Mountain Views News          Saturday, September 8, 2012

8

EDUCATION & YOUTH

 Mountain Views News Saturday, September 8, 2012 

171 FRESHMEN JOIN LA SALLE AS CLASSES BEGIN 
La Salle High School began its school year on August 23 as 171 new freshmen joined the Lancer student body. The Welcome 
Orientation on August 22 featured small groups of freshmen with their “Senior Class Buddies” on a tour of the campus, video 
presentations and a run-through of classes. A pizza lunch was followed by a rally.

At La Salle High School, there are 710 students from ninth through twelfth grades; with a majority that live in the San Gabriel Valley. 
They join new Principal, Brother Christopher Brady, FSC who began his tenure as principal on July 1, 2012. “I am very please to, once 
again, be a member of the La Salle family,” said Brother Christopher. Former principal, Patrick Bonacci, AFSC is now the Vice President 
for Mission.

With over 65% of the teaching staff holding Master’s and PhD credentials that allows them to teach at the college level, La Salle draws 
educators who choose to teach in La Salle High School’s nurturing environment, developed from a 350-year Christian Brothers’ Lasallian 
educational tradition. To maintain our Catholic identity, two-thirds of our entering freshmen class are of the Catholic faith. In addition, 
Nearly 25% of our school population receives partial or full tuition need-based assistance due to the generosity of our extended La Salle 
family, donors and supporters.

The La Salle Lancers field 22 teams on the varsity level. Student Life, visual and performing arts, honor and service societies, student 
clubs and organizations, and student television broadcasts and publications, provide a healthy and warm community atmosphere for all 
La Salle students. During the last five years 99.7% of our graduates have gone on to college with 87.4% going to four-year institutions. 

La Salle High School is accredited by the Western Catholic Education Association (WECA) and Western Association of Schools and 
Colleges (WASC).

SCHOOL DIRECTORY


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

Foothill Oaks Academy

822 Bradbourne Ave., Duarte, CA 91010

(626) 301-9809 

info@foothilloaksacademy.org 

preschool@foothilloaksacademy.org

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

Enjoying the first day of school are from left, sophomores Patrick Quadra, Julia Villamater, Stella Ponttrelli, Tyler Artis 
and Kennedy Gordon. Photo by John Blackstock

PUSD TO BEGIN TEXT MESSAGING FOR 
PARENT AND PUBLIC COMMUNICATION 

Text ‘PUSD’ to 888777 to Receive Alerts from the District 

Pasadena, CA --- The Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) today 
announced that parents, students, staff and community members 
now have another way to receive information from the district. PUSD 
has partnered with Nixle to provide emergency alerts, district updates 
and school news via text message and email in both English and Spanish. 
Nixle is a leading mass notification provider used by thousands of 
schools, police departments, fire departments and other government 
agencies around the country. 

 The aim of the program is to reach PUSD students, parents, faculty 
and staff quickly by text message and email in the event of an emergency 
and to improve the quality of communications between the district 
and the surrounding community and stakeholders. Examples include 
inclement weather advisories, campus emergencies, closures and early 
dismissals, event reminders and school newsletters. 

 Residents can immediately begin opting-in to receive notifications by 
simply texting the word ‘PUSD’ to 888777; or, for Spanish-language 
messages, text ‘PUSDESPANOL’ to 888777. Standard text messaging 
rates associated with mobile phone service plans may apply. It is also 
possible to sign up for the notification service at the PUSD website, 
www.pusd.us. 

 “We want to make sure our students and their parents receive the 
information that matters most to them, whether it is an urgent safety 
alert or an update on an afterschool activity,” said PUSD Superintendent 
Jon R. Gundry. “With Nixle, we have the ability to send timely, 
relevant notifications quickly and efficiently to the Pasadena, Altadena 
and Sierra Madre communities. The windstorms of 2011 taught us that 
we need every communication tool available in English and Spanish 
the next time we need to alert the public due to an emergency. 

 One can also receive news and information from the district by texting 
‘PUSDNEWS’ to 888777; or, for news and information in Spanish, 
text ‘PUSDNOTICIAS’ to 888777. Individual schools will soon have 
the ability to establish opt-in keywords and begin texting to their parents, 
students, alumni and surrounding community. 

 In addition to notifying the school community, Nixle’s award-winning 
approach to mass notification further integrates PUSD into the surrounding 
neighborhoods and cities. Nixle’s partnerships with area law 
enforcement agencies, including the 
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department 
and the Pasadena and Sierra 
Madre Police Departments allow the 
district to also share critical, high-
priority alerts with area residents in 
situations where such notifications 
would also be of interest to the community 
at-large. 

 Text messaging will complement the 
phone and email communication and 
Twitter and Facebook presence that 
is already being used by the district. 
The use of mobile communication by 
PUSD follows the nationwide trend 
of how people prefer to receive news 
and information. According to a 2012 
Pew Research Center Study, 47 percent 
of adults receive local news or 
information on their mobile device. 


THE REEL DEAL: by Ben Show

Movie Reviews Especially for Teens & ‘Tweens

PREMIUM RUSH

 The last big movie of the summer is 
definitely an adrenaline packed surprise. Once 
the movie starts, it keeps you going until the very 
end. I honestly had very low expectations for this 
film, but it proved me completely wrong. This was 
a great end to the summer. 


 The calamity starts with Wilee (Joseph 
Gordon-Levitt), a New York bicycle deliveryman, 
picking up an unusual package. From there he’s 
pursued by police, one particularly persistent cop 
(Michael Shannon), and even his fellow workers. 
Using a clever timeline plot point which keeps 
you tied to the movie, and even a little heart, 
Premium Rush did not disappoint. 


 With a story like this, and how it was told, 
this movie could have easily been a flop. That, 
however, is not the case. Both director (David 
Koepp) and writers (David Koepp, John Kamps) 
used all of their film making skills to make this 
movie the best it could be. I will say that it was 
good that they had one well known actor, Joseph 
Gordon-Levitt, to catch people’s attention. 


 While this probably won’t go down as one of the greatest movie’s of all time, it was 
a well told and well acted action film that brought the summer movie season to a close. 

Ben Show is local Monrovian going into the eighth grade. He loves to read, write, and 
watch movies. He can be reached at benshow@earthlink.net