Oak Park Ca Schools

Oak Park's newest elementary school will attempt a novel approach with two organizations that want to offer before- and after-school child care: survival of the funnest. The Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District and the 10th District PTA-S.T.A.R. program will be allowed to offer competing programs at Red Oak School, Assistant Oak Park Supt. Stan Mantooth told the school board this week. The school is scheduled to open in September.

As she was getting dressed for school Tuesday, Allyson Allen, a junior at Oak Park High School, found herself entertaining an outlandish thought: She longed to take a final exam. Instead, she prepared for an alternative that seemed much more daunting. Allyson had to present a 15- to 20-minute speech on patriotism, illustrated by videos, photographs, music or original poetry, and accompanied by a written paper.

Anthony Knight, principal of Oak Hills School in Oak Park, learned five months ago that his school had been chosen one of the nation's best by the U. S. Department of Education. But what had been a "semi-abstract" thrill should become real today when Knight and other school district officials meet President Clinton and accept their award from Education Secretary Richard Riley.

Linda Peralta Vranesh, an elementary school teacher from Valencia, has been named the new principal at Brookside Elementary School in Oak Park. Vranesh officially begins the $53,813-a-year position Aug. 1, but is spending this week in the Oak Park district working with outgoing Brookside Principal Jeff Hamlin. Hamlin will become principal of the new Red Oak Elementary School in Oak Park, which is scheduled to open in the fall.

Linda Peralta Vranesh, an elementary school teacher from Valencia, has been named the new principal at Brookside Elementary School in Oak Park. Vranesh officially begins the $53,813-a-year position Aug. 1, but is spending this week in the Oak Park district working with outgoing Brookside Principal Jeff Hamlin. Hamlin will become principal of the new Red Oak Elementary School in Oak Park, which is scheduled to open in the fall.

Kay Reiner aced her quiz on "Romeo and Juliet" in a ninth-grade English class Wednesday--an occasion that would have passed unnoticed but for the fact that Reiner hasn't been a high school student for 27 years. Reiner and seven other parents risked intellectual humiliation, fashion derision and, worse, their children's mortification by spending a day as students at Oak Park High School. They even enjoyed themselves.

Cheryl Shankel, a math teacher at Oak Park High School, hopes to say good riddance to the "two-page spread," the "drill-and-kill" and other teaching routines. These routines haven't changed for years--and that, Shankel said, is the problem. Some teachers spend each class plodding through the "spread"--the facing pages of the textbook that give the lesson on one page and the exercises on the other. The teacher just has to flip the page to the next spread for the next day's class.

Oak Park High School's class of 1994 may have to forgo a graduation ceremony or charge parents to attend because of budget cuts, a school official said Monday. The graduation ceremony is one of many cuts proposed by the five schools of the Oak Park Unified School District to help make up an expected $217,000 budget shortfall.

"Ease your brails, haul away on your sheets!" First Mate Jon Freidberg ordered the crew of the sleek tall ship as it slipped past the breakwater of Ventura Harbor into the Pacific. The crew members, positioned in two lines along opposite sides of the ship, snapped to comply. They pulled on ropes like combatants in a one-sided tug of war, even though none had ever heard of the small ropes and lines known as brails or sheets. But Freidberg had made allowances for the greenness of his crew.

As she was getting dressed for school Tuesday, Allyson Allen, a junior at Oak Park High School, found herself entertaining an outlandish thought: She longed to take a final exam. Instead, she prepared for an alternative that seemed much more daunting. Allyson had to present a 15- to 20-minute speech on patriotism, illustrated by videos, photographs, music or original poetry, and accompanied by a written paper.

Oak Park's newest elementary school will attempt a novel approach with two organizations that want to offer before- and after-school child care: survival of the funnest. The Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District and the 10th District PTA-S.T.A.R. program will be allowed to offer competing programs at Red Oak School, Assistant Oak Park Supt. Stan Mantooth told the school board this week. The school is scheduled to open in September.

Cheryl Shankel, a math teacher at Oak Park High School, hopes to say good riddance to the "two-page spread," the "drill-and-kill" and other teaching routines. These routines haven't changed for years--and that, Shankel said, is the problem. Some teachers spend each class plodding through the "spread"--the facing pages of the textbook that give the lesson on one page and the exercises on the other. The teacher just has to flip the page to the next spread for the next day's class.

Anthony Knight, principal of Oak Hills School in Oak Park, learned five months ago that his school had been chosen one of the nation's best by the U. S. Department of Education. But what had been a "semi-abstract" thrill should become real today when Knight and other school district officials meet President Clinton and accept their award from Education Secretary Richard Riley.

Oak Park High School's class of 1994 may have to forgo a graduation ceremony or charge parents to attend because of budget cuts, a school official said Monday. The graduation ceremony is one of many cuts proposed by the five schools of the Oak Park Unified School District to help make up an expected $217,000 budget shortfall.

"Ease your brails, haul away on your sheets!" First Mate Jon Freidberg ordered the crew of the sleek tall ship as it slipped past the breakwater of Ventura Harbor into the Pacific. The crew members, positioned in two lines along opposite sides of the ship, snapped to comply. They pulled on ropes like combatants in a one-sided tug of war, even though none had ever heard of the small ropes and lines known as brails or sheets. But Freidberg had made allowances for the greenness of his crew.

Kay Reiner aced her quiz on "Romeo and Juliet" in a ninth-grade English class Wednesday--an occasion that would have passed unnoticed but for the fact that Reiner hasn't been a high school student for 27 years. Reiner and seven other parents risked intellectual humiliation, fashion derision and, worse, their children's mortification by spending a day as students at Oak Park High School. They even enjoyed themselves.