Local schools, arts keep shining

Congratulations to our own Clayton Valley Charter High School! We knew that the effort to become a charter high school would bring improved performance, and it has surpassed expectations.

CVCHS Executive director Dave Linzey says in his newsletter, “The official Academic Performance Index (API) numbers for the 2012-13 school year have been released by the California Department of Education and our 62 point growth is incredible. How incredible, you ask? CVCHS has the highest API growth for comprehensive schools (elementary, middle and high) in Contra Costa County and the highest growth for large comprehensive high schools in the entire state of California. That’s how incredible.” For more information about what’s happening at CVCHS, go to their website, claytonvalley.org.

Our Mt. Diablo Elementary and Diablo View Middle Schools continue to strive for excellence as well. Diablo View was named a California Distinguished School again this year. All three schools participate in our Do The Right Thing program, which emphasizes positive character traits. The Clayton City Council is proud to recognize outstanding students from our schools. The character trait for October is “respect.” Please see the photos of our recently recognized students in the About Town section of this paper.

The Clayton Theatre Company’s (claytontheatrecompany.com) inaugural production of “The Robber Bridegroom” begins at Endeavor Hall with preview showings next week on Oct. 16 and 17 with full performances running Oct. 18-26. Tickets are going fast and can be purchased online at brownpapertickets.com.

Trash talk

We all need to re-focus our efforts to reduce the amount of trash going to the landfill and recycle more. Allied Waste Services provided the monthly data for August 2013 and our community continues to send more trash to the landfill than last year, a wrong-way trend. Residential landfill waste increased by more than 56 tons and the commercial sector sent almost 11 more tons to the landfill than in August 2012. Our monthly curbside recycling mark for August 2013 hit 48.13 percent, landing our year-to-date rate at 47.62 percent (50 percent is the target minimum set by the state).

The favorite residential recyclable material is mixed paper (583 tons total this year), followed by glass (212 tons) and then cardboard (133 tons). For the commercial sector, cardboard gets the nod (24.5 tons). For a full and specific list of recyclables, see the website: co.contracosta.ca.us/depart/cd/recycle/options/v6439.htm. We can all recycle more than we think.

Finally, there’s some happy news at Clayton City Hall: our city clerk, Laci (Jackson) Kolc, got married last weekend. Congratulations and best wishes to the happy couple.

As always, you can reach me at JPierce@ci.clayton.ca.us. Let me know what you think.