Renaissance Academy to Open Here

Public High School Locates on Alma Real

Six weeks away from opening, the Renaissance Academy Charter High School has acquired a site, signed a lease, and is anticipating about 300 students when classes begin on September 8 at 9 a.m. The new public school, which will occupy 15 percent of the 881 Alma Real business/professional building, will consist of complete grades 9, 10 and 11, and a small 12th grade class. Students will not be allowed to park in the building, located between the branch library and the new Village School annex. A shuttle system will be established. ‘Out of three possible sites in the Palisades, this one emerged,’ said Paul McGlothlin, founding director of Renaissance Academy and former Palisades Charter High School teacher. But, he added, ‘Our school doesn’t have just one location. Students will be taking classes at Santa Monica College and the Palisades library [both partnered with Renaissance]. We’ve always had the notion that we’ll have community partners and supplement the school with administrative and classroom space.’ Designed as a small, personalized college-preparatory school, the academy will provide a ‘Renaissance’-style education with emphasis in the arts, sciences, humanities and technology. Students will also have full access to traditional extracurricular activities, such as after-school sports at public and private facilities in the area. ‘A lot of people talk about schools like Renaissance Academy, but there are few examples,’ McGlothlin said. ‘All the people involved [with Renaissance] are passionate about education and committed to making a better public school.’ Among the 14-person faculty are former PaliHi teachers Lorena Candrian, who will be teaching advanced math (as well as precalculus and calculus), John Kannofsky, teaching visual arts and technology, and Philip West, whose specialty is drama and performing arts. Kannofsky and West are co-chairs of Renaissance’s visual and performing arts program. A former English department chair at PaliHi, Kannofsky may also be teaching some language arts. Paul McGlothlin will be teaching documentary film production and PaliHi teacher Brooks Walker will work part-time with Renaissance on special-ed issues, though Walker will be staying at Pali. Other Renaissance teaches include Palisadian Alex Cutler, who said he joined the team ‘when I discovered what they were doing here and realized this is the school I wanted to create, the school I wanted to see…It was a coincidence of interests and philosophy.’ He will be teaching 11th grade American history, as well as a cinema studies/film appreciation class. Cutler earned his undergraduate degree in political science from UCLA, a law degree from Southwestern University and his teaching credentials in history from Cal State Long Beach. He worked in business affairs in the film and television industries, both in Los Angeles (at Republic Pictures) and in Australia. Cutler started teaching in 1998, and has taught middle school students in Long Beach as well as high school students at Marymount. Former college history professor Travis Hanes will be teaching 10th grade world history using the textbook he wrote, ‘World History, Continuity and Change.’ Originally from Texas, Hanes earned his master’s degree in modern European history and his Ph.D. in British Imperial history from the University of Texas, where he also taught. ‘I will be teaching out of my book for the first time [at Renaissance],’ said Hanes, who left the classroom in 1990 to pursue writing in California, where he worked as the social studies producer for an educational Web site called craniamania.com. He also worked as an actor for a time, but says it was ‘not quite the same as being in front of students.’ The father of a 21-year-old son, Hanes admits that he has always wanted to teach at the secondary school level, where he can ‘challenge students to live up to their best expectations.’ He also believes that ‘Renaissance Academy is getting back to the right foundation for educational experience’ in which ‘teachers doing administration is absolutely critical.’ Jon Palarz will be teaching 9th grade humanities and developing the athletics/P.E. program. ‘Paul’s vision for the school is compelling and I believe in his ideals and values,’ said Palarz, who earned his master’s degree in history from Harvard and his teaching credential from DePaul University in Chicago. ‘It’s a unique opportunity to do what matters most and what I love best.’ Previously, Palarz taught history to high school students and was a high school basketball coach in Cleveland before moving to California, where he worked as a human resources director for a shipping/distribution company in El Monte. Palarz said he was drawn to Renaissance because of the opportunity to teach at a smaller school where ‘curriculum is integrated, there are shared units of study and large-scale projects for students.’ He said the school’s organizing team has been focused on ‘giving kids a metacurriculum’ in which ‘students don’t just learn subjects but also about values, community and leadership.’ In addition to the Renaissance teachers who will share in the administrative responsibilities, Palisadian Tracy Vale will serve as office manager. Vale, who met McGlothlin 20 years ago at NYU film school, has a background in computers and administrative techniques. Brentwood parent Linzi Glass said she couldn’t enroll her daughter, Jordan Katz, fast enough. ‘Renaissance Academy isn’t about surviving high school. It’s about thriving and growing and making choices for yourself,’ said Glass, whose daughter is leaving Malibu High School to enter 10th grade at Renaissance. ‘It’s about being proactive about your education and loving every minute of it.’ Glass calls the school ‘Reality High’ because ‘It’s just like the real world’you get to decide how you live in it.’ She also likes the idea that Renaissance will be a community school with small classes, and believes that the cliques that exist at other schools will be less prevalent at Renaissance because ‘when you’re building or experiencing something new, you tend to pull together. The formation of the school is in itself an educational experience.’ Katz, 15-1/2, offered her own insight as to why she chose Renaissance. ‘This school will let its students grow and expand in their own individual ways,’ she said. ‘Most conventional schools make you feel like you can’t make decisions outside of the ‘school box’ and that you can’t make big decisions and choices for yourself about your education until you go to college.’ Palisades mom Kathleen Milnes said her daughter, Stephanie Gutterridge, age 16, is ‘excited about the possibility of getting community college credit.’ Gutterridge will be entering the 11th grade at Renaissance. ‘I think the small, individual learning environment will work for her,’ said Milnes, who runs an independent economic and employment research firm called Entertainment Economy Institute. ‘I like the fact that the school is close, small, hands-on, and I know a lot of teachers involved.’ She knows McGlothlin from having worked with him through Work Force L.A. to establish one of the nine Entertainment and New Media Academys within LAUSD. Acceptance to Renaissance Academy will be based on a lottery system, with preference given to students who reside within the Palisades K-12 complex, including Topanga and Brentwood. No tuition will be charged. Funding for the school will be provided by the State of California on a per-pupil basis, just as with other independent charter schools such as PaliHi. Renaissance’s temporary administration offices are located at 17383 Sunset, Suite 105, at PCH. For more information or to download a school application, go to www.rahigh.org or call 454-4099. New applications will join a waiting list.