School Notebook

Just wanted to post a brief note to readers of the School Notebook blog. I have left the Daily Breeze after 4 1/2 years covering schools in San Pedro, Carson, Wilmington, Gardena, Lomita and the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

As the Breeze looks in other directions for education coverage of these areas, I'll just note that I've had a blast reporting on these schools. I've learned a lot from the teachers, administrators, parents and others who provide the daily sweat to educate the area's diverse community of students.

Other opportunities lay ahead for me, which I'm excited to tackle.

Thanks again.

Paul Clinton

Posted by Paul Clinton at 1:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The California Linguistic Minority Research Institute released a report with a list of 100 high schools that account for the largest share of students who leave a high school before collecting a diploma.

Based on each institution's number of dropouts for the 2005-2006 academic year, five South Bay high schools landed among the study's 100 worst offenders.

Narbonne High in Harbor City ranked 70th, with 166 dropouts or a dropout rate of 4.7 percent; Banning High in Wilmington sits at 77th with 158 dropouts or 4.5 percent of its enrollment that year.

With 154 dropouts and a dropout rate of 4.2 percent, Carson High landed at 81st place; Leuzinger High in Lawndale was at 88 with 145 dropouts (4.3 percent); and Gardena High hit 93rd with 141 dropouts, or 4 percent of its 2005-2006 enrollment.

Posted by Paul Clinton at 5:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After placing fourth in the county contest and falling short of the point threshold for a wild-card bid, the long-dominant academic decathlon team of Torrance's West High School will not advance to the state competition this year.

Instead, Alhambra's Mark Keppel High School, runner-up the past two years, was named the winner of the event on Thursday, with second-place finisher Duarte High School tagging along as the wild card. The state showdown takes place March 8-10 in Sacramento.

Read our story for more.

Posted by Paul Clinton at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Silvia Echeverria could never fit ballet lessons into the family budget for daughter Maria.

That's why the mother of the second-grader at 186th Street Elementary School in Harbor Gateway swelled with pride as she watched her 8-year-old twirl and twist her way through a final dance lesson on Wednesday.

For eight weeks, Maria and the other students in two second-grade classes received ballet training from the San Pedro City Ballet at a reduced rate.

"She liked it a lot," Echeverria said via a translator. "When she gets home, she practices all the steps."

Read Paul's story for more.

Posted by Paul Clinton at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Los Angeles Unified School District announced final results of its Academic Decathlon competiton of 64 high schools at UCLA on Saturday. Local LAUSD schools didn't fare as well this year, as none will move ahead to the state competition. Palisades Charter High School won the competition with 50,121 points.

Narbonne High in Harbor City finished highest, at No. 10, with 40,593 points. The school also finished in the top 15 in the Super Quiz and top 10 in essay and math categories.

Other teams from local schools:

No. 40: Gardena High, 29,435 points
No. 48: San Pedro High, 26,541 points
No. 50: Carson High, 26,229 points
No. 51: Banning High, 26,159 points
No. 53: Westchester High, 25,480 points

Here are the top students from the local schools:

Jenivee Elloran, Banning High School (Wilmington)
Jan Victor Andasan, Carson High School
Tri Huynh, Gardena High School
James Veil, Narbonne High
Cosmin Barbu, San Pedro High School
Chris Onwuka, Westchester High School

Also, Narbonne's Carlos Ortego had a perfect score on the Super Quiz.

Posted by Paul Clinton at 3:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The balance of power may be shifting in Southern California's Academic Decathlon, as Torrance's West High didn't win the county competition, as the school has done so often in prior years. The school finished fifth in the regional competition of brainiacs answering esoteric Civil War questions. In the county event, 48 schools sent teams.

Other schools: Redondo Union High came in sixth and Torrance's North High came in eighth. In the Los Angeles Unified event, Narbonne High in Harbor City finished 14th. In the city event, 64 schools sent teams.

Schools advancing to the state competition in Los Angeles will be named this week.

Read Josh Grossberg's story for more.

Posted by Paul Clinton at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Terrel Ray (left, signing a book), the administrative advisor with the USC, also arrived and told the students to stay in school and get good grades so they can attend top universities like USC and UCLA.

The Bruin athletes in attendance were Raymond Carter, Patrick Cowan, Nick Ekbatani, Courtney Viney and Trevor Theriot (left, reading to students). The players interacted with students and gave them a book emphaisizing the importance of sports activities to promote fitness.

Posted by Lori Stassi at 6:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Local Assemblyman Curren Price (D-Inglewood) visitied several classrooms to speak with students at Narbonne High School in Harbor City earlier today. Price introduced the students to the workings of state government and answered questions.

The assemblyman represents Gardena, Hawthorne and Lawndale, as well as Inglewood.

Posted by Paul Clinton at 1:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Two local bands competed in the Los Angeles Unified School District’s annual Band and Drill Team Championship on Saturday.

Narbonne High School in Harbor City and San Pedro High School were in the field of 31 competitors to showcase music and dance skills.

Groups were judged in the areas of music performance, general effect and visual performance.
Awards were also given for top auxiliary (drill team, dance or flags) units as well. The competition was hosted by East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park.

Addendum: Narbonne's drill team won the Auxiliary category; San Pedro High's band placed second among all bands.

Posted by Paul Clinton at 8:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Students at Gardena Elementary School, which is located just east of the city in Harbor Gateway, were given an operatic lesson Wednesday, as part of a program put on by the Los Angeles Opera each year. The arts group chooses 15 Southern California schools to put on a joint performance with fifth-graders.

Read Paul's story for more.

Posted by Paul Clinton at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The performing arts small learning academy at Narbonne High School in Harbor City took home two trophies from a regional drama competition in Reseda over the weekend. The Oct. 25 competition, at Reseda High School, was organized by the Drama Teachers' Association of Southern California.

The Gauchos won first place of 50 high schools in the Large Group Comedy category with a student-written scene called Power Rangers. Students Shannon Majdali, Ana Nicasio, Alan Pablik, Bryan Phillips, Zyaire Porter and Jacob Wysocki penned the scene.

The technical theater team won third-place for their det design of a production of Little Shop of Horrors. A third team placed in the top 10 for their performance of an adaptation of the story of Antwone Fisher, who life was adapted in a 2002 movie starring Denzel Washington.

The students will perform their scenes at Narbonne High's drama festival at 7 p.m. Nov. 8 at the school's auditorium, 24300 S. Western Ave.

Posted by Paul Clinton at 2:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Harbor Gateway elementary school is celebrating its 1907 opening on Friday with physical fitness activities, Peace Games activities, a book giveaway and visit from Board Member Richard Vladovic.

"Tomorrow is a big day for my community, especially after all of the racial tension we have experienced over the past year," Reed said. "Let's give a positive spin to an appreciation for diversity. We are all in this together. Our village has continued to soar in spite of our set backs."

Iron Mountain executives will present children with backpacks with the school logo. The event, "A Walk Down Memory Lane," is hosted by Principal Marcia Reed, the Afterschool Alliance, Beyond The Bell South, 186th St. School Staff, Healthy Start, Peace Games, PTA, madres activas, Parent Ambassadors, and Toyota Technical Center.

The event is at 2:30 p.m. Friday at 186th Street School, 1581 West 186th Street. Call 310-324-2305.

Addendum: 186th Street Elementary isn't the oldest school in LAUSD. That distinction belongs to San Pedro Street Elementary School near Skid Row, which opened in 1866.

Posted by Paul Clinton at 1:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)