understand, and able to do

Administration Speaks upon exit from our school.

ESLRS equip all students
Issue # 6
KZV’S WASC ACCREDITATION with the knowledge,
competencies, and
SELF-STUDY orientations needed for
By Siran Nahabedian WASC Coordinator success. ESLRS also enable
Special Points of teachers to implement lesson
Interest: Every three to six years, implementation of a plans/programs that
KZV Armenian School must schoolwide action plan. maximize learning success
• WASC Accreditation: renew its accreditation with for all students.
The Accrediting the Western Association of The Accrediting
Commission will be Schools and Colleges Commission will be visiting KZV’s ESLRS have been
visiting our school on (WASC). The process our school on March 9, 10 posted in all classrooms and
March 9, 10 and 11 of entails three main and 11 of this year and in the office. They were also
this year… components, including: (1) preparation for that visit, mailed to all parents at the
• Jean Piaget’s the defining of Expected we have compiled our end of our last school year.
Stages of Schoolwide Learning data, completed our If you would like more
Development: document and are working
Results (ESLRS); (2) information about the
When parents or
Schoolwide interdisciplinary on a few finishing touches. accreditation process, or
teachers push a
child before the dialogue based on the The anchor of our self- have questions about our
appropriate collection and analysis of study is called the “ESLRS” ESLRS, please feel free to
developmental level evidence, and (3) the which define what each contact me by email at
is reached.. development and student should know, stnahabed@comcast.net.

Trends in Education demonstrated that the

child’s ability to grasp
JEAN PIAGET’S STAGES OF certain ideas relates to
his/her level of cognitive
Editorial Board DEVELOPMENT cognitive development of
children in the 1960’s. His
development, which
naturally changes as the
Adina Haun, Editor and By Adina Haun research insights have
Trends in Education child matures. When
been of immeasurable parents or teachers push
Yeprem Mehranian, benefit to parents and a child before the
Administration Speaks teachers—and ultimately appropriate
all children—who interact developmental level is
Tutu Heinonen, News with children. Prior to reached, the result will
Around the School Piaget’s work, most likely be frustration
educators/parents could for both the child and the
Garine Panossian,
Armenian Corner not readily explain how adults. The consequences
some children could grasp of inappropriate
Hasmik Mehranian, a simple (to adults) expectations can have
Layout/Publisher concept, while others lifelong repercussions for
Jean Piaget, a Swiss would struggle. Children the individual.
biologist and psychologist, were incorrectly labeled as
developed breakthrough slow, difficult, or
findings in the field of the uninterested. Piaget Cont. on page 8

KZV Armenian School, SF, CA © 2008

 February Page 2 of 13

News from Around the School: KZV Open House

We are inviting you to the KZV Open House,
which will take place on Thursday, March 26th.
Please join us to
• Learn about our strong academics,
experienced faculty and staff;
• Meet our community of parents, staff and
students;
• Tour Northern California’s ONLY Armenian-
American Day School.
Parents will be invited to spend the day on campus
to learn about our school, talk to our teachers, and
have lunch with our students. See you then!

6th Grade Yosemite Trip other schools attending the same

By Tutu Heinonen
Clear blue skies, several feet of
glittering white snow blanketing
everything in view, and three
thousand feet high, majestic
looking, peaks jutting up all around
us. We are in Yosemite Valley,
Camp Curry to be exact. It has
been snowing for days and we
have arrived in a winter
wonderland! The students are
excited to finally be able to touch,
taste, and play in the snow. The
sixth grade trip to Yosemite could
not have begun any better.
We had been looking forward
to the Yosemite trip all year long,
listening attentively to this year’s
seventh graders telling us about
their Yosemite trip experiences
from last year, planning, asking
hundred’s of questions, projecting
and dreaming. Weeks before the
trip we began to check the weather
up there regularly and shopping for
appropriate clothing and gear. As a
teacher I received many questions
about bears from worried students
and tried to answer them
accordingly. The biggest question
though was the one about the
Spider Caves. Spider Caves had
taken on an almost mystical realm
after talking to the seventh graders,
and would become one of the
definite high lights of the trip.
After about seven hours in the car
we arrived at Camp Curry around
five o’clock in the afternoon and
were delightedly surprised to know
that we were one of the few lucky
ones to be given real, wood, cabins
to sleep in. This meant that we did
not have to worry about having
food and other odorous objects in
our cabins and did not have to put
them away into bear lockers. The
children were very relieved. After
settling into our warm and cozy
new homes and changing into
weather appropriate clothing, it was
about 25 degrees Fahrenheit
outside, we went to dinner. Lunch
and dinner every day were served
in the Camp Curry dining hall with
Yosemite Institute program as
we. We found out that the eight
grade of one of our neighboring
schools, Brandeis Hillel, was also
at Camp Curry, with a slightly
larger group of about 64
students. After dinner it was time
to attend an evening program on
bats. We learned many new facts
about bats and our previous
misconceptions about these
important and quite cute little
creatures were put to sleep.
Speaking of sleep, after the
evening program we were all
very tired and retired into our
comfy lairs for a good nights
rest.
Cont. on next page
Yosemite National Park
 Page 3 of 13
News from Around the School:
School: continued
6th Grade Yosemite Trip
The next day we woke up to a beautiful sunny day.
We met our very own Yosemite Institute instructor
Naomi and after introductions we were all given parts of
the day’s lunch to carry. On the program was a long
hike, about five miles, and because of the newly fallen
snow we had to break trail, which meant that we made
the path by tromping down the snow. This was hard
work for the people up front and naturally much easier
for the ones at the back of the line. Therefore, we took
turns being in the front and high fived the person for a
job well done when they tired. During the hike we
entertained ourselves with riddles and songs and learned
about the surrounding ecology. Lunch was eaten in a
circle of tromped down snow and food items were
passed around in a democratic manner. At the end of the
hiking day we stopped at a river bank called The Beach
where we wrote in our journals reflecting upon our day
spent in nature. After journaling the students had some
well deserved time for snow ball fights and building a
snow man. After dinner we attended the renowned bear
lecture by Ranger Dave.
Day three of our trip was the most exciting day. It
was the Spider Caves day. After breakfast we hiked up to
Yosemite Falls where we had lunch and after eating we
headed to Spider Caves. On our way to Yosemite Falls
we had stopped in preparation for the cave. We did the
human knot and worked on untangling it practicing our
co-operation and communications skills, skills that are
6th Grade After Exiting Spider Caves
February
6th Grade in Yosemite
essential when in the Spider Caves. We had to rely on
the communication skills of the person in front of us in
the dark cave and pass on the instructions to the
person behind us. Because of the pitch black and very
tight conditions of the cave Naomi decided to light a
couple of tea candles in order to calm some of the
students’ minds. When we all got to the center cavern
we sat in a circle sharing our experience and what this
first time spelunking had taught us all. We were all very
proud of ourselves for getting through the Spider Caves
and some of the students wanted to do it again.
After the Spider Caves we all went ice skating in a
beautiful rink surrounded by the magnificent mountain
peaks of Yosemite Valley. And after dinner it was time
for the closing activity held in a yurt. We sat in a circle
the only source of light coming from a couple of tea
candles and played an altered version of the game
“Celebrity”, concentrating on people and places we had
met and seen during our days in the Yosemite Valley,
which the kids loved (note to self: Use this game in the
classroom based on a currently studied unit). In closing
Naomi read us a beautiful children’s book about hope
and dreams and the appreciation of the natural world
surrounding us.
The last day had arrived too soon. Our final activity
took us to the Nature Center a 15 minute walk from our
cabins. We had the place all to our selves guided by
Naomi and her never ending knowledge about the
nature and animals of Yosemite Valley. The students
were very taken by the center and did not want to leave
when the time came. We were all very sad to leave
Yosemite and thought that the time spent in this
amazing valley was too brief. The experience we had
we will carry with us forever and the lessons learned we
will remember in everyday life and coming together as a
group, a much more tighter group, has made us all
better human beings.
 February Page 4 of 13

News from Around the School:

School: continued
8th Grade Washington DC Trip
On January 17th 2009, our 8th grade class embarked
upon an unprecedented journey to Washington DC to
witness the historic inauguration of our nation’s first
African-American President. Our students were busy
during the 2008 General Election, deconstructing the
messages presented by each candidate in speeches
made to the public. While our 8th graders may not have
been able to vote in this election, they were personally
invested in the process and educated on local issues on
California’s statewide ballot. The 8th grader’s education
of the American electoral process, the cornerstone of
our democracy, ended with their culminating trip to
Washington DC. They were not only witnesses to
history, but privileged to take part in it!
The following are excerpts from reflections written by
our students:

“As an Armenian, I understand the possible challenges

one would face coming from a different culture, so this
inspires me to achieve my goals in life…Hopefully he
has and will continue to inspire others like he has
inspired me.” - Laleh Tchaparian

“As I walked at 3am, in the freezing cold, I looked

around. There were all types of people: Asian,
Mexican, African-Americans. All of us were walking side
by side. Years back people that were a different race
from “whites” were not even allowed to walk side by
side. I stood there in the 2 ½ million person crowd
experiencing a historical moment; when all men truly
became equal” - Rosie Aristakessian
Page 5 of 13 February

“Barack Obama showed everyone that even

though you are the African-American 1st
generation son of an immigrant, you can still
accomplish any dream you want. He shows
people that it doesn’t matter what the color of
your skin is and all that matters is that you
have the will to become someone in your life”
Garin Derounian
 February Page 6 of 13

“Obama is what the peaceful protests of Martin Luther

King Jr. have produced…It’s a shame that all those who
fought for equal rights cannot see what has happened.
As the first black President, he will open the minds of
many to truly accepting equality… Now that Obama has
been elected President the world will see a brighter
day.” – Garen Kantarci

“Barack Obama didn’t succeed by opening

his wallet. He had to use his brain to
accomplish all that he has achieved. It
wasn’t easy for him; not all doors were
open. He had to get through it with hard
work and dedication. I think this part of his
past represents many living in this country.
Just as many of our parents came to America
with nothing, so did his. His success
awakens people around this country,
showing us all that everything is possible.
You can be anything you want, from doctor,
lawyer and now President. All it takes is
hard work and dedication. The color of your
skin or the religion you believe in will never
interfere with where you can get in this life;
not in this country” Raisa Galustian
 Page 7 of 13 February

News from Around the School:

School: continued
Krouzian Zekarian Vasbouragan Armenian School
Middle School
Mrs. Kostanian
First Place: Julie Avetisyan 7th Grade
Second Place: Lori Zadoorian 6th Grade
Third Place: Sevan Nahabedian 7th Grade
Fourth Place: Krikor Andonian 7th Grade

Honorable Mention:
Sixth Grade Marina Kananova
Seventh Grade Tamar Deirmendjian
Eighth Grade Raisa Galustyan,
Garen Kantarci

Congratulations 6th, 7th and 8th grade students for your

commendable efforts in this year’s Science Fair. All the
teachers, students, parents and guests enjoyed seeing
your projects and talking with you on Science Fair night.
I had some excellent comments on how well our
students presented their projects. You should all
consider yourselves winners!
A very special thank you goes to all our judges for taking
the time from their work and families to do a job that
can be difficult.
Also, a special thank you to our parents for their
enthusiasm and support.

The KZV educational community would like to thank Ms. Nahabedian, KZV WASC Coordinator, and Mr. Orr, KZV 5th
grade teacher, for the painstaking work and the sustained diligence with which they have prepared the necessary
documents and fine tuned the needed procedures for our school’s WASC 2009 re-accreditation process.

Respectfully, KZV Administration

 February
Alumni News:
News: continued
Taleen Bilemdjian
I attended KZV for
eleven years, from
pre-k until 8th grade, longlasting friendships and memories.
the class of 2004.
From my first day of school at three years
old to my last day at fourteen, KZV was
home away from home. My classmates
were my sisters and brothers and my
teachers were my second parents. On my it to all females graduating from KZV. I
first day of school, I walked confidently
into the Pre-K classroom and got a kiss
right on the lips. What a welcome! At
KZV I made lifelong friendships and
precious memories. Some of my favorite
moments during my years at KZV include
our Yosemite and Washington trips. Both
trips were my first weeks away from
home. Although we made memories every with my family. What can I say! Nursing
day, the class trips allowed us even
greater opportunities to bond. When we
came back from Yosemite I remember
feeling closer to my friends than ever
before. For the first eleven years of my
life, KZV was all I knew. I spent more
Trends in Education continued:
Below, in summary, are Piaget’s stages of
cognitive development:
Sensorimotor Stage: Birth to 2 years
This stage is governed by sensations.
Reflex activity evolves from simple
repetitive behavior to imitative behavior.
Problem solving is through trial and error
mainly, with the child eventually
developing a sense of “cause and effect”
(when I turn the cup over, the water falls
out.) Children exhibit tremendous
curiosity, loving new experiences. They
begin to see themselves as different from
their environment; understanding that an
object continues to exist even when out
of sight. Use of language and
representational thought begin at the end
of this period.
Preoperational Stage: 2-7 Years
Children at this stage are egocentric,
seeing the world from their own
Page 8 of 13
learning from them also. They are all
wonderful children, each with their
own unique qualities that I noticed
right away. Their enthusiasm to
learn made me even more
time there than at home. I cannot find
enthusiastic to teach them. In my
many words to describe my experience
one month with the students, I
there, except that I feel lucky to have
already watched many of them
had the opportunity to make such
flourish in their reading and
handwriting. I am confident that
they will grow up to be brilliant and
After graduating, I continued my
helpful citizens. I absolutely look
education at Mercy High School
forward to volunteering at KZV in the
Burlingame. I loved it more than I ever
future.
thought I would and would recommend
As I mentioned before, I plan on
graduated in 2008 and moved on to
being an RN in a children's hospital or
Saint Mary’s College in Moraga. It is
in a pediatric unit. I want to focus
now my second semester at St Mary’s. I
primarily on working with terminally
am working hard in the nursing program
ill children. Although my ECE class did
and I also work in the residence life
not motivate me to teach in a
office at St Mary’s. When I am not at
classroom, it brought new ideas into
school I enjoy spending time with my
my plans for the future. I want to
niece and watching my favorite shows
use my experience in early childhood
education to offer terminally ill
students do not have much time for
children the opportunity to learn.
hobbies!
Although they can not sit in a
classroom to learn, I want to give
My experience in Ms. Haun’s Second
them the opportunity to learn about
Grade class was incredible. I went there
any topic they may have never
to help them learn but I found myself
thought they would be able to learn
about.
JEAN PIAGET’S STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
objects. They understand
perspective only and not seeing any
conservation—for example, the same
reason to understand another’s point of
amount of water is in an 8oz. cup as
view (this stage can last a very long time!
in an 8 oz. bowl. Thinking is not
Ed. note). Preoperational thinking is
abstract, as problems are solved in a
concrete and tangible, with little to no
concrete, systematic way. Reasoning
ability to make deductions or
is mainly inductive, or generalizations
generalizations. Thinking relates primarily
form from a set of facts. During this
to direct experience. There is a dramatic
stage, children become less self-
increase in the use of language to
centered as they develop a greater
represent objects in the environment.
capacity for empathy for the
They can begin to delve into problems of
viewpoints of others.
time, weight, length and size. Toward the
end of this stage their reasoning is
Formal Operations Stage: 11-15
increasingly intuitive (the sun wakes up
Years
when I do), and transductive, that is
The key words for this stage are
because two events occur together they
adaptability and flexibility, as children
cause each other.
utilize abstract thinking and symbols.
They are able to do logical problem
Concrete Operations Stage: 7-11
solving, making hypotheses and
Years
testing them. They can imagine the
At this stage thinking is more logical and
viewpoints of others, while
coherent, as children are able to classify,
considering what might be as well as
sort, order, and organize facts and
what is. (Hockenberry—2005)
 Page 9 of 13
Trends in Education:
Comments on Development and Learning
By Dr. Yeprem Mehranian
Adina Haun’s introductory
article on Piaget calls for some
general commentary on
theories of learning. Much has
been said about how children
and adolescents learn and
therefore need to be taught.
Teachers, parents,
administrators, and
educational experts continue
to remain at gridlocks when it
comes to agreeing on the
provision of effective and
meaningful educational
experiences to learners. The
disagreements are pervasive,
to the point where even such
terms as effectiveness and
meaningfulness, as I have
used them in the above, could
be construed to mean different
things, the first, a measure of
an end result, and the second,
a process. It is important that
we seek to clarify some of this
confusion. As we do, we will be
able to better understand why
and what it is teachers try to
do in their classrooms, and
accordingly, to help our
children by following up on this
work at home.
Unfortunately, the attempt to
label children as slow or fast
learners, bright or average,
and as uninterested or curious,
as mentioned by Ms. Haun,
prevails. This is a sign that
considerable segments of the
mainstream educational
culture continue to remain
oblivious to the
groundbreaking work done by
such theoreticians and
educators as Piaget, Dewey,
and Vygotsky in challenging
quantified conceptualizations
of how development and
learning occur. The sustained
February
rise in the importance of
standardized testing, as the
prime measure of what
children know or have learned,
is directly responsible for much
of this type of labeling. The
temptation to cater to
standardized testing ideology
pushes educators toward
excessive reliance on teaching
methods that favor drill and
practice approaches, rote
Jean Piaget (1896-1980)
memorization, and repetition of
teacher provided correct
among others, by B.F. Skinner.
responses. The classrooms that
Behaviorism looks at
are run by the proponents of
development and learning as
these methods, classified by
determined by outside factors,
some under the rubric of
in this case by measured doses
didactic approach, privilege the
of teacher-induced stimuli and
academics over experiential
student-produced response.
learning and play.
This is a very different
Interestingly, the
conception from the one
implementation of didactic
proposed by Piaget in which
methodologies—characterized
psychological and social
as they are by teacher-directed
development are seen as
concepts of curriculum—in
internal factors that evolve in
early childhood education
direct response to the
settings where they are
relationships growing children
disguised as play further
are able to establish with their
complicates the conundrum of
own life experiences. Not all of
what it means to learn and to
Piaget’s concepts of learning
teach. Furthermore, the
have been lost to the
didactic approach requires pat
educational mainstream,
answers because performing
successfully in standardized however. The two ideas of
child-centered education and
tests requires it. Standardized
developmentally appropriate
tests tend not only to
teaching and learning are good
overemphasize the educational
examples of how some of
significance of measuring
these concepts have found
quantifiable student skills, but
their way into the everyday
are also prone, albeit implicitly,
vocabulary and practices of
to reduce various aspects of
teachers and parents. Both
the developmental process,
ideas attest to how knowledge
cognitive, affective, and moral
is not externally deduced by
to a single measurable
children, but instead, and in
quantity.
simultaneity with the process
of its own acquisition,
Standardized testing itself is
constructed by them.
supported by what is generally
known as the behaviorist
Cont. on next page
theory of learning, advanced,

Trends in Education: continued
Comments on Development and Learning
We are called to give
of events moves as
Back
credencePage
to Piaget’sStory
theory Headline
follows. In the upper left
of age appropriate learning
when observing the ways in
which a four year old boy
tackles a drill and practice
worksheet assignment.
While each of the four
quarters of this worksheet
offers him a different
opportunity to count up to
six—the target number—our
imagination is triggered to
learn about the marvelously
unpredictable series of
actions with which he
transgresses the intended
objectives of the
assignment. The sequence
News from Around the School:
School: continued
Pre-K News fourth birthday and thanks to her
Knarik Shahijanian,
Pre-K Director
Hello, parents! February
proved to be one of our best
months yet!
First, we’d like to welcome
a new student to our class, Aram
Kilijian. Welcome, Aram! Aram is
joining us in Yellow group. If you’re
keeping count, that makes six of us
in Yellow Group!
We started the month out
right with, what else? A Pajama
Party! We each got to wear our
pajamas and bring to school our
favorite stuffed animal. Nap time
was extra nice on this day!
This month brought three
wonderful birthdays. We first
celebrated Alysa Bezdjian’s fifth
birthday and got to play musical
chairs! Next came Taline Balian’s
quarter of the worksheet
the child adds two circles
to the image of six
buttons—arranged in two
columns of threes—one to
each column. Next,
moving clockwise, inside
the upper right quarter,
the child gets the “right”
answer mainly by virtue of
being able to follow his
teacher’s instructions.
With the next two
quarters, however, as the
teacher looks away, in
each instance he adds, as
parents, we now have a new CD
player! It was also Michael
Kazaryants’s fourth birthday and
we had a great day! Happy
birthday to all of you!
And, of course, we
celebrated Valentine’s Day! It was
so much fun to exchange goody
bags that we made for one
another. Our room mothers
surprised us with Valentine’s Day
balloons and we danced a freeze
dance while holding our balloons!
February also brings us
the celebration of “Vartanantz”.
The Blue and Red groups sang
songs and recited poems in honor
of St. Vartan.
A few weeks ago, we had
a surprise inspection from the
State of California, Health and
Human Services Agency. We are
happy to report that Mr. Tony Ng,
the licensing evaluator, was very
Page 10 of 13
he changes his arrangements,
six more circles, instead of
the three necessary, to reach
the desired total. Finally, to
top it all off, when his teacher
pauses on the lower left
quarter and asks him in
confidence to identify the
number six, he inadvertently
responds by uttering the word
nine!
(Parts of this article have
been based on an article titled
Developmentally appropriate
practice in kindergarten:
factors shaping teacher
beliefs and practice. Journal
of Research in Childhood
Education, Parker, Audra;
Neuharth-Pritchett, Stacy,
September 22, 2006)
impressed with our Pre-K.
This month, we have
been focusing on math and
science. In our study of
conceptual physics, we have
been learning about buoyancy
and what sorts of things float or
sink. We have also been
working on understanding colors
– the mixing of, addition, and
subtraction. We call it our “color
lab” and it is as much fun as it
sounds!
And, finally, on the very
last school day in February, Dr.
Edward Siyahian, DDS., came to
talk to us about oral hygiene
and about a dentist’s job. We
each received our very own
toothbrushes and a tube of
toothpaste. We loved our visit –
thank you Dr. Siyahian!
For such a short month,
we sure packed in a lot of
activities and lessons. Though it
will be very difficult to do, we
hope to make March even
better!
Page 11 of 13 February

Armenian Corner:
 Page 12 of 13

Armenian Corner: continued

 Page 13 of 13 February

Alumni News: continued Nahabedian’s classes for two

Renia Boudaghian
KZV Armenian School
825 Brotherhood Way
San Francisco, CA 94132
PHONE: (415) 586-8686
FAX: (415) 586-8686
E-MAIL: office@kzv.org
When I was a student, the
Teachers’ Lounge was a mystery;
what was so intriguing that they
would always be in there, what did
they talk about, what was in the
fridge? Those questions are no
longer a mystery for me, for I have
stepped into the realm of the
Teachers’ Lounge. Never would I
have thought, after graduating in
2000, that I’d be back to substitute
teach. To make things more ironic,
We’re on the Web! I was stepping in for a teacher who
taught me over 15 years ago, Mrs.
See us at:
Nahabedian. I would be stepping
www.kzv.org
in to take over her 4th graders, and
have the pleasure of teaching the
Kindergarten class English
language. Having taken over Mrs.
weeks, it does not surprise me
that our teachers had to get
away, even for just 5 minutes.
Teaching is no joke. I want to
say I’ve always respected my
teachers, not for what they do
per se, but for simply being
older, an authoritative figure. I
hadn’t even begun my second
week and I was telling Mrs.
Panossian that I plan to pay my
kids’ teachers double their
salary. Needless to say, I think I
learned more from my students
than they learned from me. I
learned that I’m not cut out to
be a teacher, temporarily, most
definitely, but to be able to
boast a 10, 20, 28 year career
teaching at K.Z.V., no way Jose.
The teachers we have at this
school are different, special,
crazy almost. There are no
incentives, there are no
tenures, there are no 401Ks.
What’s left is a group of
dedicated educators who strive
to get the material across and
engrained in our minds. I
always joke and say that I need
to be having kids now to
populate the school, but
realistically, all I can do for now
is be ready to substitute for the
next 6 months until I begin my
journey of becoming an
attorney.

Editorial Board Notes:

The KZV Newsletter editorial board received a lengthy and constructive letter from one of our parents, Ms.
Alayan. We deeply appreciate her comments and suggestions, and have incorporated some of her excellent ideas
in this month’s edition and will continue to explore others in the coming months. We welcome all letters from
interested parties in our KZV community.

Update: the University of California recently announced that the institution will no longer require SAT tests in
subject areas as part of the application process as they were poor predictors of academic success. This trend on
the part of other esteemed colleges and universities was the focus of the article in the September newsletter.