Larchmont Charter moves to its new Hollywood campus
By Nona Sue Friedman
FRESHLY POWER WASHED tables, a bouncy water slide, and a snow cone truck created a fun atmosphere.
Photo by Annie O’Rourke
All hands were on deck to get the new Larchmont Charter School Hollywood campus ready for the start of the school year. With more than 600 students in grades four to eight, that was quite a task. Parents, teachers, and staff all pitched in for a couple of beautification days to help give an extra boost to the monumental job.
One of those days, Aug. 8, included a party for students and the school’s neighbors in an effort to soften the blow of the influx of students and cars to the 6325 Santa Monica Blvd. location. An inflatable water slide and snow cones were rewards on the very hot summer day.
The Chronicle caught up with Annie O’Rourke and her sixth-grade son, Ronan Taormina, as they were leaving their volunteer shift. According to O’Rourke, a Larchmont Village resident, they were primarily spot sanding and painting touch-ups in classrooms. Other volunteers power washed more than a dozen picnic lunch tables. When asked about the task of moving five grades to a new campus in just a couple of months, O’Rourke said, “There is still a lot to be done, but I’m very excited about the potential and future vision. If anyone can make it happen, it’s our Larchmont Charter community.”
EIGHTH GRADE TEACHER Kayla Garaway is busy setting up her classroom.
Her son’s comment about the new location? “I like it,” he said. “It’s smaller than the other [campus]. More modernized and nicer.”
Eighth grade English teacher Kayla Garaway was busy setting up her classroom Aug. 7. This is her fifth year teaching at Larchmont Charter. Surrounded by boxes filled with supplies to be organized, she said, “It’s overwhelming, but there’s lots of potential. I’m embracing the new and the traditions that will come.”
Larchmont Charter, a K-through-12 public charter school, bought the campus, comprised of five buildings, this past spring. It is the second of four campuses the school has purchased. Since acquiring this location, they’ve knocked down one building to make way for a grassy athletic field. They’re in the process of renovating another building to make it their future community hall for lunch, assemblies, and their tradition of a weekly morning sing assembly. LCSH had been leasing Selma Avenue Elementary School at 6611 Selma Ave. from Los Angeles Unified School District for well over a decade. Buying this campus gives Larchmont Charter much-needed freedom and independence to operate.
AFTER PAINTING classrooms, Annie O’Rourke poses with her son, Ronan Taormina.
Category: Real Estate
