Placerita Gets Campus Preview
Placerita Junior High School staff and district personnel received a preview tour of the newly remodeled campus at a luncheon hosted by PSWC Group Architects. The tour included a visit to the remodeled gym, locker rooms, administrative and counseling office and several classrooms. Guests were particularly delighted with the new graphics on the gym walls and the state-of-the-art design and equipment of the science and art rooms. The refurbished library offers several new technologies, including a mounted projector, electric screen, voice-lift system, ports and electrical outputs for a class set of laptop computers and six new computer terminals for student use throughout the day. Placerita parents, students and staff members will be conducting their own modernization celebration during Back to School Night, complete with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and self-guided campus tours.
Teachers, Students Prepare for New School Year
More than 30 new teachers will check in tomorrow for district-wide training which will prepare them for their new classes starting Aug. 13. Even though the Hart District expects enrollment to decline slightly for the coming school year, new teachers have been hired to replace those who retired or left the district over the summer. The Hart District Teachers Association will host a luncheon on Friday to welcome the newcomers. Returning teachers will be back in Hart District schools next Tuesday and students return to classrooms Aug. 13.
Students and parents flocked to Hart District schools this week to pick up schedules and books, ready to start class Aug. 13.
Academy Launches 10th Year
Academy of the Canyons launches its 10th year in the Hart District this month with new facilities in College of the Canyons’ new University Center and a new configuration as a four-year middle college high school. The AOC staff spent the last week of July moving into its newly completed building on a hill overlooking COC’s Valencia campus. It will welcome ninth graders for the first time this year, while welcoming sophomores and juniors from the district’s former Early College High School. Addition of the ninth and 10th grades doubles AOCs size to nearly 400 students.
Construction nears completion on the University Center at College of the Canyons, which will house the Hart District’s Academy of the Canyons and Learning Post independent study school.
Rio Norte Welcomes Newcomers
Incoming students at Rio Norte Junior High School get a little “takeoff” from WINGS–Welcoming In Newcomers and Giving Support. Each year, eighth grade WINGS student counselors give tours and help students at the sixth grade Roundup and Check-In events. Most recently, WINGS counselors participated in the annual Phone-a-Thon. In just two days, 20 WINGS counselors called, welcomed, and reassured approximately 700 new seventh graders. Parents get involved, too, making welcoming calls to parents of incoming students to assure them that their children are in good hands!
Bands Busy Preparing for New School Year
The school year starts early for musicians in Hart District bands. This week found the Saugus High School Marching Band in its second week of band camp, with musicians and color guard learning the drill for fall field show competitions and coordinating movement to the music. The first week of band camp was devoted to auditions for marching band and jazz ensemble, learning marching basics, rehearsing marching music, editing music, establishing soloists, fitting uniforms, distributing spirit wear and collecting the necessary forms and fees. Band camp concludes with a preview performance for family, friends and alumni 4:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7, on the Saugus High School varsity football field.
Art Class Produces Year of Work in Five Weeks
Students in the summer school art class at Golden Valley High School produced a year’s worth of work in five weeks and opened the classroom as a gallery for an art show in the last week of school. The class produced a journal/sketchbook emphasizing drawing from the right side of the brain, watercolor landscapes, four types of printmaking including lino-cut, collage, assemblage, jewelry design, bookmaking and paper sculpture.
Golden Valley summer art students show off the class sculptures or
’stabiles’ they created in the style of Alexander Calder.
Kidflix Camp Offers Video Experience
Students in grades five through eight spent two weeks this summer learning all aspects of the video production experience through the annual Kidflix Camp offered by math teacher Paul Kass at Placerita Junior High School. The camp allows participants to operate technical equipment such as video camera, audio mixers and non-linear editors to create video productions. Students work on news broadcasts, commercials and creative imagery. An activity called the Elite Eight allows student groups to choose one of eight words to use as a focus for developing short vignettes or a commercial. The groups then compete in the areas of creativity, editing, lighting and total production. Program participants are coached by former Placerita students who have video production experience.
Future Cheerleaders Get Hart Help
Cheerleaders in the award-winning spirit squad from Hart High School will share their experience with future cheerleaders at the group’s annual Hart Cheer Spirit Day Saturday, Aug. 8, in the Hart High School gymnasium. Aspiring cheerleaders will learn the fundamentals of cheerleading–cheers, chants and jumps–learn a short dance routine and enjoy a pizza lunch with their high school mentors. The day will close with a special performance for families and friends. Participants will be invited back to cheer with the Hart varsity cheerleaders at a football game this fall. The camp is a major fundraiser for the Hart squad as well as a way to encourage younger students to try out for cheerleading when they reach high school.
Summer School Adds More Graduates
The Hart District’s Class of 2009 graduates grew by 15 more students, as a ceremony at Golden Valley High School presented diplomas to students from Hart, Canyon, Saugus and Golden Valley high schools who completed their graduation requirements through summer school. The new graduates wore caps and gowns from their respective schools and shared the occasion with family, friends, staff and administrators from their schools. Audrey Asplund, one of Golden Valley’s summer administrative interns, organized the event.
Teacher Experiences U.S. History
After eight years teaching social studies to Hart District students, Robert Tilles decided to experience U.S. History himself, planning a cross-country odyssey via RV to some of the nation’s most historic sites. Most inspiring sites included Jamestown and Williamsburg, Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace, Civil War battlefields, the site of Martin Luther King’s assassination and the White House. Tilles will be teaching Spanish at Hart High this year, but he’s put aside a wealth of personal experiences for his next assignment teaching U.S. History. His full story ran in The Signal and is posted at http://www.the-signal.com/news/article/16076/
Efforts Beautify Sequoia Campus
Sequoia Charter School completed the finishing touches on the school beautification and campus safety plan with the installation of a new fence to provide safe ingress and egress to all students, staff and visitors. Rob Gapper, the district chief operations officer, and Carle Manley, director of maintenance and facilities, have worked with the Sequoia administration throughout the year to improve facilities. The new look has brought about a new attitude on campus. Students formed a campus beautification team working together to remove weeds, nurture flowers in the planters, tend the vegetable garden and remove trash. The seniors also designed and dedicated a peace bench to the campus. The students were rewarded for their hard work in the sun with feelings of school pride.
