Source: Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District

March 6, 2019 (El Cajon) -- In recognition of Women’s History Month, designated by Congress in 1987, both Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges have a number of events planned that are free and open to the public:

East County News Service

March 3, 2019 (Spring Valley) -- Steele Canyon High School presents the world’s longest running musical, Les Misérables. This modern classic, based on Victor Hugo’s novel, features one of the most memorable scores of all time. The production includes over 130 students in the cast, crew and orchestra. According to Theatre Director, Nicole LaBella and Music Director, Heather Luck, Steele Canyon High School musicals are unique as they are the only school in the area to perform with live orchestral accompaniment.

Donna Frye, open government advocate, calls district’s actions “morally repugnant;” records request follows negative state evaluation of CVUSD schools

By Paul Kruze, Contributing Editor

February 20, 2019 (El Cajon) -- Some local government agencies, including many school districts, pride themselves on their transparency and openness towards local citizens. Others, such as the Cajon Valley Union School District (CVUSD), would rather operate under a cloak of darkness.

Despite a legally submitted California Public Records Act (CPRA) request made by ECM for a copy of the recording for the Dec. 11, 2018 CVUSD board meeting, the district willfully destroyed the recording without fulfilling our request.

East County News Service

February 15, 2019 (San Diego's East County) -- The county Office of Education reports that schools in the Bonsall Unified School District, Fallbrook Union Elementary School District, Mountain Empire Unified School District, Julian Union School District, Julian Union High School District and Fallbrook Union High School District will be be closed today as a result of winter weather conditions. Hazards include flooding, power outages and dangerous travel due to snow or icy condiions.

Monte Vista High School will be closed today due to a broken water main, the Grossmont Union HIgh School District has announced on Twitter.

Actor Dean Chisnall to visit East County high school in March

East County News Service

February 8, 2019 (Spring Valley) -- London stage actor, Dean Chisnall, will be visiting Steele Canyon Charter High School from March 7 through March 9 to help prepare the school’s theatre department for their own production of the award-winning hit, Les Misérables, premiering March 20th.  He will also be the main event in “Who Am I? An Evening with Dean Chisnall” benefit night for San Diego County theater students at Steele Canyon High School on the evening of Thursday, March 7 @ 7:00pm.  “I’m so excited and honoured to come to Steele Canyon - it’s a huge privilege to be invited to share my passion with such like minded students and staff. I’ll be there soon... See you on the barricade.” -Dean Chisnall

East County News Service

Photo credit:  Scatena Daniels

February 5, 2019 (San Diego) -- During the month of love, staff at select Mathnasium of San Diego County locations will lead a community initiative to “Share the Love” for education. The community is encouraged to stop by their neighborhood Mathnasium Learning Center locations, including several in East County, from Feb. 1-28 to donate school supply items for families served by the Armed Services YMCA in San Diego and Camp Pendleton.

East County News Service

February 1, 2019 (El Cajon) – Cajon Valley Union School District invites parents to attend one or more of six school safety meetings where the district will share results of safety audits and recommendations. Participants will also engage with leaders from the El Cajon Police and Sheriff departments on immediate and long-term steps to maximize security and safety on campuses of students, teachers and staff.  

To attend, please RSVP to email@blackboard.com and complete this survey.  The meeting dates and locations are: 

By Brad Hadin

February 1, 2019 (San Diego) -- ASVAB, short for Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, is one of the most popular aptitude tests used in the United States. The ASVAB test is perfect for running a quick analysis of the candidate by measuring his strengths and weaknesses, and ultimately checking his potential for future success. ASVAB opens up a lot of opportunities for the student both in military and civilian career paths. You will certainly have a higher success rate after passing the ASVAB exam, whether you choose a military career, a vocational school, or a college.

January 23, 2019 (El Cajon) - Grossmont Adult School is completing its second round of multi-level English as a Second Language (ESL) classes with Viejas Casino & Resort. In these classes, employees – and local community members – spend three hours, twice a week in class improve their on-the-job English skills.

Source:  Cuyamaca College

Photo:  A participant in the 2018 Cuyamaca powwow

January 16, 2019 (El Cajon) - Native American tribes from throughout the West will be well represented at Cuyamaca College’s 5th Annual Powwow on Feb. 2 – a free, public event celebrating American Indian culture complete with bird singing, gourd dancing, storytelling, and more.

By Miriam Raftery

January 9, 2019 (La Mesa) – La Mesa’s Mayor, Councilmembers and members of the public voiced frustration and at times, anger at the outcome of an independent investigation commissioned by the city into use of force by La Mesa police school resource officer Scott Wulfing, who was shown on video knocking a handcuffed female student to the ground at Helix High School in January of last year.

Attorney Scott Tiedemann gave the presentation on the report prepared by Barry Aninag of B.A. Investigations, a former Irvine police commander. Aninag reportedly interviewed some 20 witnesses—but the public and council will not be permitted to read the report or statements from any of those interviews, due to confidentiality laws protecting investigations into police misconduct.  Those witnesses did not include the student, Brianna Bell, who was knocked down, and who has filed a lawsuit against the city.

Nor did the report include any details on what transpired on campus before the take-down show on the video. The report also had zero information on whether any investigation was conducted by the school or the school district, or results of any such inquiries.

Source:  Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District

December 12, 2018 (El Cajon) -- Cohesion and excellence are concepts often expressed in threes. The Three Musketeers. The Three Tenors. The Three Wise Men. The Triple Crown. The three Olympic medals. The Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District has a winning trio of its own – the winners of the 2018 Chancellor/Classified Senate Award -- who were lauded Tuesday night by the Governing Board in recognition of their exemplary work. The jobs of the winners – Rochelle Weiser from Grossmont College; Gwen Nix from Cuyamaca College and Gabriella Avila-Garcia from District Services, are varied, representing the broad expanse of tasks performed by non-instructional staff.

East County News Service

December 3, 2018 (Poway) — The San Diego Academy of Horsemanship is announcing availability of its after school program. The program provides safe, educational and physically challenging activities for school-aged children in grades K-12 between the hours of 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. By providing a variety of ranch and equestrian activities and academic mentoring, the program offers enriched, relaxing, fun experiences.