Turlock’s Texas Ranger talks with students about priorities

Local baseball player Tom Mendonca has a lesson to teach about priorities. This Turlock High School graduate went on to win the College World Series with the Fresno State Bulldogs. He was also named the College World Series Most Outstanding Player and he won the Joe Kearney Award in 2009, which recognized him as the top male athlete in the Western Athletic Conference. After all of his success, however, he says that baseball is not his top priority.

Conflict of interest forces new TUSD trustee to resign

Turlock Unified School District Trustee Lori Crivelli resigned her seat on with only one meeting under her belt on Wednesday due to a potential conflict of interest.

Turlock students come up short in Mock Trials

Turlock and Pitman high students spent the last three months learning how the court system works with the hope that their understanding could be turned into winning prosecution and defense teams. While their arguments were compelling, in the end, they were left with no appeal to move on in the Stanislaus County Mock Trials event.

TUSD starts off the new year with fresh perspectives

Three new trustees were sworn into office at the Turlock Unified School District Board meeting on Tuesday, ushering in a new era in district leadership.

CSUS students and faculty stage multiple rallies against recent cuts

California State University, Stanislaus students staged a massive walkout Wednesday morning to protest the loss of Winter Term, cuts to classes and professors, and what many termed as the "poor leadership" of President Hamid Shirvani.

Anti-Debely coalition voice legal concerns

Despite the threat of potential litigation at Tuesday's Turlock Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting, the board moved forward with the master plan of the Joe Debely Stadium renovations with some additional add-ons for a cost of about $3.6 million.

Bullies beware: TUSD is out to stop you

Spring is the time of year for flowers to bloom and Mother Nature to come out of hibernation, but it is also the time when bullying incidents spring up the most.

Universities strive to end graduation gap for low-income and minority students

Minority and low-income students have historically had a harder path to and through college, but a new nationwide initiative looks to close that achievement gap.

UC Merced application deadline now Dec. 15

The University of California, Merced, pushed back the deadline for Fall 2010 applications for the second time in as many days.

Earl students take a step toward physical fitness

Every Tuesday and Thursday morning, passersby can see Dennis Earl Elementary students working on their fitness by walking about a mile before class starts. Their inspiration: Colored feet charms to add to their stylish necklaces.

Local students hone their NFL skills

The lawn outside Walnut Elementary Education Center was transformed into a mini National Football League training camp this past September for 120 students who were looking to put their best punt, pass and kick forward.

Walnut Elementary earns top four in state H1N1 video contest

Sneeze into a tissue, cough into your sleeve, wash your hands, sanitize. These health-minded words along, with the catchy tune that accompany them, have been stuck in the heads of Walnut Elementary School students since they started making their H1N1 public service announcement for the California Department of Public Health.

California steps up competition for education grant

Education cuts are coming at state governments left and right leaving local school districts with little to nothing to teach the students of the future. No one has much money and the students of America are suffering.

Academic Senate censures CSU Stanislaus interim provost

The California State University, Stanislaus Academic Senate voted Tuesday to formally censure Interim Provost Herman Lujan for "intemperate remarks" made in a Nov. 4 letter to the editor, published in the Turlock Journal.

Faculty has ‘no confidence’ in CSU Stanislaus president

The votes have been tallied and the results are in: the General Faculty of California State University, Stanislaus voted overwhelmingly Friday to express no confidence in the performance and leadership of CSU Stanislaus President Hamid Shirvani.

EDUCATION: NEW YEAR CELEBRATION

Dennis Earl Elementary students, staff and families celebrated the third annual Sixth Grade Chinese New Year Parade on Friday. 2012 is the Year of the Dragon and Earl sixth graders went all out designing and building their dragons. In Chinese culture the dragon wards off evil spirits and brings good luck. Sixth grade curriculum standards include Chinese history and students learn about the dynasties, religions and governments of ancient China.

Denair schools get good news, bad news in academic report

Schools in the Denair Unified School District saw both positive and negative academic results based on the annual School Accountability Report Card, released Wednesday. Denair's two primary schools, Denair Elementary and Denair Academic Avenues, both performed well academically, however, Denair Middle School, Denair High School and Denair Charter Academy failed to compete with other Turlock area school districts and California state averages in nearly every statistically category. The SARC serves as a ...

Hilmar Unified facing financial crisis

Hilmar Unified School District Superintendent Isabel Cabral-Johnson held a special informational public meeting last Tuesday evening to discuss possible courses of action for the HUSD Board of Education to take in various budget scenarios. The only clear unanimous conclusion from the meeting was that the district should plan for the worst case budget scenario and that drastic expenditure cuts must be made throughout the district. "So we are really trying to build ...

Catholic Schools Week

Sacred Heart School in Turlock celebrates Catholic Schools Week from Jan. 29 to Feb. 5 with events on campus every day. This year's theme is "Faith, Academics, Service."

Hilmar schools earn good grades on annual report

The Hilmar Unified School District released the 2010-11 round of School Accountability Report Cards and schools district-wide are performing above the state average. The SARC serves as a compilation of information on schools and their respective academic performances as well as enrollment, demographic, discipline, facilities and basic financial information. However, the bottom line of the report cards is how the schools are performing academically - which is measured by the Academic Performance Index. The ...

100 days and counting

Denair Elementary School and Denair Academic Avenues teamed up to celebrate the 100th day of school with a canned food drive for Gateway Church food pantry. In addition, the canned food drive students learned about the number 100 through creative activities and school work. The numbers 1-100 are an important part of first grade curriculum.

TUSD looks to improve substitute teaching coverage

When Grady Welch was elected to the Turlock Unified School District Board of Trustees one of his major concerns was what he was hearing from school teachers and administrators about a lack of substitute teachers. Welch said rumors abounded that on numerous occasions at various TUSD schools a lack of available substitute teachers forced students to sit on floors and learn in combined classrooms when teachers called in sick or had scheduled absences. ...

CSU trustees cap presidential compensation

In response to concerns over rapidly escalating executive pay, the California State University Board of Trustees on Wednesday moved to cap presidential compensation. Newly-hired CSU presidents may now earn a base salary, paid thorough public funds, no more than 10 percent above the previous incumbent's base pay. Compensation will be determined by referencing a new tiered list of comparable universities, and considering candidate's personal qualifications. Previously, compensation was determined through comparative list ...

TUSD lunches already close to new USDA mandates

School cafeterias will soon feature a lot more whole grains, fruits, vegetables and reduced sodium under new guidelines from the USDA. First Lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack unveiled new national standards for school meals this week to improve health amongst our nation's youth. The new standards will affect more than 32 million students nationwide who receive school meals every day. "As parents, we try to prepare decent meals, ...

Pitman band members earn honors

Pitman High School Band members Bryan Rosales (French Horn), Eddie Savelson (French Horn), Jamie Orlando (Flute) and Ryan Williams (Basson) were selected to the Northern California Honor Band, which preformed last weekend in Stockton. Rosales and Savelson have also been selected to the All-California Honor Band. This summer The Pitman Marching Pride hopes to attend the Independence Day Parade in Washington D.C. The band's goal is to raise $106,000 for 119 students to ...

School officials caught in the middle with transitional kindergarten

Turlock Unified School District officials are scratching their heads over what course of action to take about transitional kindergarten. Assistant Superintendent Lacrisha Ferriera even jokingly admitted the quandary is affecting her sleeping patterns. Odds are she isn't alone. Less than two weeks ago TUSD schools were going to send home registration information for the TK programs, but Governor Jerry Brown's proposed budget was leaked and it included the elimination of funding for the ...

TUSD fares well on annual academic report

The report cards are out and the Turlock Unified School District is showing marked improvement in academic performance for the third consecutive year. Earlier this week, TUSD released the 2010-11 round of School Accountability Report Cards. The SARC serves as a compilation of information on schools and their respective academic performance as well as enrollment, demographic, discipline, facilities and basic financial information. However, the bottom line of the report cards is how ...

School district earns ‘A’ for energy conservation

The Turlock Unified School District has saved more than $1.22 million since April of 2009, when energy conservation efforts were launched. Those saved funds are diverted away from utility bills and moved back into the TUSD general education budget. "During these difficult budget times these types of savings are critical for the district. There is a direct correlation between those savings and programs, jobs and benefits," said TUSD Trustee Frank Lima. The ...

Turlock, Denair school employees receive accolades for going above and beyond

Dutcher students honored for responsibility

Dutcher Middle School students Lucas Bartel (7th grade) and Rayana Plancarte (8th grade) were recently honored as the Turlock Unified School District's Character Counts students of the month for the trait of responsibility. Lucas and Rayana share many similarities, including their impressive grade point average of 3.57, and they are both enrolled in Spanish language immersion classes. The biggest similarity between them is they are both known as responsible students and members of ...