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 School Board accepted $26,365 in state funding to prevent alcohol and drug use among elementary school students. The money, available on 1/0/90, is being allocated under the Comprehensive Alcohol and Drug Prevention Education Program (CADPE), targeting 4th, 5th, and 6th graders in every district in California.
Arcadia High School students accepted a third-place trophy for their performance in the 40th Los Angeles County Academic Decathlon. The third-place award is for the North Los Angeles County region. Countywide, Arcadia ranked ninth, compared with its fourth-place finish in 1988.
Last year, Foothills Junior High students raised $800 for the Peace Corps to go to Lamotrek Atoll, Micronesia, an island in the South Pacific. The Peace Corps Partnership Program allows American schools, clubs and organizations to fund small projects, typically less than $1500. The money will be used to construct a basketball court.
Susan Clavey, the mother of Tanya Clavey (the 16-year old girl who died following a 400-foot plunge off the Santa Anita Canyon Road) asked the Arcadia City Council to close the road's gate at dusk to prevent further fatalities. The gate, normally locked at 10 PM, was unlocked when the accident occurred at 10:15 PM.
The 1989 Arcadia Tournament of Roses Royal Court includes Jenny Chan, a Cal Poly Pomona freshman; Kathleen Lecher, a Maranatha High School senior; Jennifer Worsley, 16, Elyse Douglas, 17 and Tricia Stonecipher, an Arcadia High School senior.
The Arcadia Unified School District again ranked among the top 10% of statewide districts in the latest California Assessment Program (CAP) results. CAP scores were based on tests given to 3rd and 6th grade students last May in math, reading, and writing as well as tests given to 8th-graders in reading, math, history and science.
The Los Angeles County Commission on School District Organization voted 9-0 to deny Sierra Madre's petition to join the Arcadia School District. The matter will go to the state Board of Education, which may take 3-4 months to make a decision.
About 1500 people went to a hearing before the county Commission on School District Organization to discuss the possible transfer of Sierra Madre schools from the Pasadena Unified School District to the Arcadia Unified School District. The hearing is the first step in a long process that involves approval by the state Board of Education and local voters before an area can transfer to another school district.
Robert Shortell, 80, attended the World of Poetry's fifth annual convention in Washington, D.C., where he was honored with a Golden Poet Award. Shortell was a history and social studies teacher and sometime coach at Arcadia High School for 21 years.
An Arcadia undercover police officer, 28, helped a Drug Enforcement Administration team and the LAPD in Sylmar for the biggest drug bust in history, a cache of 20 tons of cocaine valued at $20 billion. Federal agents also confiscated $10 million in cash.
Arthur Farr, 46, the band and orchestra leader at Dana Junior High School, has been named the Arcadia Unified School District's 1990 Teacher of the Year. Farr has been teaching band and orchestra at Dana for 23 years, as well as coaching the basketball team and teaching physical education. (NOTE: This article incorrectly identified him as "Allen", but the error was corrected in the issue of October 1.)
The Arcadia Unified School District has about 130 new elementary school students this year, prompting district officials to hire 4 new teachers, combine classes and add portable classrooms.
In essay tests given to California seniors last December, Arcadia students scored 273 on a scale of 400, compared to a national average of 250. However, when compared to similar districts such as Beverly Hills, San Marino and La Canada, Arcadia is ranked in only the 23rd percentile, meaning that 77% of the districts scored higher. This is of interest since San Marino had the highest score in the state.
The Arcadia Board of Education is considering a new policy that gives students the right to refuse to dissect animals on moral grounds. Such students will have their teachers assign alternative educational projects.
Some Sierra Madre parents want to split from the Pasadena Unified School District and join the Arcadia Unified School District because of Arcadia's high-ranking CAP scores and low dropout rate. Members of Arcadia's Board of Education question whether they could handle the influx of new students.
The Arcadia Redevelopment Agency won a $495,000 settlement for removing toxic waste from 1.6 acres of downtown Arcadia land it bought from Clifford C. Bong and Co. last year. The agency sued Bong in April of 1988 to recover the money it spent to dispose of soil contaminated with high levels of lead, cadmium and hydrocarbon wastes. The agreement was reached two days before the June 27 trial was to begin.
Russell J. Ribb, former superintendent for the Hacienda-La Puente Unified School District, has been named to serve as Arcadia's interim school superintendent. Elaine Boyce of the School Service of California, a Sacramento-based consulting firm, has been hired to recruit a new superintendent.
An application for state funds to make $8.5 million worth of repairs in 6 Arcadia schools is moving ahead. Funds for the repairs, from the Leroy F. Greene State School Building Lease-Purchase Program, a bond measure, have been exhausted. However, another bond issue, coming up in the June 1990 election, is expected to pass and provide money to continue the program.