thursday september 15 2016 - palisadian post€¦ · september 15, 2016 alisadian-post p 90272...

Thursday SEPTEMBER 15 2016

Cover Photorich Schmitt/Staff Photographer

2016

SePtember 15, 2016Palisadian-Post 90272 Magazine

SePtember 15, 2016 Palisadian-Post 90272 Magazine

Summer seemed to fly by, and by now, students are settling back into the routine of classes, extracurriculars and homework. Palisadian-Post 90272 Magazine takes a deeper look at local schools and the community during this exciting time of the year.

In this year’s Back to School edition, we’ve highlighted an assortment of local schools, programs and educational things to do in the Palisades and beyond throughout the school year. In addition, we’ve taken a closer look at the benefits of homework, revisited movies about school that feature Palisadians and checked in with Tom Iannucci to see how his return to Paul Revere Charter Middle School is going.

Palisadians Go 2016

Welcome to the 2016 Back to School Edition of Palisadian-Post 90272 Magazine!

Marquez Charter Elementary School 5

Manzanita School 6

Palisades Charter High School 7

Past First Days (photo essay) 8

Westside Waldorf School 9

Back to School With Famous Palisadians 10

Oaks Christian School 11

Zaniac Learning Center 11

Let Our Kids Play With Fire 12

Canyon Charter School 13

St. Matthew’s Parish School 14

Paul Revere Charter Middle School 15

Progress Report: Tom Iannucci 16

Village School 18

Music to Our Ears (Amazing Music Store) 18

The Benefits of Homework 19

Palisades Music School 20

A Word From Paul Revere PTSA Leader 20

Corpus Christi School 21

STAR Preschool 22

Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts 23

Palisades Elementary Charter School 24

Palisadians Enroll in New LAUSD All-Girls Public School 25

Areté Preparatory Academy 27

Kehillat Israel 27

Words From Our Interns 28

Calvary Christian School 29

At New Roads School the Magic is in the Mess 31

HIIT Training/F45 Hits the Palisades 31

Thanks to Our Junior Reporters 31


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Approximately 530 students in kindergarten and TK through fifth grade began their school year at Marquez Charter Ele-mentary School on Aug. 16.

Principal Benjamin Mer-ritt said he is looking forward to completing his first full year at the school.

“I came in January of last year,” Merritt explained. “I want to see what I can do for my first school year.”

And it’s shaping up to be a full year. Parents were invited to come to campus and learn about their child’s program at Back to School Night on Aug. 30. In fall, the school will host a Food Truck Festival, which is open to the community to attend.

The event is followed by Marquez’ annual Halloween Festival. Fifth-grade students will perform their first play of the year, “Miracle in Philadel-phia,” soon after, in November, followed by a play in February and May/June.

“We have our annual auc-tion at the end of February or beginning of March, which is one of our biggest fundraisers, so that our booster club can support our programs,” Merritt said.

Through fundraising efforts and Friends of Marquez, a nonprofit organization run by parents to plan, fund and/or op-erate supplemental educational programs, Marquez is able to provide enhanced experiences for its students. Last year, the

Friends of Marquez focused on keeping class sizes small by hir-ing additional teachers.

For new parents who want to learn the ropes, part of the orientation process is Marquez 101, which allows new families to learn what Marquez is all about, how to get involved and how to ensure the success of their child.

In addition to Marquez 101, new and returning parents have a chance to get to know Merritt and the campus better through Coffee with the Principal.

“Each month, we have Cof-fee with the Principal so that parents can meet with me and talk about what’s going on on campus,” Merritt said. He some-times picks a topic of discussion, but it also gives parents a chance to ask things like how they can help their child with homework or what to do or who to contact if their child is struggling.


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Marquez Charter Elementary School

16821 Marquez Ave.Pacific Palisades, CA 90272310-454-4019marquezcharter.org

A performance of “Hello Lousiana” at Marquez Charter Elementary SchoolRich Schmitt/Staff Photographer

Halloween FestivalRich Schmitt/Staff Photographer


Manzanita School, located in Topanga, California, is com-mitted to meeting the unique needs of adolescents. Serving students in grades four through 12, we attend to this remarkable age within the bio-diverse set-ting of the undeveloped chap-arral. At Manzanita School the ancient oaks, weathered rock face and unique geologic terrain serve as the primary learning context for the study of sci-ence, natural history and human ecology.

Our program emphasizes a deep connection to the nat-ural world and dedication to self-discovery. Twice per week, Manzanita students participate in all-day experiences on the land, working with naturalists and mentors. These experienc-es create a growing sense of per-

sonal efficacy and strong ethic towards earth stewardship.

The team at Manzanita is dedicated to leveraging the power of mentoring in rela-tionships. Adults at Manzanita are skilled at spotting the “gift” in each child, asking inspiring questions of each student based on those gifts and promoting a student’s engagement with their learning that will grow their in-nate genius into adult life.

We offer small class sizes, giving teachers and naturalists an opportunity to get to know their students well. Positive connection with one’s teacher leads to positive emotional and physical health in youth.

Our classroom curriculum provides a “symbiotic learning” model, meaning our instruction focuses on the interdependence of subject matter. Students en-joy a rich variety of specialists, rotating through classes such as arial arts, ceramics, dance, theater improv, technology and music.

Our unique schedule and setting gives students a chance

to deepen their academic stud-ies, as well as provide time for reflection and integration of im-portant content.

We look forward to enter-ing another school year with our strong team of teachers, naturalists, specialists, commu-nity of learners, explorers and stewards.

For more information please call us at 310-455-9700 or check out manzanitaschool.org.

Manzanita School1717 Old Topanga Canyon RoadTopanga, CA 90290310-455-9700manzanitaschool.org

Manzanita School offers small class sizes.Photo courtesy of Manzanita School

Ancient oaks, weathered rock face and geologic terrain at Manzanita SchoolPhoto courtesy of Manzanita School

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Welcome

CCS Families!

Palisades Charter High School and Pam Magee, the school’s executive director and principal, welcomed 2,979 stu-dents in grades nine through 12 to the new school year. Classes began on Aug. 16 with student orientation and staff workshops on topics, including cultural competency, human rights ed-ucation and humanitas themat-ic interdisciplinary curriculum development held during the preceding week.

PCHS believes in human rights, and students recently followed the call to action be-hind the phrase “Think glob-ally, act locally.” Over the last school year, Pali students, in consultation with Human Rights Watch and PCHS staff, worked to create a cutting-edge document, the PCHS Student

Bill of Rights and Responsi-bilities, based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The newly developed Stu-dent Bill of Rights and Re-sponsibilities (SBRR) is a sig-nificant component of the new school year. Students and staff are participating in training and committee work designed to successfully incorporate and implement the SBRR into Pali High’s school-wide culture.

An important part of stu-dent rights is equal access to education, including equal ac-cess to educational resources. Pali is launching a Tech Equity Chromebook Campaign, fo-cused on addressing this ineq-uity on campus by purchasing Chromebooks for the students who need them. The campaign kicked off Sept. 1 and involves every parent, teacher, staff, school organization, alumnus and past parent to help us meet this goal.

Additionally, a major effort to attract corporate and foun-dation funding is underway. PCHS has a grant committee

dedicated to this effort. If you have a contact with a business or foundation that supports technology in the classroom or would like to volunteer as a grant writer, proof reader or grant researcher, please contact Michael Rawson, director of development, at [email protected] or 310-230-7272.

Palisades Charter High School continues to build on a year of achievements. This summer, PCHS was one of 10 schools selected from a nation-al competition to win a Career Technical Education Makeover Challenge prize.

The U.S. Department of Education accepted entries from over 640 schools from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Pali received the award based on the strength of its makerspace designed to strengthen students’ career and technical skills. The $20,000 award and in-kind prizes will be used to enhance the PCHS Innovation Lab.

Earlier this year, Pali was awarded a CTE Incentive grant

of $320,000 from the CA De-partment of Education to de-velop new career technical pro-grams for students. This grant supports career pathways in media and computers with ad-ditional offerings to come. The grant has also enabled PCHS to add robotics and engineering classes.

Palisades Charter High School recently received no-table recognition, including a best high school ranking by Newsweek and by U.S. News & World Report. The Califor-

nia Department of Education designated PCHS a “Gold Rib-bon School” and the California Business for Education Excel-lence selected Pali as an “Hon-or Roll” school.

Dates of interest for the new school year include the College Fair on Sept. 15, Pali 101: Ev-erything You Ever Wanted to Know About PCHS but Didn’t Know Who to Ask on Sept. 22, Football Fest on Sept. 30, Homecoming on Oct. 21 and performances of “Spamalot” Sept. 29 through Oct. 8.

Palisades Charter High School15777 Bowdoin St.Pacific Palisades, CA 90272310-230-6651palihigh.org

Almost 3,000 students are enrolled at Palisades Charter High School.Photo courtesy of Palisades Charter High School


The Palisadian-Post takes a look at first days of school over the years at local campuses. Students and their parents

look excited as they make their way to their classrooms at the start of a new and promising school year.

All photos: Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer

Scene in the Palisades

Past First Days

The Westside Waldorf School is housed on two cam-puses: the Waldorf Early Child-hood Center in Santa Monica with Parent-Child, Pre-K and Kindergarten programs, and

the McComb Campus in the Pacific Palisades, which en-compasses Parent-Child class-es and a full Pre-K through eighth grade program. West-side Waldorf School welcomed 225 students at its two cam-puses on opening day on Sept. 7 and 8.

Parent-Child Classes for ages 2 months to 36 months begin on Sept. 19, serving over 70 families on both sites. Imagine the first day of class:

You have your baby nestled in your loving arms, you enter into a Waldorf circle with other parents and their infants. You meet an experienced teacher who is a mother herself. You will know a safe and warm environment in which you can learn and grow into the parent you envision. Imagine forming loving bonds that create beau-tiful memories for a lifetime.

Waldorf education is glob-ally respected for its integrated

curriculums that offer uniquely creative and artful approach-es to the classic academics in grades one through eight. In addition to its academic programs, Westside Waldorf School also teaches two for-eign languages (Japanese and Spanish), outdoor games and movement, woodwork, hand-work, string instruments, mu-sic, choir, and environmental stewardship. Westside Wal-dorf also offers enriched af-

ter-school grades programs, including sports for the middle school and aftercare for early childhood.

Locally renowned for its seasonal festivals, you can par-ticipate in the community cele-brations of the Woodland Faire on Nov. 12. For information about the school, please visit westsidewaldorf.org.


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St. Matthew’s Parish School admits students without regard to race, color, or national origin. Accredited by the California Association of Independent Schoolsand Western Association of Schools and Colleges Member of the National Association of Episcopal Schools

St. Matthew’s Parish SchoolPROVIDING CHALLENGING AND CREATIVE ACADEMICS

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Westside Waldorf School17310 Sunset Blvd.Pacific Palisades, CA 90272310-454-7064westsidewaldorf.org

Handwork class at Westside Waldorf SchoolPhoto courtesy of Westside Waldorf School

Math class at Westside Waldorf SchoolPhoto courtesy of Westside Waldorf School


By MICHAEL AUSHENKERContributing Writer

arents: While your kids go back to school with their fellow Palisadians,

consider going back to school with some very famous locals as well … via the movies.

In our 2015 Back to School edition of 90272 Magazine, we covered a cross-section of cin-ema set or shot in Pacific Pali-sades. Let’s now look at notable school-themed movies starring some of the world’s most fa-mous Palisadians.

The opening chapter of Ben Affleck and Matt Da-mon’s storied career began with

“Good Will Hunting,” the 1997 Gus Van Sant movie that Bos-ton-raised best friends Damon and Affleck co-starred in and co-wrote, garnering the Palisa-dian pair an Academy Award for best original screenplay.

Damon portrayed the titular 20-year-old streetwise, dormant genius working as a janitor at MIT, while Affleck played Chuckie, Hunting’s hardscrab-ble bud from South Boston’s mean streets. The $10 million film grossed more than $225 million, garnering nine Acad-

emy Awards nominations, in-cluding best picture.

A career-making move for Palisades Charter High School graduate Forrest Whitaker and former Pacific Palisades res-ident Judge Reinhold, “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” Amy Heckerling’s seminal 1982 San Fernando Valley-shot com-ing-of-age comedy, also proved a breakthrough for Sean Penn. Reinhold, who briefly lived in Pacific Palisades and was once approached to be its honor-ary mayor (Steve Guttenberg served instead), starred as Brad Hamilton, a studious California dude working a crap fast-food job; Whitaker (long before win-ning the Oscar for “Last King of

Scotland”) played surly football play-er Charles Jeffer-son.

Speaking of Guttenberg, who could forget the longtime Palisadi-an’s turn as Car-ey Mahoney in those daft, AWOL “Police Acad-emy” movies? The wacky 1984 original proved a surprise sleeper, inspiring several sequels—“Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment” (1985), “Police Academy 3: Back In Training” (1986) and “Police Acad-emy 4: Citizens on Patrol” (1987)—all starring Guttenberg as Mahoney.

In the 1986 sports comedy

“Wildcats,” Goldie Hawn starred as Molly McGrath, coach of a rough-and-tumble inner-city high school foot-ball team. The film, co-starring LL Cool J circa “Radio,” also marked the onscreen debut of Wesley Snipes and a “Cheers”-era Woody Harrelson.

Adam Sandler enjoyed one long ride as Hollywood’s king of comedy with blockbusters such as “The Waterboy,” “Big Daddy” and “Grown Ups.” His true box office reign began in 1995, when the former “Sat-

urday Night Live” comedian starred as the titular man-child in “Billy Madison,” Tamra Da-vis’ broad comedy about an ob-noxious 27-year-old heir who must complete all 12 grades to inherit his father’s company.

Based on “The Freedom Writers Diary” by Erin Gru-well, an educator who wrote about her experiences at Long Beach’s Woodrow Wilson Clas-sical High School, Richard La-Gravanese’ 2007 film adapta-tion “Freedom Writers,” about a young white teacher who inspires her classroom of at-risk students to pursue higher education, features Oscar-win-ning actress/longtime Palisades resident Hilary Swank playing Grunwell.

However, no school of mis-fits can top the one run by for-mer Palisades local Billy Bob Thornton. In 2006’s hilarious “School for Scoundrels,” direct-ed by Todd Philips, Thornton plays the enigmatic Dr. P, who runs an underground classroom designed to turn weak, mousey men into assertive go-getters. Jon Heder plays Roger, a loser meter officer who enrolls in Dr. P’s class to improve his confi-dence while courting his come-ly Australian neighbor, only to find, to his horror, that Dr. P is competing for her attention. This underrated gem should not to be missed: Heder’s fel-low putz pupils include Aziz Ansari and Horatio Sanz, while Michael Clarke Duncan, Sarah Silverman, David Cross, Ben Stiller and Luis Guzman round out an excellent cast.

The 2011 box office bomb “Larry Crowne” was such a na-dir in Tom Hanks’ career that he’s been known to personally reimburse fans who had paid to see it in a movie theater. However, the film—directed by Hanks and co-scripted by Hanks with “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” star/creator Nia Var-dalos—centers on a community college storyline.

Hanks plays Crowne, a di-vorced Navy veteran loner who loses his retail job due to his lack of education. Crowne ma-triculates into community col-lege, promptly falling for skep-tical speech teacher Mercedes (Julia Roberts). “Larry Crowne”

also stars Cedric the Entertainer, Pam Grier, George Takei, Bryan Cranston, Wilmer Valderrama, Vardalos and real-life husband Ian Gomez, and Hanks’ wife and son, Rita Wilson and Chet Hanks.

In 2003, Jamie Lee Curtis co-starred with Lindsay Lohan in “Freaky Friday,” in which mother and daughter exchange bodies thanks to a magical for-

tune cookie. How’s this for magic: This

second remake of Disney’s 1976 favorite, made for $20 million, grossed an astonishing $160 million worldwide. Since Mark S. Waters shot scenes at Pali High, perhaps that enchanted cookie came from Cathay Pali-sades on Antioch? (Mothers and daughters, we can’t confirm, but feel free to go try your luck!)

Back to School With Famous PalisadiansMany A-list residents of Pacific Palisades have starred in education-themed movies

Robin Williams, left, and Matt Damon in “Good Will Hunting”Photo courtesy of Miramax

Billy Bob Thornton, left, in “School for Scoundrels”Photo courtesy of Dimension Films

“Wildcats” movie posterPhoto courtesy of Wikipedia

Ben AffleckPhoto courtesy of Wikipedia

Adam Sandler in “Billy Madison”Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

P


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Oaks Christian School is a non-denominational, co-ed, col-lege-preparatory school serving grades five through 12. The high school was founded in 2000. In 2009, the middle school was add-ed. The mission statement is “To dedicate ourselves to Christ in the pursuit of academic excellence, artistic expression and athletic dis-tinction while growing in knowl-edge and wisdom through God’s abundant grace.”

An impressive 99 percent of graduates receive college admis-sion, often to highly selective, top-tier schools. Collectively, the Class of 2016 earned over $7 mil-lion in college scholarships and aid, and performed over 15,000 hours of community service in nine countries and in California, partnering with organizations such as The American Cancer Society,

James Storehouse Foundation and Children of the Nations.

The high school hosts 22 sports and 48 school teams; teams have earned 141 league titles, 39 CIF titles and seven California state titles. The middle school has also won several league titles and boasts student participation rates as high as 92 percent. The visual and performing arts departments stage numerous performances and exhibits, many of which garner prestigious awards.

The International Student Boarding Program sponsors over 50 students from seven coun-tries. The OC Learning Center provides tutoring and test prepa-ration for OCS students and also to local, public schools. The fully accredited OC Online School is a high-quality program for blended or long-distance learning.

Distinctives are the high school entrepreneurial leadership and film academies. These endeav-ors pair students with business mentors and industry leaders in re-al-life projects. The middle school boasts a robust debate team.

Oaks Christian School

31749 La Tienda DriveWestlake Village, CA 91362818-575-9900oakschristian.org

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By JOHN HARLOWEditor-in-Chief

o we overprotect our kids? Helicopter them into hypersensitized neurotics who will be

first on the menu during the inevi-table zombie apocalypse?

Or are survival skills that were once regarded as essential elements of growing up, such as bouncing up with trembling lip but firm eye after tumbling out of a tree, as inapplicable as knowing how to wind a watch?

It’s a question that now looms as parents pick and choose be-tween the myriad of extracurric-ular activities in which they shall plunge their offspring.

There is a growing suspi-cion—and not just among baby boomers nostalgic for happy af-ternoons of knocked-out teeth and smashed up Schwimms—that a little danger might be a good thing.

To call it character building sounds antique.

It’s a phrase that has been used in the past to mask or even excuse brutality. But there is a growing consensus such promot-

ers may have a point. Among the most visible is

Gever Tulley, geek and founder of The Tinkering School, a Bay Area summer camp for “practical play and building things,” who, during a recent Ted Talk, listed five risky things parents should absolutely encourage their children to do.

These are in his order.Play with fire. Maybe in a

contained fire-pit, but let them light the barbecue and put it out again. Tulley argued: “Let them fool around with it on their own terms and trust me, they’re going to learn things that you can’t get out of playing with ‘Dora the Ex-plorer’ toys.”

Own a pocketknife. They are increasingly unfashionable and some schools ban them, but they’re still a universal tool.

Throw a spear. “It turns out our brains are wired for throwing things and if you don’t they at-rophy. It helps visual acuity, 3-D understanding and structural prob-lem solving,” Tulley said.

Break apart home applianc-es. Don’t throw them away—let the kids have fun with them. No matter how complex, kids can

work out something from them that could lead them to STEM glory.

Break the anti-music pira-cy law. Buy a song on iTunes and burn it onto a CD, then rip the CD onto an MP3 and play it on the computer. “Your kid has just broken a law, and could be prose-cuted. Talk to the kid about it. Al-ternatively, let them drive your car for short distance.”

Now Tulley is promoting a book, the even more lethal-sound-ing “50 Dangerous Things,” and winking cheerfully at his audi-ence. But is he making some sense?

Are we infecting our kids with a fear virus by remembering all too well our own scrapes—sometimes with the law—and wanting, quite understandably, to protect them from the real horrors out there?

Often it depends on your place in the food chain: there are plenty of kids in LA who need less, not more, danger. Where do we strike the balance?

There are extremes on both sides.

Regine Malthrope, a Westside

child analyst, said helicopter par-enting, fighting all the battles for the kids, slows down children’s maturation and diminishes them as individuals.

“We try to limit their exposure by organizing their socialability through sports, which have al-ways been war with tighter rules,” Malthrope said. “The greatest spurt to growth, for those who are already secure in family love, is the random encounter outside their comfort zone.”

The UC-trained analyst said parents need to sometimes get out of the way of their kids and let them fall over and bruise them-selves.

“It goes against all our natu-ral instincts, and clearly that Ted Talk was slightly jokey. I am not sure about ever playing with fire—but there is a serious point here,” she said, adding, “We need to allow our kids to grow by fall-ing over. Then they can become themselves.”

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Canyon Charter School is entering its third school year with Principal Nicole Sheard at the helm, and she said she “feels amazing.”

Sheard pointed out that the history of Canyon is part of what makes the cam-pus unique. Students spend time each day in the library, which was the original one-room schoolhouse that was founded in 1894.

“Another thing that makes Canyon so special is the true community feel,” she explained. “The families of Canyon are so invested in their child’s education and making sure we provide the best possible experience for the students.”

In mid-August, the cam-pus welcomed about 400

students in kindergarten through fifth grade, as well as one new teacher.

“We are excited to wel-come back one of our former instructional aides, Zarin Khossoussi, as a first-grade teacher,” Sheard said.

Sheard explained that Canyon will continue to pro-vide a rigorous curriculum, focused on the Common Core Standards.

“We have also been spending some time as a staff talking about mindset versus mind growth, and teachers are already planning and im-plementing activities in their classrooms,” Sheard told of the school’s educational plan for the year. “Hand-in-hand with this goes the concept of mindfulness, in which we are teaching our students to have an awareness on the present moment, while calmly ac-knowledging and accepting their feelings and thoughts.”

Outside of the classroom, the school hosts a number of annual events. The school

year kicked off with a back to school picnic and movie in the park in late August. In October, there will be a par-ent party and throughout the year many events take place, including Olympics Day, Jump Rope for Heart, Talent Show, Pumpkin Patch and an annual Fiesta and Silent Auction.

Canyon will also ap-proach attempting to be-come more of a “green” campus this year. One of the school’s committees has been assigned the task of ex-ploring ways in which the school can work with the students so that they can be-come more environmentally friendly.

“I am excited to contin-ue working with the fami-lies and the community to improve our school even more,” Sheard said of what she’s most looking forward to. “Every year is exciting for me because watching students grow and learn is so rewarding in itself.”


Live It Well.One Childhood.

For information visit: westsidewaldorf.orgTour RSVPs: [email protected] 310-454-7064

Pacific Palisades CampusServing Pre-K through 8th GradeCampus Tours (for adults only) on:10/06, 11/03, 12/08, 01/19, 03/09, 04/27

Santa Monica CampusPre-K through KindergartenCampus Tours (for adults only) on:09/29, 10/27, 12/01, 01/26, 04/06, 05/18

Education that cultivates a lifelong love of learning by igniting the imagination while embracing the academic, the artistic, & the practical.

Parent-Child, Pre-K, Kindergarten, Grades 1 - 8Westside Waldorf School

Canyon Charter School421 Entrada DriveSanta Monica, CA 90402310-454-7510canyoncharter.com

Canyon Charter School FiestaRich Schmitt/Staff Photographer

Athletes on Olympics DayRich Schmitt/Staff Photographer

Students at Fiesta Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer


A child’s 11-year journey through St. Matthew’s Par-ish School is filled with rich and challenging learning ex-periences: a nighttime snor-kel in Toyon Bay to explore

the ocean’s bioluminescence, 10 cross-grade friendships between Lower and Upper School buddies, a wreath-lay-ing ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns, over 22 food collections for the Westside Food Bank, programming an infrared-sensitive robot and a study of some 800 Trinidadian guppies to observe evolution in action.

Some of our neighbors might not know that in addi-

tion to a well-rounded aca-demic program and deep-root-ed dedication to character education, St. Matthew’s is also at the forefront of excit-ing educational progress. Ed-ucators seeking inspiration continue to visit St. Matthew’s to learn from the implementa-tion of our innovative learn-ing spaces. In two Project & Idea Realization Labs (PIRL), our students collaborate with classmates and teachers to

create and build in a hands-on, exploratory, entrepreneur-ial way. Students in all dis-ciplines weave 3-D printing, robots, woodworking, coding and digital fabrication into the learning process.

A St. Matthew’s educa-tion begins at age 3 with an exciting and engaging pre-school program. Small class sizes and expert teachers lay the foundation for a lifetime of learning and friendship. St.

Matthew’s graduates go on to flourish at challenging high schools like Harvard-West-lake, Loyola, Windward, Marymount, Brentwood and Marlborough.

Though the primary en-trance points are preschool and grades five and six, we welcome applications for all grades. Information on how to apply can be found on our website or by contacting us at 310-454-1350.

St. Matthew’s Parish School1031 Bienveneda Ave.Pacific Palisades, CA 90272310-454-1350stmatthewsschool.com

St. Matthew’s Parish School offers a well-rounded academic program.Photo courtesy of St. Matthew’s

Small classes at St. Matthew’s Parish School lay learning foundations. Photo courtesy of St. Matthew’s

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As students filed back to school on Aug. 16, Paul Re-vere Charter Middle School kicked off what is shaping up to be another busy and successful school year.

“We have a very active and productive parent group,” Prin-cipal Tom Iannucci shared.

There are two parent-run groups on campus, which serves students in sixth through eighth grade, that provide sup-port throughout the school year: PRIDE and PTSA. PRIDE helps out with administrative support, campus beautification, class-size reduction, field trips, spirit series and more. PTSA provides for classroom sup-plies, music scholarships, traf-fic safety, Red Ribbon Week and more.

One of the annual events at

Paul Revere is a yearly fund-raising auction, which is sched-uled for November this year. The auction, planned by mem-bers of PRIDE, raises funds for various school programs.

“They helped finance new computers, pay for field trips, allowed us to reduce class size,” Iannucci said of PRIDE’s fundraising efforts. “Our yearly silent auction allows our school to maintain our high quality of education here.”

Also in November is the start of Paul Revere’s Spirit Se-ries.

“It’s living history where students—specifically sixth-graders—learn about a time period of history,” Iannuc-ci explained.

Paul Revere also offers an after-school sports program that follows seasonal sports. In the program, students can par-ticipate in sports like basket-ball, volleyball and cross-coun-try and compete against other middle-school aged students in the Delphic League.

Students stay busy with

musical performances in De-cember and an Open House in spring. The school year comes to an end with a culmination and picnic on campus.

Principal Iannucci shared some of his favorite things about the school year.

“I’m looking forward to watching our new students—our sixth graders—come to our campus as unsure and timid and frightened students and leave

us going into seventh grade self-assured, self-resourceful and confident in themselves be-ing successful,” he said.

He also said, “I’m looking forward to watching our eighth graders transition into high school with skills that prepare them for college and beyond. [I look forward to] watching our students grow and become pos-itive, productive members of society.”


Paul Revere Charter Middle School1450 Allenford Ave.Los Angeles, CA 90049310-917-4800paulreverems.com

Mural paintingRich Schmitt/Staff Photographer

Garden DayRich Schmitt/Staff Photographer

Girls basketballRich Schmitt/Staff Photographer

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By MICHAEL AUSHENKERContributing Writer

n Wednesday, Aug. 17, the day after the new school year started, Principal

Thomas Iannucci appeared to be in great spirits, his usual high-energy, jocular self.

“Yesterday was really flaw-less,” Iannucci said. “The big-gest challenge is [that] all your new parents [are] a little in awe. Traffic is a huge challenge. It went off really well.”

October marks Iannuc-ci’s first full year on the job as Paul Revere Chater Middle School’s top administrator. At Paul Revere, Iannucci oversees hundreds of students (most of whom eventually matriculate into Pacific Palisades Charter High School). Yet if Iannucci seems cool and confident, it’s because he and Revere have a lengthy history long predating his current position. Formerly assistant principal over special education here for seven years, Iannucci even served as a stu-dent teacher back in 1988.

“I’m having a great time,” Iannucci said. “I love this job.”

In October 2015, Iannuc-ci assumed the desk previous-ly occupied by Christopher Perdigao, himself a former assistant principal who worked for a total of eight years at Re-vere and San Fernando Valley’s Reseda High School. Perdigao, a West Hills resident, had brief-ly taken over for Principal Fern Somoza, who retired after lead-ing Revere since 2008.

“It was sort of a seamless transition,” Iannucci said, as the previous administrations “left everything in tip-top shape.”

Now, it’s forward and up-ward at the junior high.

“We’re trying to move the school forward [in terms of] its technology capacity and incor-poration of technology in the classroom, [adopting] more of a 21th century [model],” he said.

Today, Revere has comput-ers and tablets.

“It’s now taking those tools and giving our staff the exper-tise, the training to utilize those tools to their fullest capacities,” Iannucci said.

Every Tuesday and Thurs-day, when students exit by 2

p.m., teachers have the oppor-tunity to learn programs such as Google Docs, Google Class-room and Excel from their in-formed colleagues. There is also the online grading system Jupi-ter Ed, which allows parents to track their kids’ progress.

“We’re making the school more user-friendly,” said Ian-nucci, who divined inspiration from his own child’s West Los Angeles public school. “When my son was at Uni High, his school was using it. I thought, ‘Wow, we should be using this.’ Some of our teachers were al-ready using it.”

“The students and the staff are just some of the nicest peo-ple I’ve ever come across,” continued Iannucci, divvying up praise for faculty and teens alike. “In education, it can be a job. To these people, it’s more than a job, it’s almost like a call-ing. The students have been so quality and positive. Our kids come in to school and they have smiles on their faces and they’re

very enthusiastic about learning. This is real com-mitment to education and bettering yourself.”

The former band geek (trumpet) said he’s also im-pressed and proud of Re-vere’s music department.

“Nobody has the type of music program we have,” Iannucci continued, ticking off the choral en-semble, orchestra and oth-er sub-divisions. The arts, Iannucci emphasized, are “extremely important. Not every child is a bookish child.”

He noted the paint-ing and drawing classes led by art teacher Rogelio Mercado, as well as digi-tal imaging and computer programming classes. He also praised the parents for their role in keeping Paul Re-vere abreast with breaking tech.

“Our parents and our boost-er club do an incredible job in supporting the school,” he said.

“I wish all schools had the sup-port we had.”

Looking forward, Iannucci can’t spy any institutional flaws at his campus, only opportuni-

ties to expand and enhance Paul Revere’s existing prowess.

“I don’t see any weak-nesses,” Iannucci said, il-lustrating his point with the partnership his math/science magnet classes formed with the nearby university. “We want to ex-pand that relationship we have at UCLA.”

Iannucci witnessed his sixth-graders create tec-tonic plate models from Legos with the assistance of UCLA engineering stu-dents. Revere’s magnet program also has a robotics class and has instituted the district’s new math path-way, pushing geometry (a subject Iannucci took in 10th grade) to be taught during the eighth grade.

“Academically, it’s rock solid,” Iannucci said. “I’m real-ly enjoying being a principal to really try to get everyone to see what I see in education.”


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been been offering music les-sons in the heart of Pacific Pali-sades for 36 years.

Our facility includes six stu-

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Music to Our Ears

Village School is an inde-pendent, TK (transitional kin-dergarten) through sixth grade school. It was founded in 1977 and is located in Pacific Pali-sades. There are two campuses located around the corner from each other.

All students have a full program from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Everyone, no matter the grade, goes to every class, which in-cludes curricular and co-curric-ular classes.

Curricular classes include reading, writing, history and math. Co-curricular classes in-clude art, music, physical ed-ucation, science, Spanish and technology.

In addition, the curriculum integrates community service and multicultural education into their studies while also exploring

various methods of studying and presenting ideas that enhance the rigorous program. Family and Community Circles com-plete every child’s education. Children have opportunities and guidance to socialize in multi-age groupings during Family Circles and develop cooperative and collaborative skills to work individually and in teams.

Village School alumni ma-triculate to the most prestigious secondary schools and colleges. The placement team initiates the process in fifth grade and works hand-in-hand with families to find the best match. Fall Open Houses (Oct. 19, Nov. 2 and Nov. 16) offer prospective par-ents the experience of observ-ing Village School and children in their classrooms on a regu-lar day. The Parent and Alum-ni Q&A events provide unique perspectives on Village School. Parents can get a preview of the facilities by visiting the virtual tour on the website.

Applications are welcomed from September through Dec. 1, 2016 online or hard copy.

Village School780 Swarthmore Ave.Pacific Palisades, CA 90272310-459-8411village-school.org

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By DEBORAH STAMBLERContributing Writer

ack to school means backpacks stuffed with books, crum-pled papers and note-

books. Some of those wadded up papers are things you’re meant to sign as a parent and others are for the students to attend to—like homework.

The benefits of assigning homework have been well debated. A Washington Post article by Lau-ren Knight quoted Deborah Meier, American educator and founder of the modern small schools move-ment. She said, “Kids are natural learners: we do not need to inspire them to be so—we need to keep from extinguishing it.”

What role does homework play in the learning process? At what age and grade level should homework be given? How much homework is beneficial? How much is too much? What purpose does homework actually serve?

We checked in with three local educators on the subject of home-work. Here’s what they had to say:

Mitchell Jacobs is a fourth-grade teacher at Marquez Char-ter Elementary School. He said that his views on homework are very much his own and don’t nec-essarily reflect those of the school district.

“What it boils down to is that there is a ton of research on home-work, and the vast majority of the research says there is no ben-efit at the elementary level, and among younger students, it can cause a negative outlook towards school,” he explained. “There is a very modest effect on academic achievement of older students i.e. high school.”

He said that the biggest prob-lem he has found with homework

is that learning requires rapid feedback that does not always ex-ist at home.

“When a student completes an assignment in my class, I try and give immediate feedback to catch the teachable moment,” he said. “For my second-grade class last year, the homework was limited to 15 to 20 minutes a night of read-ing, which could be in a variety of forms, including a parent reading to a student, parent and student taking turns, a student silently reading or a student reading with a sibling and 15 minutes of an adap-tive learning program, either math or reading.”

He explained that the advan-tage of the programs over a work-sheet are that they provide rapid feedback and are set to each indi-vidual student’s ability, noting that his class did all the homework in the assigned math textbook, but that they did it in class where he could give rapid feedback

“For elementary school, I believe the most important way of improving academic achieve-ment is encouraging a love of reading and finding the right book that a student gets hooked on to encourage reading for plea-sure,” Jacobs shared. “There are lots of studies showing a strong relationship between the amount a student reads for pleasure and academic success.”

Bruce Harlan is principal of grades five through eight at St. Matthew’s Parish School. The homework policy is laid out clearly in the Parent Handbook, so both parents and students know exactly what is expected of the students. The general rule of thumb is that students will get about 10 minutes of homework per grade level. He also stressed that he wants parents to know that if the homework is too much

and interfering with sleep, tell the teacher and the school.

Harlan said feedback from parents ranges. Some parents say that there’s too much homework and others say that there isn’t enough. At every grade level, the teachers work to make sure that the homework is meaningful and useful. Harlan gave an example from science class.

“Students will do the hands-on work in class and then take the data they’ve collected and write their lab report over the week,” he explained. “It gives them the chance to analyze the data and write it up.”

He said that the value in math homework is that students have the chance to find out what they do and don’t understand by working independently.

Harlan has been at St. Mat-thew’s for 27 years as a teacher and administrator. He said in that time he’s seen the amount of homework lessen as students have more com-mitments outside of school, such as sports that take up a lot of time.

Ronnie Cohen teaches En-glish at Palisades Charter High School. His views on homework echo those of Jacobs. Similarly, Cohen’s views are his personal opinions borne out of his experi-

ence and are not representative of the school district.

“Obviously [homework is] important, but I believe more for foreign language and, perhaps, math,” Cohen explained. “I’m not a big proponent of the hour or two of homework per night, per class. It seems too onerous. I’ve taught in South Korea where the kids are sleep-deprived and anxiety-rid-den. It’s not a recipe for a healthy teen.”

Cohen said that we assume that if we don’t load the kid with a lot of work, then they won’t do anything.

“In my experience, kids who are interested in learning don’t need a homework assignment to get them to pick up a book, or a musical instrument, or some other productive activity,” he said. “The kids hooked on pot and partying? Homework won’t make them stu-dious. They’ll find a way around it, copying others’ work. Call me subversive, but I don’t go too hard on homework. If we’re reading a novel, I expect the kids to read five to 10 pages per night, something like that. We do a lot of writing in class.”


The Benefits of Homework

Some studies show that there is no benefit of homework at elementary level.Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Bruce Harlan of St. Matthew’s Parish School said he has seen the amount of homework lessen. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

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Have you always wanted to be able to just sit down and play the piano for your own enjoyment, or even for the enjoyment of others? Did you take piano lessons but eventually quit and never really played again? Do you think that playing the piano is important but worry that you or your child won’t like it or stick with it?

Did you know that piano les-sons have the highest failure rate of any taught subject?

For many of us, learning to play the piano was a long, slow process, and our ability to play was based on our ability to read music. Though we have learned so much about the brain and have changed the way we teach so many subjects, we have been teaching piano the same way for 300 years … and, unfortunately, the statistics are abysmal.

Imagine being able to sit down at any piano—no matter where you fall between the ages of 4 and 104—and play an array of sophis-ticated pieces by memory after just a few lessons, including classical, popular, blues and accompaniment pieces, as well as composing and improvising.

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Palisades Music School881 Alma Real Drive, Ste. T-28Pacific Palisades, CA 90272310-454-1045palisadesmusicschool.com

By MARYAM ZARSpecial to the Palisadian-Post

s a new school year comes barreling clos-er, after too short a summer, I, along

with all the local volunteers that make up the teams of parent-run organizations across the Pali-sades Charter Complex public schools, welcome you all back to school.

At Paul Revere, our joint par-ent board will be led this year by Dori Delshad for P.R.I.D.E. and yours truly for PTSA. With more than 2,000 students matriculating at Paul Revere Middle School (Charter & Magnet), from nearly 100 different zip codes across LA, the work of P.R.I.D.E. is largely aimed at raising money to support our phenomenal administrative team at Paul Revere, led by Tom Iannucci, to offer a host of enrich-ment classes to our students and to help reduce class size.

Our PTSA is focused on health and safety for the students, as well as a few key enrichment programs, including the national Reflections Art Contest and Red

Ribbon Week, which highlights the perils of bullying, with an in-creased focus on LGBT and cyber issues.

PTSA has a long tradition at Paul Revere, with important events such as Faculty Apprecia-tion Week and the Founder’s Day Event, which recognizes so many of our tireless teachers and staff members who make Paul Revere the high-performing school that it is.

At a recent event in Pacific Palisades, our school board mem-ber and president Steve Zimmer confessed that Paul Revere Mid-dle School is the “feather in his cap.” The joint parent board of PRIDE and PTSA, along with the teachers and administrators at Paul Revere, work hard to main-tain that standard.

We are committed to provid-ing a one-to-one ratio for student access to technology, and we have consistently helped fund and sus-tain the fabulous farm at Paul Re-vere. We also help provide sports and performance art programs, robust choir, orchestra and band programs, as well as our PEP pro-gram, which offers a wide array

of after-school activities.This year we are working

with local professionals and vol-unteers to beautify the grounds and ensure that the Paul Revere experience can rival that of a pri-vate school, in both the quality of its education and the aesthetics of its surroundings. Our families are some of the most generous parents around and we rely on them year after year to step up for all the students that matricu-late through Paul Revere Middle School.

As I take on the leadership of PTSA at Paul Revere, I’m also leaning into my new term as Pacific Palisades Community Council president. I look forward to working with all the volunteers that make our Palisades institu-tions strong, including the ones I am lucky enough to be part of.

Many of my colleagues on the board of Paul Revere are also leaders in other local orga-nizations. I’m proud to serve our broader community alongside these inspired people, who work tirelessly to make our communi-ties and our schools the best that they can be.

A Word From Paul Revere PTSA Leader

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Corpus Christi School is excited to welcome back its 260 students for the 2016-17 school year. Corpus Christi, a TK–8 Catholic School, strives to pro-vide an education incorporating academic excellence and the promotion of personal respon-sibility within a spiritual-based, nurturing environment. Rooted in Catholic tradition, Corpus Christi School focuses on teach-ing the whole child.

It is the philosophy of Cor-pus Christi to recognize parents as their child’s primary educa-tor and to create a collaborative partnership between the school

and home. Beginning in TK, we invite parents to participate in the classroom, get to know their child’s classmates and become an integral part of the Corpus community.

At Corpus Christi, we aca-demically prepare our students for the most rigorous high school curriculum, with a focus on de-veloping students who possess self-confidence, intellectual curi-osity and moral judgment. Tech-nology is integrated throughout the curriculum, as we believe it

is essential that our students are fully prepared to innovate and collaborate using these tools.

Corpus Christi consistent-ly scores as one of the top-tier schools in the Los Angeles Arch-diocese. Corpus Christi prides itself on the success of their stu-dents and graduates as scholars, hard workers and individuals with strong personal values.

We invite you to join us at our upcoming open houses on Oct. 20 and Nov. 15 to hear more about our school.

Corpus Christi School890 Toyopa DrivePacific Palisades, CA 90272310-454-9411corpuschristi-school.com

Two-hundred and sixty students are enrolled at Corpus Christi School.Photo courtesy of Corpus Christi School

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STAR Education and Pal-isades Lutheran Church have now partnered to bring STAR’s Preschool to PLC! This exciting program will build on its popular Little Dipper’s Pre-K program at Marquez Charter Elementary School by offering the same hands-on experience at the Palisades Lu-theran location for children getting ready for kindergarten, as well as extending it to younger students starting at 2 years 9 months.

The STAR Preschool is found-ed on the premise that children learn through the process of expe-rience and play. Your little one will benefit from STAR’s warm, loving and experienced early childhood educators, access to a large com-munity of enrichment staff and a curriculum designed by our team of education specialists, neurosci-entists, artists, scientists, and en-

richment professionals.STAR Preschool helps to

build self-understanding and awareness in your little ones as they enjoy opportunities to devel-op friendships, explore group play and learn together as their social, emotional and educational skills develop. Exploration is at the heart of all of our lessons; students are encouraged to try everything! Room environments and activities vary according to theme-based programming in order to keep

students excited, engaged, and wowed by the wonder of learn-ing. Moving around to different environments during the day is consistent with children’s natural instincts to move around and ex-plore, and has been shown to be more conducive to learning.

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By CHELSEA SUTTONSpecial to the Palisadian-Post

ach year, the Lisa Smith Wengler Cen-ter for the Arts brings some of the most

exciting performances from around the world to children and families in Los Angeles. From rollicking musicals to cir-cus acts and dancers to favorite stories come to life, each year at Center for the Arts offers some-thing new and awe-inspiring—a great way to cultivate a love of the arts in young audiences.

This year Center for the Arts is bringing Mermaid The-ater of Nova Scotia’s produc-tion of “Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny,” the in-novative circus show “Flip Fab-riQue,” a steampunk-inspired cirque show “Cirque Mechan-ics,” the “Judy Blume of kid-die rock” Justin Robers & The Not Ready for Naptime Players, and the comedy magic of Mark

Nizer 4D. On March 4, Center for the Arts will offer a free and open to the public Family Arts Fest, featuring a free perfor-mance by LA-based Versa-Style Dance Company. The day will feature art activities, dance les-

sons, food, face painting and so much more.

The Center for the Arts of-fers free Family Art Days before and after some family perfor-mances, which feature hands-on art activities with multiple proj-

ects designed for children of all ages, free museum tours of the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, free backstage tours and food trucks.

For more information about family performances, visit arts.

pepperdine.edu or call the box office at 310-506-4522. The Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts is located on the Pep-perdine University Campus in Malibu at 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, 90263.

Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the ArtsBrings All-Ages Performances and Free Family Arts Fest to Malibu

The cast of “Cat in the Hat” with an audience member after their performance at the Center for the Arts in January 2016. Photo courtesy of Hayley Haythorne

The cast of “Story Pirates” and students whose story was chosen for presenta-tion at their performance at the Center for the Arts in October 2015.

Photo courtesy of Chelsea Sutton

E

KEHILLAT ISRAEL Early Childhood Center & Parenting CenterThe gem of the Palisades—where values, community and learning build the foundation for life-long achievement.

16019 West Sunset BoulevardPacific Palisades, CA 90272

For more information visit: ecc.ourKI.org or call (424) 214-7482At KI you’re not just part of a school, you’re part of our family. Come let us show you what makes us a true gem.

Serving the Jewish community for over 50 years.

KI_HalfPgECCAdPalisades.indd 1 8/8/16 2:40 PM

This August Palisades El-ementary Charter School, with Principal Joan Ingle at the helm, welcomed 516 students to the campus.

On the first day of school, kindergarteners were greeted by teachers holding different colored balloons for each class-room. But even before the first day at Palisades Elementary, parents were being prepped for the start of school.

“Once you are enrolled, you are put into an account with a fact of the day, like ‘what if your child is sick?’” Ingle explained. “Kindergarten parents have got-ten a fact of the day for the past 20 days.”

Ingle said that with the help of this account parents with kin-dergarteners are eased into the school.

Ingle, who is entering her ninth year at the school, ex-plained that Palisades Elementa-ry will continue its T.R.I.B.E.S. program, which is Palisades Elementary’s diversity training and conflict resolution program that promotes community build-ing and cooperative learning, student inclusion and conflict resolution while building a safe and caring community.

“We continue to train new staff to learn about T.R.I.B.E.

to work with the students proac-tively,” she said.

And this year that staff in-cludes some new teachers.

“We have great teachers—we have five new teachers and they’re all great,” Ingle shared.

“I have such a great parent group, too,” Ingle said. “Very fortunate. With their support, we were able to reduce class-room size for fourth and fifth grade.”

Palisades Elementary cur-

rently has 24-27 students per classroom, which Ingle ex-plained is a huge benefit to stu-dents. Ingle and the staff are fo-cused on giving each student the attention they need so that they are learning at the level that is right for them.

“We pull students aside if they need more because the instructional level is too high or low for them,” she said. “In the Palisades, we have so many gifted children.”

One of Ingle’s goals for the year is to make drop-off and pick-up even safer for students.

The upcoming calendar for the school is filled with fun events, including International Day, which will take place in fall this year. Other things to look forward to include Yee-haw Day, the school auction and Open House in spring.


Call 424.330.0008 to enroll!

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Palisades Elementary Charter School800 Via de la PazPacific Palisades, CA 90272310-454-3700palielementary.org

Veterans visit Palisades Elementary Charter SchoolRich Schmitt/Staff Photographer

Halloween ParadeRich Schmitt/Staff Photographer

Palisadian-Post(310) 454-1321 www.PaliPost.com

By ERIKA MARTINReporter

aced with declining enrollment and a growing challenge from independent

charter schools, the Los Ange-les Unified School District this year introduced the city’s first all-girls public school.

The Girls Academic Lead-ership Academy (GALA), housed at Los Angeles High in Mid-Wilshire, gives girls grades six through 12 access to a rigorous education focused on science, technology, engineer-ing and math, or STEM. Anoth-er all-girls school that opened in the district this year, Girls Athletic Leadership School in Panorama City, will be run as an independent, district-autho-rized charter with a focus on sports.

At least four alumna of Pa-cific Palisades schools will rank among GALA’s inaugural class of 100 sixth graders: Audrey Czerniewski from Palisades Charter Elementary School and Ava Leslie, Samantha Kissane and Ava Stepanian from Marquez Elementary Charter School.

Principal Liz Hicks led the charge to found GALA with the hope of building young girls’ confidence and giving them the tools to pursue careers in STEM subjects, where girls’ test scores and advanced course enrollment lag beginning in middle school. The school is outfitted with high-tech gear like a 3-D printer and flight simulator, and although parents and students must be commit-ted to a challenging curriculum, admission is based solely on voluntary enrollment.

“We really want our girls at our school to go to college in STEM, so we give them tools to support their interests,” Hicks said. “There is a STEM pipeline and girls often fall out of it.”

Hicks, who started her ca-reer teaching at LAUSD before counseling at the district level, wants all girls in Los Angeles to have access to an education like the one her daughters received at Marlborough School, a pri-vate all-girls school in Hancock Park. She modeled GALA off Marlborough, as well as Archer School for Girls, Westridge School and women’s leadership

schools in New York and Texas—all of which have 100-percent graduation rates.

“We have girls that are coming in with all sorts of different levels of preparation, but wher-ever we get them we’re going to push them as far as they can go,” Hick said. “It’s not so much about the skills you come in with but that you work really hard.”

Samantha Kissane’s mother, Veronica Kis-sane, said she feels the school is best fit to pre-pare her daughter for col-lege.

“I think [our girls] would blossom any-where, but I really be-lieve that for us it’s the right place,” she said. “The class size is going to be 25 kids. That’s private school numbers, and in my mind it’s going to be a private school experience in a public school.”

Samantha said she hopes to go into engineering or forensics someday, and GALA will better prepare her for that.

The Kissanes, whose Cas-tellammare home is further from the school than any oth-er student’s, will still have to make the sacrifice of commut-ing to its Mid-Wilshire campus.

Girls are coming to GALA from 50 different schools and 39 different ZIP codes. This means students are likely to have a well-rounded social experience, Kari Weaver, Czerniewski’s mother, pointed out.

“The diversity will be there, and not just diversity in the makeup of the school but also socioeconomically,” she said. “It’s more real-world in terms of who you’re exposed to, which I like.”

The work will be rigorous but also fascinating, Hicks said, with varied topics like classical architecture and visits from JPL scientists to spark their interest.

“The curriculum will be hands-on and project-heavy,” Hicks noted. “Most of them already have some interest in STEM but don’t know what that means, so we want them to be able to explore that.”

The school is working to secure a Hirshberg Foundation

grant to build a maker space for projects like underwater roving vehicles.

Leslie is excited for chem-istry class and group experi-ments, but is glad courses will have artistic components as well.

“I like all sorts of art, de-signing and performing,” she said. “You can’t have science and STEM without art. You can’t build a building without design.”

The curriculum also stress-es leadership and wellness, beginning each day with a community period and break-ing girls into groups at the end of the day to decompress. For Czerniewski, community class is the second-most-exciting thing about starting at GALA, after having a locker.

“There are very few schools that have the emotional health of girls as one of their focuses and middle school’s hard for everyone,” Ava’s mother Susan Leslie pointed out.

But why make the school available only to girls?

“Mostly because of the data that we saw,” Hicks said. “It seems that when girls are in an all-girls settings they tend to do better in math and science. When they matriculate to col-lege they tend to be more vo-cal and more involved in co-ed environments. By the time they get to college they’re very con-fident in their knowledge.”

Weaver had always want-

ed her daughter to attend an all-girls school but thought it would be fi-nancially impossible.

“As active, outgoing and engaged as I was in elementary school, in middle school I com-pletely turned. I was afraid to get the answer wrong, I stopped rais-ing my hand and partic-ipating,” she recalled. “I became very shy and was embarrassed. When I went to college I met girls who had gone to an all-girls school. They were so outgoing and raised their hand all the time and participated. I was in awe, they were just so confident.”

The girls agree that they’d get a better educa-tion without boys around.

“I think it’s good be-cause in middle school boys get really immature, even though they were already,” Ava Leslie said. “I think the teachers spend more time on getting the boys focused.”

“Also, it’s more distraction, because sometimes boys do things and they get you in trou-ble. Then you get detention,” Czerniewski added.

All-girls schools also grad-uate students at a 30-percent higher rate than their co-ed counterparts, and their gradu-ates attend college at a 50-per-cent higher rate.

The Boys Academic Lead-ership Academy, a school with a similar structure, plans to open next year on the campus of George Washington Prepara-tory High School in South Los Angeles.


Palisadians Enroll in New LAUSD All-Girls Public School

F

Palisadian students are enrolled at LAUSD’s new all-girls school. Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer

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Oaks Christian SchoolOaks Christian SchoolExperience the difference... come visit us!Experience the difference... come visit us!

Upcoming Events:Admissions Information NightThursday, October 6 | 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Admissions Open HouseSunday, November 6 | 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Admissions Information NightThursday, January 12 | 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Please visit our website at www.oakschristian.org to RSVP and to learn more, or call us at 818.824.9492 for additional information.

Admission Application for Academic Year 2017-2018

Available October 1Apply Online

www.oakschristian.org

Serving Grades 5-12A College-Preparatory School


At Areté, students don’t just jump through hoops. We guide our learners on a journey of critical reading, informed writ-ing (again and again) and agile argumentation, with a healthy dose of fun along the way. Small, hands-on interactive seminars up the ante for genu-ine challenge and lively, rich engagement.

Our close-knit, supportive milieu, rich with opportunities for individual exploration, en-courages high-achieving stu-dents to become more than rule followers and “excellent sheep.” Students learn to reason for themselves, developing their own unique intellectual identi-

Is your child ready for an extraordinary educational

adventure? At Seven Arrows, we believe in sparking a child’s innate passion for learning. Our intimate, edible campus speaks the language of childhood. Uncompromising academics are fused with one of the most cutting edge cultural and environmental models in independent school education.

Admissions tours for the 2017–2018 school year for grades K-6 begin Tuesdays in September.

Seven Arrows Elementary School 15240 La Cruz Dr., Pacific Palisades, CA 90272(310) 230-0257 www.sevenarrows.org

TuESdAy Tour dATES:September 20October 18November 15

December 13January 10

register online at sevenarrows.org/admissions

Areté Preparatory Academy

11500 Olympic Blvd. #318Los Angeles, CA 90064310-478-9900areteprep.org

ehillat Israel Early Childhood Center (ECC) is an inclu-sive, developmental,

early childhood education pro-gram grounded in Jewish values that respect the individuality of each child and seek to instill a love and pride in being Jew-ish. We provide meaningful ex-periences for children and their families in a safe, nurturing, stimulating and sacred environ-ment.

We believe children are self-motivated, interested and inquisitive. Our philosophy is based on our understanding of the way in which young children learn. We consider the preschool years fundamentally important in the formation of values and

Kehillat Israel

ties in a culture that rewards risk taking and celebrates provoca-tive thinking.

The school’s innovative Great Ideas curriculum com-bines history, philosophy and the social sciences to address the perennial questions of hu-man existence. This careful-ly planned, cross-disciplinary program introduces students to the important issues in Western and non-Western thought, en-couraging the use of historical and contemporary examples to support students’ own emergent philosophical positions. Our Eudaimonia Program raises the bar for high-achieving math and science students, offering accel-erated curriculum and in-depth, long-term laboratory explora-tion.

Areté’s college preparato-ry program harnesses students’ passions to create future in-novators and game-changers, equipped to lead in a world

that demands nimble problem solving and creative ingenui-ty. Driven by a genuine love of learning, our graduates excel in higher education; 90 percent are accepted to their first-choice colleges and universities.

skills, and believe that life and school readiness are achieved by nurturing the social, emotional, cognitive and physical domains of development.

Our curriculum integrates the values that as a community we hold dear: learning, taking care of others, and respect for ourselves, others and the greater world.

Each of our classrooms is rich in exploration and self-re-flection. Opportunities to explore and create surround the children, and they learn the foundational social skills necessary to be part of the global community. We have programs for children 18 months to 5 years old. Our TK program focuses on preparing children for the many facets of life outside our walls, including academics.

We passionately believe that childhood is a short time and that children need many oppor-tunities to gain skills and confi-dence. Our learning spaces are designed for expression, innova-tion and creativity, and our class-

room spaces are warm, welcom-ing and interesting. We provide materials that facilitate individ-ual and small group learning op-portunities for development. We are a school that prides itself on community, on embracing the diversity of families, respecting each other and the rich history of our traditions.

Please call 424-214-7482 or visit ecc.ourKI.org to sched-ule a visit. You will be offered a personal tour where you can peek into our world and learn what makes us the “gem of the Palisades.”

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By AUSTIN PRUITT Intern

his year’s summer started early for me—June 3, to be exact. While all of my neighborhood friends still sat

in class taking their finals, I was at home, fan-tasizing about what summer would be like. I pictured going to the beach, hiking, going on adventures to new places and travelling to New England.

I spent the first week of my summer trav-elling up and down the coast of California looking at universities with some of my friends from school. The first week of “summer” felt more like the first week of college. Besides the college tours, we got to go to Alcatraz, a baseball game and the Dropbox headquarters in San Francisco.

While most of my summer plans came through to fruition, there was one big part of my summer that I was leaving out: college applications. Oddly enough, it didn’t really dawn on me during the college trip that as a rising senior, this summer is going to be my last chance to truly figure out what I want to do in college.

Instead, that epiphany came when I was sitting on the couch watching television. With college applications in mind, I wrote a rough draft of my personal statement and scanned the newspaper for local internships.

On July 3, I contacted the Palisadian-Post and one of its employees offered me the in-ternship shortly afterwards. I spent the next day reveling in the fireworks that came with the celebration of our country’s birth.

Since then, I have been researching col-leges, writing stories, and working in South Bay. I’ve also been going to the beach quite a lot. And while Pokemon Go is a fad among the greater nation, it is not appreciated in my household. “You’re using up all of our data,” my dad said.

While I still have yet to visit New En-gland, my summer thus far has been one of excitement, pressure and, most of all, oppor-tunity.

By CLAIRE KELLER Intern

eads of sweat form on my brow as I climb the seemingly endless narrow stone steps. As I approach a lookout

point, the mist clears and the stunning green terraced valley comes into view.

I am awestruck by the ancient architecture and meticulously placed rock wall formations that have stood the test of time. The tower-ing Mount Machu Picchu casts deep shadows over the Inca Trail and gives me pause to con-sider what life was like in Peru over 500 years ago.

While the Incas did not have written lan-guage, they communicated via a chain of run-ners to relay oral messages or communication by Quipu, the knotted language of the Inca.

Incan messengers, or “Chasqui,” would run for one to three miles along these very trails and relay messages via Chasqui sta-tioned at small huts along the road. If it was discovered that the message wasn’t accurate, punishment was severe.

It is hard to imagine the tremendous effort required to communicate and deliver news. And now, here I sit in the cool air-conditioned office of the Palisadian-Post, able to type an article and publish it with virtually a touch of a button.

Working as an intern for the Palisadi-an-Post this summer has given me the oppor-tunity to broaden my views of the world and my understanding of issues that are important to our community. I have gained a greater ap-preciation for our freedoms and the ability to freely communicate our differing viewpoints.

Though I do not have to run the Inca Trail every time I am assigned an article, this op-portunity has allowed me to work hard for something bigger than myself. Traveling, re-searching and writing this summer has fueled a passion for journalism that I know will stay with me throughout my life as will the memo-ries of my time spent as an intern for the Pal-isadian-Post.

By ERIC SEGALL Intern

ummer is the one time of year I can call my own. It is free of school, re-sponsibilities and schedules.

At least it used to be. Last year, I spent part of my sum-mer in Oregon, and I got to enjoy the rural coun-tryside and be in a place so different from home. I could not believe how green everything was. I saw how dense the Oregon forest was as I flew from tree to tree via zip lines with my family.

It was an exhilarating way to see the world. We also saw fruit and vegetable fields all over Oregon. Going from an urban landscape to a rural one is a really interesting experience. I found myself reconnecting with nature.

In contrast, this summer has been full of responsibility and challenges. I am going into my junior year; therefore, I have to do things to help prepare for college. This includes do-ing ACT prep for the past few weeks. This was probably the most tedious work, but the most beneficial.

In addition, I had to write a jazz piece for one of my classes. Writing music can be hard, but thankfully I managed that one.

This summer, I also volunteered at Meet Each Need with Dignity (MEND). This is what I enjoyed the most. MEND is a resource center where homeless and impoverished people, as well as families, can get food and clothing. I watched children as their parents were getting supplies for themselves and their family.

It felt good to know that I was doing something to help better the lives of others, although in a small way. Also, I had to speak Spanish, which forced me to practice what I have learned so far.

It was a lot of fun and seeing their joy

made me really happy as well. In retrospect, this summer has been the most satisfying one yet.

By JAMIE SNELL Intern

ummer, summer, summer! My classmates chant as the clock on the wall counts down to

the final minute of the school year. The bell dings and everyone cheers as papers are tossed into the air and

the entire school erupts into an extravagant musical number.

Although the last day of school wasn’t exactly as cliché as “High School Musical 2,” the Palisades Charter High School band did play a celebratory song in the quad as kids rushed to leave campus, eager to dive into the next few months of freedom.

However, it turns out that summer—also known as the season of lounging brain-dead by the pool, getting a nice tan and forgetting the basic principles of algebra—is not as stress-free as it’s cracked up to be.

Don’t get me wrong, not having to wake up at 6 a.m., actually eating breakfast and the lack of tests and quizzes is delightful. But sum-

mer doesn’t allow me to stow the stress away with my school

supplies in the corner of my room until August.

Two days into the break, I terribly over-packed my suitcase and set off on an East Coast college trip, tour-ing a number of schools in unbear-

able humidity for one week. Though

I did enjoy traipsing about beautiful campus-

es and listening to the same spiel multiple times, I was repeat-

edly reminded about the impending stress that college applications will bring in the fall.

It’s very strange to me that high school seniors are expected to make big life decisions about our imminent futures when we can’t even decide what to caption our Instagram photos.

Nonetheless, after visiting a friend in Pennsylvania for another week, I returned home with a month-and-a-half left of summer. The days turned into weeks as I binged Netflix shows—season four of “Orange is the New Black” was a tad disappointing, I must ad-mit—and I suddenly felt pressured to “make the most” of my summer, whatever that meant.

I had an epiphany: When else in my life am I going to have time, with so few expec-tations or responsibilities, aside from that AP summer homework looming over my head?

With that in mind, I spent time with friends, went to the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” midnight showing, a Los Angeles Sparks game, a Halsey concert, “West Side Story” at the Hollywood Bowl and signed up for a surf camp. I only attended two days of the camp before I sprained a few fingers, but now I’m more determined than ever to get

back out and try again. With a fair amount of lazy days and the

slow but steady completion of that nagging summer homework, I realized the importance of summer: It’s a time for recuperation and savoring the things that we usually put aside, like rereading our favorite book series, “Har-ry Potter.” It’s also too hot to be stuck inside classrooms without air conditioning.

How did I spend the last few weeks of summer, you ask? Well, for one, I stuck to my mantra, “Don’t count the days, make the days count.”

And secondly, lounging brain-dead by the pool, getting a nice tan and forgetting the basic principles of algebra.

By MABEL JONES Intern

y summer began with high hopes and far-fetched plans. I thought I would get a job right away, get ahead on my college process and quickly work my way through a very ambi-tious book list.

However, all I have managed to do so far is narrowly escape cabin fever. I like to blame

this utter lack of activity on the fact that I only got my driver’s license two days ago; however, it can be

more accurately attributed to my own procras-tination.

The impressive book list created in collab-oration with my English teacher very quickly turned into reading “Harry Potter,” and my un-edited college list still mocks me from its un-fortunately visible home on my wall.

In the wake of my failed plans I have em-barked on a risky and noble pursuit few rising seniors dare attempt: Trying to forget about the college process. I am letting the usernames and passwords I have made for the hundreds of ac-counts needed to apply to college simply fade from memory. I am letting Junot Diaz novels soak up the ideas I had for my personal essay.

College counselors and anxious students may tell you to use the summer before your senior year to prepare for the college process, as it is a crucial time to get ahead. I believe, it is also a crucial time to let your mind go blank, given that it may be your last chance for a while.

The other week, with this new goal in mind, I walked down to the Bluffs, sat on a bench and read my book for a few hours. At the end, I was left with a fun, stinging sunburn on the back of my neck. While it was quite painful at first, this new, strange tan will be a welcome reminder of my relaxing summer of denial once it comes time to confront all the work I have been avoiding.

All in all, I would highly recommend scrapping your plans. We’re nearing the end of the summer, and while I have been busy stag-ing my rebellion against the college board, I got my license, almost finished my book list and got a job at the Pali-Post. My advice to you for next summer is to stare blankly and keep your hopes and plans to a minimum.


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Palisadian-Postwww.PaliPost.com

(310) 454-1321

The 2016-17 school year at Calvary Christian School will undoubtedly be one of continued growth and devel-opment as a school commu-nity. When classroom doors open on Sept. 6, CCS will continue its long-standing tra-dition of delivering a mission of academic excellence and Christian values preparing students in preschool through eighth grade for leadership and service.

With over 420 students and 75 faculty members, Cal-vary Christian School is proud to celebrate the return of its en-tire administrative team; Vince Downey will return for his fifth year as Head of School, Mar-ti Willens as Middle School Head, David Ludwig as El-ementary School Head, Erin

Ahders as Preschool Director and Leslie Clark as the Direc-tor of Admissions and Market-ing. This coming school year Calvary welcomes back all but two full-time staff members, whose positions were filled from within.

This summer, Calvary Christian School revitalized nine elementary classrooms, providing a state-of-the-art learning environment to

maximize exploration and growth. In addition, Calvary’s turf sports field underwent a full overhaul, allowing stu-dents to have the best and saf-est field on which to practice, play and compete.

To learn more about Cal-vary Christian School’s ac-ademic, enrichment, sports, technology and leadership programs, please visit calvary-christian.org.


I N S P I R E D E D U C AT I O N F O R A N E V O LV I N G W O R L D

New Roads School is a K-12 college preparatory independent school with campuses in Santa Monica and West Los Angeles. New Roads School liberates voice, perspective and talents through the art and science of progressive education. Our students develop a personal dedication to learning, a respect for independent thinking and an expanding curiosity about the world and its people. Our students reflect the true diversity of Los Angeles, bringing a wide array of ethnicities, cultures, socio-economic status and learning styles to our community.

www.newroads.org

Calvary Christian School701 Palisades DrivePacific Palisades, CA 90272310-573-0082calvarychristian.org

The arts are strongly emphasized at Calvary Christian School, as students are pre-sented with opportunities to express themselves through various creative outlets, including music, theater and fine arts. Photo courtesy of Calvary Christian School

Calvary Christian School’s Athletic Program had an exciting year, winning sever-al league championships and individual student awards. Photo by Nick Ouellette

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Be a Junior Reporter for the Palisadian-Post!hey kids! have you ever wanted to see your name in

the newspaper? Do you like to write, talk to people and investigate? Now is your chance to make your big break!

the Palisadian-Post is looking for kids in grades one through 12 who live or attend school in Pacific Palisades to join our Junior reporter program. Junior reporters will have the opportunity to cover events at their schools and in the community by conducting interviews and writing arti-cles for the Post’s online and print editions.

Junior reporters get to have a lot of fun and work closely with other reporters at the Post. to apply, visit our office at 881 Alma real, Suite 213 or email [email protected] for more information. the program is always open.

Morgan Singer

Drew Singer

Jared Hamm

Theodore Grandy

Annabelle Grandy

Juliete Seo

Lily Parlane

Madeline Goore

Claudia Goore

Sierra Sugarman

Sophie Herron

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Ben Baak

Jennifer Karlan

Camille Weinstein

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Cole Prawer

Pearl Abrahams

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Carly Price

Julia von Goetz

Georgia Raber

Maddie Megery

Alicia Emma Abramson

Grace Preminger

Ally Preminger

Tea Koudsi

Charlie Goetz

Christopher Braun

Lyric Latshaw

William “Witt” Kolsky

Anderson Stein

Payton Stein

Anna Entin

J. Cooper Stein

Serena Perl

Gavin Alexander

Jennifer Taylor Bergman Epstein

Dillon Ring

Jasmine Askarinam

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Reo Isabella Robinson

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Thank You to All the Kids Who Signed Up for the 2015-2016 Palisadian-Post

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Thursday, June 26, 2014 ◆ Pacific Palisades, California

Brett O’Brien, Karen Murphy O’Brien, Christopher O’Brien, Nicholas O’Brien and Palisadians Christine and Gary Bishop

celebrate at the Teleflora Plaza. Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer

Palisadians Join Murphy O’Brien

To Celebrate 25th Anniversary

Nearly 200 friends, clients and media

joined longtime Palisadians Karen

Murphy O’Brien and Brett O’Brien on

Thursday, June 12 in celebration of their

company’s 25th anniversary. Murphy

O’Brien Public Relations, specializing

in travel, lifestyle and real estate, was

founded by the entrepreneurial couple in

May of 1989 and is now the third largest

public relations agency in Los Angeles

with almost 50 full time employees.

The Murphy O’Brien headquar-

ters, located in West LA’s Teleflora

Plaza, was transformed for the evening

into an elegant venue surrounded by

lush florals and accented by beauti-

ful lighting and an elaborate Murphy

O’Brien-branded ice sculpture bar.

Among the clients in attendance were

Shutters on the Beach General Man-

ager Gregory Day, Peninsula Beverly

Hills’ General Manager Offer Nissen-

baum and Director of Marketing, Rob

Roche, and Tender Greens founder,

Erik Oberholtzer, along with media

friends from the Los Angeles Times,

Los Angeles Magazine, KTLA Morn-

ing News, Huffington Post, TravelAge

West, the Dr. Phil show and many more.

In addition to their sons, Nicholas

(15) and Christopher (12), Mark Lor-

anger and Elizabeth Daly from Chrys-

alis, a non-profit organization Murphy

O’Brien heartily supports, and Pacific

Palisades residents Tammy Strome,

Maylee Whitham, Cameron Brown,

Kathy and Bill Bitting, Chris and

Mary Ellen Kanoff, Gary and Chris-

tine Bishop and Tim and Kim Gorry

were also in attendance.

Wine and cocktails flowed into the

evening with client Flor De Cana Rum

creating a special signature drink for the

evening, the Macua. Passed appetizers

included lobster rolls from Shutters on

the Beach, house smoked potted salmon

and summer wild berry gazpacho from

The Peninsula Beverly Hills, sliders from

The Counter, Citrus Olive Oil cakes from

Tender Greens and assorted cheesecakes

from The Cheesecake Factory.

Live music was provided by deBois

Entertainment, custom lighting was pro-

vided by DJZ Productions, and floral ar-

rangement and design were from Lace

and Stems. Guests took home swag bags

filled with custom candles in Murphy

O’Brien’s signature scent created by

Gwendolyn-Mary, Casey’s Cupcakes

mixes, chips from The Better Chip, Flor

de Caña branded sunglasses, and Baja

lime shower gel and lip balm from Es-

peranza Resort.

By MATT SANDERSONSenior Reporter

I t was a bittersweet sendoff for more than 630 Pali-

sades High School seniors at the Stadium-by-the-Sea on Monday, marking the school’s 60th commence-ment.

Principal Dr. Pam Ma-gee reminded attendees that the high school is known for its diverse student body from all over Los Angeles. Several students welcomed the audience in some of the many languages spoken on campus, including Arabic, Farsi, Serbian, Japanese, Hebrew, Portuguese, Ko-rean, Mandarin, Spanish, Swedish and German. Ma-gee welcomed the parents of the Class of 2014.“You have trusted us

with your children and to-gether we have guided them to where they are today, ready to embark on the next phase of their educations, careers and lives,” she said.Magee also credited fac-

ulty and counselors.“Without our teachers and counselors this night simply would not be possi-ble,” she said. For many students and

family members, reaching graduation day was a long, arduous journey. Following the ceremony,

Dawn Smith of West L.A. stood with her family along the track sideline fence hold-ing a sign for her daughter Breaa, who just graduated. Of proud Belizean descent,

Smith said Breaa, who will be attending L.A. Trade Technical College in the fall, is the youngest grandchild of seven in her family.“We’ve waited for this

day,” Smith said, adding that her mother passed away two years ago and is walking with Breaa in spirit.Speaker Kevin Her-

nandez said during the cer-emony that he told his first grade teacher at Pico Can-yon Elementary School that he wanted to build jets and rockets, but admitted that his inspiration “got sucked into a black hole” when he started hanging out with the wrong crowds. “My anger went down

when I came to Pali,” Her-nandez said. “There were many times this graduation day seemed like a fantasy. My friends and family nev-er gave up on me when I was ready to give up.” His advice? Never give up and never be afraid to ask for help.

The class valedictori-an is Ethan Sussman, who plans to attend Stanford University. “It’s been a pleasure,”

said Senior Class President Dominique Brown. “Get used to what’s coming next: paying bills.” After tassels were turned

and mortarboards were tossed high in the air, grad-uates took to the Quad to meet with friends and fami-ly, and many mingled before some last parting words with classmates.

Palisadian-PostServing the Community Since 1928

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Thursday, June 5, 2014 ◆ Pacific Palisades, CaliforniaGraduation Day!

More than 630 seniors graduated in Palisades High School’s

60th commencement ceremony on Monday. Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer

he world’s num-ber-one fitness trend is now locat-ed at your doorstep

in Pacific Palisades and, for a limited time, offering two free weeks of unlimited ses-sions to try them out. To sign up for your two free weeks, go to f45training.com/pacificpali-sades and enroll online.

F45 Palisades offers 45-minute, high-intensity class-es daily with an exciting live DJ at the Saturday classes.

F45 Training was born in Sydney, Australia, and has taken the best elements of all fitness techniques and developed an en-cyclopedia of over 1,500 func-tional exercises with HIIT prin-ciples (High Intensity Interval Training). These workouts are presented with the most modern, cutting edge, patented delivery technology, to give you the ul-timate tools to realize a prized,

lean, millennial physique. You won’t find another fitness stu-dio in the world that offers par-alleled variety with continual muscle confusion, mental stimu-li and the super fun factor.

F45 is used by some of Aus-tralia’s biggest celebrities, such as Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kid-man and Joel Madden, to name a few, and is suitable for adults of all ages and fitness levels. Whether you are trying to lose weight or are a full-time athlete, you will be tested every single time. With no workout ever be-ing the same, F45 is a new and exciting way of training, a one-of-a-kind way to workout that is unique, innovative and, most importantly, fun. F45 is consid-ered to be “best in class” making the intensity you need to get fast results easier on the joints and palatable for the masses.

F45 is co-founded by Larry Block (local entrepreneur) and

Rick Sasner (Palisades long timer and Harvard MBA gradu-ate), along with an all-star team of successful entrepreneurs and trainers, including Mark Hewlett (the reining Fear Factor Grand Champion), Scott Kinworthy (Blue Man Group), Ryan Muller (Blue Man Group, performer and entertainer), Amanda Gib-son (Miss Nevada 2015) and Bryce Howard (Master Trainer and Studio Lead.)

F45 is located in the Pali-sades at 532 Palisades Drive. For further information, con-tact our office at 310-734-1475. Come visit our Venice location on Abbot Kinney, as well at f45training.com/venice.

HIIT Training Hits the Palisades:F45 Team Training-Life Changing

ew Roads: an un-common private school. As a K-12 college preparato-

ry independent school, New Roads of course offers an aca-demically rigorous curriculum and an impressive array of elec-tives. While a thorough ground-ing in the 3Rs is still necessary, New Roads understands that this century calls for a more inspired—and messier—ap-proach to learning.

Head of School Luthern Williams said, “Real learn-ing demands a process of tri-al-and-error: students must be courageous enough to make mistakes, to initially do some-thing poorly, to fall into con-fusion, to get stuck and to find the perseverance to continue pursuing answers; teachers and parents must believe in children enough to let them do so.”

New Roads asserts that it is in this messy process that cre-ative methods to solve complex real-world problems can be discovered, and therefore cre-ates an environment in which children are challenged to dive into the mess so that they devel-op the capacity to meet the op-portunities and challenges their generation will face in the 21st Century. Williams said, “Our students know the magic is in the mess.”

New Roads is complet-ing a redesign of its elementa-ry school campus this summer to create educational spaces to support this messy explo-ration process that is essen-tial to learning and creativity. New Roads invites the commu-nity to visit an upcoming open house to learn more. Visit www.newroads.org/Page/Apply for an open house schedule.

At New Roads School the Magic is in the Mess

N T

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