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April 2008  
Hall of Fame
  • Patrick McElhaneyPoint Loma High School history teacher Patrick McElhaney has been selected by the John M. Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs to participate in the 2008 Presidential Academy for American History and Civics. Only one teacher from each state is selected for this program. The Presidential Academy is a prestigious and highly competitive program designed for the best and brightest teachers of American History.

  • Morse High School math teacher Shirley Miranda was named the 2008 Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair (GSDSEF) Senior Division Teacher of the Year. The award salutes teachers who not only motivate, support, help and encourage their students with science fairs, but who also have shown excellence in teaching and contributed to improving the quality of science, math and/or engineering education. What makes this award unique is that students nominate and determine the Teacher of the Year. In addition, Shirley won a walk-on role on an episode of the CBS series “NUMB3RS”, which aired April 11.

  • Dianne Park Dianne Park, Cherokee Point Elementary music teacher, was selected as the California Music Education Association's State General Music Educator of the Year 2008. She received her award at the state music educator's conference in Sacramento in March. She was also selected by her colleagues as Cherokee Point Teacher of the Year.

  • Kathy Schulze Henry High School teacher Kathy Schulze has been awarded the “Building the Future Award”, presented by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Education Foundation. This prestigious award is given to only 15 teachers in the United States who have shown outstanding dedication to the promotion of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math to today's youth. The San Diego Union-Tribune spotlighted Kathy in a recent article.

  • Six San Diego Unified elementary schools were named California Distinguished Schools by the state Department of Education on April 9. The schools are: Jackson Elementary, in City Heights; Kumeyaay Elementary in Tierrasanta; La Jolla Elementary in La Jolla; Ocean Beach Elementary in Ocean Beach; William Penn Elementary in South Bay Terraces and Torrey Pines Elementary in La Jolla.

  • State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell named three recipients of the Exemplary Independent Study Recognition Award on April 2, including Mt Everest Academy.

  • The district TRACE Program has been named a 2007-08 Leadership Site by CalSTAT (California Services for Technical Assistance and Training), a special project of the California Department of Education, Special Education Division. The program was selected as a model for best practices and will share its work statewide.