 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
November 4, 2004 Menlo Park City School District students used to be sent home early on parent-teacher conference days. But now, the district is trying a new way to keep students on campus while their parents and teachers chat. With a donation from the Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation, the school is bringing in instructors from Camp Galileo, a science, art and outdoor education program for students. Camp Galileo, which regularly operates a summer program at the district's Oak Knoll School, is running five half-day programs for each grade level at each of the district's three elementary schools. While students are with Camp Galileo instructors, their regular classroom teachers conduct conferences. In previous years, each of the district's schools has closed for six half-days to accommodate parent-teacher conferences. That was an inconvenience to many families who had to set up special child-care arrangements, said Superintendent Kenneth Ranella. But parents and teachers alike recognized the value of the conferences and didn't want to cut back, he said. Under this system, Ranella said, the students are the biggest winners. ``They're getting a really exciting and interesting exploratory science program, rather than whatever they would have been doing outside of school,'' he said. The program started rotating between schools Oct. 11 and will continue until Nov. 22. For more information, visit www.galileoed.com or call (800) 854-3684. Press Contact: |
|