Calmont School going green on new campus
Cottontail Ranch site to become school's new home
By Joann Groff joann@theacorn.com

MOVING- Calmont School in Topanga has purchased the 22acre Cottontail Ranch site in Calabasas. The school will open on the new site in 2008.

Topanga's Calmont School recently purchased land in Calabasas to create a so-called "green school" that will open next year.

Calmont is a not-for-profit, nondenominational school serving children from preschool through ninth grade.

The school purchased the 22acre Cottontail Ranch site in Calabasas with plans to "greenovate" the campus for the 2008-09 school year. Construction and landscaping will be done with earthfriendly materials and by recycling or reinventing materials that are no longer useful, and planting an organic garden.

"The goal is to create a sustainable campus in every aspect of operation, from lunch items to class materials to water harvesting on the land," said Judy Chamberlain, head of Calmont School. "We hope to move away from a disposable economy and create a model others can come and learn from."

Chamberlain said the move will also help to expand the school's environmental studies program, which has long been a cornerstone of its curriculum.

STUDENTS OF NATURE- Members of Calmont's third-grade book club enjoy the current school's natural setting. For more information, visit www.calmontschool.org.

"Our commitment to the environment goes back a long way; to our beginnings," Chamberlain said. "Students spend an hour every Friday going into the mountains and looking at ecosystems and habitats. Over time we've learned about different environmental challenges in the area and our group of kids have been activists over the years."

Projects have included protecting a nearby pond and looking out for local endangered species. In the school's latest endeavor, students have been using cutting methods to eradicate the invasive, clogging giant reed Arundo donax.

Chamberlain said that by June 2008, Calmont will move its entire operation from Topanga to the Cottontail Ranch, which is situated in an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County between Calabasas and Malibu.

The kindergartners are going to lead a composting program created from lunch scraps. Middle-schoolers will plant the organic garden at the new campus.

Cottontail has been running summer camps and outdoor environmental education programs for Los Angeles and Las Virgenes school district students for more than 50 years. Calmont will continue to operate the ranch as a residential camp starting next summer. Classes will begin in September 2008.

Families have already donated about $1.5 million to help the school purchase the property, but the fundraising effort isn't complete. Chamberlain said they hope to match that total for the "greenovations."

Calmont School has been operating on the Cali Camp site in Topanga since its opening in 1977. The new school will be located at 1666 Las Virgenes Canyon Road, Calabasas.

For more information, visit www.calmontschool.org.