3rd Try Underway to Secure Charter Middle School Site

Despite two failed attempts to secure a site for the San Fernando Valley’s first charter middle school, the principal says she’s in the final stages of negotiating a lease for a former preschool with 6,000 square feet, ample outdoor area and a multipurpose room.

Community Charter Middle School, originally scheduled to open in July with 100 sixth-graders, will instead open by September, said Jackie Elliot, a former teacher who has spent more than two years developing plans for the school. The school may need to be housed temporarily at a yet-to-be-determined location until all the proper permits are issued and remodeling completed.

District officials said Thursday they have worked with Elliot in searching for the site, which still requires approval from the Los Angeles Board of Education.

“There are still a few details to work out before we can recommend it to the board,” said Judy Burton, assistant superintendent of school reform for the Los Angeles Unified School District. “We absolutely still support the charter school. One way or another, this school will open.”

Elliot said she’s also received help from San Fernando city officials, who discussed several sites with her before settling on the one at 1441 Celis St.

“It’s in a marvelous, marvelous little city with vibrancy and visionary leaders,” Elliot said. “We are optimistic everything is going well.”

Originally, the school was planned for the Boys & Girls Club of the San Fernando Valley in Pacoima, but that was scrapped for more spacious quarters in medical suites at 11500 Eldridge Ave.

Last month, Elliot had to drop the Eldridge site after learning that the school would be housed in the same building as an adult mental-health facility that treats criminal offenders.

Delays in securing a site have not hurt enrollment, Elliot said. The waiting list continues to grow, she said, with only a couple of families withdrawing applications because of location changes.

By 2001, the school plans to have 300 sixth- through eighth-graders.