Mountain Views News          Saturday, August 6, 2011

8

EDUCATION & YOUTH

Mountain Views News Saturday, August 6, 2011

SCHOOL DIRECTORY

Jefferson Principal Requests Reassignment

In December last year, parents staged a protest, demanding that the PUSD 

force Principal Hoori Chalian leave the school. Last week, she did.

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 

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 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

Walden School

74 S San Gabriel Blvd

Pasadena, CA 91107 (626) 792-6166 

www.waldenschool.net

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


According to the Pasadena Unified School 
District, Jefferson Elementary principal 
Hoori Chalian did a good job. In a statement 
issued last week, the district said,

“In the last two years, student achievement 
at Jefferson Elementary has risen by 19 
points on the Academic Performance Index. 
The school designed and implemented a 
response to intervention program that provides 
targeted instruction to meet individual 
student needs in language arts. Both were 
accomplished under the leadership of Principal 
Hoori Chalian.

 Having completed her goal of raising student 
achievement at Jefferson Elementary, 
Ms. Chalian has requested reassignment. 
The District will honor her request and will 
work together to leverage her skills, knowledge, 
and passion for student achievement in 
other areas that will have the most benefit for 
our district’s students.

 Over the last few months, the Pasadena 
Unified School District has received and 
investigated complaints by some parents 
of Jefferson Elementary School. In accordance 
with state law and Board of Education 
policy, all complaints have been investigated, 
addressed, and received appropriate written 
responses. No cause was found to remove 
the principal.

We are grateful for Ms. Chalian’s commitment 
to doing what’s best for kids, and look 
forward to being part of her continued professional 
success in PUSD.”

This statement is in stark contrast to comments 
made by parents who took to the 
streets in protest last year, after appeals to 
PUSD officials failed to yield the resignation 
of the principal. At that time, parents 
attributed the failure of the schools maintenance 
staff, the unruly behavior of children, 
including bullying on the playground and 
her unwillingness to work with them to resolve 
their concerns to Chalian’s inability to 
manage the school. In addition, according 
to news reports, 90% of the staff who worked 
with Chalian voted ‘no confidence’ in her 
leadership.

While some PUSD board members attributed 
the conflict between parents and Chalian 
to differences in culture others indicated 
that it seemed to be personal.

Chalian continued in her role as Principal 
and managed to improve the academic performance 
at the school. Her request for reassignment 
was completely voluntary.


MTA APPROVES DEVELOPMENT OF 
“EZ TRANSIT PASS” PLAN 

FOR EMANCIPATED FOSTER 

YOUTH LOS ANGELES COUNTY 

The Metropolitan Transit Authority Board of Directors unanimously 
approved a plan by County Mayor and MTA Director 
Michael D. Antonovich to develop a pilot program providing no-
cost EZ Transit passes for the County’s Emancipated Youth Self-
Sufficiency program. The EZ Transit pass will provide service for 
all municipal and rail systems. 

 “This program is a major breakthrough in assisting some of our 
County’s most vulnerable youth achieve stability and autonomy,” 
said Antonovich. 

 The one-year pilot program will be designed by the MTA and the 
Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services 
to be implemented by March 1, 2012.

Looking Into The Life Of A Teenager

 By Meaghan Allen

Gotcha!

This summer has been amazing; going to the beach, traveling 
across the country, seeing friends, etc., but hard as I tried to 
escape the inescapable, it finally caught me. Realization hit me 
smack dab in the middle of the forehead and reality sounded the 
alarm to begin panicking and stressing out. For this past Sunday 
night, the Common Application became open. All summer my 
friends and I had talked about getting it done early so we do not 
have to stress during the school year and be able to make perfecting 
touches. But when I filled out my registration and logged on 
for the first time, I felt the tiny trickle of anxiety begin to spread 
across my body. The Common App is supposed to be simple and 
easy, which it does seem for the most part, but the individual college 
supplements and college essay are the scary ones. Questions 
like, “What is one thing you do not want to fail at and why?” are 
terrifying, because how is someone to supposed to answer that 
seriously but also express who you are as an individual? Because 
personally, I would really like to not fail as skydiving, that would 
suck because I would be dead, but that response is not suitable 
for a college application. Yet despite all this stress, it is also really 
exciting. 

As I was adding my colleges to my list for the application, it 
was crazy to realize that hopefully I will be going to one of these 
schools next fall, where the air will be crisp and leaves will be on 
the ground before the first snowfall. I will have left the scary world 
of applications behind and ready to enjoy the future. For now, 
though, I have to focus on the Mt. Everest before me- that is the 
Common Application - inhale some pure oxygen, and breathe.


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