Palm Crest Elementary School

Palm Crest Elementary school will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year with a variety of exciting events. Kicking off the year-long celebration will be the school's annual Back-to-School Barbecue on Fri., evening, Sept. 29, from 5 p.m. -- 8 p.m. on the playground. Traditionally an event to welcome students and families back to Palm Crest, this year Palm Crest alumni, former teachers, and administrators are being invited to help wish the school happy birthday and to take part in the festivities.

LA CA—ADA FLINTRIDGE ? Anais Wenn started as a teacher's aid 16 years ago. Soon, she will be running her own school. The La Cañada Unified School District board unanimously named Wenn the new principal of Palm Crest Elementary School on Tuesday. She will officially start her new job Aug. 3. "I'm very excited to have been selected," Wenn said. "I felt I was ready for a principalship, it is in my neighborhood and I love that community. They have a high success rate and academic success."

The clues were laid out before them: a burnt piece of wood and other signs of a forest fire. Students at Palm Crest Elementary School in La Canada Flintridge had to figure out how the charred items got to their present state. The answer was a child playing with matches. Wednesday's Smokey Bear presentation was designed to reinforce the ideas of fire safety. Forest Service representative George Geer and members from the La Canada Junior Woman's Club led the presentation, which will also be at other local schools this week.

Katherine E. Trenholme, daughter of Lindsey and Richard Trenholme of Tujunga, has enrolled at Claremont McKenna College and is a member of the class of 2004. Stephen Keyes, son of Susan and Gary Keyes, received the rank of Eagle Scout. For his Eagle Scout project, Keyes refinished 54 memorial benches at Descanso Gardens. The benches required light sanding and a sealer coat. Keyes is a senior at Crescenta Valley High School. He has also earned a Bronze Palm award for his continuing membership in Scouting and five additional merit badges after earning the rank of Eagle Scout.

Marshall Allen LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE -- Parents of incoming kindergartners within the La Canada Unified School District are invited to a district orientation at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 7, at Palm Crest Elementary school, 5025 Palm Drive, La Canada Flintridge. The three elementary school principals and kindergarten teachers will discuss kindergarten readiness and explain the language arts and math curriculum. Also, Evy Hamm, the district nurse, will review the immunization requirements for incoming students.

With a gum-drop here and an M&M there, first-grade students at Palm Crest Elementary School on Tuesday carefully constructed the perfect gingerbread house. Some chose to methodically place colored candies in patterns, while others preferred to sprinkle them on the walls and roofs of their creations. First-graders at the La Canada Flintridge school have been making the houses each year for about 10 years as a way to reinforce lessons learned in various subjects.

Gretchen Hoffman LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE -- Wendy Sinnette, the principal of Holy Angels Parish School in Arcadia will take the reigns as top administrator of Palm Crest Elementary School, the La Canada Unified school board decided on Tuesday. Holy Angels is a prekindergarten to eighth-grade Catholic school in Arcadia,. Sinnette will finish out the year at Holy Angel and begin as principal of Palm Crest on Aug. 7, district officials said. Sinnette could not be reached for comment.

OLD DISTRICT OFFICES The board agreed to host a workshop on Sept. 12 on how it will use the former district offices. WHAT IT MEANS The district's Office Reuse Committee will present its final set of options to board members, who will discuss and decide what to do. The district offices were housed in a building at the corner of Fairview and Palm drives adjacent to Palm Crest Elementary School. When the district headquarters moved to new offices on Cornishon, the former building was left vacant and the board formed a committee to decide how best to use it. NO VOTE ENROLLMENT DECLINE The district is expecting an estimated 145 fewer students for the 2006-07 school year compared to the 2005-06 year, Supt.

Josh Kleinbaum Nancy Russon stood on the steps outside Palm Crest Elementary School on Tuesday, waiting for the clock to hit 2:50 p.m. A few bags of food from Burger King sat in her car, a treat for Russon's three grandchildren after their first day at a new school. "I thought I'd surprise them," said Russon, whose grandchildren moved from La Crescenta to La Canada Flintridge over the summer. "My son went to this school 30 years ago. Now, his kids go here, too. They've been waiting to start school.

Children throughout La Cañada may be a bit surprised when a Crescenta Valley sheriff’s deputy stops them as they walk or ride their bike around town. They are being stopped not because they did something wrong, but because they did something right. For the fourth consecutive year, the C.V. Sheriff’s Station is participating in the Operation Chill program. In the course of their patrols, deputies look for kids practicing safe street and sidewalk practices like riding their bicycle with the proper safety helmet or using the crosswalks when crossing the street.

School traffic safety issues have been brought to the forefront with recent accidents involving children and vehicles at school drop-off points. A few weeks ago, a child at Toll Middle School in Glendale was struck and killed in front of her classmates and teachers while in the crosswalk in front of her school. A few days later, a third grader careened into another car when he exited his vehicle into oncoming traffic at Palm Crest Elementary School in La Cañada. He escaped the incident with minor injuries.

Luke Bayard is a senior at La Cañada High School. He is the youngest son of Michael and Randy Jane Bayard of La Cañada Flintridge. Luke was born at Verdugo Hills Hospital and has lived in La Cañada all his life. He has two older sisters, Janelle, 25, and Ashley, 22. Luke's older brother, Michael, 28, also is an Eagle Scout. Luke is an avid athlete. He obtained his varsity letter while wrestling as a freshman. He has played football, but his true passion is baseball. He has played baseball since he was six years old. For the last three years he has played baseball year-round ?

Palm Crest Elementary School took a trip back to the 1950s Friday evening to celebrate the school's 50th anniversary. Hundreds of attendees — including former students and staff of the school — covered the playground's tables and grassy lawn, surrounded by 1950s paraphernalia. "We're having a good time, memories of that age are fond," said Candy Dougherty, a member of the school's first graduating class. Dougherty was a sixth-grader when the La Cañada Flintridge school first opened.

It's that time of year again — new class schedules, lockers, teachers, friends, classrooms, books, clothes and homework. Summer vacation is still looking pretty good in that rear view mirror. But it is a joyous time. A time for new growth, new friends, new challenges and new experiences. Amid the excitement of the beginning of a new academic year, we wish students, teachers and administrators the best as they hit the books in the Glendale, Burbank and La Cañada unified school districts, and at Glendale Community College.

Palm Crest Elementary School's 30 teachers were cruising on the "sea of eternal summers" on Friday when a storm blew in and their ship started to sink. As their ship started to sink, they had to decide what items they could take onto a lifeboat to survive. It seemed like a desperate situation until they learned how to come together to save themselves. Teachers were participating in a team-building exercise organized by their new principal, Anais Wenn. "Our goal is not just to survive but to thrive," Wenn kept telling her all-female faculty.

Palm Crest Elementary school will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year with a variety of exciting events. Kicking off the year-long celebration will be the school's annual Back-to-School Barbecue on Fri., evening, Sept. 29, from 5 p.m. -- 8 p.m. on the playground. Traditionally an event to welcome students and families back to Palm Crest, this year Palm Crest alumni, former teachers, and administrators are being invited to help wish the school happy birthday and to take part in the festivities.

LA CA—ADA FLINTRIDGE ? Anais Wenn started as a teacher's aid 16 years ago. Soon, she will be running her own school. The La Cañada Unified School District board unanimously named Wenn the new principal of Palm Crest Elementary School on Tuesday. She will officially start her new job Aug. 3. "I'm very excited to have been selected," Wenn said. "I felt I was ready for a principalship, it is in my neighborhood and I love that community. They have a high success rate and academic success."

OLD DISTRICT OFFICES The board agreed to host a workshop on Sept. 12 on how it will use the former district offices. WHAT IT MEANS The district's Office Reuse Committee will present its final set of options to board members, who will discuss and decide what to do. The district offices were housed in a building at the corner of Fairview and Palm drives adjacent to Palm Crest Elementary School. When the district headquarters moved to new offices on Cornishon, the former building was left vacant and the board formed a committee to decide how best to use it. NO VOTE ENROLLMENT DECLINE The district is expecting an estimated 145 fewer students for the 2006-07 school year compared to the 2005-06 year, Supt.

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE ? One year after filling an open principal position at Palm Crest Elementary School, La Cañada Unified School District officials are again interviewing candidates for the position, officials said. A committee of Palm Crest faculty, parents, PTA members, district staff, personnel and some school board representatives are looking at potential replacements for Ernesto Leon, La Cañada Unified School District Board of Education member Joel Peterson said. Leon, who took the job at Palm Crest on Aug. 1 to replace Wendy Sinnette ?