Enrichment is Back! We are bringing art and music back to our schools. Flyer to distribute

November 2005 Community Meeting

Glenn Gritzner, Special Assistant to LAUSD Superintendent Roy Romer spoke about Measure Y and the effect on schools in the Westchester and Playa del Rey communities. He also took time to answer questions from those in attendance.

October 2005 Community Meeting

Speaker Jeff Miller spoke about how you can make a difference in the schools and your child's education. 

September 2005 Community Meeting

Members of all ages assembled $9500 worth of school supplies for delivery to our local Westchester/Playa del Rey public schools. With donations from members as well as 150 canvas bags full of supplies from Office Depot, each teacher received a ream of paper, pens, pencils and other requested school supplies. The supplies were delivered to Cowan, Kentwood, Loyola Village, Paseo Del Rey, and Westport Heights Elementaries, Orville Wright Middle School, and Westchester High School, during their pupil-free day on Friday, September 2nd. WPEF and their donations were met with much enthusiasm and excitement from the teachers as members had an opportunity to present to the entire school staff. Thank you for all your contributions! more informationis available at www.partfoundation.org. Click here for the Argonaut article online.

August 2005Community Meeting

The Westchester/Playa del rey Education Foundation, had its fifth community meeting on August 4, 2005. The theme was Community Outreach ? bringing businesses and community members to the meeting to talk about how a business can be involved and leave a legacy for the community. Packets were available for businesses including business plans, benefit packages and donation forms.

Maurice Kahen, CPA and treasurer of the education foundation spoke about the benefits of charitable contributions to an education foundation by individuals, corporations and businesses. He also explained how money spent on private schools is after tax dollars and the benefits of saving the money and contributing it to an education foundation that is tax deductible or/and also putting it in a retirement plan or invest in securities, real estate, etc. In addition, the group took time to brainstorm on upcoming fundraisers and ways to make a difference with the public schools!

July 2005 Community Meeting

Did you see all the parents and young children walking in the Westchester 4th of July parade? Perhaps you received a lollipop that said “Strengthen our schools K-12”. The Westchester/Playa del Rey Education Foundation was represented well in a community tradition. The word is spreading like wild fires – our local public schools are good! How can we make them even better?

Fact or Fiction was the theme for the P.A.R.T. (Parents Achieving Results Together) Community Meeting held on July 7, 2005.

If our schools get better our property values go up? Yes, concurred two local realtors. Great schools have an impact on property values as home prices in Westchester were compared to El Segundo, Culver City and Manhattan Beach. All surrounding communities have higher property values and all have education foundations to support their local schools.

Orville Wright/Westchester High will be sold to make a Lowe’s? Fiction. Both school officials and Local District 3, Project Mgmt Division confirmed there are no plans at this time for anything other than schools at those locations.

Westchester High School will lose half its student body to newer schools? The student body size will continue to decrease over the next 3 years, according to the school management department of LAUSD. Two new high schools are opening, South LA High #1 will open for the coming school year 2005 and another high school will open in 2006. This will minimize the involuntary bussing and provide opportunities for students closer to home. Number 1 priority for LAUSD is to stop involuntary bussing district-wide.

Giving money to our schools will change the test score? P.A.R.T. Schools Relations Director, Forouzan Faridian reported on the Encino based Friends of Lanai organization. Winners of the 2004 California Distinguished School Award, Lanai Road Elementary, gained enrichment activities, additional funding, an extensive parent volunteer network and catapulted the school to increase its test scores 348 points on the Academic Performance Index (API) in 7 years.

In addition, Anne Clark with the Westchester Streetscape Improvement Association discussed how beautification has an impact on a community environment. Through partnering with Streetscape, the foundation aims to beautify the local public school campuses. Current Streetscape plans not only include street improvements for Sepulveda Boulevard from Howard Hughes to Lincoln but a total vision for the Boulevard and the Westchester Community. Phase I work is scheduled to begin in Spring 2006 and expected to be completed Spring 2007. Improvement of crosswalks, addition of turn lanes, permanent parking on Sepulveda from Manchester to Lincoln, and additional business access from Sepulveda is part of the first phase.

June Community Meeting

“Your children will survive and thrive!” a Westchester parent stated during the P.A.R.T. Community Meeting on June 2, 2005. As a student of Westchester High, a teacher at Westchester High and a now a parent of three children that have all gone through the local public schools (K-12) took an opportunity to share his experiences and provide enthusiastic support for the Westchester/Playa del Rey Education Foundation progress thus far.

School Survey Results are in. Thank you to all who assisted in delivering and gathering from the schools. Over 85 teachers participated telling us what they need in the classroom - pencils, paper, art supplies, paper towels, laminators, computers and BOOKS! A special thank you to each of the schools for taking time to complete the survey will be delivered this week before school is out. You can assist in providing requested supplies for the new school year in three ways: 1) Go to our Westchester Staples or Office Depot and purchase an item off the wish list. The Wish List will be under P.A.R.T. - Westchester/Playa del Rey Education Foundation and available by June 18 th. 2) Purchase a T-shirt supporting the Westchester/Playa del Rey Education Foundation and P.A.R.T. Click to for T-shirt ordering details. 3). Give a donation.

Foundation – the filing of all necessary papers is underway. The foundation will be completed by the end of the summer! P.A.R.T. is working on the 5 year business plan now.

Provide an input into how your money is spent and what impact that can have on the public schools. What would you like to see in our public schools? Spend 5 minutes taking an anonymous survey.

Announcing the release of the website www.partfoundation.org The site will have updates, calendar of events, volunteer opportunities, and presentations or notes from meetings. If you have an event to post for our public schools, submit detailed information to publicrelations@partfoundation.org. We are looking for volunteers to help spread the word and assist in strengthening our numbers.

4 th of July events – look for P.A.R.T. at the Westchester 4 th of July Parade. Wear your T-shirt! Members of P.A.R.T. are looking to give out lollipops and continue to spread the word about the foundation.

There are numerous opportunities to assist: 5 minutes, 1 hour and 10 hours or assist one month and take the next month off if that works best for your schedule and life.

Looking for volunteers for the following:

• Distribute meeting flyers (5 minutes)
• Write editorials for the local papers (1 hour)
• Recruit families to send/continue to send their children to public schools. (1-2 hours/week)
• Attend school PTA or Booster Club meetings. (1-2 hours/month)
• Design “door hangers” or ads promoting our public schools (3-4 hours/month)
• Contact local businesses for donations to the foundation (2-4 hours/month)
• Complete website updates (2x a month) (2 - 3 hours / month)
• Organize ticket sales for the Westchester High School Pancake Breakfast (October). For each ticket sold, the foundation receives $4.
• Chair or co-chair the 1 st Annual Westchester/Playa Education Foundation Fundraiser (September/October) (on your schedule)

The Foundation has collected over $8000 thus far! All proceeds from the T-shirt sales will go towards providing the teachers with gift baskets of requested additional supplies. Thank you to all that have donated thus far. Donations can be mailed to 8726 South Sepulveda Blvd. Suite D-2641 Los Angeles, CA 90045.

June Community Meeting Presentation

May 2005 Community Meeting

On May 5, 2005 P.A.R.T. (Parents Achieving Results Together) held its second meeting at the Westchester Municipal Building-Community Room next to the library. Thank you to those that attended! During the meeting, the goals of P.A.R.T. were discussed and each committee gave a report on goals, progress thus far and upcoming opportunities for involvement. Incredible progress has been made thus far - highlights include:

Pro-public School Campaign – door hanger listing positive attributes of each of the (5) local elementary schools is to be delivered beginning 5/14 and sponsored by local realtor Nanci Edwards. Look for it coming to your neighborhood – over 9,000 were printed and distributed (gratis)!

Foundation Lawyer ? secured one of the top foundation lawyers and her associate, pro-bono. Typical costs begin at $10,000! The foundation will be setup by the end of the summer!

P.A.R.T will succeed with cooperation from residents, community members, business owners, students, school representatives, and parents working together to make it all happen. There are numerous opportunities to assist: 5 minutes, 1 hour and 10 hours or assist one month and take the next month off if that works best for your schedule and life.

May Community Meeting Presentation