NO SCHOOL: East Valley schools will be closed today in observance of Labor Day.

 The Gilbert Unified School District governing board will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the district office, 140 S. Gilbert Road, Gilbert.For agenda information, call (480) 497-3300 or visit www.gilbert.k12.az.us.

There is no school on Jan. 18 for Martin Luther King Jr./Civil Rights Day.

 District board OKs boundary changes

Chandler Traditional Academy-Goodman Elementary School, 2600 W. Knox Road, Chandler, will hold its final campus tour 3:15 p.m. Thursday.

Goodman Elementary School in Chandler is one step closer to converting to a traditional academy after a large majority of parents surveyed favor the change.

Goodman Elementary School in Chandler is one step closer to converting to a traditional academy after a large majority of parents surveyed favor the change.

Upset parents, confused children and signs that read “Save our school” have become a familiar sight in the East Valley in the last few years.

A recent strip-search of fifth-graders at Conley Elementary School in Chandler concerns Eleanor Eisenberg, executive director of the Arizona chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The Queen Creek Unified School District Governing Board will meet Tuesday at the district office, 20740 S. Ellsworth Road, Queen Creek.

The Arizona Educational Foundation named 11 "A+" schools Friday, including five in the East Valley.

More than 1,800 pieces of artwork by Chandler sixthgraders will be displayed at libraries this month.

Registration begins Monday in the Chandler Unified School District for wannabe kindergartners who miss the birthday cut-off by a couple of months.

Every day, about 5 percent of students miss school, whether for illness, appointments or travel.

After a tense tie-breaking round, a team from Weinberg Elementary School reigned as champions in the sixth annual Chandler District Battle of the Books Competition Thursday.

1 PARENTING 101: Registration for Parent University classes is open for parents and grandparents of Mesa Unified School District students. Class topics include early childhood and teenage issues and cost $5 to $36 per person. Information: www.mpsaz.org/parentu or (480) 472-7278.

September 3, 2004

Voters can’t sample the wares at the Sheraton San Marcos Resort’s seventh annual gingerbread house contest: Judging is on artistic merits alone, which may be bad news for the taste buds but good news for the waistline during the holiday season.

1 PARENT MEETING: A presentation on teen drug prevention will be 6 p.m. Tuesday at Gilbert’s Mesquite Junior High School, 130 W. Mesquite. Information: (480) 497-3300, Ext. 275.

Children in the Chandler and Florence unified school districts began school Monday — several weeks before most other East Valley schools resume classes.

A 12-year-old girl was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by two men while walking to school Tuesday, prompting stepped-up police patrols, school warnings and fundamental change in a quiet Gilbert neighborhood.

Haleigh Jo Campbell needs a new liver and kidney. But first, she needs money.

Only a few of the thousands of kids in junior high and high school marching bands in Arizona are going to become professional musicians and odds are long on any becoming the next Louie Armstrong or Benny Goodman. But Cliff Bentley is living proof that the marching time and music study can pay off with something really rewarding.