Arcadia Unified School District (AUSD) Deputy Superintendent Robert Leri has resigned. Arcadia High School Principal David Vannasdall will take on the additional role of Deputy Superintendent March 1 and leave his job as principal at end of school year to become Deputy Superintendent. Other personnel changes within the school district. AUSD is trying to cover a projected $7 million annual budget deficit with a proposed 5-year parcel tax. Arcadia Educational Foundation is doing its annual solicitation.
Guilty verdict delivered to Lawrence Joseph Farry, 25, who was convicted of gross vehicular manslaughter, in the death of former Arcadia resident Joan Milazzo in August last year. Farry struck Milazzo with his car in the Del Sur area of North County San Diego. Milazzo grew up in the San Gabriel Valley, graduated from Alverno High School in Sierra Madre and was a member of St. Rita Catholic Parish in Sierra Madre.
Dana Middle School's iconic concrete monument topped by an iron anchor was destroyed and removed this summer to prepare for renovations of the school's courtyard. Former students were upset over the loss, as it represented school pride. Joann Steinmeier, School Board President, said the anchor itself has been preserved and will be showcased in a fenced area in a new, smaller courtyard.
Last week's fake bomb threat at Arcadia High School by a 14-year-old student, who was arrested, caused a lockdown of almost 4,000 students and personnel for several hours. This had a great impact on the school. Thousands of dollars of hot lunches were wasted, additional revenue was lost when all school activities in the afternoon and evening had to be canceled, and overtime had to be paid to maintenance workers.
Arcadia, Monrovia, and Duarte schools all forced to lock down this week due to phoned in threats of a gunman on 4 separate campuses. On Thursday, September 12, the caller contacted Arcadia Police Department, reporting "he was at Arcadia High School and that he was going to start shooting students with an assault rifle." A second call was received during the police search of the campus that told officers to back off or they would be shot. No suspects of weapons were found.
Mentally ill man Gerardo Cortez, 26, of Monrovia, is arrested for allegedly making telephone threats to shoot adults and children at a hospital, a mall, and schools in Arcadia and Monrovia.
Making the transition to Common Core State Standards. Arcadia Unified School District recruits in-house teachers, rather than hire outside consultants, to serve as classroom mentors for implementation. The standards align curricula across 46 states and District of Columbia.
Arcadia High School student Nathan Chou earns rare perfect score on Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus BC Exam. Chou is one of just 11 students in the world that reached perfection on this test. Nathan was born and raised in Arcadia.
Jo Anne Seaman, who is blind, shared her personal stories and her red ham radio with Camino Grove Elementary School fourth graders (in photo with Seaman) Nathan Chien, Audrey Cho, Bradford Hunt, Jonas Yee, Elise Fong.
Arcadia Unified School District celebrates grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony of the Compressed Natural Gas Station. It was made possible by nearly $500,000 in grants from California Energy Commission and Mobile Source Air Pollution Review Committee. The new CNG station is estimated to save the district up to $40,000 in fuel and maintenance costs per year.
City of Arcadia Mayor Gary Kovacic proclaims March 2 "Bobbie the Bobcat's New Friend: Day of Kindness" for Barnhart School's student-created book launch. It will be read at Arcadia Public Library on Read Across America Day.
The Life and Times of Tony Antista, a temporary exhibit at Gilb Museum of Arcadia is ending today, April 2, 2016. Tony Antista wrote the Arcadia High School Fight Song.