The budget development task list is long and requires many people's involvement.

Ladies and gentlemen, budget development season has begun!

With the Early Start calendar pushing the first day of school up to August 15, and with Governor Brown hoping to actually have a budget before the beginning of the new fiscal year, the District has moved up all the deadlines for planning the budget and finalizing the Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA).

As Yvonne Lamarre, Local District 5 Intervention Coordinator, said Friday at a training for Program Improvement 5+ (PI 5+) schools that I attended, “February is the new April.” In other words, we are under the gun, and the margin for error is slim to none. Continue reading →

Dear CNMT Community,

I feel grateful to be working with such a dedicated group of teachers. On Friday afternoon I left an overview of the Transcript Evaluation Service and headed down to the Main Office to have Teri show me how to make a purchase with our new P-card, which is basically a credit card for CNMT.

While in the office, I saw Ms. De Las Cuevas, who told me about the Padres como Autores workshop that she and Ms. Hayes had hosted the day before. Not many parents came, but they are sticking with it and hoping to attract more interest. Hopefully the $1,000 we were just awared by PLAS to support the program can help with this.

After leaving the office I chatted with Ines, Lew, Teresa and Margie outside the ISIS office. Did I mention that I also feel incredibly grateful to have such capable, hard-working support staff? Continue reading →

Last Thursday I had the privilege of accompanying a group of students to the JW Marriott at L.A. Live and Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles. This was the first day of a program that will continue once a month until the end of the school year.

This lucky group of 13 students from CNMT and one from Law & Gov’t was selected based on an essay they wrote about someone at school who is influential to them. This is a new program for us and for the hotel. Although the Marriott does work with high school students to help them transition to the workplace, I think this is the first time they are working with such a large group all at once.
Continue reading →

Dear CNMT community,

Happy New Year to everyone. I hope that you all had a chance to relax and spend time with your loved ones. Because of starting this job as principal at the beginning of the summer, my wife and I had to put our honeymoon plans on hold. We were able to take a couple of weeks during the Winter Break to go to Colombia, which was a great experience. Like most developing countries, Colombia has its share of inequality and crime, but it is also a beautiful country with a rich culture. One of the places that struck me the most was Medellin, a city whose reputation as a drug center unfortunately persists from the days of Pablo Escobar.

In the past 10 years, Medellin has seen a remarkable transformation, in large part due to the visionary leadership of the ex-mayor, Sergio Fajardo. In a 2007 interview, Fajardo talked about his priorities in creating positive change for Medellin. “The first problem was inequality, and to start working toward equality you must improve education—public education. Public education must be the motor of social transformation.” Medellin has seen a huge investment in public education along with public buildings like libraries and infant centers. Fajardo adds, “We had to have a comprehensive approach. It is not just about schools. It is about the whole life of a society.” Continue reading →