Cardiac arrest is a real threat for young people, especially when it comes to athletes. Now, the West Valley School District is prepared to help victims with its newly installed Automated External Defibrillators or AEDs.

The AEDs sends a life saving shock to a victim's heart and now the District staff is getting trained on how to use it. It's part the district's new public access defribillation program that trains staff to recognize cardiac emergencies, perform CPR and use an AED. West Valley installed AEDs on their campus last spring in a joint effort with Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children's Hospital. The program called Project ADAM Inland Northwest is an effort to better protect our community against sudden death.

For information about Project ADAM and public access defibrillation programs in your school please call Ryan Schaefer (509) 474-3664.

Congratulations to the Central Valley School District. It's been recognized in the top 5% of highest performing school districts in Washington State. CVSD is one of 15 in the state to be invited to participate in the Washington State Effective District Practices study by the Washington School Research Center (WSRC).

Taking the socio-economic status of district students into account, statistical analysis showed Central Valley to be high performing on many significant factors including student achievement data from 2005-2010. Superintendent Ben Small and Terrie VanderWegen, Assistant Superintendent of Learning and Teaching answered a detailed questionnaire and had phone interviews to identify common practices performed by central office administrators in support of teaching and learning.

The study is a follow-up to the WSRC From Compliance to Commitment: A Report on Effective School Districts in Washington State (Abbot, Baker, & Stroh, 2004). The study will be published in 2012 in coordination with the BERC Group, Seattle Pacific University and Seattle University.

When drivers pass by Chester and Orchard Center Elementary, they’ll be guided to slow down with the help of new flashing school zone signs. They alert drivers when the 20 mph speed zone around the schools are in effect.

The beacons flash for 30-45 minutes during student arrival and departure times.

The signs were installed using grant money from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission to increase pedestrian safety and driver awareness in school zones.

A Public Works study conducted at Progress and University Elementary showed the flashing beacons have reduced the fastest speed of traffic by 31.9%