Formal education begins at Bailey, Branch Published Aug. 29, 2007 By Airman 1st Class Julius Delos Reyes 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Children's education starts at home and is continuously pursued when they begin going to school. For Edwards children, two schools provide them the first two steps in the learning process -- Bailey and Branch Elementary Schools. Children can go to Bailey Elementary School for kindergarten, first and second grade, and Branch Elementary School for third to sixth grade. Helping Bailey nurture its students are 20 fully-credentialed teachers and a number of support personnel including campus aides, instructional aides, office staff and cafeteria staff. "All of the teachers have at least a bachelor's degree and passed a certification for the state of California," said Byron Johnson, principal for both Bailey and Branch. Branch has 18 teachers, who are also qualified for the "No Child Left Behind" program. This federal program provides the standard on how teachers are qualified. "They need to have classroom experience or go through classes," Mr. Johnson said. This year, Bailey has 372 students while Branch has 410. These student's parents either work or live on base. "We have a high caliber of students in our schools," Mr. Johnson said. "Most of them are focused as far as education goes." Bailey's teaching curriculum is based on the California state standards. Neither school offers after-school sports programs because the base already offers them through the Youth Center. However, Bailey and Branch students have physical education programs in their curriculums. Bailey also has a "Book and Breakfast" program during the morning for parents who need to drop off their children early. The students can have breakfast in the school and participate in the reading program before the bell rings. For academics, Bailey stresses language and arts including reading, writing, comprehension, arts, physical education, social studies, science and mathematics. "Our main goal is the language and arts," Mr. Johnson said. Students at Bailey have traditionally scored well in the California State Standard Test. It has been one of the highest scoring schools in the state. "The teachers have high expectations for their students just as their parents do," Mr. Johnson said. "We strive to meet those expectations." Branch classes provide teaching in language, mathematics, writing, science, social studies, physical education, music, history, language arts and health. "We have a framework on how we teach our students," Mr. Johnson said. "The state provides us the standard while the school district gives us the benchmark. Our benchmark is more rigorous than the state standards." Mr. Johnson said parents bring their children at these two schools because of the quality of education that the child receives. "The staff is dedicated to seeing that the child reaches their potential academically and socially," he said. (Some information courtesy of www.muroc.k12.ca.us)