Tag: Education

  • District’s Plan for English-Learners Still Getting Lost In Translation

    A year after San Diego Unified promised it would compensate for cutting a crucial lifeline for English-learning students, the parents of those students say they’re still no better off. At the end of the 2013-2014 school year, Superintendent Cindy Marten directed every school to cut one full-time position. For 52 schools, that meant cutting the…

  • San Diego Explained: How to Navigate Open Enrollment

    Charter schools, your neighborhood school, others in the district – you’ve got a lot of options for where to send your child within the San Diego Unified School District. The district participates in the state’s “open enrollment” program, often called “school choice.” It gives you the freedom to pick a different school for your child to attend,…

  • The Case Against Isolating English-Learners

    Ángel Solorzano spoke so little English when he arrived at Kearny High he had to communicate with the school’s principal, Ana Diaz-Booz, through sign language. That’s not unusual for Diaz-Booz. The students who enter her school run the gamut in language skills. She gets those with a basic grasp of English, and those like Solorzano,…

  • Many Parents Avoiding City Heights Schools

    San Diego Unified School District’s trustees are having a workshop Tuesday to discuss why some schools are having trouble persuading the neighbors around them to enroll their kids. For the sixth straight year, enrollment in district-run schools (not charters) is projected to go down in the 2015-2016 school year. Superintendent Cindy Marten has often talked about…

  • City Heights High School Helps Refugees Become Graduates

    By Matthew Bowler Shmoh Lah was 14 years old when he came to San Diego from a Taiwanese refugee camp. Now, he’s getting ready to graduate from Crawford High School. Lah’s journey has been long. “When I was in the Thailand refugee camp every day, my parents would wake me up at 3 a.m.,” Lah…