Third in a series.
Re: “Do You Speak Their Language?”
[Editor’s Note: Continuing his For Great Schools series, Scott McVarish, co-founder of the United Parents of Culver City, interviews School Board member Kathy Paspalis. On the Board for 5 ½ years, she has two children who are coming into their junior year at the high school. They were at the Culver City Middle School and at El Marino prior to that. Today’s subject is the Middle School. See www.facebook.com/forgreatschools]
Mr. McVarish: My daughter is a year away from the Middle School. I have had many conversations about parents of fourth graders going into the fifth who were wringing their hands over the Middle School. What is your response to parents wringing their hands and wondering, “Will my kid’s life be ruined? Will his/her chances of getting into Harvard be eliminated?”
Ms. Paspalis: Relax, I would say. Every parent goes through that. You go from that cozy place you have been in for five or six years– kindergarten through five– and then you get to the bigger school. I think the parents are more uptight than the kids.
Mr. McVarish: Yes, what is life like without (EL Marino principal) Tracy Pumilia? I can’t imagine.
Ms. Paspalis : Or the wonderful principals at our other five elementary schools. Our District does a lot of work to have a pep rally to invite the kids all to come together and start mingling. A certain amount of mingling anyway because you have AYSO, Little League and theatre groups. A lot of kids know each other anyway. It is not that big a deal except for parents having their little frea- out moment. Academically, we just sent the principal, one of our teachers, and one of our assistant superintendents to Washington D.C. to receive an award. We were one of the few schools, maybe the only school in the entire country, for the fourth year in a row to have a National Schools to Watch award. Our Middle School is doing great things.
As for the facilities, the back gym was redone, the athletic fields are redone, the classrooms are going to get upgraded in the same order as all the other classrooms twe are working on. Obviously, the improvements to the Frost Auditorium affect the Middle School.
Middle School students go over there for some of their theatre programs and some of their music programs. The Fineschreiber Foundation, with its very generous donations of instruments, not only benefited the high school but the Middle School. We have expanded our music program, both instrumental and choral.
There are many opportunities at the Middle School, a lot of clubs, including a student government program. The question is getting in there. At the beginning of the school year, they have a club fair. Our new principal has infused the school with energy. She is tinier than I am, a ball of energy. She is fabulous. We have steady rocks there with our assistant principals and staff.
Mr. McVarish: My daughter is looking forward to it. I promote the Middle School whenever I am in those conversations. From what I have seen of the faculty, they are passionate professionals. I basically say, “Don’t judge a school by its facilities.” I know we are about to put in a lot of money and it is going to look shiny… as much as it can being so close to seagulls.
Ms. Paspalis: It is close to seagulls and close to pre-teenagers. They take the shine off things pretty quickly. And they do put a little wear and tear on things.
(To be continued)