Curriculum Department

The district follows the curriculum development cycle of the California State Department of Education. Content standards and benchmarks and courses of study are based on state frameworks. Effective implmentation of district curriculum is supported by curriculum guides and staff development opportunities for each major subject area. For more specific information parents are encouraged to call their children's teachers, talk to the school principal and visit their children's classrooms.

Successful curriculum development and implementation requires careful planning, effective training, and informed leadership. Supported by the Education Services Division and school principals, teachers play an essential leadership role throughout the process of writing curriculum and selecting instructional materials. Implementation of new curriculum is enhanced by focused staff development over sufficient time to affect quality implementation.

The integration of technology throughout the instructional program is a district priority. The Instructional Technology Plan supports this goal through both district and school-based inservice programs. Goals include:

All Lompoc teachers with a reduced class size in grades K-3 attend the training. Class size reduction training delineates ways for teachers to modify their instructional strategies in order to maximize the educational advantages of class size reduction. Teachers acquire strategies for individualized instruction in reading, writing, and mathematics.

In the literacy training, teachers learn how to develop a balanced, comprehensive literacy program to their students. Topics include the reading process, reading assessments, phonemic awareness and phonics, shared reading, guided reading, modeled writing, and shared writing. In the instructional skills staff development portion of the training, teachers learn how to develop powerful learning through brain compatible instruction. Topics include lesson plan design, organization, and management of the classroom.

The K-12 mathematics, and English / language arts standards and benchmarks support district efforts over the past two years to improve the academic achievement of all students. By July 1998 Lompoc Unified will have reduced class size in all kindergarten through third grade classrooms, provided training to K-3 teachers on effective strategies, and prepared clearly written standards of mathematics and English / language arts achievement for grades K-12.

Standards and benchmarks were written by classroom teachers under the leadership of the Education Services Division to inform teachers, parents, students and the community of the expectations we have for what students will know and be able to do at each grade. It is our intent that the standards are rigorous and comprehensive and that all students in the district will meet them. In order for this to happen, educators, families, community members and students must know what is expected, and put fort the effort required to make the vision a reality.

Each summer, curriculum workshops are available to support new and continuing curriculum implementation such as:

Comprehensive Student Assessment Program: Lompoc Unified School District believes that all students must meet or exceed district grade level standards (see curriculum for details). In order to measure student performance and success a Comprehensive Student Assessment Program was developed. The program uses information from three different areas to determine student progress:

Grade Level Determination: The three areas of assessment are evaluated, weighted and one score developed. The one score determines if a student is at grade level. This information is reported to parents on a yearly basis.

Lompoc Unified School District was awarded a multi-year grant that will enable us to bring together community and school leaders to shape an educational program for students of the 21st Century. The goal of the program is to design K-12 learning experiences that will enable students to apply the skills they learn in the academic program into real life situations - specifically, looking at how school applies to a career and workplace.

The Tri-County GATE Council (TCGC) includes educators and parents in the Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo county area. The group meets monthly from September through May, usually on the second Friday of the month from 9:00am to 11:30am. Most meetings are held at the Ventura Unified School District Education Services Center, 255 W Stanley Ave, Ventura, CA. Meetings are open to the public and anyone with an interest in the education of gifted and talented students is welcome. There is no charge to attend meetings, however, school districts that send representatives to the meetings are requested to pay an annual participation fee to help cover administrative expenses.

For more news and information please subscribe to the Tri-County GATE listserv, available at:
http://www.rain.org/mailman/listinfo/tricogate-l.

El Concilio GATE de los Tres-Condados (Tri-County GATE Council, TCGC) incluye educadores y padres en el área de los condados de Ventura, Santa Bárbara y San Luis Obispo. El grupo se reúne mensualmente de septiembre a mayo, usualmente el segundo viernes del mes de las 9:00AM a 11:30 AM. La mayoría de las juntas tomaran lugar en el Centro Educativo del Distrito Escolar Unificado de Ventura, 255 W Stanley Ave, Ventura, CA. Las juntas son abiertas al público y todas las personas con interés en la educación de los estudiantes talentosos y superdotados son bienvenidas. No hay costo para asistir a esta juntas, sin embargo, los distrios escolares que envíen representates a las juntas se les solicita que paguen una cuota anual de participación para ayudar a cubrir los gastos administrativos.

Para más información por favor subcríbase a la lista para recibir correos electrónicos de Tri County GATE, desponible en:
http://www.rain.org/mailman/listinfo/tricogate-l.

The Lompoc Unified School District supports a wide range of inservice opportunities for teachers and believes that continual professional development is an essential ingredient for successful teaching. A major focus of these programs is the use of varied instructional strategies to meet the learning needs of all students. Opportunities include:

Lompoc Unified School District (LUSD) offers several programs for students who are English Learners (ELs). In all of the programs, ELs receive concentrated instruction in the use of the English language that is appropriate for their grade and English language proficiency level. Such Instruction must be provided by a teacher with advanced training in special strategies to help students increase their English proficiency and learn academic subjects taught in English. Parents of ELs are encouraged to contact their child's school if they would like more information about other educational opportunities. For more information about this program please read the following document describing the ELs Program -Spanish Version-.