Mountain Views News          Saturday, September 25, 2010

7

EDUCATION & YOUTH

 Mountain Views News Saturday, September 25, 2010

SCHOOL DIRECTORY

Alverno Students Earn Highest AP Honors

 Twelve Alverno High School students 
have been recognized as AP Scholars by the 
College Board. Three members of Alverno’s 
Class of 2010 have been named AP Scholars 
with Distinction, the highest honor awarded 
by the College Board. Cheryl Iwamoto, 
Lillya Roldan, and Morgan Turner have all 
earned this honor.

 Scholars with Distinction must earn an 
average of 3.5 on all AP exams and scores of 
3 or higher on five or more of these exams. 

 Melody Bueno was named a Scholar with 
Honor for earning an average of 3.25 on all 
AP exams and scores of 3 or higher on four 
or more AP tests.

Eight Alverno students have been 
named AP Scholars by the College 
Board in recognition of their exceptional 
achievement on the college-level Advanced 
Placement Examinations. 

 They are Lana El-Farra, Megan Hofilena, 
Karen Opara, Sara Pfeiffer, Jordan Turner, 
and current Alverno seniors Karineh 
Minissian, Emily Near, and Erica Tavera.

 Seventy percent of Alverno juniors and 
seniors who took three or more AP courses 
were honored as Scholars, Scholars with 
Honor, or Scholars with Distinction.

Only about 18 percent of the more than 
1.6 million students worldwide performed 
at a sufficiently high level to merit such 
recognition. AP Exams, which students 
take in May after completing challenging 
college-level courses at their high school, 
are graded on a 5-point scale, with 5 
being the highest score. Most U.S. colleges 
and universities award credit, advanced 
placement, or both for grades of 3 or higher. 
More than 1,400 institutions award a year 
of credit (sophomore standing) to students 
presenting a sufficient number of qualifying 
grades.

“This is great news,” says Alverno Head of 
School Ann Gillick. “We are very proud to 
have such a high percentage of AP students 
earn honors from the College Board.”

This is not the first time this year’s Scholars 
with Distinction were recognized for 
excellence by the College Board. Cheryl 
Iwamoto and Lillya Roldan, both of whom 
now attend UC Berkeley, were AP Scholars 
in their junior year. Morgan Turner was 
a National Merit Scholar as well as an AP 
Scholar with Honor. She is now a freshman 
at Bucknell College in Pennsylvania.

AP Scholar with Honor Melody Bueno 
was also an AP Scholar last year, as well 
as Alverno’s Valedictorian for the Class of 
2010. She is majoring in math at Loyola 
Marymount University.

 Lana El-Farra, Megan Hofilena, Karen 
Opara, Sara Pfeiffer and Jordan Turner, 
members of the Class of 2010 named 
AP Scholars, matriculated this fall at 
such institutions as UC Berkeley, UCLA, 
California State University Long Beach, 
Knox College in Illinois, and the College of 
Wooster in Ohio..

 All of these young women are to 
be congratulated on their impressive 
achievements.

 Alverno High School is the independent, 
Catholic college-prep high school for girls 
in Sierra Madre is celebrating its 50th year 
of empowering each young woman to 
be exactly the person she wants to be. Its 
college-prep curriculum and emphasis on 
leadership attracts students from public 
and private schools throughout the San 
Gabriel Valley. 


Alverno High School

200 N. Michillinda Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-3463 Head of School: Ann M. Gillick 

E-mail address: agillick@alverno-hs.org

Arcadia High School

180 Campus Drive Arcadia, CA 91007

Phone: (626) 821-8370, Principal: David L. Vannasdall

Arroyo Pacific Academy

41 W. Santa Clara St. Arcadia, Ca, 

(626) 294-0661 Principal: Phil Clarke

E-mail address: pclarke@arroyopacific.org

Barnhart School

240 W. Colorado Blvd Arcadia, Ca. 91007

(626) 446-5588 Head of School: Joanne Testa Cross

Kindergarten - 8th grade

website: www.barnhartschool.com 

Bethany Christian School

93 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-3527 Principal: James Lugenbuehl

E-mail address: jml@bcslions.org

Carden of the Foothills School

429 Wildrose Avenue, Monrovia, CA 91016 626/358-9414 
626/358-5164 fax office@cardenofthefoothills.com

The Gooden School

192 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-2410 Head of School: Patty Patano

website: www.goodenschool.org

High Point Academy

1720 Kinneloa Canyon Road

Pasadena, Ca. 91107

626-798-8989

website: www.highpointacademy.org

LaSalle High School

3880 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. Pasadena, Ca. 

(626) 351-8951 Principal: Patrick Bonacci

website: www.lasallehs.org

Monrovia High School

325 East Huntington Drive, Monrovia, CA 91016 

(626) 471-2000, email: schools@monrovia.k12.ca.us

Norma Coombs Alternative School

2600 Paloma St. Pasadena, Ca. 91107

(626) 798-0759 Principal: Dr. Vanessa Watkins 

E-mail address: watkins12@pusd.us

Odyssey Charter School

725 W. Altadena Dr. Altadena, Ca. 91001

(626) 229-0993 Head of School: Lauren O’Neill

website: www.odysseycharterschool.org

Pasadena High School

2925 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. Pasadena, Ca. 

(626) 798-8901 Principal: Dr. Derick Evans

website: www.pasadenahigh.org

Pasadena Unified School District

351 S. Hudson Ave. Pasadena, Ca. 91109

(626) 795-6981 website: www.pusd@pusd.us

St. Rita Catholic School

322 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-9028 Principal: Joanne Harabedian

website: www.st-rita.org

Sierra Madre Elementary School

141 W. Highland Ave, Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-1428 Principal: Gayle Bluemel

E-mail address:gbluemel220@pusd.us

Sierra Madre Middle School 

160 N. Canon Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 836-2947 Principal: Gayle Bluemel

Contact person: Garrett Newsom, Asst. Principal

E-mail address: gbluemel220@pusd.us

Weizmann Day School

1434 N. Altadena Dr. Pasadena, Ca. 91107

(626) 797-0204

Lisa Feldman: Head of School

Wilson Middle School

300 S. Madre St. Pasadena, Ca. 91107

(626) 449-7390 Principal: Ruth Esseln

E-mail address: resseln@pusd.us

Pasadena Unified School District

351 S. Hudson Ave., Pasadena, Ca. 91109

(626) 795-6981

Website: www.pusd@pusd.us

Erica Tavera, Emily Near, and Karineh Minissian are current Alverno seniors named 
AP Scholars by the College Board. 

PUSD’S TINA REPETTI RENZULLO WINS LA COUNTY TEACHER OF THE YEAR 

Pasadena, CA - McKinley School Kindergarten teacher Tina Repetti Renzullo has been 
named Los Angeles County Teacher of the Year, making her eligible for state and national 
honors, the Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) announced today. Ms. Renzullo 
was among 16 teachers from other L.A. County school districts honored at a celebration 
in Universal City on Monday. 

 “We are thrilled that Ms. Renzullo has won this honor for her passion and commitment 
to provide an exceptional learning experience for her students. Extraordinary teachers 
like Ms. Renzullo serve as role models for students and for their colleagues,” said 
Superintendent Edwin Diaz. “Congratulations to Ms. Renzullo for meeting the standard 
of excellence that we aspire to achieve in every classroom every day.”

 Ms. Renzullo was nominated by her colleagues at various schools, and selected as PUSD’s 
teacher of the year to represent in the Los Angeles County program that honors excellence 
in teaching. She has taught kindergarten at McKinley K-8 School since 2008 and was 
named a Pasadena Rotary Teacher of Excellence in 2010.

 “It is my desire and my personal goal to foster in my students a love of learning,” said 
Ms. Repetti Renzullo. “I want them to leave my classroom with a strong desire to seek out 
information, the skills with which to locate that information, and a life-long passion for 
learning. I love learning and I want my students to love it as well.”

 An educator for twenty-one years, Ms. Repetti Renzullo spent the first half of her career as 
a teacher in parochial, private and home schools. She joined the Pasadena Unified School District in 1999 and has served as a Classroom 
Teacher, Curriculum Resource Teacher and Literacy Coach at Eugene Field Elementary, and McKinley K-8 School. She also worked at 
John Muir High School as Literacy Coach and Small Learning Community Design Team Leader for the Freshman Success Academy. She 
is a highly regarded district trainer for K-12 Language Arts.

 She earned an Associate of Arts in Humanities from Pasadena City College, a Bachelor of Arts in Child Development and a K-12 Multiple 
Subject Teaching Credential from California State University, Los Angeles, and a Master’s in Education from the University of La Verne. 

 The Teachers of the Year Program is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious recognition program to focus public attention on excellence 
in teaching. The California Teachers of the Year program, which began in 1972, is part of a national program sponsored by the Council 
of Chief State School Officers. 


When Inspiration Strikes

When Inspiration strikes, greet it. Take it, embrace it, and act on it 
as if in any moment it could be lost forever. Nurture it, water it; let 
it grow. Let it take flight into something more beautiful and more 
honest than you could have ever imagined sprouting from your own 
ideas. 

When Inspiration strikes, let it find it’s own way. Don’t restrict it. But, do guide it, and with ease. Let it explore things you were afraid to 
say; let it find parts of you you did not know were there; let it shout what you have always whispered; let it open what you had thought 
was closed forever; let it be.

When Inspiration strikes, get excited. Don’t sustain it; let it overtake you with jolts of creativity and sparks of the unknown. Don’t keep 
it quiet. Share with those you know will understand it, and appreciate it, and love it.

When Inspiration strikes, go for it.


Pasadena, CA – Pasadena Unified 
School District (PUSD) announced 
that Eliot Middle School was named 
a 2010 School of the Year by the 
Governor’s Council on Physical 
Fitness and Sports for its commitment 
to increased physical activity and 
better nutrition for students. Eliot was 
celebrated at the Spotlight Awards 
Ceremony in Sacramento, and will 
receive a $100,000 state-of-the art 
fitness center to help students stay on 
the road to good health.

 Eliot Middle School and Webster 
Elementary were among only 19 
schools in the Los Angeles region and 
127 schools state-wide designated 
as finalists in the Council’s 2010 
Governor’s Challenge Competition. 
The PUSD schools achieved this 
distinction for the second and third 
time, respectively. “We are extremely 
proud of Eliot’s students for their 
commitment to adopt healthier 
lifestyles,” said

 PUSD Superintendent Edwin Diaz. 
“They have set a great example for 
children and adults throughout the 
District and the state, and this award 
is well-deserved.”

 Fourteen winners were selected 
from 2,649 participating schools 
statewide based on the percentage and 
number of students in the school who 
successfully completed the Governor’s 
Challenge of being active 30-60 
minutes a day, at least three days a 
week for a month. “Our students need 
to develop healthy minds, bodies, 
and spirits to have a positive effect 
on our community,” stated Eliot 
Principal, Peter Pannell. “As an urban 
school with a large at-risk population, 
sufficient, suitable and safe physical 
activity is imperative.”

 One-hundred percent of Eliot 
Middle School students successfully 
completed the Governor’s Challenge 
this year by recording 130,324 
“Active Days” in the Challenge. With 
nearly 40% of Eliot students NOT in 
the Healthy Fitness Zone for Body 
Composition, Eliot has committed to 
promoting healthy habits for ifelong 
nutrition on its campus. Activities and 
programs include:

• Establishing a “Junk Free Campus” - 
No sodas, sugary drinks or unhealthy 
snack foods sold on

campus.

• The Cafeterias’ Federal Free/
Reduced Meal program provides our 
socio-economically

challenged population two nutritious 
meals daily in accordance with State/
Federal USDA Dietary

Guidelines.

• After-school programs provide a 
nutritious snack daily.

• PTA sponsors weekly fundraisers 
providing Jamba Juice as a healthier 
“sweet treat” choice.

• Physical Education, Electives and 
Science curriculum offer nutrition 
education. Students learn

the importance of the food pyramid 
and how to make healthy food choices 
with the Dairy

Council of California program.

Pasadena Unified School District

OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

351 South Hudson Avenue

Pasadena, California 91109

Phone: (626) 396-3606

FAX: (626) 795-5309

www.pusd.us

• “Supersize Me” Film Analysis. 
Students discover the truth about junk 
food participating in a two

week study of the negative effects of 
fast food.

• Nutrition Network and Sheriffs’ 
Police Activity League (PAL) provide 
after-school enrichment

cooking classes.

• Farmers’ Market experiences with 
local Produce Farms through PAL. 
Students meet local

farmers, learn about and eat fresh 
sustainable food.

• Global Warming Awareness 
assembly. Students learn basics about 
global warming, current

lifestyle choices (unhealthy food 
consumption) and our future. 
Students were given the DOT

challenge (Do One Thing) to change 
their future -- Eliot students chose to 
establish a CAMPUS

Garden with sustainable food in 2010.

“Eliot is committed to fighting obesity 
and the negative effects of poor 
nutrition,” Pannell said. “We’ll

continue to protect, prepare and 
pursue a healthy future through good 
nutrition on our campus, and we

believe a Dynamic Fitness Center 
will help our students, staff, and 
community secure a victory in the

war against obesity.”

The California Governor’s Council on 
Physical Fitness and Sports is a non-
profit, non-partisan

organization dedicated to promoting 
physical activity for all Californians 
with an emphasis on children

and youth. Governor Schwarzenegger 
is the Honorary Chairman and 
Council members include

Chairman Jake Steinfeld, Vice 
Chairman Peter Vidmar, and 
California sports legends such as Tony

Hawk, Misty May-Treanor, Laila Ali 
and Jerry Rice. Governor’s Council 
key initiatives include the

Governor’s Challenge, the Governor’s 
Council Spotlight Awards presented 
by the Anthem Blue Cross

Foundation, the Live Like a Champion 
Tour powered by Anthem Blue Cross 
and Exercise is Medicine.

Founding sponsors are Anthem 
Blue Cross Foundation and Kaiser 
Permanente. Other sponsors

include the Coca-Cola Company, 
CVS/pharmacy and General Mills. 
For more information, visit

www.CalGovCouncil.org.

ELIOT MIDDLE SCHOOL NAMED SCHOOL OF THE YEAR BY 
GOVERNOR’S FITNESS COUNCIL Students win $100,000 Fitness Center

Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com