LAUSD Students Face Tougher Academics In 2013-2014 School Year
WESTLAKE DISTRICT (CBSLA.com) — An estimated 600,000 Los Angeles Unified School District students are kicking off the 2013-2014 school year Tuesday with some major changes!
Schools will start rolling in Common Core State Standards, the first nationwide set of English and math standards that aim to be tougher academically and nurture students' technological skills.
"We have more than 300 teachers who've been training other teachers on our new curriculum," Superintendent John Deasy told KNX1070.
LAUSD Students Face Tougher Academics In 2013-2014 School Year
The iPad project has been launched as part of the new curriculum. About 30,000 students will be equipped with the computer tablet this year, with the ultimate goal of having them in the hands of all students and teachers, officials said.
"So many of the students have a high facility for how to use the technology, and the teachers of course have the high facility of the content. So it's going to be a rather remarkable match," LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy said earlier in the month. "I'm incredibly proud of the fact that we are leading the way in California on this."
The district also added three new school campuses to relieve overcrowding. These schools — Dr. Sammy Lee Medical and Health Sciences Magnet School, Sally Ride Elementary School: A SMArT Academy, and Diego Rivera Learning Complex — are a part of the LAUSD's $19.5 billion New School Construction and Modernization program to provide all students with the opportunity to attend a safe school operating on a two-semester calendar.
"We have finally built 131 schools so that no student in LAUSD does not have a seat for a traditional calendar," Deasy said.
School principals recently attended a workshop to discuss school safety as 1,000 new campus aids have been added to the overall security staff at LAUSD schools.
"They're not security officers per se; they're not police officers, but they do help enforce school rules. They do help monitor those coming in and out of the school, signing people in and out. They do pay attention to what's happening on campus," LAUSD Police Chief Steve Zipperman said.
District leaders are asking that all families make sure students are up-to-date on school vaccinations.
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