New Registration Fee for Adult School Classes

As we all know, there has been an economic crisis in California , the US , and the world.

The Adult School , like many schools and social programs, was hit by this. Funding was cut by 20% and the way the Adult School is funded was changed as well.

What is San Mateo Adult School doing about that?

Some classes were cut and we had a longer break this summer.

Now the Adult School has a new plan:

Charging a small registration fee to take classes will help keep the doors open to many classes.

What is a fee? A fee is small amount of money that you pay for a service.

How will that work?

Each program - ESL, Parent Ed, and the GED/ABE - will charge 30 dollars per semester.

If you pay 30 dollars for the ESL program, then you can take any class in the ESL program, including Distance Learning, for the whole semester. You can take as many classes as you want in the semester for the 30 dollar fee.

The only program that will be different is the Fifty Plus program. (For more information about the Fifty Plus program, visit the Fifty Plus section of the school website.)

How will paying the fee work?

If you are a new student on-site at the Adult School (789 E. Poplar), you can pay in the SMART Center (the big red building) when you register.

If you are a continuing student at the Adult School (789 E. Poplar), someone will come to your class and you can pay them.

If you take a class off-site (for example, in Foster City or San Bruno), someone from the Adult School will come at the beginning of the semester and collect the money from you. If you join the class later in the semester, you will pay the money directly to the teacher.

When will this start?

In January, at the start of the semester. The first day of classes is January 4, 2010.

Is there anything else I should know?

Yes! Keep your receipt! Your receipt shows that you paid. This is important.

You can read more about the new policy in this article from the San Francisco Examiner.

Wonderful New Website!

How are your listening skills?

Do they need some improvement?

Check out http://www.englishspeak.com - it's an amazing website!

Another Survey For You

Many of you told us that you are interested in new materials that you can listen to on MP3 players, computers or CDs.

If we make new materials, what subject matters are you interest in?

You can tell us here in this new survey:

Click Here to take survey

We're Here For You!

The Adult School and Distance Learning are back in session and ready to help you improve your listening, speaking, reading, writing in English skills.

If you are new to Distance Learning or if you have not come in for a long time, give us a call - 650 - 558 - 2128 or drop by - Room 28 - to register and make an appointment.

We have appointments available.

This is your chance to develop the skills you need to get the life you want!

Summer Break

The San Mateo Adult School will be on Summer Break from August 8 to September 7.

Fall classes begin Tuesday September 8.

During the break, you can continue to improve your English at www.usalearns.org
and the other sites listed on this page and on the San Mateo Adult School student blog.

See you in September!

Learn to Type or Improve Your Typing

Keyboarding (also called typing) is very important in today's culture. It's all about computers, emails, texting, and twittering. If you can't type or you type slowly, it's harder to get a job or succeed at work.

You can learn to type or improve your typing here:
http://sense-lang.org/index.html

Survey about Listening Programs

Here is a survey to find out if you are interested in listening programs.

Please take the survey here:

Click Here to take survey