Renaissance Academy Works to Calm Fear of Impacts on Alma Real Area

By ALYSON SENA and BILL BRUNS With the Renaissance Academy opening in less than a week, founding director Paul McGlothlin has been working overtime to finalize opening-day plans, complete classroom construction and secure various community facilities for eventual use by the 250 students he expects on September 8. Enrollment at the new new public charter high school will include about 100 ninth graders and just under 100 sophomores (as indicated by the students who showed up for class orientation this week), plus about 50 juniors and seniors. The school has hired 14 full-time teachers. During his appearance at last Thursday’s raucous Community Council meeting, McGlothlin managed to resolve only one of several controversial issues that worry residents who live near the 881 Alma Building, where Renaissance has leased 13,000 square feet for classrooms and offices. McGlothlin announced that students will not be allowed to drive their car to school (a prospect which had threatened to further congest neighborhood residential streets) and must sign a contract to that effect. Yesterday, McGlothlin told the Palisadian-Post that Alma Real will be not used in any way by parents, carpools, vans or school buses to deliver students in the morning or pick them up in the afternoon. ‘We’ve taken that street off the boards,’ except for faculty who will be parking in the building at the school’s expense, said McGlothlin, who added that a teacher or parent volunteer will stand in front of the school entrance to make sure people abide by this protocol. Renaissance students will be walking to school, commuting by public transportation, riding in parent-run carpools and vanpools, or will be taking the school bus. McGlothlin has leased three school buses through Four Winds, a Los Angeles area school bus operator, and bus passes will cost $40 a month. ‘The bus company said it’s not feasible to use the parking lot area at the Palisades Recreation Center for dropoff or pickup,’ McGlothlin said yesterday, following a Tuesday night meeting. This will eliminate another objection raised by Huntington Palisades residents at the Community Council meeting. ‘We are now working to use the existing bus zones’ at nearby Palisades Charter Elementary (on Bowdoin and Via de la Paz) or the car-pool zone along Swarthmore across from Village School, McGlothlin said. Renaissance classes will begin at 9 a.m. (at least 45 minutes after these schools begin) and end at 3:30 p.m. In addition, Renaissance parents are organizing gathering and delivery locations in the Palisades for kids commuting by carpool or vanpool. The school will give students the option of bringing their own lunches or buying food catered by a Westside food service company. ‘There’s also a great deal of interest from local vendors who want to provide box lunches,’ McGlothlin said. The kids will eat in supervised indoor and outdoor areas and, ‘if they want to leave the building and go into the village at lunch, their parents have to sign a release.’ Meanwhile, McGlothlin has been negotiating the use of community facilities and services, including the adjacent branch library, the nearby recreation center, Pierson Playhouse and Temescal Gateway Park. Park director David Gadelha said he met with Renaissance athletic director Jon Palarz about the school renting the old gym and playing fields for midday (11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) P.E. classes. ‘Nothing’s been reserved yet; they have to come back and fill out a permit,’ said Gadelha, who’s happy to rent space as long as ‘we don’t have park activities at the times they want to use the facilities. We could use the revenue.’ Renaissance hopes to have its theater arts students use Pierson Playhouse (Haverford at Temescal Canyon Road). ‘We would like to work with them but the final arrangements have not been made,’ said Eva Holberg, vice president of administration for Theatre Palisades’ executive board (the Pierson Playhouse landlord). The matter will be further discussed at the next board meeting on September 8.