Mountain Views News          Saturday, November 22, 2014

EDUCATION & YOUTH

6

Mountain View News Saturday, Novenber 22, 2014

SCHOOL DIRECTORY

PASADENA UNIFIED BOARD OF EDUCATION APPOINTS 

BRIAN MCDONALD, ED.D. AS SUPERINTENDENT

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: Brent Forsee

bforsee@ausd.net

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: Ethan Williamson

Kindergarten - 8th grade

website: www.barnhartschool.org

Bethany Christian School

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

(626) 355-3527 Principal: James Lugenbuehl

E-mail address: jml@bcslions.org

website: www. bcslions.org

Clairbourn School

8400 Huntington Drive

San Gabriel, CA 91775

Phone: 626-286-3108 ext. 172

FAX: 626-286-1528

E-mail: jhawes@clairbourn.org

Foothill Oaks Academy

822 Bradbourne Ave., Duarte, CA 91010

(626) 301-9809 

Co-Principals Nancy Lopez and Diane Kieffaber

info@foothilloaksacademy.org 

preschool@foothilloaksacademy.org

Frostig School

971 N. Altadena Drive Pasadena, CA 91107

(626) 791-1255

Head of School: Chris Schnieders, PhD

Email: Jackykn@frostig.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 

Headmaster John Higgins 626-798-8989

website: www.highpointacademy.org

LaSalle High School

3880 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. Pasadena, Ca. 

(626) 351-8951 website: www.lasallehs.org

Principal Bro. Christopher Brady, FSC

Monrovia High School

325 East Huntington Drive, Monrovia, CA 91016 

(626) 471-2800 Principal Darvin Jackson

Email: schools@monrovia.k12.ca.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: Gilbert Barraza

website: www.pasadenahigh.org

St. Rita Catholic School

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

Principal Joan Harabedian (626) 355-9028 

website: www.st-rita.org

Sierra Madre Elementary School

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

(626) 355-1428 Principal: Esther Salinas

E-mail address: salinas.esther@pusd.us

Sierra Madre Middle School 

160 N. Canon Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 836-2947 Principal: Garrett Newsom

E-mail address: newsom.garrett@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

ARCADIA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

234 Campus Dr., Arcadia, Ca. 91007

(626) 821-8300 Website: www.ausd.net

MONROVIA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

325 E. Huntington Dr., Monrovia, Ca. 91016

(626) 471-2000 Website: www.monroviaschools.net

DUARTE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

1620 Huntington Dr., Duarte, Ca. 91010

(626)599-5000 Website: www.duarte.k12.ca.us

Pasadena, CA – The Pasadena Unified School 
District (PUSD) Board of Education voted 7-0 to 
appoint Interim Superintendent Brian McDonald, 
Ed.D., as Superintendent at its November 20 
meeting.

 “I admire Dr. McDonald’s skills, experience and 
knowledge and look forward to the growth and 
evolution of PUSD under his superintendency,” 
said PUSD Board President Scott Phelps. “He is 
adept at team-building and his collaborative style 
augurs well for progress towards our shared goals 
for PUSD. We face many challenges but his personal 
involvement in the schools and collegial relations 
with the many people of PUSD make me optimistic 
that we can grow through the challenges, work well 
with all of PUSD’s many community partners and 
make good decisions.”

 Since joining PUSD as Chief Academic Officer in October 2011, 
Dr. McDonald spearheaded the district’s magnet school program, 
oversaw the closure of the achievement gap in the cohort graduation 
rate, expanded the district’s popular dual language immersion 
programs, led the early implementation of the new Common Core 
State Standards and placed a strong emphasis on research-based 
professional development for all employees. Dr. McDonald has 
been serving as PUSD Interim Superintendent since August 1, 2014.

“I thank the PUSD Board of Education for putting 
their trust in me to lead Pasadena Unified,” said Dr. 
McDonald. “PUSD is a good school district. With 
the collaboration of staff, students, community and 
school board we can be a great school district.”

 McDonald joined PUSD from the Houston 
(Texas) Independent School District, where he last 
served as School Improvement Officer. Prior to that, 
he was an elementary and middle school principal 
in the same district. As principal of William S. 
Holland Middle School from 2005-2011, McDonald 
successfully increased reading, math, social studies, 
science and writing scores, and raised the number 
of students taking Algebra I by 100 percent.

 Dr. McDonald has a Bachelor of Science degree 
in Accounting from the University of Houston-
Downtown, Texas, and a Master’s in Education 
Administration from Texas Southern University. 
He earned a certification in principalship from Harvard Graduate 
School in 2002, and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from 
Sam Houston State University in 2010. A Phi Delta Kappa, he is a 
fluent Spanish speaker. 

 Dr. McDonald replaces Jon Gundry who departed PUSD to 
become Superintendent of the Santa Clara County Office of 
Education on July 31, 2014.


La Salle Senior, Haley DeSales signs her Letter of Intent to Washington State with her volleyball coach, Tiare Tuitama, 

mother, Terri, father Rob and brother, Justin.

LA SALLE’S DESALES TO BECOME A 
WASHINGTON STATE COUGAR

Pasadena, CA – On November 12, National Letter of Intent Signing 
Day, senior Haley De Sales of La Salle High School in Pasadena, 
signed her Letter of Intent to attend Washington State University on 
an athletic Scholarship for Volleyball. 

 Haley’s Volleyball Accolades include: First Team All-League (3 
years), First Team All CIF Division 1A (3 years); Max Preps first 
team All-State; San Gabriel Valley Newspapers’ All-Area First Team. 
In addition, she was a key member of the school’s first and second 
CIF Volleyball titles in Division IA, and even more outstanding, she 
was back-to-back CIF Player of the year in Division I.

 In addition to her athletic success, she maintains a GPA above 3.7. 

The La Salle athletics program emphasizes commitment, discipline, 
and character. However, the academic program is our priority with 
athletics serving as a valuable companion. These two, coupled with 
the school’s Lasallian values, help develop the complete Lancer 
student-athlete. 

 Many high school athletes dream of becoming an Olympian 
or professional athlete and parents dream of their child earning a 
college athletic scholarship, but unfortunately, this is a difficult and 
often unrealistic goal. Statistics show that just one out of every 1000 
high school athletes will receive a Division I scholarship and only 
two of 100 high school athletes will play in college.

PASADENA AWARDED GRANT FOR 2015 SUMMER, 

AFTERSCHOOL MEAL PROGRAMS

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PASADENA, Calif.—The City’s Human Services and Recreation Department received a $50,000 grant from 
the National League of Cities (NLC) to streamline afterschool and summer meal programs for Pasadena-
area children. The department will also receive customized technical assistance, access to best practices and 
national experts, and opportunities for peer learning.

 Pasadena is among 13 cities receiving grants ranging from $30,000 to $50,000 because of a continued 
commitment to combatting childhood hunger through year-round meal programs. 

Fourteen percent of Pasadena residents live below the federal poverty level. During the 2013-14 school year, 
68 percent of Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) students were approved for free and reduced meal 
benefits, according to PUSD. The grant funding will help the City, PUSD and community partners achieve the 
long-term goals of creating a coordinated, citywide system for providing child nutrition programs; reducing 
the lunch-to-breakfast meal gap; and increasing awareness of the citywide child nutrition program.

 “This opportunity aligns with the strategies in our school-city-community work plan to continue offering 
services that improve student outcomes and foster innovation in Pasadena,” said Mercy Santoro, Director, 
Human Services and Recreation Department. 

 “The grant will help improve participation in our nutrition programs while also allowing us to brand 
various community-based meal programs under one name.”

 Starting in December 2014, the Human Services and Recreation Department will begin meeting with 
community partners, identifying and creating a database of existing resources, assessing community needs 
and creating a work plan for the grant cycle.

The CHAMPS grant is part of the National League of Cities’ Institute for Youth, Education & Families’ 
initiative: Cities Combating Hunger 

 Through Afterschool and Summer Meal Programs. CHAMPS is made possible by a grant from the Wal-
Mart Foundation and in partnership with the Food Research and Action Center. The grant funding has 
helped supply 7.5 million meals during the last 2.5 years.

 Stay connected to the City of Pasadena! Visit us online at www.cityofpasadena.net; follow us on Twitter @
PasadenaGov, www.twitter.com/pasadenagov, and like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cityofpasadena. 
Or call the Citizen Service Center, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, at (626) 744-7311.

THE REEL DEAL: by Ben Show

BIG HERO 6


After seeing ‘Frozen’ and the massive mark it made on the world, 
the question on everyone’s mind was what will Disney do next? 
‘Big Hero 6’, a Western and Eastern superhero fusion movie, may 
not have been what people were expecting but the idea was fresh 
enough that it had me hooked.

 Hiro (Ryan Potter) loves to fight robots. His big brother Tadashi 
(Daniel Henney) is more focused on college and his upcoming 
robotics project. When a chance presents itself for Hiro to 
join the college and get on a better life path, he takes it. But the 
consequences of doing so are more disastrous than anyone could 
have ever imagined.

 The trailers for this film 
did a very clever job of 
hiding most of the plot. 
However, after seeing 
‘Big Hero 6’, it can be 
summed up like this: ‘The 
Incredibles’ meets ‘The 
Avengers’. ‘Big Hero 6’ is 
a spectacular film, with 
great directing, a clever 
plot, and extremely well 
developed characters that 
will leave you begging for 
a sequel.