The new J Building and Music Building are ready at Arcadia High School, made possible by passage of the $28 million bond issue in April, 1993. The new facilities include the Library Technology Center, the new nurse's office, Associated Student Body Office and the Trading Post student store.
Dootson School of Trucking, an Arcadia trade school, is on a federal list of school that face loss of eligibility for some student loan programs because of a high rate of borrowers in default.
First Avenue Junior High was one of 3 area schools to receive the state Dept. of Education's Distinguished High School and Middle School Awards. Arcadia's Foothill Jr. High received the award in 1988. The other winners included San Marino High School and the L. A. County High School for the Arts at Cal State Los Angeles.
Ten Arcadia High School students have been selected as National Merit finalists, placing them among 14,000 competing for the 6100 available Merit Scholarships. The seniors are Kenneth Branson, Sidney Chung, Enrique Colayco, Bonnie Flinn, Norbert Hsu, Jacqueline Luk, Douglas McCreary, Regina Momblanco, David Park and Henry Tseng.
First Avenue Junior High has been nominated as a 1990 California Distinguished School by the State Department of Education. First Avenue will be one of six schools in Los Angeles County to be so nominated.
The Arcadia Unified School District is participating in the Fulbright Teacher exchange Program for the first time. The program is responsible for First Avenue Middle School teacher Michelle Shaw exchanging places with Leena Heinila, a teacher from Helsinki, Finland.
The Arcadia Board of Education will study the environmental impact of new uses and the addition of lights at Dana and First Avenue Middle schools and the Arcadia High School softball field.
The Arcadia Unified School District may turn down nearly $800,000 in state funding to reduce class size because of the difficulty in finding enough teachers and classroom space.
The Space Utilization Committee will probably recommend the closure of two schools. Consensus was that one of the two should be Bonita Park, the smallest elementary school in the district. Committee members are still studying which other school to pair with Bonita Park.
The Board of Education has added four new members to the Long-Range Space Utilization Committee. The additions provide for representation by a parent from every elementary school in the district.
Members of the school district Long Range Space Utilization Task Force have been visiting all the elementary schools in the district to gain an overview of all the facilities before they recommend which should be closed.
Arcadia students receive diplomas. Class of 1983--Arcadia High School, First Avenue Junior High School, Dana Junior High School, and Foothills Junior High School. Arcadia Tribune staff photos by Jay Hoover and Louis Nunez.
At the Board of Education meeting there was some discussion of the Space Utilization Committee's recommendation to close two elementary schools, Bonita Park and Baldwin Stocker. Robert Kladifke, a member of the committee, objected to closing the newest and most educationally modern school in the district, Baldwin Stocker. Two public hearings are scheduled.
Two elementary schools, Bonita Park and Baldwin Stocker, have been recommended for closure by the Space Utilization Committee. The Board of Education will analyze the recommendations and schedule public hearings before making a decision.
The first public hearing on the closure of two public schools was held December 10. Most of the speakers urged the Board to look for other alternatives to closure. The savings isn't enough to justify the move. The Space Utilization Committee did not explore alternatives to closure.
First Avenue Junior High, severely damaged by a fire in 1979, will reopen this fall to students in grades 7-9 although reconstruction of the building is incomplete. Portable classrooms will be used.