With the summer vacation coming to an end, the beginning of a new school year draws nearer for Turlock students. It’s that time of the year again when parents and their children rush to the store to purchase school supplies, teachers prepare their lesson plans and set up their classrooms, and college students move into the campus dorms and dread having to spend an absurd amount of money on textbooks.
For Turlock Unified School District, school is set to begin on Monday, August 20th. The administrators, teachers, and support staff have been working hard to get school ready for the return of their students. These campuses include Brown Elementary, Crowell Elementary, Cunningham Elementary, Dennis Earl Elementary, Julien Elementary, Osborn Two-Way Immersion Academy, Sandra Tovar Medeiros Elementary, Wakefield Elementary, Walnut Elementary, Dutcher Middle School, Turlock Junior High School, Pitman High School, Turlock High School, eCademy Charter at Crane, and Roselawn Continuation School.
Turlock Christian Schools, from grades K-12, will also be starting on Monday, August 20th.
Chatom Union School District students are already back in school as they started on August 14th.
California State University Stanislaus will be holding their 2012 Village Move-In Day on Saturday, August 18th. Housing staff, student club and organization volunteers, and generous community members will be helping students move in and unload their items at the dorms.
Fall classes for CSU Stanislaus will commence on Wednesday, August 22nd. Changes to the 2012 Fall Semester include a 15-unit cap for all students, tuition/fee payment deadlines, and a smaller time period to allow students to add classes.
The 15-unit cap at CSU Stanislaus has not been well received by many students, as students were previously allowed to take as many units as they felt comfortable with. Some students were capable of taking 20+ units a semester, thus resulting in graduating sooner than the scheduled 4 years.
The tuition/fee payment deadline also resulted in many students being dropped from their Fall Semester courses over the summer. Typically students had until the semester started to pay all tuition and fees, however, during the summer months, CSU Stanislaus students received an email informing them that they must pay the full amount by Friday, July 20th, or they would be subject to enrollment cancellation. Unfortunately in some cases, this did not allow enough time for students to receive the money needed to pay for school, even those who were waiting for their Financial Aid to process, and has resulted in some students having to take a semester off from their educational plans.
The limited time period to add classes drastically cuts students ability to register in other classes once the semester begins. In previous semesters, students had until the Census Date, which is typically about a little more than a month into the semester, to either add/drop classes. The new limit restricts students to only 10 days after the semester begins to add any classes to their schedule. However, students still have the Census Date time period to drop classes.
Although there have been many disappointing changes to the California State University system over the years, many students are still eager to get back to school and continue on with their educational goals.
Turlock Unified School District would like to remind all students to remember to eat a good breakfast on the first day of school, and to be ready to learn as the 2012-2013 School Year begins.
For more information regarding Turlock Unified School District, visit www.turlockusd-ca.schoolloop.com.
For more information regarding Chatom Union School District, visit www.chatom.k12.ca.us.
For more information regarding Turlock Christian Schools, visit www.turlockchristian.com.
For more information regarding California State University Stanislaus, visit www.csustan.edu.