What To Expect at Monday Night's School Board Meeting

A summer school wrap-up, Khan Academy, a balanced budget and more are the highlights of Monday night's Los Altos School District Board of Trustees meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Board Room at 201 Covington Rd. in Los Altos.

With the second full week of the 2011-12 school year underway, Jason Dewberry, summer school principal, history teacher and vice principal at Blach, will report on this past summer's program. A handful of other teachers will also be recognized for programs and work done over the summer.

Also with the comes a more focused math program with spread throughout more fifth- and sixth-grade classrooms and some seventh- and eighth-grade math classes.

“Khan Academy is the tool that we are using now, but I think it’ll open up all sorts of resources in the future,” Alyssa Gallagher, assistant superintendent of instruction, told the board meeting two weeks ago.

Khan Academy is a locally based educational website with videos, virtual lessons and other resources for learning various subjects. The founder is a Mountain View man, Salman Khan, who piloted the program in the 2010-11 school year for classroom use in the school district in classrooms at Santa Rita Elementary, Covington Elementary and Egan Junior High schools.

Khan is primarily used for its ability to reinforce math concepts and for students to learn at their own pace.

Courtney Cadwell, an Egan math teacher and the district math coach, will make a presentation at the board meeting on how Khan Academy will most effectively be used in the classrooms. Cadwell also coaches the other teachers during the implementation process of Khan.

The board will also take action on a resolution that would help the district form a balanced budget.