Schools

Two days after one charter school management company withdrew its petition, the Santa Clara County Office of Education staff has recommended denial of a second charter petition, still currently on appeal before its local Board of Education.

The Gavilan College Faculty Association and Gavilan College staff, in conjunction with the Gavilan College Educational Foundation, is organizing a gala fundraising event for Spring 2014. Titled "Sowing Seeds, Nurturing Dreams," the event will raise money to provide scholarships, food assistance and transportation assistance for students in need. It will also be an opportunity to spend an evening on the beautiful Gavilan College Gilroy campus with friends, community members and alumni, and enjoy superb local food and wines, all for a great cause.

A Hollister girl took first place in an age division for Bookshop Santa Cruz's annual Young Writers Contest. Julia Pearson, a seventh-grader at Rancho San Justo Middle School, entered her short story to the contest in October and won first place in the 10-13 year-old age division. It was a fictional narrative that she wrote for her seventh-grade language arts class. Then she got to read a portion of it on KZSC radio station at UCSC on Nov. 19 on Bruce Bratton's “Grapevine” program. Bookshop Santa Cruz is also donating a copy of the book to the school library of each honoree.

In 2013, San Benito County put on a hard hat and got to work on the future.

Health department and school officials are continuing to address a case of tuberculosis in the aftermath of the revelation going public this week.

An associate degree from Gavilan College means even more with the ever-expanding transfer program between California Community Colleges and California State Universities.

While the San Benito High School football team has put together another successful end-of-season run, the band has been on a hot streak of its own.

Morgan Hill Unified School District’s decision to deny two charter school petitions went to trial on appeal Wednesday night in the courtroom setting of the Santa Clara County Office of Education.

A war of words and charges of “dirty pool” politics have characterized a bruising battle in Morgan Hill over the last seven months as two charter school organizations seek approval to open elementary schools.

The San Benito High School student body raised money last year for  Wonder Woofs, a local nonprofit, who used the funds to purchase a new drug-sniffing dog, Sapphire, which will be trained and used at area schools, including San Benito High.

“We use all golden retrievers,” said Sean Haggett, founder of Wonder Woofs, in an interview Tuesday. “They’re friendly dogs.”

San Benito High School Principal Krystal Lomanto said Wonder Woofs is a “great preventative tool” for the high school.

Haggett said the reason the school helped raise the funds is to be “proactive” against drugs on campuses - on their campus and other campuses.

“It’s not that a school has a drug problem,” he said. “If we can deter one child from doing drugs, it’s a good thing.” 

Having a drug-free environment is a “priority” for the school, Lomanto said in an e-mail to the Free Lance on Thursday.

“SBHS takes pride and works very hard at providing a safe campus for our students and staff,” she said. “Wonder Woofs has helped by providing a positive deterrent.”