Middle School

Just last week Michael Sanvictores was in the fifth grade at Mark Keppel Elementary School. But this week, he is a sixth-grader. "It came kind of quick," the 11-year-old said about the sixth grade. "I'm going to miss the one day before we left for the sixth grade." Michael and other fifth-grade students in tracks B and C returned to school on Thursday, after just five days of summer break, to start their year as sixth-graders. Students spent their first few days of school receiving new textbooks, workbooks and journals.

Gary Moskowitz GLENDALE -- The school board will review its middle school accountability system at Tuesday's board meeting. District officials have proposed changes to the current credit system because many feel it is not encouraging middle school students to take higher-level math courses before entering high school. The current system -- started in 2000-01 -- requires 90 credits for promotion to high school, including 20 credits in math and 20 credits in English.

Judy Seckler DOWNTOWN -- For Glendale Unified middle school students, promotion to high school will be a game of keeping track of credits -- the result of more stringent requirements recently approved by the school board. Starting in the fall, seventh-graders will be required to earn 90 credits to move on to high school, including 20 credits of language arts and math, Supt. Jim Brown said. In fall 2001, the credits required will increase to 100. However, if a student received one F grade in math or English, he or she will not be promoted unless the class is successfully completed in summer school.

GLENDALE — California's community college system wants students to start thinking about career paths early. The Career Exploration and Development for 7th and 8th Graders grant, from the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office, allocates $150,000 to Glendale Community College for training counselors at middle schools in Glendale and Burbank unified school districts. College board President Armine Hacopian, who was a middle school counselor for more than 12 years, said sixth, seventh and eighth grade are the transition years from childhood to the teenage years.

Last Friday, Rosemont Middle School's California Junior Scholarship Foundation [CJSF] and Builder's Club met to announce their upcoming Jambo jog/walk-a-thon fundraiser to raise money and awareness of the plight of girls in Kenya, Africa. The event will be on March 30, after school from 3:15 to 4:30. The school will be sponsoring nine African girls, helping them achieve a higher education. "This [the idea of a Rosemont fundraiser] started when I visited Africa," said teacher Shannon Estrada.

The following education programs will be on Charter Communications Channel 15. For more information, call 241-3111. TODAY 7 a.m. -- Channel 15 Program Guide 6 p.m. -- Channel 15 Program Guide 7 p.m. -- Glendale Unified School District Issues: "Transition from Elementary to Middle School" 8 p.m. -- GUSD "Middle School Spelling Bee" 9:30 p.m. -- GUSD "Scholastic Bowl" TUESDAY 7 a.m. -- Channel 15 Program Guide...

Gary Moskowitz GLENDALE -- Concerned parents can tune in to Charter Communications Channel 15 next week for a program on how to help ease students' transitions from elementary school to middle school. Principals, middle school counselors and teachers will sit on a live discussion panel from 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. The show will be televised. The discussion will focus on what parents, students and faculty can do to make the transition from elementary to middle school a successful one. A similar program, focusing on the transition from middle to high school, will run on Charter Cable Channel 15 from 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 17. The call-in number for both shows will appear on the screen during show times.

Players from the Los Angeles Clippers showed up Monday at Roosevelt Middle School, not to talk hoops but to award seventh- and eighth-grade students for their book-reading ability. The Roosevelt students won the Clippers Read to Achieve contest, which included schools from all over Los Angeles County. At Roosevelt, 140 students participated over a two-month period with more than a million minutes of reading. It was the first time Roosevelt participated in the program.

Glendale Unified plans to request an extension of the three-year federal grant that officials say has bolstered the success of its three magnet elementary schools over the past three years. In late 2010, Glendale schools won a grant worth more than $7.4 million to convert Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin and Mark Keppel elementary schools into magnet campuses, each with different emphases. Officials plan to request an extension to use any money left over at the end of this year to continue to support the magnet schools.

How many of you parents receive regular robo-calls from your child's school, those automated phone messages sent home? I receive three of them a week: one from my son's elementary school principal, one from my other son's middle school principal, and one from my principal. What began as an efficient way to communicate with parents about school events has turned into a regular running show that intrudes into one's personal life, the calls occurring on the same day at the same time.  Almost all of the messages are of the non-emergency kind (thankfully)

Toll Middle School was briefly locked down this morning after a student reported seeing a man with a gun on campus who turned out to be an armored vehicle driver on routine business, officials said. The student was walking through the campus when he spotted the man and immediately alerted school officials, who locked down the campus about 9:55 a.m., said Steven Frasher, spokesman for the Glendale Unified School District. The lockdown was lifted about 10:10 a.m. after police discovered the man's identity.

Flanked by her family and colleagues, President Obama today called Burbank Unified teacher Rebecca Mieliwocki - the 2012 national Teacher of the Year - “the definition of 'above and beyond.'” Mieliwocki, a Glendale resident who teaches English at Luther Burbank Middle School in Burbank, was given the national prize Monday by the Council of Chief State School Officers. Known for an unconventional teaching style that emphasizes critical thinking, Mieliwocki beat out more than 50 other nominees.

Toll Middle School has been identified as a model campus by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its efforts in building an inclusive culture. It was one of 77 schools nationwide, and eight in California, to be named a “Mix It Up Model School,” a title awarded to schools that have embraced and implemented the center's Teaching Tolerance project. “We are delighted to recognize each of these schools,” Teaching Tolerance Director Maureen Costello said in a statement. “Mix It Up Model Schools have found innovative ways to create a school environment where respect and inclusiveness are core values.

Burbank firefighters are responding to a minor gas leak at Jordan Middle School, but no evacuations have been ordered. The school's principal said the leak was minor and that the Fire Department was called out to the scene as a matter of protocol. -- Jason Wells and Maria Hsin, Times Community News Twitter: @JasonBretWells

Longtime Wilson Middle School music teacher Sarah Gianos died Thursday due to an undisclosed illness, according to Glendale Unified officials. She was 40. The location and cause of death were not immediately available on Monday. “She was a very good teacher, a wonderful part of our staff [and] was loved by her students,” Wilson Principal Rich Lucas said in a statement. “She was quiet, reserved and respected.” Gianos started her career with Glendale Unified in 2000 at Wilson Middle School, where she taught instrumental music to nearly 250 students each year.

In a tribute to the sacrifices of an earlier generation, Wilson Middle School students welcomed three U.S. military veterans to campus Thursday as part of their annual Veterans Day Assembly. The guests included World War II veterans Joseph Pietroforte and Joe Govea, and Korean War veteran Maury Starr. A fourth, World War II veteran Peter Howenstein, was honored in absentia. Veterans Day is officially celebrated on Nov. 11. The Wilson Middle School Veterans Day Assembly has become one of its most anticipated events of the year, creating a link between the history that students study in class and the personal experiences of the veterans, organizers said.

Twenty years ago, Linda Hamilton thrilled female audience members when her character emerged in the movie “Terminator 2,” doing amazing pull ups with a clearly defined muscular physique, never seen on a woman in a blockbuster movie before. Dallas Malloy, then 14, was impressed and began lifting weights the day after seeing the film. “I immediately started strength training after seeing that movie and then I saw, “Pumping Iron 2,” starring Bev Francis, who was one of the first really big females from Australia.

More than 100 people gathered Wednesday morning at South Pasadena Middle School to celebrate its new gym and library.  The two new buildings are the jewels in the crown of a campus expansion effort that began with a school construction bond in 2002. Former Los Angeles Lakers star A.C. Green, who holds the NBA record for most consecutive games played with 1,192, was on hand to make the ceremonial first basket in the expansive new gym. The facility has a 144-foot by 80-foot play space and eight retractable basketball hoops, accommodating full-court team play allowing four simultaneous smaller-scale games.