Education

School Board to Discuss Evaluation of Superintendent in Closed Session

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LAPS News:

The School Board will hold Special School Board Meetings at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28 and Wednesday, Jan. 29 at the Los Alamos Public Schools Administration Building, Conference Room A (in basement area.)

The agenda items for the Special School Board Meetings will be Pledge of Allegiance, call to order and roll call. Following the roll call, there will be a motion to go into a closed Executive Session in the Los Alamos Public Schools Administration Building to discuss limited personnel matters, specifically the evaluation of the Superintendent per Section 10-15-1-(H)(2) as allowed Read More

Matt Walker Wins County Spelling Bee

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Winners of the Los Alamos County Spelling Bee from left, third place winner Lidia Appell, first place winner Matt Walker and second place winner Eleanor Henderson. Courtesy photo

LAPS News:

A good crowd was on hand to enjoy the Los Alamos County Spelling Bee Tuesday, Jan. 21 at Chamisa Elementary School.  

The winner was Matt Walker from Pinon Elementary School. He is a sixth grader who enjoys math and P.E.  He also loves to run and play soccer and wants to be a lawyer. Walker will represent Los Alamos at the New Mexico Spelling Bee.  

In second place was Eleanor Henderson from Mountain Read More

‘Dr. Dave’ Shares Weird World of General Relativity With Pinon Students

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Dr. Dave (Schiferl) and students use crack-the-whip (in slow motion) to demonstrate how moons too close to Saturn can disintegrate to form the rings. Courtesy photo

PAC 8 News:

“Dr. Dave” Schiferl explored the “Wonderful, Weird World of General Relativity” with teachers and students at Pinon Elementary School Wednesday, Jan. 15.

The retired Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist and president of the PAC 8 Board of Directors put together the presentation, geared toward elementary school students.

“There are all sorts of weird, beautiful and dangerous things in the world of general Read More

Los Alamos High School Principal Announces Retirement

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Sandra Warnock

LAHS News:

Los Alamos High School Principal Sandra Warnock announced her intent to retire at the end of the 2013-14 school year. Warnock made the announcement during a meeting with her staff Wednesday afternoon.

Shortly after the meeting, School Board President Jim Hall stated, “I am grateful for Ms. Warnock’s long service to the district. I will personally miss working with her.”

Warnock is completing an exemplary 30-year career with Los Alamos Public Schools that began in 1984 as a Special Education teacher at the high school. She served in this capacity for 22 years before Read More

Fourth Annual UNM-LA Music Marathon Raises Money for Scholarships

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UNM-LA News:

The results are in and the Fourth Annual UNM-LA Music Marathon, held Sunday Jan. 19, raised nearly $900 to benefit the student scholarship fund at the community college. Fifty-four performers from both in and out of town entertained an audience of over one hundred who attended the 7-hour event in the Student Center on the UNM-LA campus.

Juanita Madland and Rheta Moazzami organized the music marathon with the help of The Los Alamos Music Teachers Association who paid for piano tuning by James Beinke. Robin Gurule provided 8 gallons of green chile stew, and Drs. Tom Csanadi and Marvel Read More

LAPS Receives $100,000 ‘Early College in High School’ Grant

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LAPS News:

Gov. Susana Martinez announced that the Los Alamos Public Schools will receive a $100,000 Early College in the High School grant that enables Los Alamos High School students to work on college degrees even as students earn their high school diploma.

In a unique partnership with the UNM-Los Alamos, Los Alamos High School (LAHS)will forge alliances with northern New Mexico’s most important businesses, industries, and universities to provide a 21st Century approach to learning, called Los Alamos High School 2.0.

“Early college high school programs are a critical part of our education Read More

LAPS Meeting With PED Opens Door for Dialogue

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Los Alamos AFT President Ellen Mills addresses the Jan. 14 School Board as President Jim Hall listens. Photo by Bonnie J. Gordon/ladailypost.com
 
By BONNIE J. GORDON
Los Alamos Daily Post

At the Jan.14 School Board Meeting, Board President Jim Hall and Vice President Judy Bjarke-McKenzie reported on a Dec. 20 meeting between Los Alamos School District officials and New Mexico Secretary of Education Hanna Skandera and her staff, and the responses the district has received from the Public Education Department (PED) following that meeting.

Superintendent Gene Schmidt, School Board Read More

Los Alamos Native Receives NEA’s 2013-14 Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence

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Charles Gerheart

Staff Report

Born and raised in Los Alamos, Charles (Chuck) Gerheart is New Mexico’s recipient of the NEA 2013-14 Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence. He is the son of Don and Jane Gerheart of White Rock who were both band directors for Los Alamos Public Schools.

Gerheart directs the Cobre High School Band and has been recognized for his work with Cobre music students. He began his teaching career in the Clayton Municipal Schools as the director of bands before becoming director of music at Cobre High School. Beginning in 1999, while in his third year of teaching, Gerheart Read More

NM Kids Count Data Book Release Tuesday

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STATE News:

  • Youth to Call on Lawmakers to Address State’s 50th Ranking in Child Well-Being

ALBUQUERQUE—This year’s New Mexico KIDS COUNT Data Book, which is set for release on the first day of the legislative session, will address the state’s fall to 50th in the nation in child well-being. A new section in the annual report tracks the status, over time, of the 16 indicators used in the national KIDS COUNT Data Book, in which New Mexico was ranked dead last in 2013. This new section also ranks New Mexico counties on the indicators.

The NM KIDS COUNT Data Book will be released as part of Celebrating Children Read More

Letter to the Editor: Privatization at the Expense of New Mexico Education

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By Sen. JOHN SAPIEN
D-9-Bernalillo and Sandoval

In March 2013, the Legislature adopted an amendment to allow a fair bidding process for high school equivalency tests to be administered throughout the state. Although it passed both chambers unanimously, Gov. Martinez later pocket vetoed it. Coincidently, on that very same day, in fact, the Public Education Department (PED) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which requires that PED will exclusively contract with Pearson PLC to administer GED tests.

In a July Legislative Education Study Committee (LESC) meeting, PED staff testified Read More