The Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) is one of 58 county offices located throughout the state. Approximately 650 regular and more than 950 temporary and substitute SCOE staff work year-round providing services which complement and supplement those offered by public school districts in Sacramento County. More than 240,000 K-12 students are served by public schools in Sacramento County.
Classified Employee of the Month Team
Technology Support/Trainers Betsy Bourne, Bill Mullen, Scott Pantalone, Robin Satow, and Fernando Soares were nominated as a team by Technology Projects Director Jerry Jones for their contributions to the Sacramento County Office of Education. These individuals comprise SCOE's Computer, Network and Telecommunication Support (CNTS) Team, headquartered at the Meaney Education Center. CNTS supports and maintains more than 1,500 physical and virtual computers, laptops, smart phones, software, and a wide variety of technology-based devices and peripherals used by SCOE employees. The CNTS Technology Support/Trainers perform a variety of duties, including diagnosing and troubleshooting technical problems, installing or repairing computer equipment, providing hands-on training to individuals or groups, setting up videoconferences or audio-visual equipment for SCOE meetings, and communicating technical issues to SCOE staff in clear, non-technical terms. The team recently completed a difficult and complex project of transitioning SCOE to a new e-mail system (Office 365), effective November 1. This required five months of testing, planning, training and installing new software while performing regular work duties. The CNTS staff had to learn every aspect of the new e-mail system and assist SCOE staff with transitioning computers and mobile devices to the new system. Approximately 375 SCOE employees were trained in the Meaney Education Center computer lab in addition to hundreds of teachers, para-educators, and office staff trained at school sites. The CNTS team also spent several days assisting staff with migrating their calendars and contacts to the new e-mail system and assisted staff after the transition was complete. The CNTS team activated more than 400 virtual computers to students, teachers and office staff in 2014; a key assignment was deploying 155 virtual computers in the spring for Common Core instruction and the new SBAC (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium) computerized student test. Reports their supervisor, "SCOE's Technology Support/Trainers work as a team, in pairs or small groups, to tackle specific projects or tasks that require more than one person to accomplish. Their teamwork, patience, and hard work were instrumental in successfully completing the SCOE e-mail migration and virtual computer deployment projects. They are very deserving of Employee of the Month honors." Collectively, the CNTS team represents more than 62 years of service to SCOE: Betsy Bourne (since 1998), Bill Mullen (since 2007), Scott Pantalone (since May 2006), Robin Satow (since 1995), Fernando Soares (since 2007).
Certificated Employee of the Month
Patrick McIntosh, CARE Teacher, was nominated by Court and Community Schools Director Chris Aland for his contributions to the Sacramento County Office of Education. Mr. McIntosh serves 7th and 8th grade students enrolled in the CARE (Community Action for Responsive Education) program operated by SCOE at Sutter Middle School in Folsom. His main focus is the delivery of English language arts, mathematics and study skills curriculum to students who are working to overcome poor academic performance. His supervisor says, "Mr. McIntosh is a family man with values to support strong children. His students, as well as the regular school staff at Sutter Middle School, are a part of his workplace family." Mr. McIntosh is able to bring to his classroom his diverse teaching experiences ranging from SCOE's Sly Park Environmental Education campus, International Schools in Italy and Switzerland, and San Francisco Unified and San Juan Unified School Districts. He is an alumnus of the SCOE Leadership Institute. Continues his supervisor, "Mr. McIntosh is an 'outside of the box' thinker and is always willing to help. He truly expects 100% effort in his students and wants to see them reach their full potential." He states that Mr. McIntosh likes working with at-risk students because "there is something special about helping students who have turned off their academic light turn it back on again. These are students who have nowhere to go but up—and they often do. It is worthwhile to see a student begin to believe in him or herself again." Concludes his supervisor, "Patrick's students bring with them many different struggles, all of which take a great amount of patience. Patrick's calm demeanor and positive approach make him an amazing teacher." Patrick McIntosh has been a Sacramento County Office of Education employee since 2006.