Classroom of the future is in Arcadia. Arcadia Unified School District embraces AltSchool's "Personalized Learning" technology in an experimental lab that has flexible seating, desks and walls that can be written on, hanging chairs, an observation room, Google Jam Board, and other tools and techniques not typically used in other public schools.
Arcadia Mayor's Breakfast / State of the City and Methodist Hospital update at Community Connections by Joan Schmidt. Mayor Peter Amundson was born and raised in Arcadia and spoke about what a great city it is to live, love, learn and leave a legacy. He spoke about the great Arcadia Public Library with its 42 high tech computers.
Arcadia Unified School District (AUSD) Deputy Superintendent Robert Leri has resigned. Arcadia High School Principal David Vannasdall will take on the additional role of Deputy Superintendent March 1 and leave his job as principal at end of school year to become Deputy Superintendent. Other personnel changes within the school district. AUSD is trying to cover a projected $7 million annual budget deficit with a proposed 5-year parcel tax. Arcadia Educational Foundation is doing its annual solicitation.
Arcadia High School senior Ryan Leung earns perfect AP exam score on the AP College Board's Computer Science A exam in 2017. He is among only 111 other students on Earth who got perfect scores on this exam. His teacher was Brent Reiske. See also Arcadia Weekly, p. 1, 11, April 5, 2018.
Unanimous Arcadia City Council acts to place local funding measure, known as the “Arcadia Public Safety, City Services and Accountability Measure” on the June 2019 ballot to maintain public safety and other city services. City staff and the Citizen’s Financial Advisory Committee have indicated Arcadia has a multi-million dollar structural deficit.
Twenty times faster Internet access is available at Arcadia Public Library. High-speed Internet is available on the library's 65 public computers and Wi-Fi has also been greatly improved. The new one gigabit-per-second broadband comes to the library thanks to the California Public Library Broadband Consortium.
Arcadia, Monrovia, and Duarte schools all forced to lock down this week due to phoned in threats of a gunman on 4 separate campuses. On Thursday, September 12, the caller contacted Arcadia Police Department, reporting "he was at Arcadia High School and that he was going to start shooting students with an assault rifle." A second call was received during the police search of the campus that told officers to back off or they would be shot. No suspects of weapons were found.
Recently, about 140 people attended the 16th Annual Law Day at Arcadia Public Library. This free Ask-a-Lawyer Program is a joint effort of the City of Arcadia and the Arcadia Chinese Association.
Dance instructor Ricky Sun and Evoke Dance Group, and amateur dancers ranging in age from 5 to 75, formed the first ever "Flash mob" of 100 dancers to appear at historic Santa Anita Park race track. They broke out in a choreographed routine to publicize Relay For Life. The flash mob was organized by the Chamber of Commerce.
Social media for Chinese-speaking users. City of Arcadia is adding WeChat to the Arcadia Conect social media program in an ongoing effort to improve outreach to the city's Chinese community. See also Arcadia Weekly, February 1, 2018, p. 1, 10.
Arcadia High School recognized as one of the best public high schools in California, according to Niche, an influential school and neighborhood review website.
Don't forget to send in your ballots, Arcadians. The April 10 Arcadia City Council election ballots were sent to all registered voters on March 12. Voters can mail them or drop them off at Arcadia City Hall, 240 W. Huntington Drive. Brief summary of each candidate is given.