KINDERGARTEN

Cambridge, Massachusetts, will host 'Cambridge Sports Night for Girlx' later this week, for any girls or anyone who identifies 'with girlhood' in the community

CALIFORNIA — Children in California could soon be required to attend kindergarten, as the bill is sent to the governor’s desk. California law currently allows children who are at least 5 years old to have the option to attend kindergarten until they are 6 years old, according to KTTV. The LA Times said this bill comes after many children skipped kindergarten as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, creating concern for learning gaps. If the bill gets signed, California would be joining 19 other states that make kindergarten a requirement. The only thing that students can choose is whether to attend public or private kindergarten, according to the LA Times.

It’s hard to think of a more bittersweet moment than when you send a kid off to kindergarten for the first time.

Across the state, parents who want to see more testing are looking to the Los Angeles Unified School District — the nation's second-largest — as a model. The state’s largest school district has an ambitious program that mandates weekly on-site testing for all 600,000 students and 75,000 employees. A few of California’s biggest school districts, including Los Angeles and Oakland, have mandated vaccinations for students 12 and over. Pandemic-era conflicts between school districts and teachers have entered a new phase. In Sacramento, when officials announced an outbreak of two dozen cases Sept. 2 at a K-6 charter school, they kept the school open.

Now that schools are back in session, parents are mastering this year’s new school vocabulary: Modified quarantine, antigen vs.

The state’s budget surplus is trending toward a record-shattering $800 million.

It’s hard to think of a more bittersweet moment than when you send a kid off to kindergarten for the first time.