an additional $47,266 on the classroom installation project at Los Senderos Open School last month.

The project originally was to cost $449,850.

Maez said the additional work is needed, not necessarily for this project, but to upgrade the school's infrastructure for future expansion.

It's easier to upgrade the underground utilities, such as plumbing and wiring, now while the work is being done at the school, she said.