Haynes Street School to Reopen This Fall

A 37-year-old elementary school will be renovated and reopened in the fall to students in the Los Angeles Unified School District for the first time in more than 15 years.

Haynes Street Elementary School, at 6624 Lockhurst Drive, is one of two Valley campuses to get a top-to-bottom overhaul this year--at a cost of $7.3 million--to relieve school crowding.

The campus, built in 1961 for more than 500 students, was closed in 1982 after enrollment dipped below 200. In the interim, it was leased to a private school.

Usafi Diamond, Haynes’ new principal, said she has already talked to many of the parents of the 135 students who will be moved to the campus from nearby Lockhurst and Welby Way elementary schools.

“They are very concerned that it will be a quality school,” Diamond said. “There is a lot of parent participation [at the other schools], and I think the parents would like to feel involved and proud of their school.”

Haynes will be rebuilt to house as many as 445 students, but will open with less than 400.

It will draw children living in the area bounded by Victory Boulevard on the south, Hartland Street on the north, Platt Avenue on the east, and Valley Circle Boulevard on the west.

Another 135 students will be bused in from schools in Canoga Park. Haynes will have 75 open-enrollment seats available for fall.

Erik Nasarenko, a district spokesman, said there has been an upturn in enrollment throughout the district for the last few years, but, more recently, numbers have jumped up following the state’s announcement of a class-size reduction program for the primary grades.

Diamond said she is looking forward to working with her new staff and with parents to create a welcoming environment for students.

“I loved elementary school and I want the children to love it, too,” she said.

The second Valley campus, Newcastle Elementary School at 6520 Newcastle Ave. in Reseda, will be reopened by the district in 1999.