School Furniture Blog

Not so many years ago Jonas Salk Middle School in Sacramento was known for its academic excellence. But over the years the school fell on hard times. Student suspensions skyrocketed. Test scores sagged as the school enrolled more students from low-income families.

Technology instructor Jamal Hicks started teaching at the school seven years ago. "It was frustrating," he said. "I questioned why all these low-functioning kids were grouped together at this school. It was failing. It was like a whole generation of kids was being thrown away."

When California implemented its Academic Performance Index (API) eight years ago, public schools were to move toward a target goal of 800. In 1999, Salk’s API stood at a dismal 430. The school was placed on a program improvement plan. Last year, the school API had crept up to 581 but that was down from a high of 595 in 2005.

The San Juan Unified School District (SJUSD)realized it faced the possibility that the state would take over the school. District trustees voted to reorganize the school. SJUSD poured $1 million into computers and technology and reopened the school with a new curriculum last September.

Hicks said the changes have made a huge difference for students. "I think they went from an attitude of feeling like they can’t do anything to just ‘Oh wow!’

You can see it in how they walk." Hicks’ students produce news shows and multi-media assignments. Many don’t have computers at home, but have learned at school how to edit on-line. Eighth grader Kevin Vilaysane grinned and said, "I like this. Last year it was boring. And now I think it’s more exciting because there’s more technology at this school." Worthington Direct, www.worthingtondirect.com, has a trained staff waiting to anwser all of the questions involved in creating a great setting for you school’s new technology department. 

The school has 40 teachers. Only 14 interviewed and were able to return. Principal Jamey Schrey said of the teachers who underwent extra training, "Students have highly qualified teachers now. The teachers are having a great deal of professional development to make sure that technology is used for the day-to-day business." Teachers can really take charge with the new Boss multimedia cart offered by Worthington Direct. www.worthingtondirect.com 

Schrey explained computers have given students a way to express themselves through class work. "They’re able to write about their families, scan pictures of the grandmother and put music to the project and post it on the Web for the whole world to see."

In addition to doing their own assignments, students also help teachers enhance the curriculum by putting lessons on podcasts that are given to the entire class. continue reading

An issue that never really goes away is back again this year: the starting age for kindergarten.

Lawmakers in at least three states are debating whether to move the cutoff deadline for kindergarten eligibility to an earlier date so children will be at least 5 years old when they start school. In Arkansas, Connecticut, and Tennessee, where the proposals are at various stages in the legislative process, sponsors say too many children enter kindergarten without the social or academic skills they need to do well—especially given the pressure on schools to make sure children are prepared for tests down the road.  Worthington Direct, www.worthingtondirect.com, carries a wide selection of early childhood and toddler furniture, ranging from reading stations to educational carpets.

Betty B. Davis, the president of the Central Arkansas Association for the Education of Young Children, agrees. “Some children are really too young to be part of kindergarten,” said Ms. Davis, whose group is an affiliate of the Washington-based National Association for the Education of Young Children. “The lack of maturity is perhaps an issue.”

In her state, the Senate already has unanimously passed a bill that gradually would push back the current Sept. 15 cutoff date to Aug. 1 by 2010. Connecticut lawmakers are discussing moving their state’s cutoff from Jan. 1 to the preceding September or October. In Tennessee, the recommendation is to move the Sept. 30 date back three months.

If the legislation passes in Tennessee, it could have a ripple effect on the state’s growing pre-K program. Rep. David Hawk, the Republican legislator sponsoring the bill, has said that he believes the cutoff dates for the two programs should be aligned.

A shift in kindergarten entry times, however, can inconvenience working parents who are eager to stop paying for preschool or child care or who are wondering if their child will be bored with another year of preschool. The most common date by which children need to turn 5 in order to enter kindergarten in the fall is Sept. 1, and most states set their dates at before Oct. 1. California’s is the second-latest, at Dec. 2, and Indiana’s is the earliest, July 1.

‘A Shell Game’

Despite all the discussion it stirs, changing the date may be pointless, many experts in early-childhood education say. “It’s an incredibly interesting political conversation that means very little,” said Kristie Kauerz, a coordinator at the National Center for Children and Families, based at Columbia University in New York City. “I still think it’s a shell game. Simply shifting the date isn’t going to solve anything.”

Many experts say that no matter what date is set, teachers will have roughly a 12-month distribution in the skills of children in their classrooms. “There will always be variability in kids’ skills that is correlated with their age,” said Robert Pianta, an education professor at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, and an expert on the transition into kindergarten. Some observers argue that if academic expectations weren’t being pushed down from 1st grade into kindergarten, teachers wouldn’t be so aware of the differences in children’s abilities.

But Ms. Davis said she doesn’t see the pendulum swinging toward less academic rigor any time soon. “We’re in a global economy,” she said. “And we’re constantly getting reports of how children in other countries are outperforming ours.”

Ms. Kaurez also suggests that there may be, in effect, a “push up” from the early-childhood-education field because of the continuing expansion of public preschool programs, as well as attention to building high-quality programs with specific learning standards. “Kids are entering public schools more ready. They’re coming with different skill sets,” Ms. Kaurez said. But because of what she called an “inequitable distribution” of programs—meaning not all children attend preschool—wide disparities remain in children’s social and academic abilities. continue reading

While schools are busy preparing themselves for the upcoming school year and purchasing great products from Worthington Direct, www.worthingtondirect.com, students are left with less obvious options.

Summer can be tough for the middle-schoolers and young high-schoolers who are too old for day camp but too young to be left alone.

Luckily, there are alternatives. More and more recreation centers, schools, museums, even colleges are catering to this age group with classes and programs. Volunteer centers are often looking for young preteens and teens to lend a hand. And it’s never too early to cultivate the entrepreneurial spirit. This age group may be beyond the general day camp approach so the key is cultivating special interests your preteen or teen has and being creative in finding programs to match. Don’t be surprised if no single program will fill up your preteen’s summer days, but by being resourceful, you can find a number of activities to make this an active, engaging summer, and still reserve a little time "just to hang out." Here are 10 tips to get you started. And do start early in planning for programs that require advance registration. Popular programs generally fill up quickly.

• Ask at your child’s school. Many middle and high schools run special enrichment programs during the summer and/or can offer parents suggestions on summer activities.
• Check with local community colleges and universities. Many community colleges and universities host summer programs for middle and high school students on their campuses. It’s a great way to introduce these students to what’s ahead, to get them thinking about higher education, and what they need to learn in middle and high school in order to succeed in college.

Point Park University in Pittsburg, PA, for example, hosts several week-long classes with enticing subject matter on their campus specifically geared to middle-school and high-school students. Offerings include an introduction to cartoon art, learning how to build "cool things" in an engineering class, applying math to woodworking and radio theater. Scholarships are available.

At the University of California at Riverside Alpha Center summer offerings include a "Healthy Body, Healthy Mind" program which focuses on fitness and nutrition for middle-schools students and GEMS — Girls Excelling in Mathematics With Success.

• Check with your local library. Many collect resources on summer programs. The Vermont Library, for example, has a Web page devoted to summer activities for middle- and high-school students. Most libraries will also have books with resources on teen summer activities, as well as community bulletin boards with fliers advertising local programs.
• Volunteer! Middle-schoolers may be too young to work but many are just the right age to volunteer. Check with local food banks, hospitals, libraries, senior centers and humane societies. Churches and recreation centers with summer programs for children often look for younger teens to be assistants or junior counselors to help older teens serving as paid counselors.
• Up for an adventure? There are many organized adventure camps and outdoor skills camps that offer programs for middle and high school students. The National Outdoor Leadership School lists classes by activity and age-level on their Web site. Outward Bound offers special classes for young teens and tweens that are geared to give younger teens " a chance to master new skills, experience physical and group challenges and uncover newfound confidence."
• Follow their interests. Whether it’s sports, art, music, drama, computers, animals, cooking or carpentry, you’re bound to find a summer program that fits the bill. The local soccer, tennis or softball league may offer a summer camp and competitive play. Many communities are home to local theater companies geared to youth, offering classes and the opportunity to perform. The Marin Theatre Company in Northern California, for example, offers several theater camps with classes in the morning and rehearsals in the afternoon.  continue reading

As curriculum in the classroom changes and more teachers are seeking ways to integrate learning opportunities for their students, classroom furniture must also change. The old traditional rectangle is fading and new designs that foster "cooperative learning environments" are emerging. As teachers present more multi-sensory lesson plans for students, the ability to arrange the desks and chairs within their rooms has increased. Cooperative learning environments require furniture that responds to mobility, functionality, comfort, versatility and durability.

"We call it thinking-outside-the-rectangle," said Molly Risdall, Director of Marketing for Smith System, "because the furniture needs to be able to be used individually, in pairs, triads or groups so angles are essential." On one day the teacher may need rows and on the next two days, she may need the students to work on applications of a concept in pairs or by small group. Whenever students moving twenty or twenty-four desks and chairs within the week, their new design standards arise.

Throughout the Worthington Direct (www.worthingtondirect.com) catalog and their website, principals and teachers can find hundreds of new cooperative learning choices. "It is important to us to feature the newest innovations within the classroom, "said Kevin Worthington, President of Worthington Direct. "The classrooms of today must have new offerings that are constructed from lighter weight plastics and feature options for elementary, middle school and high school classrooms." One age group might need an oversized desktop for laptops and another group might need chairs that are comfortable whether the student weighs 75 or 175 pounds.

The more versatile the classroom and the more the furniture moves within a week, the more wear and tear the desks and chairs receive. Durable, sturdy designs that feature strong leg construction, heavy gauge steel mounting brackets and optional casters are quickly becoming new standards within classroom manufacturing. Virco Manufacturing, Royal Seating, ScholarCraft and Smith System are all re-designing new classroom products that offer school administrators a variety of choice when selecting furniture that can create cooperative learning classrooms.

Working with school furniture sales professionals at Worthington Direct can aid decision-makers during a critical buying experience. "It was time for us to re-design the elementary schools within our district and we needed to compare quality, cost and efficiencies," said Joe Brown, Highland Oaks Academy. "Consulting with Lane Hunter at Worthington Direct let me walk through my specific school needs. He helped me consider the various sizes, classroom configurations and color options available. It made my job so much easier. Now our elementary school teachers have the freedom to create multiple learning centers and cooperative learning environments using new furniture purchased from Worthington Direct."

To learn more about Smith System products available from Worthington Direct, use the links provided below:

Smith System Product Overview

3-2-1 Desk

Diamond Desk

Husky Chair

Astute Chair

After spending over 30 years in the school supply, church and equipment industry, Worthington Direct (www.worthingtondirect.com) knows what is important – selection, service, price and timing. Our goal is to make your purchasing job easier. With competitive pricing, knowledgeable sales associates, and "In Stock" products for quick, efficient shipping…Worthington Direct is committed to be your furniture resource. Schools and churches look to Worthington Direct for competitive pricing for school furniture, church furniture, preschool furniture, early childhood furniture, library furniture, desks, wholesale furniture, computer furniture, classroom furniture, chalkboards, office furniture, room dividers, storage cabinets, easels, display cases, cafeteria tables, activity tables, classroom desks, computer tables, desk chairs, lecterns, literature racks, office desks and risers among its large stock. continue reading