Eighth-graders can transfer to the new middle school





By John Loesing
Acorn Staff Writer

Las Virgenes Unified School District must accomplish a myriad of tasks before opening the new middle school in Calabasas next year, but at least one big hurdle has been crossed.


The district decided last week to accept A.E. Wright Middle School eighth-grade transfers.


School officials hinted earlier in the year that only sixth- and seventh-graders would attend the new middle school at 22450 Mulholland Highway. All eighth-graders were initially expected to remain at A.E Wright on the opposite side of town.


Although the exact boundaries of enrollment have yet to be drawn, officials now say the eight-graders who live in Mulwood and surrounding neighborhoods will attend the new school.


Altogether, almost half of A.E. Wright’s 1,750 students will be transferred to the new campus. When construction is completed, the 26-classroom school can accommodate up to 1,000 students.


"I feel strongly that eight-graders need to go," said John Fitzpatrick, Las Virgenes superintendent of schools.


New middle school principal Mary Sistrunk said having all three grades at the start will enable a greater variety of programs. If only sixth- and seventh-graders were to attend, the new school might be unable to offer a full band program, for example.


Parents of the Mulwood seventh-graders said even though their children must move twice in two years—to the new middle next year and to Calabasas High School the following year—they still want their children to attend the newer school.


"They want the convenience of a neighborhood school," Sistrunk said. She added that if all the eighth-graders were to remain at A.E. Wright, some parents would be forced to send siblings to two different schools.


Also, said Fitzpatrick, "If we only sent sixth- and seventh-graders, that would restrict Mary’s ability to staff that school."


Last week, Sistrunk began assembling her educational team by surveying prospective teachers. The majority of instructors, like the students, will come from A.E. Wright.


"We are not creating new positions, we are just moving people around," Sistrunk said.


Staff positions also will be open to teachers at Lindero Canyon Middle School in Agoura Hills, Sistrunk said.


"The whole process to accommodate personnel in a timely manner is a complicated task," she said. "I may have 25 people who want to go, but 10 of them may be in the same department. That doesn’t help."


Department leaders will be announced next month, followed by the naming of teachers and other important personnel.


Once the school’s boundaries are established, the board of education will decide what name to give to the school. The new middle school will be fed by the following elementary schools: Bay Laurel, Chaparral, Round Meadow and Lupin Hill elementary schools in Calabasas, and Sumac Elementary School in Agoura Hills.


"It’s so exciting to be on the ground floor and cultivate this middle school for our community," Sistrunk said.



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