Education

Long waiting list for Head Start, despite new federal grant

Day after day, Criselda Feria waits for a phone call that will give her good news. Her name is stuck on a waiting list that will give her a slot for federally-subsidized child care. Feria’s 18-month-old son is one of the 2,074 children still on the Contra Costa County’s waiting list to receive Early Head Start child care.

WCCUSD to open Mandarin Chinese immersion school for kindergarten

Mandarin Chinese is the most spoken language in the world, and this fall, West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) kindergartners will be both speaking and learning in it. On February 15, the WCCUSD Board of Education approved a new Mandarin language dual-immersion school that will open for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Student canvassers helped elect charter friendly school board

SFER AN and its parent organization, Students for Education Reform (SFER), present themselves as student-run, grassroots groups that advocate for change and improvement in local public education systems. But leaders in both organizations have charter school connections that appear to influence the groups’ activities, from educating eligible voters to endorsing candidates.

Phillips and Panas elected to school board

Mister Phillips and Tom Panas will be the newest members of the West Contra Costa Unified School District Board of Education, according to unofficial results reported by the Contra Costa Elections Division.