life
CITY
HEIGHTS
AZALEA PARK•FAIRMOUNT VILLAGE•HOLLYWOOD PARK•SWAN CANYON•CHEROKEE POINT•RIDGEVIEW•CHOLLAS CREEK
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Volume 4 • Issue 7
CORRIDOR•FAIRMOUNT PARK•COLINA PARK•CASTLE•FOX CANYON•ISLENAIR•BAYRIDGE•TERALTA EAST•TERALTA WEST
Copley-Price Family YMCA set to open Jan. 3
Opening day for the Copley- body in the community.” Price Family YMCA that has been The Copley Family YMCA inirising from the ground once home to tially sought to remodel and expand the Pearson Ford dealership on Fair- its current facility on Landis Street, mount Avenue and El Cajon Boule- but that vision changed after Price vard is set for Jan. 3. Charities offered to donate the 3.7“This is a great addition acre Pearson Ford property that to the neighborhood. it had acquired. Attention I’m really excited soon turned toward Para traddución about it,” said the viability of buildvea página 2 Sandi Brooks, a ing a state-of-the-art City Heights naYMCA campus on Spanish translation tive who graduthe site that sits near on page 2 ated from Hoover the intersection of the High School, watched Talmadge, Kensington, as the Pearson Ford dealerand City Heights communities. ship was built, and then fretted about Numerous meetings were held with the vacant lot after the business shut community groups, and support for down. “This will be really beneficial the project, which sailed through the not only to the kids, but (to) every- city’s planning process, was nearly
December 2014
The new Copley-Price Family YMCA is set to open on Jan. 3 at the site of the old Pearson Ford dealership on El Cajon Boulevard. The $34 million, 53,000-square-foot center will be nearly twice the size of the old Copley Family YMCA on Landis Street. No one will be turned away because of their inability to pay for membership fees.
universal. “Everyone came together to make it happen,” Robert Price, president of both Price Charities and Price Philanthropies, said at a February groundbreaking ceremony. The $34 million, 53,000-squarefoot center will be nearly twice the size of the old Copley Family YMCA on Landis Street. It will include two swimming pools, a 12,000-squarefoot soccer arena, a 9,223-squarefoot gym, a state-of-the-art fitness
center, a teen center, and multiple exercise studios. The new facility is on tap for LEED “Silver” certification. A parking structure will accommodate 296 vehicles. “The completion of this ambitious project is very exciting for me, very exciting for the YMCA board and very exciting for the community,” said Timothy Barry, who serves on the Copley-Price Family YMCA board of directors and chaired the group’s capital campaign.
Barry said financing included grants from Price Philanthropies, the Helen K. and James S. Copley Foundation, the David C. Copley Foundation, contributions from many community organizations and individuals, state grants and tax credits. The new facility is projected to serve more than double the number currently being served at the Landis
[ YMCA, P2]
F R O M T H E P R I N C I PA L’S D E S K
Cero tolerancia
a veces no
es lo mejor Por Godwin Higa
Director, Primaria Cherokee Point
Zero tolerance often
misses the point
Cherokee Point Elementary School Principal talks to a student who needs a little understanding. El Director de la Primaria Cherokee Point habla con un estudiante que necesita un poquito de comprensión. Photo Credit: Speak City Heights.
By Godwin Higa
Principal, Cherokee Point Elementary School
In line after recess, Jacob gets antsy and starts poking Marcos. Marcos tells Jacob to stop, and when he doesn’t, Marcos pushes Jacob. An altercation ensues. At a school with a zero-tolerance discipline policy, Marcos and Jacob would be sent to the principal’s office and suspended based on guidelines set by the district. Tens of thousands of elementary school students were
suspended last year statewide. The numbers grow as students advance to middle and high school. Most of the students suspended are children of color and males. At Cherokee Point Elementary School, where I am principal, the story would have a different ending. After three years of declining rates, we have had no suspensions since the 2012-13 school year. The fight might be handled by a teacher who has been trained to understand how a child’s brain reacts to ongoing stress. She might call in a counselor to talk to the students.
They would ask not just “what had happened in line?” but also “what’s going on at home?” At our school, the staff would know that Jacob’s mother is terminally ill. They’d know that Marcos’ father had just moved out. Staff would hold the students accountable by helping them calm down and try to touch each other’s hearts. The students would decide together how to make it better. Overwhelming evidence now
[ PRINCIPAL, P9]
Mientras esperaba en fila después del recreo, Jacob se sintió inquieto y comenzó a empujar a Marcos con el dedo. Marcos le dijo a Jacob que dejara de hacerlo y como siguió haciéndolo, Marcos empujó a Jacob y ocurrió un altercado. En una escuela con política disciplinaria con cero tolerancia, Marcos y Jacob serían enviados a la oficina del director y serían suspendidos de acuerdo a las normas establecidas por el distrito. Decenas de miles de estudiantes de primaria fueron suspendidos el año pasado en todo el estado. Las cifras aumentan a medida que los estudiantes pasan a secundaria y preparatoria. La mayor parte de los estudiantes suspendidos son varones de color. En la Primaria Cherokee Point, en donde soy director, la historia hubiera tenido un final distinto. Después de tres años de ir reduciendo la tasa de suspensión, no hemos suspendido a nadie desde el
año escolar 2012-13. La pelea hubiera sido manejada por un maestro adiestrado para entender cómo reacciona el cerebro de un niño ante estrés continuo. Puede pedir a un consejero que se reúna con los estudiantes. Los consejeros no solo preguntarían, “¿qué pasó en la fila?”, sino también “¿qué está pasando en casa?” En nuestra escuela, el personal sabría que la mamá de Jacob tiene una enfermedad terminal. Sabrían que el papá de Marcos acaba de abandonar el hogar. El personal se aseguraría de que los estudiantes rindieran cuentas por sus actos, los ayudarían a calmarse y tratarían de que cada uno viera lo que está en el corazón del otro. Los estudiantes decidirían juntos cómo pueden solucionar el problema. La evidencia demuestra abrumadoramente que las suspensiones en las escuelas no mejoran la conducta del
[ DIRECTOR, P8]