News and happenings at private and public preschools, elementary and high schools in and around Los Angeles.
School News
The Arts Matter – But What’s Best for Your Child?
We may not always practice what we preach, but in general our culture agrees that the arts are important, and that kids should be exposed to them at an early age. In fact, the California Education Code requires arts education in public schools, but with tight school budgets and other education priorities, it can be tough deciphering what type of arts education your kids should receive at each grade level....
Blue-Ribbon Panel Outlines Ways to Keep Students Safe
After the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., the cell phones and emails of LAUSD parents were buzzing with messages from the second largest school district in the country – messages that attempted to assure us that our children were safe and that the district was doing everything it could to improve safety measures. To bolster those efforts, Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer assembled...
Hometown Basketball Hero Steps up to Save Local Christian School
During the last week of June, Angela Evans, founder of Frederick K.C. Price III Christian School in South Los Angeles, was going to announce that the acclaimed inner-city school was closing its doors after 33 years of service to the community. The school is located on the campus of Crenshaw Christian Center and has substantially relied on church financial assistance to sustain its operations. But in a letter to parents...
Redondo Beach Schools Make Strides Against Student Obesity
While students in other districts will head back to school in cars, buses and SUVs this fall, many in the Redondo Beach Unified School District will take the “walking school bus” with parents and volunteers. When they arrive on campus, they’ll begin their day with eight minutes of exercise led by teachers and faculty. At lunch, enticing displays of fruits and vegetables are generally the first thing they’ll see in...
New Roads School Student Named 2018 U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts
"Conceptual social justice artist" sounds like a title for an over-40 survivor of a hate crime to me, but given the political climate, the prevalence of school shootings and the exposure of hate speech on social media, I'm reminded that it's no longer far-fetched to see a teenager become and artist activist. Sanna Legan uses her mix of mini-corsets, beaded tampons, sketches and multimedia art to address the harsh bullying...
Coveted FIRST World Championship Spot Goes to STEM3 Academy’s Robotics Team
STEM3 Academy’s Robotics Team 5678 won a spot at the FIRST World Championship competition in Houston this month. For the team, this was an extraordinary opportunity, and the second time that they have been selected to participate in the international competition in its only four years of participating in regional events. The team is proud to have placed 28th out of 67 teams in their division, the best showing they’ve...
Granada Hills Charter Robotics Team Wins State Championship and Secures Spot in World Competition
Granada Hills Charter (GHC) High School’s robotics won the tournament championship at a California statewide robotics competition in Pomona, CA over the weekend. The GHC robotics team qualified for the world competition which will be held April 25-28 in Louisville, Kentucky. The VEX Robotics Competition harnesses the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) concepts and instills life experiences that foster the growth of teamwork, leadership, and communications. The VEX competition...
Compass Charter Schools Scholar Secures Debut Role in New Nickelodeon Comedy Series
Today, Compass Charter Schools (CCS) announced entertainment news courtesy of one of its own. Lilimar Hernandez Ruiz, a high school senior from North Hollywood, made her television debut on Nickelodeon’s new comedy "Knight Squad." CCS is a virtual independent study charter school serving grades TK-12 with enrollment of more than 1,000. CCS is dedicated to offering scholars like Ruiz access to quality online and homeschool educational programs to meet their...
Junior White Coat Ceremony Graduates 159 Local Students
The Saturday Science Academy II at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine (SSA-II), a STEM program for youth from underserved communities in L.A., graduated 159 K-12 students at its 18th annual “Junior White Coat Ceremony” on Jan. 20. SSA-II is a year-round program with three eight-week sessions during the school year and a four-week summer course. The program is open to all students, but ultimately seeks to inspire students of color...
Center Theatre Group Chooses August Wilson Monologue Finalists
Center Theatre Group has selected 12 local high school students to participate in the regional finals for the 2018 August Wilson Monologue Competition (AWMC) to be held March 5 at the Mark Taper Forum. This is the seventh year Center Theatre Group is hosting the Southern California component of the national monologue competition. The program is designed to inspire and educate Los Angeles youth using monologues from August Wilson’s “American...
The Archer School for Girls Breaks Ground on New Academic Center
In early January, The Archer School for Girls celebrated the groundbreaking of its Campus Master Plan. The event included addresses from Archer’s Head of School Elizabeth English, Craig Allen Jameson, Principal and Design Director at Parallax Architects, and Archer's Board Chair Frank Marshall. The School enrolls nearly 500 students reflecting the face of Greater Los Angeles: 39 percent of the student body is made up of students of color who...
CWC Silverlake is Bringing Mindfulness into the Classroom
Silence. Stillness. Meditation. These are words that make you want to inhale a deep breath and let it out ever so slowly. You may imagine a yoga studio with clean lines, soft lighting and bamboo floors. Your imagination likely did not conjure up an elementary or middle school classroom. Yet Citizens of the World (CWC) Silver Lake, a public elementary and middle school charter in L.A., is weaving yoga and mindfulnness into its curriculum, which aims for an intentional...
Two Teachers in L.A. County Earn 2018 California Teacher-of-the-Year Awards
Northlake Hills Elementary School teacher Erin Oxhorn-Gilpin has a rule about her own cellphone usage during class: it’s absolutely prohibited. The students in her first- and second-grade combo class are well aware of this rule. So when Oxhorn-Gilpin answered her phone during a recent math lesson, their eyes grew wide. But their teacher had her reasons. As an L.A. County Teacher of the Year in the running for the coveted California Teacher of the Year award, she...
Eight L.A. County Schools Win National Blue Ribbon Awards
Eight schools in the L.A. area have been recognized as National Blue Ribbon Schools this year, marking their place as beacons of academic achievement for local elementary, middle and high school students. Local award winners are Leffingwell Elementary in Whittier, Wedgeworth Elementary in Hacienda Heights, California Academy of Mathematics and Science in Carson, Alliance Dr. Olga Mohan High in L.A., Harbor Teacher Preparation Academy in Wilmington, KIPP Comienza Community Prep...
Innovation and Leadership at the Helm at Mirman School
The world is a revolving axis of new ideas, yet most never see the light of day. For many innovators, the biggest obstacle standing between their dream idea and its fruition is money. But student innovators at Mirman School in Bel-Air are climbing over this hurdle. As part of the school’s MirmanX program, students with the best ideas are receiving funding – to the tune of $10,000 per project –...
Teachers Space Out for Students
As a child, Joanne Michael loved looking at stars and learning about the universe. Now, as a teacher, she prepares to spark that love in her students each time she participates in Honeywell Educators at Space Academy (HESA). The program shows teachers how to ignite their students’ passion for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). “I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. This was an amazing way of...
Cal State LA, Verizon Boost STEM Education Among East L.A. Middle Schoolers
California State University, Los Angeles has joined a program under Verizon Innovative Learning to provide science, technology, engineering and math experiences to middle school boys in East Los Angeles. Students will participate in summer intensive courses on the university campus to learn skills such as coding, 3-D printing, robotics and entrepreneurship that will help make them competitive for future careers in a digital economy. Throughout the 2017-18 school year, students...
Kid Artists Lending a Hand and Trucking Our Streets Clean
As Los Angeles Sanitation (LASAN) department trucks in South L.A. go about their business this month, they’ll be spreading messages about “Keeping Our Streets Clean, Every Day in Every Way” thanks to 10 students from the Los Angeles Unified School District lending a hand with their talent. Winners of LASAN’s Earth Day L.A. Artwork Contest, the students will have their art displayed on the trucks through mid-June. More than...
Santa Clarita Teacher to Throw Out First Pitch on Dodger Day
Samantha Ford, Saugus Union School District physical education teacher, has been selected to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the 40th Annual City of Santa Clarita Dodger Day on May 20. Ford was selected because of the shoe drive she organized after noticing some of her students wearing run-down and wrong-sized shoes to class. She has collected hundreds of shoes and gained national attention. The Dodgers take on the...
Simon Youth Foundation Offering College Scholarships to L.A. Seniors
The Shops at Montebello is once again offering scholarships to help deserving graduating high school seniors pay for college. Simon Youth Foundation, a national nonprofit that provides educational opportunities for at-risk high school students, is looking for qualified applicants who live near The Shops at Montebello and in the surrounding community. Each year, Simon Youth Community Scholarships are awarded in every community across the country that is home to Simon,...
EPA Awards Moorpark Unified School District $25,000 for Cleaner School Bus
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $25,000 to Moorpark Unified School District in Ventura County to replace an older diesel school bus. Funded through EPA’s Diesel Emissions Reduction Act, the new bus will emit less air pollution. Moorpark is one of three California school districts receiving a combined $200,000 to replace or retrofit 11 school buses. "Reducing exposure to diesel pollution particularly benefits children, as their lungs are still...
City Language Immersion Charter Marches in Kingdom Day Parade LA
Parade watchers at the 32nd Annual Kingdom Day Parade Jan. 16 came face-to-face with cultural icons including Langston Hughes, Golda Meir, Magic Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Amelia Hernandez, Muhammad Ali, Benito Juarez, Edith Cowan, Steve Jobs, Ella Fitzgerald, and even Cleopatra and Moses – thanks to students from City Language Immersion Charter School (CLIC) in L.A. Marching for their first time in the parade, the students came dressed as these...
California School of the Arts Launches in San Gabriel Valley
After 30 years of providing an award-winning academic and arts curriculum, the Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) has launched California School of the Arts (CSArts) with the opening of its first satellite campus in San Gabriel Valley. California School of the Arts – San Gabriel Valley (CSArts-SGV) is hosting public preview days for interested families, which will be held at Northview Intermediate Campus, located on 1401 Highland Ave.,...
Making Recess Work
Newton’s first law of motion, “an object in motion tends to stay in motion,” is what you’re looking for in kids on the playground at recess. Old-fashioned fun wrapped up in physical activity is not only essential to kids’ growth and development, it leads to physically active adults. In many schools, recess programs have been shortened or cut altogether, and recess no longer lives up to this ideal. “Every child...
LAUSD Magnets: Getting to the Points
If you live in the district, the right strategy could get your child into an excellent school. When my oldest child was 3, the director of our Montessori preschool invited us, with all the other preschool parents, to a symposium she was offering on how to navigate the Los Angeles Unified School District system known as e-Choices. I thought it was probably a little too soon to be worried about...
Frostig School Enhances STEM Learning with Snapdragaon Book Grant
Frostig School, located in Pasadena, has been awarded a $600 grant by the Snapdragon Book Foundation. The grant is being used to add to the library’s non-fiction collection. Many of the new books will focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to support the school’s new STEM course offerings and weekly science labs. Frostig School will also use the funds to fill gaps in its biology, arts and history...
LAUSD Embraces All-Girls Learning With New Charter
“I know who I am. I pay attention to what I feel. I know that I matter.” On the first day of school, girl power was reaching new heights among the 100 sixth graders reciting their school pledge at Girls Athletic Leadership School of Los Angeles (GALS LA). As the first all-girls school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the Panorama City-based charter school was built on a unique...
The Brentwood School Receives National Honors
At The Brentwood School’s lower school, serving kindergarten through sixth grade, character development, diversity and caring are central to school life and its backbone is “a meaningful and nurturing relationship between faculty and students,” says Lower School Counselor and Character Education Coordinator Laura Taylor. “No student slips through the cracks. Children feel safe and that’s when they thrive.” It’s no surprise, then, that the school is being honored this October...
South Bay Volunteers Clean Up Elementary School Gardens
More than 100 local volunteers ranging from lawyers and politicians to restaurateurs and thespians got their hands dirty to restore nine elementary school gardens in Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach as part of Beach Cities Health District’s inaugural “Beach Cities Volunteer Day.” Employees from 16 South Bay organizations, including Kaiser Permanente, UCLA Health, the Office of Assemblymember Hadley and Surf City Theater spent a hot August day building garden beds, pulling weeds...
The Partnership for Los Angeles Schools Welcomes Grape Street Elementary
As part of its mission to transform schools, the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools and the Los Angeles Unified School District recently announced a joint collaboration to include Grape Street Elementary into the network of schools the organizations supports. The five-year Memorandum of Understanding includes a plan to strengthen instructional practices, implement socio-emotional learning, support teacher and school leader development and increase parent engagement. "The Partnership for Los Angeles Schools...
Turning Point Welcomes New Head of School
Turning Point School is welcoming Dr. Laura Konigsberg as the new Head of School, effective this 2016-17 school year. Prior to joining Turning Point, Dr. Konigsberg served as Associate Head of Bentley School, a dual campus K-12 day school in Oakland, where she oversaw the K-8 campus. Over her 15 years at Bentley, Dr. Konigsberg energized the school’s program, modernized its curriculum, and consolidated the K-8 faculty into one body....
STEM3 Academy Expands to K-12 This School Year
A STEM education just became more accessible for children with special needs. The Help Group’s STEM3 Academy, the first school of its kind to provide a robust STEM curriculum to young people with special needs, is launching an elementary school program for the 2016-17 academic year. With the new elementary program, STEM3 Academy will offer a comprehensive and integrated curriculum from kindergarten through high school. By focusing on the long-term development,...
Thinking Globally: Lang Ranch Students Compete in Odyssey of the Mind World Finals
Everything was going great until the U-Haul arrived. After months of hard work, the fifth-grade Odyssey of the Mind team from Lang Ranch Elementary School had made it to the World Finals competition. The seven girls on the team had gathered at the school at 3 a.m. May 24 for their flight to Ames, Iowa. For two days, they had been at Iowa State University enjoying the festivities surrounding the...
School News: Joyner Elementary Gets Turnaround Arts Grant
Congratulations are in order for South L.A.’s Florence Griffith Joyner Elementary. The school was recently named a recipient of the coveted Turnaround Arts program grant, the only Los Angeles-area school to receive one this year. First Lady Michelle Obama was on hand at the White House Turnaround Arts Talent Show in May, where new schools accepted into the program were announced. Joyner Elementary’s Principal, Dr. Akida Kissane-Long, and Turnaround Arts: California...
School News: Conejo Valley Expands Personalized Learning Programs
Conejo Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) has expanded personalized learning opportunities for its students with the launch of its K-6 Independent Home Study Program and the expansion of Century Academy, a personalized hybrid high school that mixes periodic face-to-face instruction with online learning, to now serve eighth-grade students. The launch of this new program and school expansion for the 2016-17 school year stems from the vision of the more than 10,000...
Gun Violence Video Contest for High Schoolers Extended
The Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles and the Violence Policy Center in Washington, D.C. recently announced that the deadline for the second annual Tony Bourbon Youth Scholarship Video Contest will be extended one month to Aug. 1, 2016. The video contest, open to high school students in Los Angeles County, invites students to submit films/videos on the negative effects of gun violence on youth and the positive actions youth...
Meet Some Pint-Sized Plant Savers
A team of 6-year-olds from Notre Dame Academy Elementary School in West L.A. has garnered an international prize with their clever idea for preserving plants – and the insects that feed on them. This spring the team took the top prize in the ages 5-7 division of the Smithsonian-Cricket Media 5th Annual Spark! Lab Invent It Challenge. In this international contest, students had to identify a global health issue and create an invention to help...
Silicon Valley School Opens New Campuses around L.A.
Stratford School, a Silicon Valley-based group of independent private schools, is opening new locations in Altadena and Los Angeles. Stratford is recognized as a leader in early childhood STEM education, and both new Southern California campuses are scheduled to open in August for the 2016-17 academic year. One of Stratford’s core missions is to incorporate technology into the fabric of learning, says Cheryl Molenkamp, director of Lower School of the...
Families Connected Program Launches in the South Bay
New Resource for Parents Targets Teen Wellness and Prevention of Substance Use The South Bay is connecting families on a whole new level. Thanks to the successful launch of South Bay Families Connected (SBFC) at Mira Costa High School, called Mira Costa Families Connected (MCHS FC), the free teen wellness and substance use prevention resource is now available to all South Bay schools including Manhattan Beach Middle School. “The Families...
School News: Granada Hill Charter Students Rack Up Awards
Shannel Tejuco, Granada Hills Charter culinary arts student, won a full-ride scholarship valued at $122,584 after cooking her way to first place at the Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) earlier this month at the Jonathan Town Club in downtown Los Angeles. Granada Hills Charter High School (GHCHS) sent six talented young chefs to the C-CAP competition and each won scholarships, totaling $136,484 out if the $739,000 awarded. Shannel has been working...
School News: Pasadena Senior Wins Gates Millennium Scholarship
John Muir High School senior Prakash Dass has been named a 2016 Gates Millennium Scholar, becoming the school’s seventh winner of the prestigious academic scholarship since 2005. The news was announced recently by Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) officials. Marshall Fundamental and Pasadena High School were also named recipients of the 2016 Silver Medal from US News & World Report as part of the magazine’s Best High Schools ranking. “Congratulations...
Manhattan Beach Student Honored with President’s Environmental Youth Award
An L.A. tween water conservationist recently received an award from the The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The extraordinary 11-year-old, Joshua Cigoianu, of Manhattan Beach, earned the 2015 President’s Environmental Youth Award. The national award is presented each year to exceptional students who demonstrate creativity, innovation and leadership to address difficult environmental challenges. “During a severe drought, finding ways to conserve our precious water is everyone’s responsibility,” said Jared Blumenfeld, Regional...
Laurence School’s Mock Court Takes on Peter Pan
As students at law schools across the country graduate this spring, 40 sixth-grade students at the Laurence School, an independent K-6th grade elementary school in Valley Glen (just north of Sherman Oaks), prepared their first case before a jury of their peers. After months of studying the law and judicial system, Laurence’s Kids’ Court convened on April 27th and April 28th. The eleven and twelve-year-old students presented the case of...
JJ Abrams Speaks at Archer Film Festival
The Archer School for Girls hosted its fifth annual Archer Film Festival empowering female filmmakers, featuring director and producer J.J. Abrams as the keynote speaker. Seeking not to exclude men, but rather to include women, Archer received thousands of student-produced film submissions from young filmmakers globally. Celebrities, medi, and the public viewed screenings of finalist films at the Arclight Cinema in Culver City after a pink-carpet reception at The Culver...
Hogg’s Hollow Track Meet Is Fun On the Run
There was one exclamation repeated over and over again at Hogg's Hollow Preschool's annual Track and Field Meet last month: "They're pretty good!" Children ages 3-6 competed in a range of contests at the March 18 extravaganza, taking full advantage of the La Cañada-Flintridge facility and its adjacent track field while showing off almost a year of training in a variety of events. There were foot and bicycle races, tug of...
Culver City Middle Tweens Win Scrabble Championship
Two Los Angeles tweens have taken home the title of 2016 North American School Scrabble Champions just days before National Scrabble Day. The annual championship was held April 9-10 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, home of the NFL New England Patriots, and now, top Scrabble-playing students. After two days of competitive play, Jem Burch and Cooper Komatsu took home the Championship trophy and $10,000 grand prize. The win comes just...
Tween Wins Award from PTA’s Reflections Arts Program
Kudos are in order for Dominic Aloe, who won an Award of Merit from the California PTA Reflections Arts Program for his photograph of white clouds against a brilliant blue sky. A San Marino middle-school student, Aloe shot his prize-winning picture from the playground of Frostig School, where he enjoys an after-school art class. His instructor, Frostig art teacher Jessica Monares-Jimenez, has been helping Dominic explore his passion for photography while...
UCLA Health Gives Belvedere Middle Fitness Center, Hope
The damning statistics about childhood obesity are not as much fun to report as good news about programs that support physical activity for kids' health. This good news comes courtesy of UCLA Health's Sound Body Sound Mind, which just donated a $50,000 state-of-the-art fitness center to Belvedere Middle School in East Los Angeles. Belvedere is one of seven L.A.-area schools chosen to receive a new fitness center this year. The program...
Granada Hills Students Create Art for Iditarod Mushers
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, dubbed the Last Great Race on Earth, is finally over and a winner has been declared. Musher Dallas Seavey is celebrating his win of the strenuous 1,000 mile race across Alaska that ended in Nome, Alaska in the early hours of March 15. Competitors are still finishing the long trek, but here’s the L.A. connection: Granada Hills Charter High School students with mild, moderate...
Frostig Center Welcomes Lion King Actor Kevin Bailey
Kevin Bailey, an actor and producer who was in the original Broadway production of "The Lion King," visited Pasadena's Frostig Center recently. Mailey shared his expertise and gave insight to students rehearsing for their performance of the Disney classic this April. Now that he's turned to producing, with his acting days behind him, he gives back to the community of actors just starting out. Bailey talked with students and drama instructor...
LA Kids Get Active for Charity with UNICEF
UNICEF's Kid Power Los Angeles, which launched last month, is a school-based program that uses a fitness band to track students’ physical activity and allows them to earn points that unlock therapeutic food packets for severely malnourished children around the world. The therapeutic food packets contain a specially designed protein and vitamin-rich peanut paste, which allows children who are severely malnourished to be treated in their communities. UNICEF is calling the...
KIPP Raíces Academy Gets National Blue Ribbon Award
Kudos to KIPP Raíces Academy, named a 2015 National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). KIPP Raíces Academy was the only school in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and one of only 33 schools in California to receive a 2015 Blue Ribbon award. The East Los Angeles elementary school was chosen as an “Exemplary High Performing School” based on its achievement on state assessments. “KIPP Raíces...
Hollywood Schoolhouse Celebrates 70 Years
In January, Hollywood Schoolhouse commemorated its 70th anniversary with a Town Hall Meeting and Open House for students, parents, alumni, prospective families, and more. Joined by Los Angeles City Councilmember, David Ryu, event guests honored Hollywood Schoolhouse’s founders and celebrated seventy years worth of campus and program transformations. With its humble Hollywood beginnings dating back to 1945 as the Small Fry Nursery School, Hollywood Schoolhouse has since grown to house...
Trinity Classical Offers College Credit to Students
Students Can Earn Transferable College Credits Potentially Saving Students and Their Families over $30,000 in Tuition, Books and Supplies Trinity Classical Academy, a high school in Santa Clarita, now offers their junior and senior students the opportunity to participate in its Dual Credit Program and earn high school and college credits simultaneously for 11 of their existing Honors and AP Classes. The college credits Trinity students earn may transfer to over...
L.A. Students Take On Skechers Los Angeles Marathon
Students Run LA will have more than 2,800 students running in the Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon on Feb. 14. After six months of training, this Valentine's Day run becomes a symbol of accomplishment for many students who have learned to love themselves by recognizing the power within. "I will never give up on myself again." Gizelle Pompa, 11th Grade "I realized I serve as my only obstacle in achieving...
Archer Students Accept XPRIZE Challenge
Local students tackling complex world problems? Yes, please! The Archer School for Girls in Brentwood let us know that they’ve recently launched a challenge with the prestigious XPRIZE Foundation, inviting Archer’s middle school students to design innovative solutions to food sustainability problems. Students in grades 6-8 who accept the challenge will use Archer’s exploratory X-Block period to investigate issues surrounding growing food, getting it to the table and managing food...
New Roads School Names Luthern Williams Head of School
New Roads School in Santa Monica, an independent schools for students in grades K-12, has named Luthern Williams Head of School. Williams previously served as Acting Head of School and the Director of New Roads Middle School. The School’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved Williams’ appointment at a recent meeting. “Luthern’s commitment and passion for New Roads School is undeniable,” says New Roads Board of Trustees Chair Mark Windham. “He...
Granada Hills Charter Student To Attend Science Congress
Granada Hills Charter High School senior Matthew Nelson was selected by American astronaut Buzz Aldrin to attend the annual Congress of Future Science and Technology Leaders coming up June 29-July 1 in Boston. Nelson will join Nobel Prize winners and chief executive officers of leading technology firms at this historic gathering that introduces high school students to inventors, professors, futurists and other scientific professionals. A member of the class of...
Local School Receives Day of Service Award
City Language Immersion Charter school (CLIC) recently received the 2015 Green Apple Day of Service Project of the Year award. It was presented in early November by the L.A. chapter of the US Green Building Council during its 11th annual Green Gala. For the past four years, USGBC-LA has provided local schools with mini grants that help to fund green campus initiatives. CLIC received a $1,000 grant for the 2015...
Child Educational Center Co-Founder Receives Leadership Award
Eric Nelson, co-founder of the Child Educational Center (CEC) in La Cañada, director of The Outdoor Classroom Project, and author of “Cultivating Outdoor Classrooms,” was recognized in November by Exchange magazine as a Master Leader in the field of early care and education. Master Leaders were chosen based on their leadership, impactful roles, knowledge base, spirit and experience in the field of early childhood education. An Early Childhood Education (ECE)...
PS1 Pluralistic School Explores Gratitude
Last month, PS1 Pluralistic School hosted Gratitude Revealed – A discussion based on the film series exploring the science, mystery and pursuit of the building blocks of gratitude. (www.gratituderevealed.com). Featured panelists included director and cinematographer Louie Schwartzberg, who created the series; mindfulness innovator Susan Kaiser Greenland, founder of the Inner Kids program and author of The Mindful Child; Joel Pelcyger, Head of PS1 Pluralistic School; and 13-year-old PS1 student Dylan...
Woodcrest School Announces Expansion
Parents in the San Fernando Valley now have a new private middle school option for sixth through eighth grade. In 2014, Woodcrest School in Tarzana formed a strategic advisory committee to investigate the need for a middle school in the West San Fernando Valley. On average, private middle school options have annual tuitions over $17,000 and campuses that can intimidate students matriculating from small private-school environments. The committee requested that...
Archer School for Girls Awarded Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam Grant
A student team from the Archer School for Girls has come up with a clever idea to influence water conversation in face of California’s ongoing drought. Their idea has also won a $7,000 grant from Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam. Archer’s team of 20 students and faculty mentors Michael Carter and Shane Berning created a proposal for an inexpensive, compact faucet-mounted water meter with an adjustable aerator encouraging conservation and responsible water consumption....
Backpack Drive Supports Pasadena Kids In Need
This fall, Flintridge Prep students are hosting a Community Backpack Drive to support the children who are part of Pasadena Families in Transition, an organization within the Pasadena Unified School District. In a recent homeless population count done in the city of Los Angeles, there were 4,727 homeless individuals in the San Gabriel Valley, including many families with young children in the Los Angeles school districts. The goal of the...
Mathnasium Hosts 5th Annual TriMathlon
Conejo Valley-area students put their math skills on display Oct. 18, earning money for local schools and winning prizes for themselves during the Mathnasium of Thousand Oaks 2015 TriMathlon contest. In the U.S. and Canada, Mathnasium TriMathlon participants raised $37,000 for local schools. Here are the top three Mathnasium of Thousand Oaks winners in grades 2 through 5: Grade 5: Naren Krishnan, Red Oak Elementary School, 1st Place; Renee Hong,...
Roosevelt High Students Address National Education Leaders
The Partnership for Los Angeles Schools has announced that one of its schools, Math, Science & Technology Magnet Academy at Roosevelt High School (MSTMA), made history this week as the first California school to address the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA). Students made their presentation during the Education Forum at the association’s annual Leadership Summit. The SETDA Leadership Summit brings together leaders from more than 40 state departments of education,...
Turning Point School Announces Dr. Laura Konigsberg as Next Head of School
The Turning Point School Board of Trustees announced last week that Dr. Laura Konigsberg has been appointed the next Head of School beginning July 1. She will succeed Deborah Richman who, in the beginning of 2015, shared her plan to retire at the end of the 2015-16 school year after 28 years of service. “Unanimously chosen by the Board of Trustees, Laura Konigsberg was a standout among an impressive field...
Kids ‘R’ Kids Learning Academies Choose ColorSoundation Music Curriculum
Kids 'R' Kids Learning Academies, a national early-childhood education franchise with three decades of experience, has adopted a unique music curriculum called ColorSoundation for its franchises across the U.S. This teaching system was developed by Los Angeles-based musician and teacher Shiho Yamamoto to teach very young children the fundamentals of music through the integration and interplay of colors with sounds. Yamamoto is also the Founder of the West Los Angeles-based...
UCLA Professor Shares Body-Shaming Research With New Roads Students
While it’s no surprise that, particularly for young women, body-shaming causes emotional harm, it turns out that merely labeling a child as “too fat’ may trigger a hormonal response from the body that keeps him or her overweight even a decade later. This discovery was made by Dr. Janet Tomiyama, a distinguished professor in Health and Social Psychology at UCLA, who recently discussed her research with New Roads School’s GLASS...
KIPP Raíces Academy Honored with National Blue Ribbon School Award
On Sept. 29, the U.S. Department of Education named KIPP Raíces Academy in East Los Angeles a National Blue Ribbon School. KIPP Raíces Academy was one of only 33 Blue Ribbon Schools in California, and the only school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, to receive this distinction. The school was chosen as an “Exemplary High Performing School” based on state assessments and high school graduation rates, according to...
Trinity Knights Athletics Adds to Varsity Football Coaching Staff
Former Indianapolis Colts Strong Safety Delano Howell and former Defensive Back Cletis Gordon of the Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers have been tapped as assistant coaches for the Trinity Knights Varsity Football Team at Trinity Classical Academy in Valencia. Head Coach Les Robinson (“Coach Rob”) and Dr. Matthew Dixon, Director of Athletics and Physical Education at Trinity Classical Academy made the announcement Sept. 24 and the new coaches joined...
Individualized And Innovative iGranada Launched On Devonshire Campus
Technology is changing the world around us, so shouldn’t our high schools change as well? Granada Hills Charter High School opened its new Devonshire campus Aug. 17, with a heavy focus on technology and innovative student learning. The iGranada Digital Arts & Sciences program at the Devonshire campus provides more than 200 students in grades nine through 12 and their parents with a flexible choice in education by combining online...
Saint Sebastian School Launches Dual Language Immersion Program
Saint Sebastian School, a private Catholic preschool, elementary and middle school in West Los Angeles, began its new Spanish-English Dual Language Immersion Program Aug. 24. The program features half the day’s learning in Spanish, the other half in English. Students in Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten will learn to not only read and write but think in in both languages. The dual language program is only the second of its kind...
Echo Horizon School Offers New Learning Spaces
Echo Horizon School is purposefully focused on creativity, inquiry and innovation in order to best prepare students for 21st century demands. With that in mind, the school has opened two new spaces— a Makerspace for 3rd-6th graders and a STEAM space for Pre-K to 2nd graders. These spaces, along with the existing spaces for visual art, dance theater, music, gardening and cooking, and digital media, provide students the opportunity to...
An Online School Snapshot
You can find out many of the most important things about a school with a simple visit. You can meet the principal and teachers, have a look at the campus facilities, learn about the schedule, sports teams and enrichment programs. But a new online tool from the California Department of Education offers a window into another layer of information about L.A. schools. It has a cumbersome name – The California...
Yoobi Kicks Off a Season of School Donations
One week after starting the new school year, children at Jackson Magnet STEM Dual Language Academy in Altadena got a “kick start” on a year of learning Aug. 24 thanks to a donation from school and office supply company Yoobi. After a morning assembly, Yoobi founder Ido Leffler, Chief Giving Officer Justin Wolff and a crew of Yoobi staffers delivered 29 boxes full of free supplies to classrooms, enough for...
Local Fundraiser to Benefit UCLA Intervention Program
The father of a former student at the UCLA Intervention Program, a school focused on helping children with disabilities, has launched a fundraiser to increase awareness and raise money to support the school. Michael T. Ward says he recognizes the immeasurable value of the program to the community, and more specifically to the children and families it serves. In an effort to ensure that the program is around for generations...
Turning Point School Achieves Council of International Schools Certification
Turning Point School – a private, independent, coeducational day school in Culver City serving students in preschool through middle school – has achieved International Certification status from the Council of International Schools (CIS), validating the school community’s commitment to international education and students’ growth as global citizens. Turning Point is alone among Los Angeles schools, and just the third in the U.S., honored with the designation. Turning Point joins St....
Albert Einstein Odyssey Academy Opens in Beverly Hills
The Albert Einstein Odyssey Academy, a new Beverly Hills charter school serving students in kindergarten through fifth grade, will begin its inaugural year Aug. 24. The school, which will serve 300 students, is accepting applications for enrollment and will continue the process until the school is full. This school’s curriculum offers a project-based teaching approach designed to allow students to actively engage in learning, with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering,...
Montebello Shops Award Scholarships to Students
The Shops at Montebello awarded scholarships to five Montebello Unified School District students who completed a three-week We Care For Youth. The program is designed to prepare students to enter the workforce by offering job skills. The Shops at Montebello held an Achievement Ceremony at the center, recognizing 32 local high school students who completed the special program. Of the students in attendance, Hugo Zavaleta Rojas, Alexis Serna and Francisco...
Highland Hall Student Receives to National Youth Orchestras Conducting Apprenticeship
Shira Samuels-Shragg, a junior at Highland Hall Waldorf School, has been awarded a conducting apprenticeship with the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA). Samuels-Shragg, a classical pianist, adept violist and budding conductor, was only 6 when she began her musical career with piano lessons. She has conducted Highland Hall’s school orchestra under the guidance of music teacher Erick Bluske, who has been involved in Samuels-Shragg’s musical...
Sycamore School to Open in Malibu
The Sycamore School, an independent elementary school dedicated to collaboration, innovation and learning through play and creativity, opens in Malibu Sept. 1, initially serving 20 students ages 6 through 8. “We are very excited to bring an alternative option for elementary education to Malibu families,” says co-founder Tedd Wakeman. “The world we live in now demands a different approach to education. Students need a learning experience that is continuous, future-focused...
Village Glen Robotics Team Takes Rookie All-Star Award, Heads to Nationals
The students at Village Glen School are extraordinary in a number of ways – and their Knightrise robotics team is no exception. Village Glen, part of The Help Group, is made up of students who have special needs and challenges in socialization, communication and peer relations, but also natural ability in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math. The school’s STEM initiative includes classes in computer programming, digital arts,...
Las Virgenes Unified School District Accepting Permit Applications
Los Angeles education does offer some flexibility in public schools. Parents who are interested in enrolling their children in Las Virgenes Unified district schools, but who do not live within the district boundaries, can apply for interdistrict permits through Feb. 15. Parents who work within the district qualify, and the process is open to students in grades K-12. LVUSD schools have API scores that put them in top 2 percent...
Mark McKee Chosen To Head Viewpoint School
Following an international search, Mark McKee has been unanimously selected by the board of trustees as the new Head of School at Viewpoint School in Calabasas. McKee began his journey in education at Polytechnic School in Pasadena, serving as an English teacher, Director of Technology and Director of Summer School. He also served as the Head of Upper School at Chase Collegiate School and currently holds a position as the...
Lanai Road Elementary Receives National Blue Ribbon Award
By Elena Epstein The excitement was palpable as teachers, students, parents and administrators gathered to celebrate Lanai Road Elementary School’s coveted Blue Ribbon Award this week. The school, located in a quiet, tree-lined neighborhood of Encino in the west San Fernando Valley, is among a handful of schools selected nationwide. Of the 24 California schools chosen for Blue Ribbon recognition this year, Lanai Road is the only one in the...
Archer School for Girls Opens Saban IDEALab
Leslie Castenada, a seventh grader at the Archer School for Girls in Brentwood, is excited to explain the video game she created for school fitness classes using the SCRATCH computer programming tool. At the official ribbon-cutting ceremony for the school’s new Saban IDEALab, Castenada shares her enthusiasm with visitors, including Amy Wakeland, wife of L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti. The Saban IDEALab, the physical hub housing Archer’s Integrated Design and Engineering...