Gary Thomas, Ed.D. County Superintendent

Superintendent's Message

County Shines Bright With Golden Bell Awards

Eight San Bernardino County schools and districts were able to ring out 2008 in style with recognition as a statewide Golden Bell winner selected by the California School Boards Association.

The eight honorees were the most ever for the county in 29 years that the School Boards Association has been sponsoring the awards program. I was particularly proud of the fact that our County Schools' office received its third Golden Bell in the last five years for the Alliance for Education program.

The Golden Bell symbolizes outstanding educational programs around the state and recipients are recognized in 17 different categories. All eight county winners were honored at the California School Boards Association's annual banquet on Dec. 6 in San Diego. They also will be recognized by the San Bernardino County School Boards Association at its meeting in Apple Valley on Feb. 2.

For County Schools, the Alliance's award follows Golden Bell recognitions for our Education Medal of Honor/Distinguished Service Award program (2004) and the Loma Linda Children's Hospital (2005). All three won in the category for county offices of education.

In its sixth year as a County Schools' program, the Alliance has developed more than 1,500 partnerships with business, labor, education, government and community groups to give students access to real-world applications that prepare them for post-secondary education, workforce training and careers.

The Alliance was joined by other outstanding educational programs from the county in receiving the Golden Bells for 2008. The following programs by district also received the awards:

Chino Valley Unified: Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences, County Springs Elementary;

Etiwanda: Week of Welcome; and CLOUDS Preschool Program, Clouds Preschool and Perdew Elementary;

Ontario Montclair: Education Expo;

San Bernardino City Unified: Students Accumulating New Knowledge, Rio Vista Elementary and King Middle;

Victor Elementary: 10-a-day, Sixth Street Prep;

Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified: Language Development Kindergarten Class, Meadow Creek Elementary.

The recognitions show the industriousness and inventiveness that are taking place in classrooms and in district programs across the county. This year, the California School Boards Association only recognized 62 programs from across the state. Only Los Angeles County had more recipients this year than in our county. I am proud that the California School Boards Association is able to honor such deserving programs and bring recognition to the outstanding educators and community members who dedicate themselves to providing educational opportunities for all of our students.