Enrollment is up throughout Southern California and Malibu schools are no exception.
So far, local schools have managed the influx of students quite well, enabling a few to transfer from other districts using inter-district permits. But siblings of inter-district students, who are already enrolled in local schools, may not be as lucky since there is a waiting list at several of the schools.
As of the second week of the new school year, Webster Elementary School had a waiting list for third- and-fourth graders. The school is virtually full, with only two or three spots open in kindergarten and first grade, said Principal Phil Cott.
“Enrollment is robust,” he said.
Juan Cabrillo has a waiting list for all primary grades, with a few spots open in fourth grade. Students have transferred to the school from areas such as Las Virgenes, Santa Monica and as far as Oxnard.
Nearing their enrollment capacity is Pt. Dume Marine Science Elementary School, with 314 students enrolled this year as compared to 294 last year. The maximum the school can hold is 360 students.
“We are ultimately going to have about 60 students per grade level,” said Principal Cynthia Gray.
And attendance is very high at Malibu High School, with 1,180 children enrolled in grades 6 through 12.
In addition to increased enrollment, all four schools have hired new teaching staff and a couple have added new curriculum as well as completed labs and gardens over the summer.
Webster hired three new teachers, replacing one who retired and two who are on leave.
Regarding curriculum, Cott said the school is “always trying to do better.”
“We’re really pushing character development and community service for classes,” said Cott.
One area where the school is focusing is Internet-based research in the third, fourth and fifth-grade classes.
Students in grades kindergarten through third continue to benefit from the 20-1 student/teacher ratio, while fourths and fifth-grade classes average 30 to 32 students, said Cott.
At Cabrillo the fall semester began smoothly for parents, students and staff, said Principal Pat Cairns.
Teachers were well-prepared at a two-day retreat in the Channel Islands. Before school began, they sent personal letters to all the children letting them know what to expect and welcoming them to a new year.
The retreat helped staff plan through grade-level groups that looked at objectives and talked about existing programs and what they want to do during the new school year. As a result, the teaching staff bonded together and now work as a team, said Cairns.
“It gave everybody such enthusiasm,” she said.
The school’s aim is to teach subjects in-depth and enable the children to use high-level thinking skills, said Cairns.
“We don’t want superficial teaching,” she said.
In order to prepare students in fourth and fifth grade for middle school, students may have more than one teacher in subjects, such as math. There will also be diagnostic testing for students.
“The teachers will work in teams, moving students around,” said the principal.
The school has also added three new teachers to its staff this year, and the retreat made the transition smoother for them, she said.
Pt. Dume currently has 16 teachers with only 15 classrooms. Five teachers are recent hires, with four new to the district, and all commute to teach in Malibu. One, who moved from Colorado, said she found it difficult to find a home here.
The recently completed science lab will be the main showpiece of the school, said Gray. Tanks are being set up and children come in daily to see how to establish an environment for fish and other marine life. Muralist David Legaspi, III, had come in during the summer, and with the children’s help painted an underwater sea mural in the lab. The entire venture is funded by the Parent Teacher’s Association.
Malibu High has the most staff changes, adding 12 new teachers.
Like the teacher at Pt. Dume, Principal Mike Matthews said new staff has had difficulty in finding affordable housing in Malibu.
“Newer teachers have to live further and further,” said Matthews.
New classes that the high school offers this year are French I and semester classes in astronomy and geology. The new language class turned out to be quite popular, said Matthews.
“We started with two French I classes and now we offer three,” he said.
The school also offers a gifted program that will begin in October. Creative writing, journalism and marine biology are the type of classes that have been offered in the past, with the programs changing every year. Though gifted students will have priority, most students can take these classes, said Matthews.
After school, the Malibu Boys and Girls Club will offer various programs that will be particularly targeted to middle school students.
Because the school encompasses middle school and high school students, it can be hard to give each its own identity, said Matthews, who has been working on individualizing each group.
The faculty and staff are making every effort to create a distinction between the two, offering separate lunches, passing periods and two separate bell schedules. A separate Back-to-School night is also part of the plan to give the middle school its own distinction.
“Logistically, it’s fine,” said Matthews. “Culturally we need to create separate [entities].”