2010-11 back to school
The documentary “Miss Representation” will be shown Sunday, May 20, at Western Washington University.
The event begins at 6 p.m. in the Viking Union Multi-Purpose Room in Bellingham.
The film by Jennifer Siebel Newsom premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. It delves into how the media’s misrepresentations of women have led to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence.
Tickets are $10 general admission, $3 with a student I.D.
Buy tickets at the door, or click here to buy them online.
The trailer for “Miss Representation” is below.
From Western Washington University:
Western Washington University has a record enrollment of nearly 15,000 students for fall quarter. Although the plan had been to hold enrollment to fall quarter 2009 levels, overwhelming responses by admitted students as well as increased retention of current students resulted in an additional 400 students.
Fall enrollment at Western is 14,979 students, including all full-time, part-time, undergraduate and graduate students and students who attend Western programs in Everett, Port Angeles, Bremerton, Seattle and Anacortes.
New freshman enrollment is a record 2,748 and there are 819 new transfer students.
“Western offers an excellence in academics that is highly sought by prospective students and strongly embraced by our current students,” said Western President Bruce Shepard. “In spite of continuing and significant state funding reductions, Western is working diligently and strategically to help address the state of Washington’s extremely low overall production of graduates with bachelor’s degrees, one of the lowest such rates by any state in the nation. There is strong demand in our economy for those with bachelor’s degrees; it is a key lynchpin for economic recovery and continuing prosperity for both our state and country.”
Student of color enrollment increased to a record 19.3 percent, compared with 18.66 percent in fall 2009. Students of color comprise 23.5 percent of freshmen and 21.7 percent of transfers – both records for Western.
Because of increased retention and reduced state funding, Western’s Office of Admissions will limit Winter and Spring 2011 admissions in order to provide necessary course access for currently enrolled students.
“Record enrollment is great in the fact that it means Western is doing a lot of things very well. On the other hand, it means that we have less space to accommodate new students in Winter and Spring 2011. With the larger than anticipated fall quarter enrollment, we simply do not have the space or the faculty to enroll all interested students,” said Karen Copetas, director of WWU Admissions and Enrollment Planning.
In addition to increased interest and increased retention, graduation rates continue to improve with 71 percent of all students who began studies at Western in Fall 2005 graduating in five years or less compared with 68 percent of the entering class of Fall 2004.
Ferndale and Windward high schools will be opening their doors Thursday night for the greater community.
Below is the release from the Ferndale School District.
Ferndale High School and Windward High School faculty and staff welcome you to join them on Thursday, September 23, for an Open House beginning at 6:45 p.m.
This year, we will not run a bell schedule. Instead, we are opening our doors for you to visit classrooms as you wish. Schedules will be available in the Main Office.
We will also offer several focus groups that will give you an opportunity to learn more about specific topics. See the choices available in the schedule below.
Schedule
6:45 – 7:00pm General Welcome in Auditorium
7:00 – 8:00pm Meet teachers in their classrooms and attend Focus GroupsCoffee and cookies available in the cafeteria.
Focus Groups
6:15 – 6:40pm Culminating Project, Cafeteria
Find out what your senior will need to know and be able to do for the Culminating Project. Principal Mark will review the CP Handbook and answer questions.7:10 – 7:25pm College Readiness, Library
Counselors Susan Wood and Aurora Davis will lead this session designed to help parents navigate the steps necessary for college entrance. Parents of juniors and seniors are encouraged to attend.7:30 – 7:45pm Get Involved, Cafeteria
Athletics and Activities Director, Vic Randall, will highlight the various clubs, academic competitions and sports available for all students.
The Ferndale School District has posted the following news release on its negotiations updates page.
School will start on Tuesday, Sept. 14.
Release Date: September 11, 2010; 3:59 p.m.
At the midnight hour, literally, on Friday, September 10, District and Ferndale Education (FEA) Association negotiating team members reached a tentative three-year agreement.
Two hundred and forty FEA members met Saturday morning and ratified the contract with a 100% “YES” vote. Ferndale School Board will meet Monday, September 13, at 8:00 a.m. to ratify the contract.
“Everyone worked long and hard to make this come to fruition. I want to thank both teams for their efforts. Also, I want to thank the Ferndale community. I know this has been a difficult process for many. I apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience. I truly believe we have achieved a settlement that is going to be best for everyone and ultimately result in a better education for our community’s children. Now, we all want to get back to our mission of providing a quality education to the children of our community,” said Superintendent Linda Quinn.
Following are the contract items that were under discussion since September 3 and agreed to on September 11. Other changes in the contract were agreed to during the negotiations meetings that occurred between April and August 23.
Ferndale School District (District) Contract Proposal for the Ferndale Education Association (FEA)
Length of Contract
The contract is for the period September 1, 2010, through August 31, 2013.Elementary Preparation Time
The District accepted the Association’s proposal to increase the amount of elementary teachers’ planning time during the school day by 30 minutes per week (from 120 to 150 minutes), starting this year, using certificated staff to increase that time. The District recognizes the important role planning time plays in developing quality lessons and responding to student and family needs. Currently elementary teachers have 225 minutes of planning time per week before school (45 minutes per day) and 120 minutes per week during the student day.Health Care Plan Selection
The District agreed to the Association’s proposal to allow its members to vote on health care plans and then to adopt the plans they select through this vote for every member.Health Care Authority (Medical Benefit Assistance)
Starting in 2010, the District agreed to make a contribution to each Association member’s benefits package as per the following arrangement:
2010/11 $15 District contribution per month per full-time FEA member
2011/12 $30 District contribution per month per full-time FEA member
2012/13 100% of the cost of Health Care Authority, not to exceed $75 per monthEarly Release Time
Recognizing it is essential that teachers have time to collaborate together, the District agreed to schedule 10 early release days to be distributed across the school year calendar. One of the days will be used for district/school improvement planning. Another one will be used by teachers for individually determined planning/collaboration. The remaining 8 days will be split with 50% of the time used by teachers for collaboration or planning work of their own choosing and the other 50% spent working on building and district teaching and learning goals.Compensation
The District agreed to increase the local salary allocation to each teacher from 15% to 15.65% in 2010-2011. This increase is intended to cover the state’s elimination of one day’s pay. (This does not constitute a raise for teachers during the first year of the contract; rather it keeps them at their current salaries.) The District offered an additional .5% raise in the second year of the contract, and another 3.5% raise in the third year of the contract.Replacement Learning Improvement Day (LID)
The District agreed to replace the Learning Improvement Day (LID) that the state eliminated at the end of the 2009-2010 school year. Salary for this day is included in the compensation package offered by the District as the .65% increase referenced under “compensation” above.Academic Freedom
The Association agreed to withdraw its proposed language in this area.Grievance Procedure
The District agreed to expand the definition of “grievant” in the current contract to add “the Association” along with individual employees.Class Size/Class Mix
The District committed in writing to try to keep class sizes at or below agreed upon targets.Personal Leave
The District agreed to allow FEA members to use their personal leave days for recreation.Maternity, Paternity Adoption Leave
The District agreed to provide additional leave opportunities to staff who are adding a new baby to their families.Assessment Resources
The District agreed to provide additional support for teachers to conduct
UPDATE 4 p.m.: The FEA has unanimously ratified the contract.
The Ferndale School District and the Ferndale Education Association have reached a tentative contract agreement, according to the FEA.
Teachers were scheduled to meet at Ferndale High School at 11 a.m. to take a vote on the contract. At the time of this posting, the meeting was in session.
There is nothing on the district website about the tentative agreement. The Ferndale School Board will also need to approve the contract.
School is still canceled for Monday, Sept. 13.
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