Plan for North Tantau Ave when Apple builds its new spaceship campus in Santa Clara / Sunnyvale

One of big questions about the new Apple campus plan is whether the general public will still be allowed to drive on North Tantau Ave.  A good number of residents in that neighborhood use N. Tantau Ave as an alternative to the busier streets Lawrence Expressway and Wolfe Road. 

The four blue dots on the eastern edge of the brown region show where Tantau Ave now runs.  The southern end of North Tantau Ave clearly runs INSIDE the eastern edge of the new campus.  Below is a closeup of that portion:

The closeup photo above clearly shows North Tantau Ave running through the middle of the bottom of the blue enclosed region with 4 square buildings to the west and 6 square buildings to the east.

Cupertino Union School District (CUSD) Guide to the Report Card 1st Grade

The Cupertino Union School District (CUSD) has modified its report cards for the 2013-2014 school year to reflect the newly adopted Common Core State Standards.

For Language Arts, 1st grade students are expected to:
--read aloud
--identify details and main events
--write about events, topics, and opinions
--understand phonics and word analysis
--determine meaning of unknown words by examining parts of the word and context within sentence
--print all letters (uppercase and lowercase)
--use correct capitalization, punctuation, and spelling
--explain the difference between books that tell stories and books that give information
--follow simple two-step directions

For Math, 1st grade students are expected to:
--solve word problems involving addition and subtraction within 20
--know the Commutative Property: 7 + 4 = 11 mean 4 + 7 = 11.
--know the Associative Property: 4+ 7 + 3 = 4 + (7+ 3) = 4 + 10 = 14
--tell and write time in hours and half-hours using both analog and digital clocks
--break circles and rectangles into two and four equal shares to describe halves, fourths, and quarters

For the full guide click this --> Cupertino Union School District (CUSD) Guide to the Report Card 1st Grade

Cupertino Union School District (CUSD) Guide to the Report Card - 4th Grade

For the 2013-2014 school year, the Cupertino Union School District (CUSD) has modified its report cards to adapt to the newly adopted Common Core State Standards. 

For Language Arts, 4th grade students are expected to:
--use roots, prefixes, and suffixes to determine the meanings of unknown words
--determine the main idea of texts
--group related ideas in paragraphs
--write opinion pieces that include a conclusion related to the opinion
--write multi-paragraph pieces that are organized

For Math, 4th grade students are expected to:
--make connections with previous problem solving experiences
--know the meaning of quantities
--evaluate the accuracy of explanations
--use math to solve problems arising in their lives
--solve multi-step word problems using drawings and equations
--perform multi-digit multiplication
--compare whole numbers and fractions
--add and subtract fractions with like denominators
--understand decimal notation for fractions
--solve real world problems using area and perimeter formulas for rectangles

To see the full guide, click here --->  Cupertino Union School District (CUSD) Guide to the Report Card for 4th Grade

Milpitas Unified School District shifts its focus to the upcoming Common Core standards

The Milpitas Unified School District made a strategic decision last year  to get ready for Common Core.  Teachers began the shift toward Common Core, so likewise, students started to shift away from API mode of thinking, thus nobody should be surprised with the drop in API.

The new Common Core instruction is very different from the old API instruction.  The old API instruction consisted of simple bubble test questions.  With the new Common Core, students need to think and problem solve.  The questions are going to involve more open-ended problem solving. Kids still need to come up with an answer, but now they will show their work, which you don't do with a bubble test.  The new online assessments will capture the "scratch" paperwork.

All Milpitas Unified Schools Dropped API in 2013 except for John Sinnott Elementary and Milpitas High.

In 2013, all the schools in the Milpitas Unified School District dropped in Academic Performance Index (API) except for John Sinnott Elementary and Milpitas High. 
John Sinnott Elementary rose from a 2012 Base API of 915 to a 2013 Base API of 928. 
Milpitas High rose from a 2012 Base API of 825 to a 2013 Base API of 830.
Aside from these two bright spots, the rest of the schools in the Milpitas Unified School District dropped in API.  The biggest drops in API were from Calaveras Hills Continuation High School (dropped a whopping 121 points from API=626 in 2012 to API=505 in 2013), Robert Randall Elementary (dropped 42 points from API=795 in 2012 to API=753 in 2013), and  William Burnett Elementary (dropped 39 points from API=894 in 2012 to API=855 in 2013).  The next biggest drops were the two middle schools.  Rancho Milpitas Middle dropped 24 points from API=881 to API=857.  Thomas Russell Middle dropped 18pts from API=889 to API=871.  It's hard to say why 10 of the 12 schools dropped in API. 

The drop in API scores might be due to the district diverting more resources toward implementation of the Common Core State Standards for the 2014-15 school year.