“Denver truancy court's careful help leads kids back to classrooms - Denver Post” plus 2 more |
- Denver truancy court's careful help leads kids back to classrooms - Denver Post
- Barnes & Noble Aims New E-Books at Kids - FOX News
- New Balance Little Kid KJ574ACP Abby Cadabby Sneaker - Zimbio
| Denver truancy court's careful help leads kids back to classrooms - Denver Post Posted: 25 Oct 2010 08:26 AM PDT By Jeremy P. Meyer  Sixteen-year-old Quishona Johnson, right, is all smiles outside the courthouse with her Katrina Johnson, after truancy court last week in Denver. Quishona got good news from the judge because her attendance at school has improved since she was last in court. (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post) Denver Magistrate Howard Bartlett had a question for the 15-year-old girl standing behind the lectern in his courtroom during a recent truancy- court hearing. The girl, who did not want to be identified, missed 40 percent of the 2009-10 school year with unexcused absences and had been sentenced to wear an ankle monitor so officials could track her whereabouts — the most serious consequence handed out in Denver's truancy court. "Do you have any goals in life?" Bart lett asked. "No," answered the girl. "I'm going to order that you think about that," the judge said. "You have to have goals or you are a ship blowing around the ocean without a rudder." Bartlett ordered the girl to write a paper about her plans, told her she must spend 60 more days with the ankle monitor and asked the Denver Department of Human Services to investigate her family situation and examine whether the girl should be removed to foster care or another placement outside the home. Twice a month, students ages 6 to 17 whose unexcused school absences are out of control are called into Denver District Court, accused of breaking Colorado's Attendance Law and forced to give officials a chance to help them. In Denver, a student is truant after at least four unexcused absences in a month or 10 over the course of a school year. But only students with more than 20 unexcused absences are called to court. Truancy courts are a last resort for school districts after all school-level interventions have failed. Predicting dropouts Today, districts are focusing more on attendance problems as research has shown a clear correlation between students who drop out and the number of unexcused absences they accumulate. A 2009 Johns Hopkins University study on dropouts in five Colorado districts found half or more of dropouts had 20 or more unexcused absences in the ninth grade. Districts have set up a variety of truancy-intervention programs, including the taxpayer- supported specialists in Aurora who work with children who begin to miss too much school and mediation-support groups in Denver for families to fix problems before going to court. The last resort is hauling the student and the parents in front of a magistrate. But often that is a scared-straight solution, said attorney Matt Ratterman, who handles truancy cases for Littleton and Englewood schools. "It's a level of seriousness that for some families gets them to pay attention to what they are doing," he said. Students can face mandatory drug and alcohol screening, community service or up to 45 days of incarceration in a juvenile-detention center. Their parents can even be jailed up to 180 days. In some cases, parents have been ordered to attend school for the entire day with their children. Cases often reveal festering issues in student lives — substance-abuse problems, family discord or mental-health issues. Students and their families many times are hooked up with city services to help them cope. "School attendance is only a symptom," said Amber Elias, Denver Public Schools attorney who handles DPS's cases. "The purpose of truancy court is to identify what the disease is and how to address that." Aurora truancy specialists get to know the kids and their issues, sometimes finding simple solutions to get the kids back in school. "There is a real range of things that are happening. Sometimes older kids are having substance-abuse problems; sometimes kids stay home because they don't have shoes, and we are able to access resources to get them shoes," said Bonnie Lavinder, Aurora Public Schools director of equity and engagement. Three years ago, Denver had one full day of truancy court every week, serving a docket of about 120 cases a month. But the courts have scaled back Denver's hearings to two half- days every month, or about 40 cases a month. DPS has about 1,600 open truant cases, compared with other districts that have more docket time. Jefferson County, for example, holds truancy court twice a week and has about 370 open cases. Aurora meets every Tuesday morning and has about 250 open cases. "I honestly don't know how (Denver) does it," said Ratterman, who handles Littleton and Englewood's cases every Friday afternoon. "We get far more docket time and combine that with the limited sanctions that are available to Denver." State law allows for the incarceration of students and even parents if court orders aren't followed in truant cases, yet Denver's facilities don't have space. Plus, Denver officials say jailing parents would be counterproductive. "It's going to take away parents from their kids and put more of a burden on the system and sour the parents from wanting to work with us," said Elias, Denver's attorney. Finding solutions On a recent afternoon in Denver court, mothers and fathers attended court on the second floor of the new justice building with their children facing truancy charges. One 10-year-old boy had accumulated 34 unexcused absences last year in his elementary school. This year, he had already missed eight days. A 13-year-old girl who was ordered to court on a bench warrant for missing a previous hearing, had 21 unexcused absences. She told the judge it takes her three bus rides to get to class at Lake Middle School and that she has to leave at 6:20 every morning. Louis Pollack-Trujillo, 15, hated school when he attended Merrill Middle School and South High. He simply would not go — missing 60 days out of a possible 172 last year. The year before, he missed 104 of 172 days. "I wanted to go to school; I just didn't want to go in the building," Louis said. "The rooms felt too full, and there was too much going on." Through truancy court and a mental-health evaluation, Louis was diagnosed with a depression anxiety disorder. He transferred to Denver Online High School, enrolled in musical therapy and hasn't missed a day since. Magistrate Bartlett ordered that his ankle monitor be removed and wished him luck. "The ball's in your court," he said. After the hearing, Louis and his grandmother waited for the elevator. "I feel a lot better," Louis said. "I realized everyone was trying to help me." Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Barnes & Noble Aims New E-Books at Kids - FOX News Posted: 25 Oct 2010 07:50 AM PDT Barnes & Noble is intent on winning over a new generation of readers, including some who haven't yet learned to tie their shoes, through a digital collection of more than 12,000 books under the name Nook Kids. The works, aimed at children 3 to 8 years old, include picture books, novels and a selection of enhanced editions of classics, such as "Jamberry," the tale of a boy and a bear who have a good time together finding berries. An estimated 12,000 chapter books, among the largest digital collections for young readers, is expected to be available at NookKids.com by late Sunday. In addition, 100 or so picture books will be available in mid-November, while about 30 enhanced picture books will be available by the end of the year, or early in 2011. The collection, also available online at BarnesandNoble.com, will be accessible by year end via a Nook Kids app for Apple's iPad and other devices. Nook Kids represents a crucial effort by the nation's largest bookstore chain to establish itself with children and their parents as a digital e-book leader. Barnes & Noble is in the process of reinventing itself as a technology company, and has earmarked an estimated $140 million for new digital efforts through April 30, 2011. At the core of those efforts is the Nook, the bookseller's electronic reader, which competes with such devices as Amazon.com's Kindle and the iPad. The Nook has a black-and-white e-paper display, which doesn't capture the visual appeal of traditional picture books. On Tuesday the company is hosting an event at which many industry watchers expect it to unveil a new Nook featuring color and interactivity. A spokeswoman for Barnes & Noble declined to comment. For more on this story, see the Wall Street Journal. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| New Balance Little Kid KJ574ACP Abby Cadabby Sneaker - Zimbio Posted: 25 Oct 2010 03:47 AM PDT New Balance Little Kid KJ574ACP Abby Cadabby Sneaker ReviewNew Balance Little Kid KJ574ACP Abby Cadabby Sneaker FeatureNew Balance Little Kid KJ574ACP Abby Cadabby Sneaker OverviewThe KJ574AC is a part of the Sesame Street Shoes Collection. The New Balance Abby Cadabby shoe is fashioned upon the 574 classic running shoe and is becoming the favorite shoe of little girls everywhere. Colors: Pink + White New Balance Little Kid KJ574ACP Abby Cadabby Sneaker SpecificationsIs your kid an Abby Cadabby fan? New Balance and Sesame Street have teamed up to bring a little extra fun to this shoe. Not only does it offer sporty comfort, but it's featured in a cool palette and decorated with their favorite character. *** Product Information and Prices Stored: Oct 24, 2010 01:25:05 This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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