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K-8 > Middle School
Lunch Program
Schedule
Class Links
Assemblies & Events
Teachers
Curriculum
At LVCS, middle school is comprised of students in grades six, seven and eight. Our middle school operates on a block schedule. Students are assigned to a core class teacher and rotate to other classes. Core classes are language arts, history-social science, math and science at each grade level. Students are offered a variety of integrated arts classes such as technology, Spanish language, art, drama, music appreciation and leadership. Students' integrated arts classes are typically elected by the middle school team, some grade levels choose at least one integrated arts course during the school year. These classes change with the trimester and commonly are referred to as the student elective wheel.
K-8 > Middle School > Lunch Program
Our food service program is provided by Children’s Choice, out of Danville. Under the food service plan, lunches cost $3.50 each in the 2006-2007 school year, the 2007-2008 rate schedule will be available in August 2007. What is unique about Children’s Choice is that parents actually can choose the lunches on-line www.choicelunch.com by phone or using pre-order forms. With this system, a child’s name is assigned to each lunch, so there is very little chance we will run out of lunch items the student orders.
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K-8 > Middle School > Schedule
Bell Schedule
Pick up and Drop off information
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K-8 > Middle School > Class Links
K-8 > Middle School > Assemblies & Events
WOW Week
8th grade trip to Washington D.C.
San Jose Fine Art Museum
Cultural day trip to San Francisco
Extreme Week
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K-8 > Middle School > Teachers
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Bob Campbell
No biography available at this time.
bcampbell@lvcs.org
Julie Christman
Julie Christman has been a local resident of Livermore for 10 years. Before joining LVCS, she worked in the San Ramon Unified School district for 13 years holding positions at Los Cerros Middle School and Monte Vista High School. She served on the committee for "National Blue Ribbon School" at Los Cerros and on the "WASC Accreditation" team at Monte Vista which received the rare 6-year accreditation. Julie graduated from Sacramento State University majoring in English and minoring in Social Studies. She is considered a "highly qualified teacher" under the NCLB legislation.
jchristman@lvcs.org
Michelle Fitts
Michelle earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Plattsburgh State University in New York.For more than 10 years, Michelle has lead product development efforts at leading Silicon Valley computer hardware companies (Acer America, NEC and Packard Bell) and software companies (The Learning Company/Mattel Interactive). Most recently, Michelle was a Director of Marketing at Emeryville, CA-based LeapFrog Enterprises. During her five years at LeapFrog, she led the development and marketing efforts of several award-winning educational products including the Leapster Educational Game System and family of learning software. In addition to her teaching credential from Cal State East Bay, Michelle also holds a Masters of Business degree from Cal State East Bay and a Michelle enjoys digital photography and video editing in her spare time, mostly starring her two daughters and husband. The Fitts family lives in Hayward, CA.
mfitts@lvcs.org
Cara hoglund
Bio to be posted when it becomes available.
choglund@lvcs.org
Sue Johnston
Susan Johnston brings 18 years of teaching experience in math and science including 12 years teaching at Granada High School and four years teaching at East Avenue Middle School, both in Livermore. She has experience teaching grades 3-12, as well as college courses. She has taught a wide range of subjects including physics, chemistry, earth science, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, 7th grade science, 8th grade science, and 6th grade math. She also served as an elementary science specialist one year. She holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Physics from UC Davis and a Master of ?? Degree in ?? from ?? Double Clear credential in science and mathematics. In addition to teaching math and science at LVCS, Susan runs the MathCounts program. Central to her teaching philosophy is the belief that students learn best by doing, and so she places an emphasis on offering hands-on science labs and activities to students.
sjohnston@lvcs.org
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Regina Leyva
Regina studied Fashion Illustration and Design at the Traphagen School of Design her interests in art shifted, she later transferred to the School of Visual Arts in NYC. In 1993, she completed her degree through a distance learning opportunity available through Bethany College in Scotts Valley. She graduated with an Applied Professional Studies Degree with emphasis in Art History. She earned her teaching credential through the CalState TEACH, Monterey Bay program. Her employment opportunites included working as a sketch artist and designing for Marchant, a fashion house. As Regina studied with Marvin Bileck, illustrator for the Caldecott Medal winning children's book, Rain Makes Applesauce. Her illustration career continued as she studied with George Fernandez, Photorealistic artist of Long Island, New York. She has and continues to work as a freelance artist on both private and corporate assignments. Regina has owned her own jewerly business, The Artists Collection, and designed and sold jewelry as a street vendor in NYC. Regina also enjoyed the opportunity to work with Monterey County as a Mural Supervisor. During this time she worked closely with the Hispanic community, and was introduced to the Director of the Maestra program. Regina was encouraged to pursue a teaching credential and was soon hired as a 5th grade teacher at the El Gabilan School, in Salinas. Regina has taught 6th grade at Roosevelt School before relocating to Livermore where she is a seventh grade core teacher at LVCS.
rleyva@lvcs.org
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Mr. Penning
Barry Penning grew up in Danville, California and went to San Ramon Valley High School. Upon graduation, Barry attended CSU Chico and earned a B.A. in psychology. Barry continued his studies to receive his teaching credential. He has taught fourth grade, second grade and is now a sixth grade core teacher. He has experience working with ELL students, and teaching reading remediation.In additon to his classroom experience, Barry has volunteered with the California Youth Authorities, CYA, in Sacrament, coaching baseball and after school sports here at LVCS.
bpenning@lvcs.org
Heather Smith
Bio to be posted when it becomes available.
hsmith@lvcs.org
Keith Switzer
No biography available at this time.
kswitzer@lvcs.org
Mike Waechter
Michael Waecher has taught middle school math for nine years and has experience with coaching and student advising. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of the Pacific in Liberal Arts with a Mathematics Emphasis. Michael has cleared his Multiple Subject Credential and a Mathematics Supplementary Authorization.
mwaechter@lvcs.org
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Susan Wijeyesekera - Science
Susan Wijeyeskera completed her Single Subject Teaching Credential program at St. Mary's College in Moraga, California. Susan student taught biology and earth science in Castro Valley and Pittsburg and worked as a substitute teacher for the Pleasanton Unified School District for five years where she taught all subjects in all grades. Prior to embarking on her teaching career, Susan worked as an interpretive guide and naturalist at the Chippewa Nature Center in Midland, Michigan for eight years. She graduated with a degree in Botany from Connecticut College. Susan is a member of the California Native Plant Society, Ohlone Audubon, and Sweet Adelines International. Her hobbies include singing, hiking, reading, bird watching, and botany.
swijeyesekera@lvcs.org
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Misty Wilkins
Misty Wilkins holds a bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies from California State University at Hayward. She is credentialed by the state of California to teach multiple subjects at the elementary level and has a supplemental CLAD certification. Her passion for teaching stems from her love of being with children and her belief that education has the power to change their lives for the better. Misty joined the LVCS staff in the fall of 2006.
mwilkins@lvcs.org
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K-8 > Middle School > Curriculum
Our middle school team meets at least once a week to plan collaboratively and share information on student progress. During collaboration time throughout the week, teachers also meet across grade levels and disciplines to assist the learning needs of students.
All of our teachers employ a variety of teaching strategies to differentiate instruction for their students. Teachers use the framework of backward design to create year long curriculum pacing plans aligned with the California Department of Education (CDE) Curriculum Standards. The idea of pacing plans is to start with the essential learning we want our students to leave each grade level with, design assessments to measure how we will know what they have learned and then create daily instructional plans to implement througout the year.
Student are comprehensively assessed on concepts and skills each trimester using our computer based assessment program, Individual Data Management Systems (IDMS). This regular cycle of assessment allows teachers to better target instructional needs for each student. In addition to IDMS assessments, students in middle school are given an additional math placement assessment produced by University of California Berkely, to more accurately place them in an appropriate math program.
Teachers report current grades through the parent access portal on PowerSchool or TeacherWeb, conference regularly with parents in the course of the school year and update Individual Learning Plans each trimester.
Individual Learning Plans (ILP's) incorporate: student progress based on the
standards taught each trimester, analysis of areas of individual
academic strength, talent and strategies that will help each student succeed. Our ILP's differ from a conventional report card by measuring student achivement based on CDE standards and give specific information on how parents can partner with teachers for student success.
For more information view our Curriculum pdf.
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