A delicate subject seldom publicly addressed – how upwardly mobile Culver Crest parents choose to educate their children – headlined the final candidates’ forum of the School Board campaign last evening at El Rincon Elementary.
Don’t all Culver City families yearn to send their prodigies to prestigious El Marino Language School?
No affirmative confirmation is necessary.
The height of irony? Forum moderator Ron Ostrin acknowledged that Crest parents are known for dispatching their children to El Marino or private campuses.
In another slice of irony, virtually every campaign, the Culver Crest Neighborhood Assn. stages its forums at El Rincon, a ticklish choice because so few Crest families are enrolled at El Rincon.
There may be no need to apologize for selecting what is perceived to be the most desirable elementary education center in the School District.
Two of the three contenders in the Nov. 3 School Board election – the team of Anne Burke and Scott McVarish – send their children to El Marino.
Prof. Kelly Kent, the third person pursuing one of the two open seats, lives less than a drone flight from Lin Howe Elementary, and that is home base for her children.
As campaign observers have noted since last August, Dr. Kent trumpets the plusses of Lin Howe as volubly as any El Marino parent boasts of his school of choice.
Mr. Ostrin, who may have had as much air time as the candidates, noted that Lin Howe was principal of his school several seasons ago when he was growing up. To his credit, Mr. Ostrin followed a stimulating, imaginative, casual line of questioning.
Pertinent to the evening’s subject, Dr. Kent noted that in walking the El Rincon neighborhood for her campaign, she encountered only “one or two” nearby households whose children attended El Rincon.
New Face on Campus
If neighbors had dropped by the forum – that did not appear to be the case – they might have been electrified by the sparks-flying, though abbreviated, Come Visit Us presentation by first-year principal Dr. Shannon Garcia before the candidates settled in. Touting especially El Rincon’s aggressive, much praised STEAM curriculum, recruit-minded Dr. Garcia delivered a lights-out, off-the-sleeve speech that the District could use for public relations purposes.
Back to the question:
Why don’t Crest families and other Culver City households choose El Rincon, whose credentials seem impressive?
Mr. Ostrin characterized El Rincon as “an orphan,” and he cited the school’s lack of a language program.
Each candidate stressed that he or she moved to Culver City specifically for the quality of its schools.
When asked – potentially awkwardly — to promote the assets of a rival school,
“to think of incentives for families to send their kids to neighborhood schools,” all three spotlight-sharing candidates responded with aplomb.
“El Rincon is the only school in our district that has a renowned science facility,” Ms. Burke said. Why not offer tours of the lab as a recruiting tool?
Dr. Kent said she has “been thinking about this a lot because more locals need to go to El Rincon.” She suggested introduction of a language program as a lure, but not the Mandarin classes Mr. Ostrin had advocated. “All elementary schools should have a language program,” said Dr. Kent, founder of a Spanish class at Lin Howe. “We obviously are not meeting the needs of families interested in a language.” She said the STEAM and STEM classes “have been around a little while, and so far they have not been enough of an attractor.” Further, “what we have tried is not working. We need to do a little more.”
Mr. McVarish also sees language as an appealing draw for El Rincon.
He said when his daughter first applied at El Marino, she was 80th on the wait list. “One student dropped out, and because she spoke some Spanish, my daughter catapulted over 80 people,” he said. “That said to me, El Marino is in demand. Once I got there, I realized it was not because of its location, next to the (405) freeway. It was not because of its 1950s’ buildings, buildings that have had 70 years of deferred maintenance. But it simply is because of the (language immersion) programs they offer.”
Mr. McVarish’s comment about how he got his daughter got into El Marino by speaking ‘some Spanish’ speaks to a problem in the way the application process is working. In two way immersion program, students who catapult into the category of Spanish speakers, should be fluent speakers of the language, so as to be models of the target language.
The idea of two way immersion programs is that students learn the language from each other, not from the teacher, or from an aide.
The problem with suggesting this is how it works is that many parents enroll their children into Spanish classes, or hire a Spanish speaking babysitter, taking seats that rightfully belong to students who are native Spanish speakers and are supposed to benefit from a program that is the most effective at teaching them English.
This is a disservice to the English Learners who need these programs.
Claudia, you already know that the model for our immersion program is 50% native speakers, 50% non-native speakers. And you also know that there is always room for native speakers in the classroom. Having my son go through La Ballona’s program, it was a challenge to get native speakers to reach the 50% threshold. Simply put, parents wanted their children to learn English only. I personally know of no cases at La Ballona where a native speaking student was not admitted to the immersion program because a non-native speaking student took their place. I’m sure we could ask the El Marino principal if this is also the case there but I would guess it is. You do the best you do to reach that perfect mix but it is not always obtainable.
“Don’t all Culver City families yearn to send their prodigies to prestigious El Marino Language School? No affirmative confirmation is necessary.”
*I* sure don’t yearn to send my daughter (5th grade) or my son (K) to El Marino. I’m beyond-thrilled to send my children to my local neighborhood school: Linwood E. Howe Elementary. It’s a great place to be because of the commitment and dedication of parents and families like that of Kelly Kent. The before-school Spanish language program that Kelly’s helped to create and administer at Lin Howe is awesome (both of my kids are among the ~175 participants), but really, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We love most everything about the place.
I don’t care what your financial means are, if you automatically dismiss the prospect of sending your son or daughter to a CCUSD neighborhood school like Linwood Howe, you’re seriously missing out, in my opinion, and so is your child.
Thanks Patrick. We chose Linwood Howe over El Marino for both our (now college) students, and never regretted it. One of many reasons I support Dr. Kent is to advocate for the OTHER elementary schools in Culver City that are providing a choice for families who opt not to participate in language immersion, and want to see their neighborhood schools given equal resources and opportunities for growth. Linwood Howe and El Rincon are gems. It is a shame that so many in our community view them as second choices.
I think you have to take the author’s comments with a grain of salt. You can’t go wrong with any school in CCUSD. One of the reasons why United Parents of Culver City formed was to address the us vs. them mentality that permeated the district. Now, parent leaders from all the schools share information on best practices, coordinate to discuss issues and produce events like the Safety Forum. It’s unfair to say any of the school board candidates favor one school over another. I’m confident whoever is elected will speak for all the schools. After all, our kids end up in the same place. In fact, there was a record class of 6th graders at CCMS this year, including my son who was promoted from La Ballona.
I support Kelly Kent for just those reasons. I believe that even before the Spanish program was put in place, there was a buzz about the school and what a wonderful sense of community there is and how much parents value this. The Spanish program is a testament to exactly this, the commitment to value all parents/students, their language and culture.
I agree with you Scott, that the goal in dual immersion programs is to get the right mix, and that is rather complicated, and it is different at La Ballona than it is at El Marino. What I was reacting to was Scott Mc Varish’s comment about ‘catapulting’ over others on a waiting list because his child some ‘some Spanish’. I don’t think that is justifiable when you have students in our community who would be better models of the language.
I support the Board of Education exploring expanding language programs, while ensuring that the existing programs are also supported, highlighted and promoted. I know that Kelly Kent supports understands this and this is why I am voting for her.