September 2012
C O M M U N I T Y N E W S T H AT M A K E S A D I F F E R E N C E
Vol 17 No. 9
Serving Central Santa Cruz County
California Launches New Grade Level
Young students have a new option Eight Hundred School Districts to Offer Transitional Kindergarten
By Noel Smith s the school year begins, districts throughout California will begin offering transitional kindergarten — TK for short — the first new grade level in the state since the introduction of kindergarten in 1891. This school year, more than 800 school districts are expected to provide transitional kindergarten. This is the first year of a new two-year kindergarten for children with fall birthdays who are too young to enter regular kindergarten. Approximately 40,000 California students will be offered the new age-appropriate curriculum this fall in more than 2,000 classrooms. An estimated 125,000 California children will be eligible for TK once the program is fully phased in over the next three years. “These are tough economic times, and school budgets have been cut to the bone. Transitional kindergarten is one of the few bright spots on the educational horizon,” said State Senator Joe Simitian, the author of the Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010.
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Festival Season is here! Clockwise from top left: Capitola Art & Wine Festival • Capitola Begonia Festival • Santa Cruz Greek Food and Cultural Festival • Santa Cruz County Fair
IT’S
THE
SEASON
OF
FESTIVALS!
Seeking an end to a perfect summer in paradise
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Changing Lanes, Changing Lives Surviving Cancer
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Annual Coastal Cleanup
••• the 60th Begonia Festival in Capitola Art & Wine Capitola by the sea. Music, Entertainment, Movies, Sand f that wasn’t enough, the folSculpture contest, a not-tolowing weekend, September be-missed Nautical Parade, 8-9 is the Capitola Art & Wine and much more. It’s just a Festival. great time for both adults and kids. ... continued on page 5
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ow truly blessed we are to have such a variety of fun stuff to do and see. While the rest of the country has been sweltering and wishing for rain, we have had our foggy, cool
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mornings and sunny, zephyrous afternoons to enjoy. Now is time for celebration as the summer ends! ••• Begonia Festival ver Labor Day weekend, Aug 31-Sep 3, we have
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By Noel Smith
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Sharing the Road with School Buses
Locally owned & operated www.TPGonlinedaily.com
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