Geoff Maleman

Farragut School hosted its fifth annual art show and auction, Artworks! last weekend at the Walter Marks, Inc., Helms Bakery Building, and raised $20,000 to support the arts programs at Farragut.

More than 230 parents, local artists, City Council members and arts supporters filled to overflowing the art and auction space at 8723 Washington Blvd.

The School District has hired the District's elementary assistant principal, Amy Anderson, as the new principal at Lin Howe School, effective July 1. Ms. Anderson is currently the District's sole elementary assistant principal, assisting principals at the five elementary schools. In that role, she has planned, organized and directed operations at each school site. She won’t have far to travel since the District office and Howe are next door to each other.

After 20 years with the School District and eight years as the principal of Lin Howe School, Rosie LaBriola today announced her retirement, effective July 1.

“Retirement is bittersweet for me,” Ms. LaBriola said.

“I have had a wonderful experience here. I have been fortunate to work with an incredible staff, and I honestly looked forward to coming to school every day because of the amazing students, staff and parents at Lin Howe.

Around the campus of El Rincon School, students are being urged to keep an eye to the sky because on Friday, a UFO is scheduled to touch down.

The UFO is part of El Rincon’s Space Week that will culminate with a visit from the Traveling Space Museum. Throughout the entire school day, students will be treated to a variety of activities including Astro-Jeopardy, a chance to taste space foods like Tang and a tour of a UFO where students actually can climb inside.

The Traveling Space Museum is a non-profit organization based in Southern California that brings space equipment and memorabilia to schools with the goal of “bringing the adventure of space” to students.

William Yates stood tall last Monday night and confidently spelled the word c-o-l-l-a-b-o-r-a-t-e to take home the third annual School District Spelling Bee title at Robert Frost Auditorium.

A fifth-grader at El Marino Language School, young Yates finished atop 23 other spellers — four students from each of the District's five elementary schools and the Middle School competed.

William took home a first-place trophy and a $250 savings bond courtesy of Westfield Fox Hills, which sponsored the event.

Get ready to dust off those dictionaries because 24 of the best and brightest students in the School District are getting ready to s-p-e-l-l their way to the top.

On Monday evening at 7, four students from each of Culver City’s five elementary schools, plus the Middle School, will compete in a District-wide spelling bee at Robert Frost Auditorium, 4401 Elenda St.

In an election in which the vote is bound to be fractured — such as the nine-way race for three seats on the City Council in the April 8 election — City Hall support could be crucial.

The present City Council frequently disagrees on the dais.

Comes now a person they all like enough to lend their names and prestige.

"The New Girl",  a short film produced by Lin Howe Elementary School students, recently earned Best of Show honors at the statewide Student Media & Multimedia Festival, the nation's oldest festival for student media and multimedia work, which annually recognizes the best films produced by students.

The premiere featuring the short films of the school's fourth- and fifth-grade students will take place at 7 this evening at The Culver Studios.

Before annual contract negotiations reached a late-in-the-school-year stage, the Teachers Union and the School District reached a tentative agreement last Friday afternoon.

Last year, they settled in June.

Union members will meet on Thursday at 3:30 in the library of Culver City High School for an informational meeting, and on Friday, they will vote at school sites on whether to approve the agreement that features a 4 percent increase in salary schedules.