Hello,

I want to report some very good news. Both Millikan and Lakewood High Schools recently were awarded a joint Federal Department of Education grant. The intention of the grant is to better deliver curricula to the students of both high schools through smaller learning communities. Millikan currently has seven different smaller learning communities or "academies" with which many of your students are members. The grant is to be used to train the staff of both campuses to work collaboratively within their smaller learning communities in order to improve the delivery of curricula to our students. Please visit the Millikan website for more details regarding the grant. http://www.lbusd.k12.ca.us/millikan/SmallerLearningComm/aboutslc.html

On Tuesday, October 7, 2003 Millikan High School hosted a Focused Walkthrough on our campus. The purposes of the walkthrough were:
To engage district and school leaders in continuous dialogue about improving instruction and student achievement.
To assess our school's progress in (a) meeting performance targets in literacy and numeracy, and closing the achievement gap among students (b) implementing the site-level action plan.
To identify next steps, including further refinements of the site-action plan and additional support from district offices to be provided before our next visit.
It is my pleasure to report that Millikan High School came through this exercise with flying colors. The walkthrough teams were composed of Superintendent Chris Steinhauser, High School Assistant Superintendent Maggie Webster, district level curriculum leaders, administrators from other high schools, Millikan staff members, and two nationally recognized educational consultants and researchers, Dr. George Perry and Dr. Andy Hargreaves. The members of the walkthrough teams were impressed with the instruction that was happening in every classroom. Our teachers were focused on standards-based instruction and our students were enthusiastic and engaged in learning.

Sincerely,

Jeff Cornejo






Jeffrey M. Cornejo, Ed.D.