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Neighborhood Council update, more info page 24
HOMETOWN
NEWS
Westchester • Playa del Rey • Marina del Rey • Playa Vista
March
your community newspaper • your community • WESTCHESTER • PLAYA DEL REY • MARINA DEL REY • PLAYA VISTA • your community newspaper • your community
Fourth of July Parade looking for community support Calling all volunteers, sponsors and parade participants! Planning for the thirteenth annual Fourth of July Parade is underway and the LAX Coastal Area Chamber of Commerce is asking for the community’s help in putting on one of Westchester’s largest events. Said chamber president/CEO Christina Davis, “We are reaching out to the community and potential participants earlier this year, so people can have the opportunity to start planning their floats and make arrangements for participating in
this Wednesday, July 4 parade. This community tradition depends on the help of its sponsors, participants and local residents.” Parade committee members are hard at work looking for new entries and finalizing this year’s theme. They would like as many local organizations and schools to participate as possible. The committee plans on holding auditions in the coming months to find a local student or resident to sing the National Anthem at the event. “In a time of extreme budget cuts,
events that pull our community together are more important than ever,” said Davis. “We will work hard to keep it that way for years to come.” If you are interested in participating in the parade, volunteering or sponsoring this year’s event, please contact the chamber office at (310) 645-5151. Uncle Sam and guest at last year’s event. PHOTO BY GLENN MARZANO.
“Playa Vista” Elementary School set to open this fall Construction is currently under way for the community’s newest elementary school. The K-5 school, which is referred to as CRES #22 until the requested name of Playa Vista Elementary School is approved by LAUSD, is set to open this August. The Friends of Playa Vista School are hard at work making sure that when the school opens for the fall semester the school and its students are positioned for success. The process to get the school approved to be built and its forthcoming opening has been a labor of love for Friends of Playa Vista School President Julie Hoang. Hoang, who has been a Playa Vista resident for nine years and founded the Playa Vista Mom’s Group, has spent countless hours planning, preparing, fundraising and advocating for a school within the 90094 zip code. In 2008, a group of passionate parents and Playa Vista community members, along with Playa Capital Company, petitioned LAUSD to put a school within the border of Playa Vista, and by a 4-3 vote by the LAUSD Board of Directors, it was approved. Playa Capital donated the land to LAUSD for
the school to be built. The dream was for the school to be a true community asset, where parents could walk their children to school in the morning and work together to make it a success. Recalls Hoang, “We were on Public School Choice [3.0 List], which for all new schools, charters have the option of putting in an application or proposal to operate them. The community really wanted to retain this as a neighborhood school; we didn’t want to lose it to a charter. We actively petitioned to support it being removed from school choice.” Hoang also states that at the time LAUSD was concerned that there weren’t enough children in Playa Vista to fill an entirely new elementary school, a claim that Hoang refutes. Said Hoang, ”People don’t believe that there are children here! We tried to tell LAUSD that you don’t know because you’re not in our community, but if you come on a Saturday morning when there is a Farmers’ Market there are strollers everywhere...There are children everywhere and they usuallyhave siblings. It’s [Playa Vista] (continued on page 4)
At left: Friends of Playa Vista Elementary Vice President Lynn Kataoka and President Julie Hoang pose in front of the school, which is currently under construction.
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