Community Learning Center created in record time
By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com

Las Virgenes Community Learning Center, an alternative elementary school based at A.E. Wright Middle School in Calabasas, opened Wednesday with 154 students, seven teachers, a wellfunded Parent Faculty Association and a fresh approach to delivering standard-based education to youngsters in kindergarten through fifth grade.

Itamar and Brenda Harari, the husband-and-wife educational team who provided the impetus to open an elementary school devoted to alternative learning styles, and Las Virgenes Unified School District officials pulled off the school's opening in record time.

"This has been a Herculean effort," said Superintendent Donald Zimring. Since the school board's approval of the new school Feb. 27, the Hararis and district officials worked "night and day" to open the school in time, Zimring said.

He credited senior project manager and California Division of State Architects inspector Tim Hoyt; Don Blake of Team Concepts, the district's construction team; and Rhonda Bacot, the district's new head of maintenance, for pulling off what at first seemed impossible. Mike Adams, assistant director of maintenance, was responsible for moving and setting up "repurposed" furniture from the old Yerba Buena site

"They basically created this school in four months," Zimring said.

"I just want to mention that the district staff has done an incredible job putting this together," Itamar Harari said. "The facilities are wonderful. They've done so much work in such a short period of time."

The Hararis, too, have been burning the midnight oil developing programs, hiring teachers and personnel and prepping for the new school year. Brenda Harari was hired as the school's director and Itamar as the school's staff analyst. He is developing researchbased projects and assessment programs.

"Building a community is the overarching theme," Itamar Harari said. "The (curriculum) is in line with state standards."

Although the CLC will adhere to state standards, the Hararis say the school will operate quite differently from a typical public school.

"Our first day will be a lowkey celebration of our accomplishments thus far, and will mark the beginning of a new community of learners for students, parents and teachers," Brenda Harari said.

The school's overriding philosophy is focused on global and environmental education, interpersonal relationships and effective communication. Multiage classrooms will eventually be the norm, but initially, only two of the seven classes will be composed of mixed-age students.

Students will not be expected to sit quietly in their seats. Rather, they will learn by doing through movement, outdoor education and inquiry-based learning.

Centers of inquiry will be set up around the classrooms, and students will learn at their own natural pace, officials say. Problem solving will be integral to the coursework, and students will work independently on some subject matter and collaboratively with others on some projects.

The kindergartenthroughsecond-grade classes will adhere to the staterequired 201 student/teacher ratio, but by the third grade, classes can have up to 30 students of varying ages.

A home-schooling component will eventually blend with the school, but a teacher is needed. The Hararis plan to allow homeschooled students to participate in social activities at the school, and parents will be able to access a variety of resources to augment home-based academic programs.

"We already have a research library to provide home-schooled students with different resources, textbooks, games and learning activities," Itamar Harari said. The school will offer support to homeschooled students and their parents, but parents will be responsible for teaching their children academic subjects, he said.

The district's established home-school program, run by Resa Brown, will continue to operate separately, he said.

In all, the new school offers seven classrooms, an administration building and a teachers' lounge. Of the 154 students enrolled, 44 hail from outside the district or are coming from private schools, he said.

The speed at which the school opened has left a few positions unfilled. Harari said a music teacher is needed, along with a naturalist to teach outdoor education. An after-school program is also under development.

The district paid $325,000 to get the CLC ready for opening day.

"Clearly there was a contingent of parents who were looking for an alternative approach to education and our mission is to try to serve them," Zimring said.