News of the long-awaited move to the Tulare

County Office of Education Administration

Building and Conference Center came quickly as

Tulare County Superintendent of Schools Jim

Vidak learned Friday morning, December 18,

that the elevators in the new building had passed

inspection. The inspection was the final step in

clearing the building, located at 6200 S. Mooney

Blvd., for occupation. By 10:00 that morning,

Mr. Vidak composed an email to the staff that

occupied the two buildings on West Burrel

Avenue to finish packing and labeling their

belongings by the end of the day. Mr. Vidak

explained that movers from Jack & Jeff Transfer

would arrive Saturday morning to pick up boxes

and take them to the new building!

As the afternoon approached, the sounds of staff

packing boxes with a sense of excitement filled the

Burrel Avenue buildings as the Information

Systems crew spread throughout the top floor

disconnecting computers and bundling cables.

Building helps consolidate staff and features 24,000-square-foot conference center

New year, new address for TCOE

T H E N E W S L E T T E R o f T H E T U L A R E C O U N T Y O F F I C E o f E D U C A T I O N

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February 2016

(upper photo) The stainless steel columns on the front of the Administration Building and Conference Center are illuminated by the sunset as attendees arrive for professional development trainings. (lower photo) County Superintendent Jim Vidak stands proudly in the warehouse among the first boxes to be delivered to the new building on December 19.

Employees on the top floor of the Burrel

administration building were the first to

move, reporting to the new building on

Monday, December 21. Dozens of employees

from Business Services, Human Resources,

Administration and Instructional Services

arrived in the light-filled, 24-foot tall lobby to

find Tulare County artist Colleen Veyna

putting the finishing touches on a

750-square-foot mural depicting “Listening

Hill” at SCICON. The mural serves as the

focal point of the lobby.

Staff on lower floors of the Burrel

administration building and employees from

the Educational Enrichment Center arrived a

few days later, leaving the old buildings empty

by December 30. The Burrel Avenue

buildings, which belong to the County of

Tulare, will be renovated to accommodate the

County’s information systems and human

resources departments. During the week of

January 4, over 20 staff members from the

Migrant Education Program (formerly located

at TCOE’s Doe Avenue Complex) joined the

instructional services staff on the second floor

of the new building.

Throughout the move, members of the

Maintenance & Operations (M&O)

department and Information Systems (IS)

program worked quickly to ensure all

employees received their belongings from the

old buildings and had operational computers.

“We appreciate so much the work that Roger

Beavers, Ray Palomino and the M&O crew

did to get everyone here so quickly,” said Mr.

Vidak. “Likewise, all the pre-planning, and

infrastructure and server installation work that

Roger Smith’s IS team did in advance of the

move, made the whole process very smooth.

We were able to accomplish the entire move

in a matter of days – a feat that has taken other

organizations months to resolve.”

The entire project was completed in less than

16 months and includes nearly 67,500 square

feet of office space on three floors. Read more at tcoe.org/NewsGallery.

February 2016

(upper photo) The three-story Administration Building, clad in a beautiful blue stucco, sits adjacent to the Conference Center. (middle photo, l-r) Tulare County Board of Education members Tom Link, Celia Maldonado-Arroyo, Joe Enea, Vice President Judy Coble and President Chris Reed smile as Mr. Vidak asks that they accept the new building as substantially complete. Administrative Assistant Marlene Moreno is pictured on the right. (lower photo) A mural of SCICON’s Listening Hill stands 24’ tall and serves as a focal point of the lobby.

Read more at www.tcoe.org

Twenty-five Tulare and Kings County districts looking to hire for upcoming school year

Teacher Recruitment Fair set for March 4

Early Stars ready to help improve the quality of early childhood education programs

Program supports assessment, improvement

The Kings and Tulare County school districts and

charter schools are preparing to attend the annual

Teacher Recruitment Fair Friday, March 4 at the

Visalia Convention Center in search of teacher

candidates for the 2016-17 school year. The Human

Resources Division and the New Teacher & Leadership

Development Program have been working with

districts in the two-county area to host the event.

Approximately 25 school districts are expected to

participate. Interested teacher candidates should register

online at tcoe.org/HR/TeacherRecruitmentFair by

February 29 to attend.

The fair will run from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. for candidates

who have pre-registered. Candidates who do not

pre-register will be admitted beginning at 4:30 p.m.

For more information, call Marvin Lopez at New

Teacher & Leadership Development Program at

(559) 624-1035.

The Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS) pilot that TCOE’s Early Childhood Education program (ECE)

participated in last spring with the Fresno County Office of Education has been fully funded and is moving forward

with its first cohort of assessment and support for select Tulare County state preschool programs.

Now known as Early Stars in Tulare County, the QRIS program is a statewide assessment and improvement support

system for providers of early childhood education services. Depending on the type of program that is being assessed,

independent evaluators use a standardized matrix with five or seven criteria. The matrix evaluates the type of

assessment and developmental screening tools the center uses, the educational qualifications of the center teachers,

the teacher-child interactions (based on the CLASS assessment), the teacher/child ratios, and the environment.

Evaluators score each criteria and total the points to determine how many "stars" the program receives on a

one-to-five scale, with five stars being the highest.

Lorena Castillo, the former manager of the Tulare County Council on Child and Youth Development, has been

selected to lead the Early Stars program. Ms. Castillo reports that 17 state preschools from throughout Tulare County

have been selected to participate in the first round of assessments and trainings. Funding for the state preschools to

participate in the QRIS program has been provided by the California Department of Education. The preschools

include several Child Development Centers in the TCOE ECE Program, and centers within Porterville Unified,

Visalia Unified, Cutler-Orosi Joint Unified, Lindsay Unified, Tulare City School District and Alta Vista School

District. Read more at tcoe.org/NewsGallery.

Roberto Vaca, principal at Orosi High School, meets with a teacher candidate at his district’s booth during the 2015 Teacher Recruitment Fair.

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Read more at www.tcoe.org

At the January meeting of the Tulare County Board of Education, members of the Community Advisory Committee for Special Education presented their annual calendar (photo1). The committee, which is primarily made up of parents of children with special needs, chose to focus on student success in this year’s calendar. Copies of the calendar, entitled Meeting Academic Challenges: Portraits of Student Success, are available while supplies last at the front desk of the new TCOE Administration Building and Conference Center at 6200 S. Mooney Blvd. A PDF version of the calendar can also be printed by visiting www.tulareselpa.org. The 18th Annual CyberQuest event was held in December. This year, students were challenged to propose a transformative technology that would positively impact the landscape of California and/or its people over the next 20 years. (photo 2) Pictured are members of the first place seventh-grade team from St. Anne’s School in Porterville. Known as the “Beetopians,” the students chose to address the development of man-made bee hives to curb the insects’ diminishing populations – populations necessary for the pollination of over 70% of all fruits, vegetables and nuts. (photos 3 & 4) Last month, the lobby of the new Administration Building and Conference Center welcomed over 400 pieces of student artwork. The pieces will remain on view through February. Artworks from the current exhibition that receive a “Best of Show” prize will remain on display through the month of March, with a special reception for the young artists in the Redwood Conference Center on March 10 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. On Friday, January 15, Tulare County Superintendent of Schools Jim Vidak invited all staff working in the new Administration Building to a celebration in the Redwood Conference Center. The purpose of the gathering was to honor the men and women from Maintenance & Operations (M&O) and Information Systems (IS) who made the move to the building a big success. At the conclusion of his presentation, Mr. Vidak brought all of the M&O and IS staff members to the front of the room and directed the rest of the staff to form a line to thank each person in the two programs. (photo 5) Accountant Danika Curlee shakes hands with IS Application Manager Bryan Patterson. (photo 6) Banners made with the names of the M&O and IS team members are currently displayed in the lobby, along with a message tree, where staff can leave written notes of appreciation for the new building. Read more at tcoe.org/NewsGallery.

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For more events, programs and meetings, visit our online calendar at www.tcoe.org/CalendarOfEvents

upcomingevents

Poetry Out Loud (grades 9-12)

6:00 - 8:00 p.m., TCOE Administration Building,

6200 S. Mooney Blvd., Visalia

For more information, call Kate Stover at (559) 651-1482

Mock Trial - Semi-Final Rounds (grades 9-12)

5:00 - 8:00 p.m., Tulare County Courthouse, Visalia

For more information, call Scott Pierce at (559) 651-3031

Math Super Bowl (grades 7-8)

8:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., Visalia Convention Center

For more information, call Julie Joseph at (559) 651-3641

Mock Trial - Final Round (grades 9-12)

5:00 - 8:00 p.m., El Diamante High School Theater,

5100 W. Whitendale, Visalia

For more information, call Scott Pierce at (559) 651-3031

Tulare County Spelling Championship (grades 4-8)

8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., Visalia Convention Center

For more information, call Nancy Bellin at (559) 733-6734

Student Art Best of Show Exhibition

TCOE Administration Building Lobby,

6200 S. Mooney Blvd., Visalia

March 10, Artists’ Reception, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.

For more information, call Kate Stover at (559) 651-1482

Anti-Tobacco Challenge Bowl

9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m., Wyndham Visalia

9000 W. Airport Dr., Visalia

For more information, call Adam Valencia at (559) 651-0155

Tulare & Kings Counties Teacher Recruitment Fair

4:00 - 8:00 p.m., Visalia Convention Center Exhibit Hall

For more information, call Marvin Lopez at (559) 624-1035

Science Olympiad for Division B/C

(Grades 6-9/9-12)

8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Mission Oak High School

3442 E. Bardsley Ave., Tulare

For more information, call Jared Marr at (559) 651-3047

National History Day - Tulare County (grades 4-12)

8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., TCOE Administration Building

6200 S. Mooney Blvd., Visalia

For more information, call Gay Atmajian at (559) 651-3350

Southern California Gas Company Challenge

for Student Entrepreneurs (grades 9-12)

8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m., Wyndham Visalia, 9000 Airport Dr.

For more information, call Joy Soares at (559) 733-6101

Poetry and Prose

9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., TCOE Administration Building,

6200 S. Mooney Blvd., Visalia

For more information and to register, call Nancy Bellin

at (559) 733-6734

STEM Expo (grades 3-12)

8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., TCOE Administration Building

6200 S. Mooney Blvd., Visalia

For more information, call Michelle French at (559) 651-3003

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News Gallery CommitteeEditor: Robert Herman, Public Information OfficerContributors: Marlene Moreno, Jennifer Fisher, Lorena White, Shelly

DiCenzo, Lorena Castillo, Ramon Garcia, Kate Stover, Kris Costa,

Kelley Petty and Gene Mendes.

The News Gallery is published monthly with the exception of double

issues printed for July/August and December/January. If you would

like to receive The News Gallery, visit www.tcoe.org/GetTheGallery

or contact Jennifer Fisher at (559) 733-6172, or at jenniferf@tcoe.org.

Video entries for the 2016 Slick Rock Student Film Festival are due before midnight on March 29.

Middle and high school students living in Kern,

Kings, Tulare, Fresno, Madera, Merced or Mariposa

counties may enter videos in a total of 24 categories.

Visit www.slickrockfestival.org for information on

film categories, deadlines and the awards ceremony,

which will be held at the Visalia Fox Theater on May 13.

Central California school support staff are invited to

mark their calendars for the 24th Annual Support Staff Conference. The event, which will be held at the

Visalia Convention Center, is scheduled for

Wednesday, April 20 from 7:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.

The conference celebrates the role of school support

staff members with a motivational keynote speaker,

numerous professional and personal development

breakout sessions and the opportunity to network

with others from across the Valley. For more

information on the Tulare County Support Staff

Conference, call (559) 733-6302.

Local high school students will compete in the first

annual Tulare County Poetry Out Loud competition

from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. February 3 at the new Tulare

County Office of Education (TCOE) Administration

Building and Conference Center. Hosted by TCOE’s

Visual and Performing Arts program and the Arts

Consortium, the event is the first in a series of new

spoken word projects planned over the coming

months. Poetry Out Loud is the nation’s largest youth

poetry recitation competition, which promotes the

development of public speaking skills, improved

English-fluency and comprehension, and

self-confidence. In California, over 40,000 students

from 40 counties compete annually. In Tulare

County, participating students represent Mission Oak High School (Tulare), Dinuba High School and

Summit Charter Academy (Porterville). The winner

of the competition will represent Tulare County at the

state finals in Sacramento. For more information on

Poetry Out Loud or upcoming spoken word programs,

call Kate Stover at (559) 651-1482. Read more at tcoe.org/NewsGallery.

Tulare County Superintendent of Schools Jim VidakPresident: Chris Reed, Trustee Area No. 6

Vice President: Judy Coble, Trustee Area No. 4

Trustees: Celia Maldonado-Arroyo, Trustee Area No. 1; Debby Holguin, Trustee Area No. 2; Tom Link, Trustee Area No. 3; Joe Enea, Trustee Area No. 5; and Patricia Hillman, Trustee Area No. 7

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