Life Lesson : Parents Pull Together to Find New Home for School

The main office still needed an air conditioner, walls needed touch-up paint and boxes remained unpacked, but nobody cared.

It was the first day of classes at the Wesley School, a nondenominational private school founded by a dozen families who had sued and defected from the highly regarded St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal School in Studio City.

The Wesley School opened last week with 123 elementary and middle school students, two-thirds of whom came from St. Michael.

“For us, it’s such a remarkable story of ‘My God, we did it,’ ” said Peter Bergman, 46, a soap opera actor from Encino whose daughter attends Wesley. “You want to build a school in a neighborhood in Los Angeles? It’s near impossible.”

Although the St. Michael church remains active, its kindergarten through eighth-grade school no longer exists. A year ago, proud parents still referred to it as “the jewel of the Valley” because of its strong academic reputation and small-town feel.

That changed last winter when St. Michael officials announced plans to eliminate the seventh and eighth grades and abruptly dismissed the parent-based school board. The moves sent enrollment for the 1999-2000 school year plunging and sparked concern over the control of $600,000, mostly raised by parents.

In response, parents filed a lawsuit against the Coldwater Canyon Avenue school in March, alleging fraud and deceit, breach of contract and emotional distress.

Parents also met weekly to discuss starting their own school--a prospect that seemed impossible until April, when a parent heard of some spare classrooms and a willing staff at the First United Methodist Church of North Hollywood.

In June, parents settled the lawsuit with St. Michael’s for “a substantial sum,” said Bill Pace, 48, a film producer from Sherman Oaks with two school-age daughters.

Citing a confidentiality clause, neither party would discuss the settlement’s financial details. “I think all parties are pleased with the outcome,” said James Clapp, the San Diego-based attorney for St. Michael’s school.

Clapp said the St. Michael church staff--many of whom were on vacation last week and could not be reached for comment--was considering how best to use its former classroom space, including whether to start a school for primary students.

Under the settlement, parents also received nearly everything from St. Michael school, including books, desks, chairs, lockers, computers, playground equipment and alphabet posters--even used crayons.

The old St. Michael academic staff--from the head of school to the teachers to the custodian--followed parents to the new school.

With a summer to negotiate a contract with the church, move, recruit students and renovate classrooms, Pace said, “We took a leap of faith, a risk, and it’s paid off.”

Named After Church Founder

Named after John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, the school is a nonprofit entity with a 15-member, parent-based board of directors and an overall operating budget of about $1 million. That includes money from the settlement, fund-raisers, the yearly $8,500 tuition per student and donations from parents of current students and St. Michael alumni.

Inside the chapel during Wednesday’s opening ceremony, parents smiled, sang, clapped, cried, laughed and held hands as students walked down the aisle in their blue and green uniforms.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Head of School Charles Potts said, “there you have the classes of the first year of the Wesley School.”

Afterward, parents hugged. No one could believe the school was actually open.

While juggling work and family, the parents had desperately searched the Valley for potential properties--from an office complex in Encino to a strip mall in Sherman Oaks, even vacant land in Van Nuys.

All sites required a lot of time and money. “We had neither,” Pace said.

And then one parent discovered the First United Methodist Church, a brick structure on Tujunga Avenue, just north of Riverside Drive.

Methodist Church Had Classrooms to Spare

Built in 1949, the church boasts a grassy courtyard and a chapel with stained glass windows, red cushioned seats and high open-beam ceilings. With more than 400 congregation members--roughly a fourth of its size 30 years ago--the church also had some spare classrooms.

“We wanted to help,” said Phil Roche, chairman of the church’s board of trustees, who oversaw the logistics of starting the school. “It was almost like it was meant to be.”

Parishioners and the surrounding community swiftly approved the project.

Parents received zoning permits after only one public meeting.

In six weeks, they oversaw renovations such as painting, laying carpet, installing air conditioning, building basketball courts, roofing, irrigating grass, wiring a computer lab and upgrading a 50-year-old electrical system.

“We weren’t sure we’d open until today,” Bergman said Wednesday, joking as he led an impromptu tour through the school, past the administration office still in need of an air conditioner and benches lined with Barbie, Tweety and Dodgers backpacks.

“I love the brick,” Bergman said of a complex so solid it has withstood major earthquakes with no structural damage. “As opposed to California stucco, the brick gives the school a sense of permanence, as if it will be here 40 years from now.”

Another source of pride is the library, with a fireplace, piano, custom-made pine shelves with a cherry finish and hundreds of books still packed in grocery bags.

Bergman smiled as he inhaled the pine scent.

“This is seven months of hard work and commitment,” he said.

It’s also a life lesson that Bergman and other parents hope the students will emulate.

“I’m proud of the parents,” said Willy Harris, a tall brown-haired 12-year-old. “I learned that if you work together, you don’t have to be treated like yesterday’s newspaper.”