SMAS Staff Meet in Retreat for Unity of Mission

On Monday, August 22nd, San Mateo Adult School did something new:

All the employees - ALL OF THEM - met together in a special retreat.

What is a retreat?  It is a special time to stop normal activities and think deeply about something.

Now is a time of big change for Adult Education.  To navigate these changes and provide our students with the best Adult Education possible is not always easy.  It is helpful if we know and understand each other.  It is helpful if we know and understand our students.  It is helpful if we know where we are going and why.  It is helpful if we work in a united way for the same goal

Discussing demographics

So on this day, everyone - EVERYONE - all the administrators, all the teachers, all the staff, all the aides, all the janitors - EVERYONE came together for a special day of thinking and discussion. 

Applauding SMAS

New ACCEL Executive Director Anne Adamson
and ESL Teacher Lisa

With all the new rules and requirements and opportunities for Adult Education, how can we give our students the best Adult Education possible?



Houry, Kelly, Guillermo, Lisa Dolehide

Lisa Sparks, Nita

We had activities to build connection and unity.  Some people were new to our school.  Some people had been at our school for many years.  Some people knew many people.  Some people knew only a few people  We introduced ourselves to each.



Laughing during a game

We played games to get to know each other better - to learn about our programs, what we do, who we are, as individuals and as a school.

Ellen knows the answer!

 

Former ESL Student & Advocate
and New English Learner Specialist
Marina Kravtsova

We broke into groups to think about what we are doing and where we are going.

We talked about our values. 

What are values?

Values are the things that are important to you.

When you are deciding where to go and how to get there, you must know your values.  You must know what you want, what is important to you.

We took a survey to discover the values most important to us.

The most important value to us was trustworthy.

What is trustworthy?  If someone is trustworthy, you can depend on them.  They are honest.  They are responsible.  They are helpful.  You can trust them.  They are worth your trust.

We divided into groups to discuss SMAS values.

Here are some posters the groups made to represent SMAS values:

What are your values as an Adult School student?

Where do you want to go?

Where do you want our school to go?

These are important questions.

Talk about them with your classmates and your teachers.

Together, we make the future.


To see all the photos from the retreat, click here.

SMAS All School Meeting April 13, 2016

On April 13, 2016, San Mateo Adult School had an All School Meeting so we could learn more about our Regional Consortium, ACCEL.   We came together to talk and think about the future of our school and all Adult Education.  There are many new rules for Adult Education in California that we must understand and follow.

Assistant Director Tim made a presentation to help us understand what is going on in our Regional Consortium, ACCEL, and for Regional Consortia all across California.

Teacher Lisa made a presentation to help us understand how our school will be a bridge to College, Career and Community.

Here are the slides from each presentation with some information below each slide.  If you have questions about the information, you can ask your teacher, Teacher Patricia, Teacher Lisa, or Teacher Cynthia.

Thank you to Tim and Lisa for making these presentations so we can understand things better.

Tim's presentation about ACCEL:

This is the name of our consortium.  It has 5 Adult Schools and 3 Community Colleges:
 San Mateo Adult School, Jefferson Adult School,
Sequoia Adult School, South San Francisco Adult School,
and the new La Costa Adult School on the Western Coast in Half Moon Bay,
and College of San Mateo, Skyline Community College, and Canada Community College.

There are 70 Regional Consortia in California.
There are 72 Community College Districts.  Each district has a Regional Consortium. 
Two districts decided to combine with others.

Implementation means put a plan into action, make it real.
This is an implementation year.
This is the list of things we need to make happen.

CCAE is the California Council of Adult Education.
Dawn Koepke is the Legislative Analyst for CCAE.
She gives us advice about government and money.
This is her advice.

The Legislative Analyst Office is part of the California State Government.
The LAO helps the Governor and the Legislature understand things
so they can make good money decisions.
This is information from the LAO.

Metrics are tools to measure things.  We measure things with metrics.
In the future, the success of our school and Adult Education
will be measured with these metrics.

The CCAE State Convention is April 21-23.
San Mateo Adult School will help at the State Convention.

These are the things ahead for our school.
We need to think about these things.
We need to make these things happen.




Here's is Lisa's presentation about the
Pathway Bridge Model:

 

New Adult School on the Coast

Many of our students drive "over the hill" from Half Moon Bay and other coastal cities for their ESL classes.  For a long time, because of the cuts to Adult Education, there was no Adult School on the coast of San Mateo County. 

Teacher Shari Deghi
Coordinator of La Costa Adult School

But now there is! 

The name of the new Adult School is La Costa Adult School.  "La Costa"is Spanish for "the coast."  

La Costa Adult School is part of ACCEL, our Regional Consortium.  All the schools in ACCEL work together to serve the county of San Mateo.

Our own Teacher Shari is the coordinator of La Costa.

Here is some information from Teacher Shari about the school:

 

La Costa Adult School

The Western Coast of San Mateo County

La Costa Adult School, the newest adult school in California, serves residents from Montara to Año Nuevo on the San Mateo County coast and is affiliated with the Cabrillo and La Honda/Pescadero Unified School Districts.

La Costa has two locations: Half Moon Bay and Pescadero. Half Moon Bay just started its first classes on January 11 and already over 200 students are taking English as a Second Language (ESL) classes every Monday and Wednesday evening from 6-9 pm at Cunha School. La Costa plans to start GED/HiSET preparation classes this semester and has a waitlist for interested students.

Puente de la Costa Sur has been serving its residents with ESL classes for many years and thanks to increased funding through La Costa Adult School, it is able to increase its offerings. Puente offers ESL, GED/HiSET preparation, Language Skills for Workforce Careers, and primary/secondary education in Spanish.

La Costa works closely with Cañada College and a consortium of all the adult schools and community colleges in San Mateo County to provide education for immigrants, courses for high school equivalency, career technical education programs, apprenticeships and classes for disabled adults.

Volunteers are greatly appreciated and La Costa has current openings for credentialed teachers.

For more information, contact:

La Costa at 650-712-7140

Director Raj Bechar

Coordinator Shari Deghi

A New Day for Adult Education: New System - New Rules - New Money

A New Day for Adult Education

Today is July 1, 2015.  July 1 is the first day of the fiscal year.   "Fiscal" means money.    The first day of the calendar year is January 1.  The first day of the fiscal year is July 1.

"A new day" is an idiom that means the start of something big and new.  It has a happy feeling.

There are new rules for Adult Education and a new budget.   This is great news. 

During the bad economy, Adult Schools and Adult Education had many cuts.  Many Adult Schools closed.  All Adult Schools became smaller.  

All across California, we spoke up for Adult Schools and Adult Education.  We wore red for Adult Ed.  We wrote letters and emails.  We went to Sacramento.  We told the Legislature and Governor Brown:  Adult Education Matters!

People listened.  The people of California passed Prop 30 to raise the sales tax and help all Public Education.  And the Legislature and the Governor made a new budget for Adult Education.


Now we are beginning again.  We this new money, we can grow again like a plant with new water after a long, dry time.


New rules

In the new rules, Adult Schools and Community Colleges work together in Regional Consortia to provide the best Adult Education possible.  The name of our Regional Consortia is ACCEL.   There are four Adult Schools and three Community Colleges in our Regional Consortia.  It serves all of San Mateo County.   You can read more about the new system here and here.


New Budget

Finally, we have some money coming in.  We can relax and take a breath.  We will keep going!   The money is not as much money as before the economy crashed.  But it is something.  It is a good beginning.  We can begin again.  It is a new day. 



Questions and Answers about the Money


How much money is there for Adult Education?

For the next fiscal year (July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016), there is $500,000,000.

Who can use that money?

Members of the new Regional Consortia system.  These members could be

- K12 Adult  Schools
- Community Colleges
- County Offices of Education

How will the money be given out?

The Superintendent of the California Department of Education and the Chancellor of the Community College System (the two big bosses) will figure out how much money was spent on Adult Education in Adult Schools and County Office of Ed programs in 2012-13 (in certain programs).   That amount is called the Maintenance of Effort - the MOE.  That means the amount of money to keep things going.  Whatever that amount is will go to Adult Schools and County Office of Ed programs.   They will get the money by August 31, 2015.  The most they can get is 375,000,000.

The leftover money will be given to the Regional Consortia.  They must have plans on how to spend the money for Adult Education.  They will get the money by November 30, 2015.

What happens in the next fiscal year?

In the fiscal year after this one, there will be new rules.

The Regional Consortia will get money based on

* how much they got before
* how much they need for Adult Education in their area
* how good a job they are doing


Who is the Fiscal Agent?

Remember the term, "fiscal agent"?  The fiscal agent is the person in charge of the money.  They are kind like the banker in a Monopoly game.  They hold and hand out the money.  It isn't their money but they are in charge of it.

In the new rules, each Regional Consortium can decide to have the money go directly to members or elect a single fiscal agent to hand out the money.  Each Regional Consortium can decide.

This is important.  Our school community and many other schools asked the Legislature and the Governor for this rule.  We wanted to decide who will be the banker for our Regional Consortium.


What programs will get money?

* Basic skills, high school equivalency and diploma (GED and High School Diploma)

* Citizenship and ESL

* Workforce entry or re-entry, including older adults entering or re-entering the workforce

*  Adult programs, including for older adults, that help adults help schoolkids to do well in school. 

* Adults with disabilities programs

* Short-term Career Tech Education

* Pre-apprenticeship programs and activities.


How will Regional Consortia decide how to give out the extra money left over from the MOE?

Each Regional Consortium has to create a 3-year plan for money and spending money on Adult Education. 

All the decisions about giving out the money have to be made in an open meeting with input from stakeholders.  Stakeholders are people who have a stake in something.  They will feel the results in something.  Putting your stake in something means you own it.  




How will they decide if schools are doing a good job and how will they keep track of everything?

In Fiscal Year 2016, the Community College Chancellor and the California Department of Education Superintendent (the two big bosses) have 25,000,000 to create a data system that can be used for both Adult Schools and Community Colleges.   They must also decide what results the Regional Consortia must report on.  These results will include these things (and can include more):

* How many adults are served by a Regional Consortium

* How many of the served adults have
     --  improved their literacy skills (reading & writing)
     --  completed their high school diploma or equivalent (GED)
     --  completed a postsecondary certificate, degree, or training program
     --   got a job
     --  improved their wages (how they money they make at their job)


Gratitude for This New Day.  Gratitude for You.

This new day for Adult Schools and Adult Education happened because of hard work from many, many people.

If you

wore Red for Adult Education on Tuesdays

wore an Adult Education Matters button
put a bumper sticker on your car
write a letter to the Governor or a Legislator
went to Sacramento
helped make a video
talked to a journalist
talked to your friends and neighbors about Adult Education
joined CCAE
wrote an essay
made a poster
made a banner
went to a conference


or did anything else to help get the message out that Adult Education Matters -

you should feel good.  You made a positive difference!

Your effort helped bring this new day to Adult Education.

Your effort made a positive difference for millions of people and their families and communities.

You matter.   Your effort matters.  Thank you!

Adult Ed Week Essay Writer Priscila Santiago: Growing and Learning

We celebrated Adult Ed Week 2015 in many ways.  Many ESL students wrote essays for an essay contest.  The topic of the contest was "I am an Adult School Student and This is My Story."  The essays were wonderful.  

Here, with the permission of the author, is one of them:

Growing and Learning

I landed in California from Brazil seven months ago.  However, I only started to study at San Mateo Adult School two months ago after I had seen the brochure in my mail box.

I am studying five days a week.  In the morning I take grammar classes, and in the afternoon conversation classes.  It is obvious that I have improved my English skills in several ways, mostly reading, writing and listening.  I can say this not only because I have already noted it, but others who knew me before have said the same.

In addition to helping me improve my English skills, the Adult School has given me opportunities to do other wonderful things.  I have recently made friendships, and learned about American culture.  This month I got a volunteer job at a hospital and I know that it wouldn't be possible without the great job from my four teachers.

I know that learning English is a long, hard and continuous process, but with my dedication and the help of this amazing school I will achiever my goal faster and easier.

Priscila Santiago is a student in Teacher Katherine's morning ESL class.

Thank you, Priscila, for sharing your inspiring story with us.

Edsource Article About Adult Education Budget Features San Mateo Adult School

Last week, Edsource published an article about Adult Education.  Edsource is an online journal about education.  A journal is like a newspaper.  The title of the article was "Governor’s proposed budget called “a gift” to adult education."  

You can read about Governor Brown's proposal and the budget process here in this ESL Student blog post.



ESL Teacher Patricia Brown
Photo credit:  Liv Ames for Edsource

Susan Frey, a reporter for Edsource, and Liv Aames, a photographer, came to our school to interview people and take photos for the article.



ESL Morning Student Council President
Daniel Pec

The reporter talked to ESL Teacher Patricia Brown and students in her class.  One of the students she talked to was Daniel Pec.  He is the Morning ESL Student Council President.

The article reports:
 
Daniel Pec is a 28-year-old immigrant from Guatemala who attends San Mateo Adult School. He said even though both San Mateo College and the adult school offer ESL classes, the focus of the two programs is different. Pec is trained in computer science and expects to eventually go to college, but for now he needs to learn English and support his family.

“The community college is very expensive, and it is more book English,” Pec said, adding that he likes the adult school because he has a chance to practice the language, which has helped him in his job at a restaurant.

San Mateo Adult School
Assistant Director Tim Doyle
Photo credit:  Liv Ames for Edsource

The reporter talked to Assistant Director Tim Doyle.  They asked him questions about the new system for Adult Education, the Regional Consortia system.  You can learn more about Regional Consortia in this ESL Student Blog post.

The article reports:

“In some consortia, there is more overlap and more tension between community colleges and adult schools,” said Tim Doyle, assistant director of the San Mateo Adult School. “Here there is much more coordination. The local community college doesn’t do much of what we do.”

This means that San Mateo Adult School does different things than the College of San Mateo and Skyline College and Kenyatta College. 

The reporter talked with many students to understand what they are learning and doing at our school.

Hessam Ghajar, left, and Takeshi Naoi
practice English with classmates in a San Mateo Adult School class.
Photo credit:  Liv Ames for Edsource.

Marco Estrella, right, and Yu Liu practice English
in an ESL class at San Mateo Adult School.
Photo credit:  Liv Ames for Edsource.


 

She also talked with other people from other schools and organizations.  She talked with Debra Jones.  Debra Jones is part of the AB86 Cabinet.  This is the group in charge of the new Regional Consortia system.

The article reports:

Debra Jones, dean of career education practices at the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, calls what is outlined in the budget “a gift to adult students.”

“I never dreamed I would see dedicated funding for disenfranchised adults,” Jones said. “We’re celebrating. Overall, this is pretty special.”

That means Ms. Jones was surprised and happy by the Governor's Budget Proposal.  Disenfranchised means without privilege or rights, especially the right to vote. The word disenfranchised has a feeling of without power.

We are happy, too.  But maybe we are not surprised.  Because we know that Adult Students have power.  They are smart.  They are strong.  They can and do express their ideas, experience, and wisdom.  They can and do take action.  They can and do write letters, visit legislators, and talk to the press.

The budget process is not over.  Governor Brown's proposal was the first step.  Now the Legislature and the public will discuss things.  The Legislature will make their own budget proposals.   Everyone will talk and argue and discuss and make changes and finally they will come to an agreement and the Governor will sign it.  The start of the new budget year is July 1, 2015.  July 1 is a kind of New Year's Day for the state.  The budget must be complete and ready to go by this day.

Former Morning ESL Student Council President
Hitomi explains the need for Dedicated Funding
for Adult Schools.

We are happy we are part of this discussion.  We need ideas and experience and wisdom from students, teachers, administrators, and the community to make a good future and good budget for Adult Education and the people of California.

When we make a budget for California, we are spending the people's money.  To make wise decisions, we need to know what the people need and want; we need to know how much money we have; and we need to think about the best way to spend so we get good results.

This is what we will do now until July 1, 2015.



You can read the full article in Edsource here.

Good News from Governor Brown

Governor Brown's 2015-16 Budget Proposal

Governor Brown presenting his Budget Proposal

On Friday, January 9th, Governor Brown presented his Budget Proposal for 2015-16.

This is the first step in the process to decide how California will spend tax money.

There was good news in his proposal:

*  500 million dollars for Adult Education

*  For K-12 Adult Schools, like our school, the money will continue in the same way for a year

*  When that year is done, a new system of Local Allotment Boards will decide how much money each local school gets.

This is great news and a big change from other years.  Governor Brown finally really understands that Adult Education matters.  Before, he did not understand.  He did not really understand Adult Education or K12 Adult Schools. 

Now he understands.  He did not put all Adult Education inside Community Colleges.  He gave Adult Education - the new Regional Consortia system - 500 million dollars.  He gave each Regional Consortium a way to make decisions.  And very important:  He is talking about Adult Education.  He said that spending money on Adult Education and Career Tech will help end poverty.  We are glad and grateful that Governor Brown understands.


Why does Governor Brown understand Adult Education matters?

 

ESL Student Council
Morning President
Daniel

Adult School students all over California sent thousands of letters and emails to Governor Brown. 

Our school sent over 700 letters.

You can read about Red Letter Day & Night 2014 here.

You can read William Gonzalez' letter to Governor Brown here.

Our student leaders presented workshops to help other schools become active like our school.  You can read about their workshop at CATESOL here.

ESL Student Council Evening President
Maricruz with mailbox for letters

Students mailing letters
with Teacher Shirley and Mr. T



Adult School students wearing
Red for Adult Ed on Tuesday
in Los Angeles

Other schools sent letters and took action, too.   Adult School students wrote letters to the Governor, wrote letters to newspapers, visited legislators at their local offices and in Sacramento, and did many more things to bring attention to the value of Adult Schools and Adult Education. 




And of course, our students - and students all across California - wore Red for Adult Ed on Tuesdays. 



Rally for Adult Education in Los Angeles

Adult School students sent a clear message:

* Adult Education matters

* K12 Adult Schools need Dedicated Funding

Governor Brown listened.



What happens next?

People and the Legislature will think and talk about Governor's Brown proposal.   Everyone will discuss things, suggest changes, and maybe argue about things.  The Legislature will make their own budget.

The LAO - the Legislative Analyst Office - will analyze the Budget Proposal. 

The State Senate and the State Assembly will each make their own Budget Proposals.

The Governor will present his "May Revise."  Revise means change.  The May Revise is the new version of the Budget Proposal.

The Assembly and the Senate will discuss and vote on the final Budget Proposal.

The Governor will veto it or sign it.  Veto means reject.  If he vetoes it, the Legislature has to make more changes.  Everyone will discuss and argue and make changes until finally they all agree to something and the Governor signs it.

The start of the new fiscal year is July 1.  Fiscal means money.

The money year, the start of the new budget, is July 1, 2015.

You can see a diagram with the budget steps here.

We will not know the final result until July 1.

But this year, we know we have a very good chance to have a very good result.

This year, thanks to your work, we know that Governor Brown and the Legislature finally and really understand: 

Adult Education Matters! 

Marco's Report from the ACCEL Regional Consortia Partners Meeting

Things are changing in Adult Education.  Soon Adult Schools and Community Colleges will work together to provide Adult Education in a new Regional Consortia system.  The name of our Regional Consortium is ACCEL.  You can learn more about all this here and here. 

San Mateo Adult School is including students and teachers in planning for ACCEL.

Morning Student Council President Marco, Evening Student Council Vice President Maricruz, and ESL Student Yulia recently attended a big ACCEL meeting. 

Here is Marco's report:

On Thursday July 10th, the ACCEL planning committee and consortium partners took part in a very important meeting. 

 

The headquarter was the San Mateo Adult School, to be more specific it was in The Smart Center. 

 

Waoo!  That was like bringing "The All Star players" all under the same roof, which makes sense.

More than a game was about to begin. The future of Adult Education and the way it'll be delivered for the next years to come is in process. 

 

Unexpectedly, some students were invited, including myself.  For me, it was like a reward for the hard work our student council has been doing the last years, promoting Adult Education. 

It was a great opportunity to let them know our needs and  goals.  A few of us did it.  One of the organizers asked me if l was involved in the survey that was done in our school, and she kindly thanked me for that. She said they will take a look at it.

 

I'd like to mention that including us in this planning would be very helpful.  I mean, what would be better than hear directly from us, the people they are trying to serve.

 

Our future depend on this planning we need to know what it is going on. 

 

Last year I attended The Town Hall meeting in Oakland, California.  It was about the  AB86, which for me was like entering into a dark tunnel that nobody knew what was at the other end.  After this RC meeting, I could see some light  and hope at the end of that tunnel. 

 

However, I still have unanswered questions. For example, will students without legal documents be excluded?  Will there be an age limit??

 

Overall, the meeting was  full of useful information, which definitely will help us to consider our opinions. 

 

Special thanks to all participants, for planning and working from the heart to make Adult Education even better.
 

Student Council President Marco