Yerba Buena Elementary School

Moments before their play was to begin, Sandra Fleishman's fifth-graders at Yerba Buena Elementary School had butterflies. "I know you guys are all nervous," she told them. "But don't worry, you're going to do a super job." She was right--the play turned out fine. Her ability to bring out the best in her students is one of the attributes that helped Fleishman win a Teacher of the Year award for 1995.

Moments before their play was to begin, Sandra Fleishman's fifth-graders at Yerba Buena Elementary School had butterflies. "I know you guys are all nervous," she told them. "But don't worry, you're going to do a super job." She was right--the play turned out fine. Her ability to bring out the best in her students is one of the attributes that helped Fleishman win a Teacher of the Year award for 1995.

An Agoura Hills PTA treasurer was charged Tuesday with embezzling $47,000--the group's entire budget--over nearly a year. The loss of funds may force cash-strapped Yerba Buena Elementary School to cancel parent-funded classes in art and computers, parents and school officials said. Mary Kathleen Stevens, 29, of Agoura Hills, arranged through her attorney to surrender Thursday in Malibu Municipal Court, Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Wilson said.

It would be hard to find two schools as different as Hobart Boulevard Elementary School in Los Angeles and Yerba Buena Elementary School in Agoura Hills. At Hobart, in the heart of riot-scarred Koreatown, 95% of the 2,300 students are Asian or Latino, two-thirds speak limited English or none at all, and 90% come from families on welfare. The school buildings look battered and tired, and there have been numerous shootings nearby, including a drive-by killing three years ago. The attractive Yerba Buena campus is 40 miles north, in a prosperous San Fernando Valley suburb of homes worth $300,000 or more.

Classrooms can be plush or barren. Students can be highly gifted or dim-witted. Instructors can have state-of-the - art teaching materials or dog-earred textbooks. None of these things matter. If the teacher is good, students will learn. In the past few months, the education spotlight has turned to teachers. Last fall the California Commission on the Teaching Profession issued a report that called for giving teachers more control over their profession. It also advocated career ladders to make it possible for veteran teachers to earn up to $57,000 a year.

It would be hard to find two schools as different as Hobart Boulevard Elementary School in Los Angeles and Yerba Buena Elementary School in Agoura Hills. At Hobart, in the heart of riot-scarred Koreatown, 95% of the 2,300 students are Asian or Latino, two-thirds speak limited English or none at all, and 90% come from families on welfare. The school buildings look battered and tired, and there have been numerous shootings nearby, including a drive-by killing three years ago. The attractive Yerba Buena campus is 40 miles north, in a prosperous San Fernando Valley suburb of homes worth $300,000 or more.

Las Virgenes Unified School District elementary students Thursday took home letters that outlined six options to relieve crowding in district schools, including placing some schools on a year-round calendar. Crowding could be a problem for "the next 10 to 15 years if appropriate steps are not taken," the letter said. The letter said the school board, at its next meeting, will consider: Placing Sumac, Willow and Yerba Buena elementary schools on a year-round calendar beginning July 1, 1987.

Saddened by the freak trash truck accident that killed two schoolchildren last week, students at Indian Hills High School in Calabasas organized a collection to help the victims' classmates. The students collected $500 in food, clothing and toys, said Martin Ableser, principal of Indian Hills. Last week, Ableser delivered the donations to Glen Alta Elementary School in Lincoln Heights, where the two children were third-graders. "They identified with the kids," said Ableser.

After eluding the worst fiscal crunch in the city's 12-year history, the Agoura Hills City Council has adopted a budget for the next fiscal year that includes laying off seven employees. At its regular meeting Wednesday night, the council unanimously approved a $4.9-million spending plan that shaves $270,000 from last year's budget, including the layoffs of two full-time employees and five part-time workers.

After listening to two hours of complaints about its decision to change boundaries for middle school attendance, the Las Virgenes Board of Education on Tuesday reaffirmed its decision to send some Agoura Hills students to a Calabasas school. The plan, to go into effect in the fall, calls for busing about 80 Sumac Elementary School graduates who live east of Kanan Road to A. E. Wright Middle School in Calabasas. They will attend Wright instead of Lindero Canyon Middle School in Agoura Hills.

An Agoura Hills PTA treasurer was charged Tuesday with embezzling $47,000--the group's entire budget--over nearly a year. The loss of funds may force cash-strapped Yerba Buena Elementary School to cancel parent-funded classes in art and computers, parents and school officials said. Mary Kathleen Stevens, 29, of Agoura Hills, arranged through her attorney to surrender Thursday in Malibu Municipal Court, Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Wilson said.

Classrooms can be plush or barren. Students can be highly gifted or dim-witted. Instructors can have state-of-the - art teaching materials or dog-earred textbooks. None of these things matter. If the teacher is good, students will learn. In the past few months, the education spotlight has turned to teachers. Last fall the California Commission on the Teaching Profession issued a report that called for giving teachers more control over their profession. It also advocated career ladders to make it possible for veteran teachers to earn up to $57,000 a year.

Undaunted by the failure of two local tax initiatives a few years ago, Las Virgenes Unified School District officials are studying their facility needs in anticipation of going to the voters again for funding. District Supt. John F. Fitzpatrick said overcrowded campuses and ever-increasing enrollment make a local bond issue almost a necessity. "Facility-wise, we need to do something," Fitzpatrick said. "We're kind of pushing at the seams now.

Sandra Fleishman, a teacher at Yerba Buena Elementary School in Agoura Hills, has been named a Teacher of the Year by the state Board of Education. She was one of five teachers statewide to be so honored. "Sandy epitomizes what is best in our profession," said Las Virgenes Unified Supt. John F. Fitzpatrick.