Santa Clara County Families & Children Digest

The topic of admission prices proved to be thorny last year, as staff proposed charging $18 for admission to a museum that historically allowed visitors to walk in for free.

The California Highway Patrol is marking the two-decade anniversary of the Amber Alert system. Hundreds of abducted children have been found and returned safely to their families following its implementation in 2002.

In Saratoga Union and Los Altos Elementary school districts, property taxes boost student funding and programs remain robust. In Alum Rock Union and Franklin-McKinley Elementary, music classes, coaches, robotics and counselors are reduced or cut.

To give children and families the necessary tools to succeed in life, the Office of Children and Families Policy will support and manage a diverse set of priorities that focus on children, youth and family programs.

State auditors say more than half of substantiated California child abuse reports in recent years were not in the state’s database, which could result in child abusers being allowed to care for children. The database is used by state and county social services and welfare departments, adoption agencies and other organizations.

This year I get to give talks to six schools about Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. But it is the students who will reinforce the importance of advancing diversity and inclusion.

GreenTown Los Altos held its first Family Bike Days event Saturday and Sunday, featuring guided rides with “energizer stations,” while the Los Altos Police Department sponsored a bike rodeo Sunday.

The Cougars’ Kingsley Okoronkwo (triple jump) and Melia Middleton (300-meter hurdles) earned berths to the CIF State Championships May 27-28, and they’ll be joined by para athletes Ashton Pluckhan, Ella Rodriguez, Isabella Browne and Sydney Saulo.

To carry on a son's legacy, the Tone Yao Lee scholarships will support mental health educators, psychologists and research.

Two years ago, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library eliminated the used bookstore that was located on the university side of the building, one the dumbest decisions the library ever made.

Assembly Bill 1728, introduced by Assemblymembers Robert Rivas (D-Salinas) and Blanca Rubio (D-Baldwin Park), would exempt single parents receiving CalWORKs benefits from “welfare-to-work” requirements for the first three years of their child’s life.

A new children’s play area is now open at Mineta International Airport. It is called the Zoom Zone, thanks to its sponsorship from Zoom, and was designed by the San Jose Children’s Discovery Museum.

Traveling with children is never easy, and Mineta Airport is sending help in the form of its new Zoom Zone—an interactive area designed especially for kids.

Santa Clara County expects to roll out vaccines for ages 5-11 as early as next week, with 55,000 doses of the modified Pfizer shot expected to arrive.

Santa Clara County is experiencing a lag in getting marriage certificates completed, with some couples clocking eight weeks or longer to make their union official.

Years in the making, the Vietnamese Service Center is finally opening near San Jose’s Little Saigon area. It will provide health and human services to the more than 140,000 Vietnamese residents of the region.

Mountain View’s Mayor for a Day essay contest brought some compelling and heart-capturing ideas in front of the City Council. The elementary school students were passionate about climate change and recognizing diversity in their community.

San Jose is celebrating the reopening of Lincoln Glen Park, the second all-inclusive park in the city. The park includes play equipment for children on the autism spectrum disorder, along with those with physical disabilities and medical fragility.

After a drive-in format for 2020, the Zoppe Family Circus is back in its big top this fall. The troupe will perform in Redwood City through early November.

The Hidden Halloween is the brainchild of a Baskin-Robbins franchise owner, and is becoming a popular destination in Palo Alto. What was once an empty field is now a charming pumpkin patch with activities for kids and families.

The League of California Cities recently honored Cupertino for the city’s efforts to get young people engaged in politics. It was one of 11 California cities recognized.

Between women delaying pregnancies in favor of climbing the corporate tech ladder and families fleeing the region in favor of affordable lifestyles, the youth population in the Bay Area is shrinking.

The Gilroy Unified School District hosted a groundbreaking ceremony Aug. 26 to mark the beginning of South Valley Middle School’s projected two-year-long transformation.

A scientific study released Aug. 3 shows links between pollution from piston-engine airplanes at San Jose’s Reid-Hillview Airport and high levels of lead in the blood of children living near the airport, which is slated for closure in 2032.

More than 40,000 California child care providers will get at least a 15 percent pay raise starting in 2022 through their first-ever collective bargaining agreement.

Through major efforts to feed children during the pandemic, school districts across San Mateo and Santa Clara counties have offered an important resource to families struggling with unprecedented changes and challenges.

Advocates say demand for care has been up during the pandemic, and services are inadequate.

The Los Altos Educational Foundation has struggled to raise money during the pandemic. To help, Loyola School second-grader Finley Snedigar is selling hand-drawn notecards locally.

Designed for children ages 3 through 10, the center includes Miniland (with replicas of local landmarks), animated movies, lego-building workshops, and a VR simulation of flying through a lego world.

The City of Santa Clara has announced that all three of its libraries will be open for lobby service beginning this week. Other services, including computers and printers, should be available by the end of the month.

Ken Christopher, whose company grows the stinking rose, has donated 1,000 copies of his children’s book to Gilroy elementary schools.

Starting with a pilot program in Palo Alto’s Mitchell Park, the Magical Bridge Foundation now has 11 other projects in the works around the South Bay, as well as two in Singapore.