NORTH HILLS : Parents Health Center Is Opened at School

Banding together to help other, less fortunate families, a group of parents at Gledhill Street School in North Hills on Tuesday opened a health information center for parents funded solely by local donations.

It is the third Valley parent center in the Los Angeles Unified School District to be set up without any federal money.

“They’ve taken the initiative on their own,” said Norma Durazo, community relations adviser with the school district. She said two other centers are located at Lockhurst Drive Elementary in Woodland Hills and San Jose Elementary in Mission Hills.

“We’re hoping to see parent centers in all the schools,” she said.

Located in a remodeled room at the school, the Gledhill parent center serves low-and-moderate income parents, providing them with parenting and health advice, transportation vouchers, medical referrals and donated clothes and food. The center was funded by private and business donations and is staffed by parents.

“We have extremely involved parents,” said Principal Janice Walsh. “They want the best for the kids.”

The parents simply see it as a way of improving the school as a whole.

“We hope that what it will do is bring in more parent involvement in the school,” said Ellen Shanks, PTA president at the school. “We’re hoping the parent center will build self-esteem of both parents and the students. I know that when I go to school, the better my kids are in all of their studies.”