Foreign Language Academy

GLENDALE — The more than 500 students who live in Los Angeles but attend Glendale Unified schools won a one-year reprieve this week from a plan that would have closed the borders between the two districts. Glendale Unified was poised to lose $2.5 million in attendance-based revenue if all of its Los Angeles-based students had their inter-district permits revoked, but an announcement by Los Angeles Unified Supt. Ramon Cortines on Tuesday put the possible move off until the next school year.

GLENDALE — School district teachers are anticipating the results of the final seniority rankings, with teachers high on the list being more likely to lose their jobs. The list, due out this week, is expected to range from one to 105, down from a possible 112 teachers who were notified they could be let go, officials said. State law requires the layoff process to be strictly objective, said John Garcia, assistant superintendent of human resources. “There’s no subjectivity in this process,” he said.

GLENDALE — Shutting down a campus before the start of the 2010 school year — as other districts are doing — is not among the options to narrow an $18.5-million deficit projected by July 2012, at least for now, Glendale Unified School District officials said. Supt. Michael Escalante said closing a campus before the start of school next year is off the table, but he wouldn’t rule it out as a cost-cutting option in the future. “I think over time, when people get more and more desperate for how to keep the district solvent, obviously something as desperate as closing schools becomes an option,” he said.

GLENDALE — Local school officials are criticizing a White House plan to fund out-of-the-classroom science and math programming from private companies and nonprofits, arguing they could once again be left out of the picture. Grant money funds a variety of electives and extracurricular activities at Glendale school campuses, but the district is often passed over because its schools are academically successful and free from governmental intervention compared with the other 1,039 school districts in California.

TODAY The American Red Cross Glendale- Crescenta Chapter will be selling Valentine?s Day emergency kit gifts at 1501 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale. Call (818) 243-3121, or visit www.arcglendale.org. ? The AARP West Glendale Chapter 1886 will meet at 1 p.m. in the Carlson Fellowship Center of the First United Methodist Church, 130 N. Kenwood St., Glendale. The program features Cindy Butalia, a representative of the Glendale Department of Transportation, who will speak on new transportation develpments in the city, especially those of interest to senior adults.

GLENDALE — School officials have approved expanding the district’s popular foreign-language immersion program to include Japanese at Verdugo Woodlands Elementary School. The Foreign Language Academy of Glendale is a dual-language elementary and middle school program in which students are exposed to instruction in one of now six foreign languages and English throughout the year. Classes are expected to begin in Japanese at Verdugo Woodlands next fall, representing a major win for parents there who had been lobbying for the program.

GLENDALE — School officials have approved expanding the district’s popular foreign-language immersion program to include Japanese at Verdugo Woodlands Elementary School. The Foreign Language Academy of Glendale is a dual-language elementary and middle school program in which students are exposed to instruction in one of now six foreign languages and English throughout the year. Classes are expected to begin in Japanese at Verdugo Woodlands next fall, representing a major win for parents there who had been lobbying for the program.

GLENDALE — More than 150 school teachers, parents and students rallied Thursday at Toll Middle School to pressure the Board of Education to withdraw 105 teacher pink slips. Organizers for the Glendale Teachers Assn. also encouraged attendees to join the Coalition to Protect Glendale Schools, which, with help from the California Teachers Assn., would support elected officials who protect class sizes. “[Kindergarten] through third [grade] are the most formative years of our children’s education,” said union President Tami Carlson.

Following a successful community forum on public education, the Glendale Council PTA is hosting a candidates forum featuring Glendale Unified School District board candidates. The event begins at 7 p.m. March 3 in the Board Room, 223 N. Jackson St. The Glendale/Burbank League of Women Voters is moderating the forum. Questions should be submitted via e-mail at http://gb.ca.lwvnet.org/contact.html or by telephone at (818) 925-4598. "We encourage people to attend, but it will also be televised and re-broadcast on Glendale city's Channel 15 (GTV6)

Federal grants worth $2.4 million will expand successful dual-language programs at Glendale Unified School District to more campuses, officials said Wednesday. The Foreign Language Academy of Glendale, known as FLAG, was awarded two grants by the U.S. Department of Education, a rare funding boost that administrators said would allow Spanish-language programming at Toll Middle School and Korean at another middle school campus by 2013. FLAG began a few years ago and offers bilingual education in Spanish, Armenian, Korean, German and, most recently, Italian.