Santa Monica, a Lifelong Learning Community

I think I’ll take advantage of the summer lull to fill you in on some of what’s been happening at Santa Monica College this past year....

For the 16^th consecutive year, Santa Monica College remains the #1 community college in California for transfers to the UC system. SMC was also the leader in transfers to the UC-California State University systems combined, as well as the #1 transfer school for Latinos to the UC system. This year (and this work will continue into the foreseeable future), SMC is building upon this record of achievement in multiple (but here are a few) ways:

Students as Global Citizens and Environmental Stewards
College faculty, staff, and students are working to infuse and enrich the curriculum so that SMC graduates will be informed and knowledgeable as global citizens and environmental stewards. SMC recently completed an extensive and well-received Environmental Audit which you can read online at http://www.smc.edu/ceus/GreenCampus.htm. The Environmental Audit recommends the development of an Associate of the Arts (AA) degree in Environmental Studies as well as recommendations that will inform institutional and facility planning, maintenance and operations.  SMC will also begin implementing a new smoke-free campus policy this fall.

Transportation Management
SMC purchased a new shuttle lot – the Olympic Lot – which will open August 27^th for the fall semester and will be served by the Sunset Ride, one of several Big Blue Bus service improvements made possible by a new partnership between SMC and the Big Blue Bus. In an effort to encourage students and staff to use public transit rather than driving themselves, SMC will pay for SMC students and staff to ride the BBB for no charge. The partnership also enables the BBB to expand services for residents too in hopes of building a more viable and appealing public transit system for everyone. For more information, please go to http://www.smc.edu/news/Archive/2007/July30.htm

Partnership with SMMUSD
In May, SMC and SMMUSD signed a memorandum of understanding to work more closely together to better meet the needs of current high school students. This past school year about 500 Santa Monica Malibu current high school students took one or more classes from SMC. This past summer, 375 students, including students from Santa Monica High School, Saint Monica’s, Crossroads, and Malibu took an SMC class. High school students who enroll in classes at SMC can receive both high school and college credits.

Music Department moving to Madison for fall semester
The striking new SMC theater on the Madison campus is nearing completion but first, the Music Department is moving from the Main Campus to the Madison campus for the fall semester. The upgraded original building now has state of the art practice rooms and classrooms as well as theater space. It is a thrilling new facility for SMC music students! For more details, please go to http://www.smc.edu/news/Archive/2007/July9.htm.

Main Theater and Studio Space now open on the Main Campus
A new Theater Arts building on the Main Campus opened last September and it has two performance spaces, the Main Stage and the Studio Space. I recently attended “The Kiss of the Spider Woman” at the Main Stage and was very impressed by the high quality and professionalism of both the performance and the space. Be sure to attend some of the upcoming productions. A listing of upcoming productions is posted at http://www.smc.edu/theatre/. Current productions are posted at http://events.smc.edu/theater.html.  Now playing in the Studio Space:

THUMBELINA
Friday, August 3, Saturday, August 4 @ 7:00 Pm
Saturday, August 4, Sunday, August 5 @ 1:00 Pm
Santa Monica College Studio Stage
1900 Pico Blvd., SM
$10    General Admission
$  5    Children - 12 and under
Free  Children – 2  and under, if seated on parent’s lap

Tickets can be purchased online at www.smc.edu/theatre/productions.htm with a $2.00 per ticket service charge. For more information, please contact the Theatre Arts Department at (310) 434-4319 or go to www.smc.edu/theatre.

The SMC Fall Semester begins on Monday, August 27^th.

To view the schedule of open classes or register online, please go to http://www.smc.edu/

A few reminders and events:

Help a Child. Become a Tutor.
Volunteer tutors help change children's lives.  Research shows most students who fall behind in reading do not catch up after age 9, so intervention before then is crucial.  Volunteer tutors meet weekly, one-on-one, to help underperforming children in kindergarten through 5th grade in Santa Monica schools to build their learning confidence, meet State literacy standards and improve overall school performance.  No prior experience is needed, and it only takes one hour per week.  Call WISE Senior Services at 310-394-9871 ext. 452 or email spennoyer@wiseseniors.org

Library Book Groups: http://www.smpl.org/reading/bookgroups.htm

Library Movie Screenings (lots of screenings for all ages and interests!) :  http://www.smpl.org/depts/pub/movies/movieschedule.htm

Programs for Kids: http://www.smplkids.org/

Programs for Teens: http://www.smplteens.org/

Library Home Page with Special events: http://www.smpl.org/

Please check out the lifelong learning community calendar at http://smllc.org/calendar.html for August events.

I’ll be on vacation the end of August and early September so there will be no September Lifelong Learning Community Newsletter.

Santa Monica Malibu public schools start on Wednesday, September 5^th.

That’s all for now. Enjoy the rest of the summer.

Thanks, Cheers, and Onward,
Louise Jaffe

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