Rescued School Extends a Thank-You to Parents

The handwritten sign outside the entrance to Foundations School Community tells parents: “You are the greatest, we love you.”

Officials at the private 33-student elementary school call it a small gesture of thanks for the 25 families who kicked in $181,000 to save it from closure.

In January, the school, in its fifth year of operation, had projected a deficit of $210,000 for operating the school after June. The shortage was caused by low enrollment, sluggish fund-raising and the departure of two teachers.

Directors of the school had warned parents of possible closure. One family pulled a child from the school and some considered it, while others helped raise $137,000 through personal donations, fund-raising and solicitations from businesses. Administrators taught in classrooms and worked for reduced salaries.

In February, during a teary-eyed meeting with parents, the school’s directors thanked families for their efforts but said not enough money had been raised and the school would close.

Families and school officials have since donated an additional $44,000, and earlier this week voted to keep the school open despite an estimated $29,000 deficit.

“We’re going to do it,” said Sheri Werner, the school’s assistant director. “We’re going to stay open.”

Tuition costs about $9,400 a year.

Werner said the school will restructure its board of directors, hoping to expand it from six to at least 10 members consisting of parents, educators and community leaders. Each will be required to give $5,000 to be on the board and be committed to fund-raising and recruitment efforts.

“Our focus before was more on the education,” Werner said. “Now we know that to move forward, we have to be more aggressive financially.”

Werner said the loss of two teachers also derailed efforts because the school had to find replacements while addressing parents’ concerns over staffing and the effects such instability could have on children.

The school’s location, in St. Mark’s Episcopal Church on Sherman Way, also deterred families, Werner said.

“A lot of families worry about the safety of the area, although nothing has ever happened,” Werner said. “They also don’t realize we’re nondenominational, because we’re in a church.”

The board will search for a new site near Ventura Boulevard.

JoAnne Lange, 38, of Hollywood, has two daughters, ages 7 and 9, enrolled in the Foundations School. The Lange family contributed $50,000--the largest donation--to keep the school open.

“This place is home,” she said. “The goals here are similar to my goals as a parent.”

The school’s goals involve listening to a child, which makes the child feel important; teaching empathy and compassion, and learning through experiments, play, art and field trips. The kindergarten class, for instance, recently visited the Century Plaza Towers. On Wednesday, children built their own towers out of wood blocks.

Cole Turner, 5, stacked blocks and tried to explain the building’s structure, but classmates were playing, whispering and giggling.

Cole crossed his arms and said, “I do not like it when I am not being listened to. Please put your toys down and listen.”

And they did.