Love of Learning

Educator Brenda Buonora envisions students teaching each other, children playing on a patch of green grass among lemon trees, and parents volunteering and knowing at all times how their kids are faring academically and socially.

Buonora, a Northridge resident, believes such an idyllic setting will help improve public education. She convinced the seven-member board of the Los Angeles Unified School District in May when trustees unanimously approved the Valley Community Charter School, which will open in September with Buonora as director.

“One of my concerns is that schools don’t provide an experience in which children develop a lifelong love of learning,” said Buonora, a former teacher and founder of child-care centers in the San Fernando Valley. “All children love learning, but many lose it when they go to school, where traditionally the teachers are the focus of the classrooms.”

Set to open Sept. 11 with 180 kindergartners through sixth-graders, Valley Community Charter marks the fifth charter school in the San Fernando Valley and the 37th in Los Angeles Unified, officials said.

During the past year, an estimated 50 charter schools have opened in California, according to the state Department of Education.

In exchange for pledges of higher student achievement, charter schools operate outside most state and school district guidelines, and control their own finances and curriculum.

Eventually, as space and resources become available, Buonora said, the school will include grades seven through 12. Its incoming students will come from all parts of the Valley and represent a diverse range of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

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“I’m so excited to have such a good mix, because that’s the way the world is,” said Buonora, who recently completed her master’s degree in education at Cal State Northridge with a thesis on charter schools. She is also incoming president of the Southern California Assn. for the Education of Young Children.

Buonora’s credentials, coupled with her “sound” proposal, led the school board to approve her charter school plan with enthusiasm, said Jeanne Ramos, an administrative coordinator for charter schools with LAUSD.

The school will operate on a roughly $800,000 budget from federal, state and district sources.

“It does represent a sound educational program,” Ramos said. “It is absolutely positive for the community.”

Although classes will take place inside vacant buildings at Valley Park Baptist Church on Nordhoff Street, school officials emphasized that the school is nonsectarian. Ramos said start-up charter schools are often housed in empty church schools or commercial buildings because of the difficulty of finding space.

State law requires that public charter schools on church property make a clear distinction between church and state. For example, no religious icons may be displayed in the classroom and students cannot use the sanctuary.

At Valley Community Charter School, Buonora said the focus will be on learning--and having fun doing it. Subjects such as English, math and science, while adhering to district and state guidelines, will revolve around social studies.

For example, while studying milk consumption in California and the U.S., students might research statistics, compiling graphs and drawing mathematical comparisons and conclusions. At the same time, Buonora said, students can read articles and books about milk and dairies, allowing them to hone literacy skills while also learning about a particular way of life. They may even visit a dairy farm to learn how milk and cheese are made.

Students can also do oral reports as a way to teach their peers, Buonora said.

“If you want what you learn to stick with you, teach someone else,” Buonora said. “The whole idea is to hook students and let them take the lead with learning. Let them ask the questions, and then find the answers--instead of just listening to a teacher lecturing. That can be alienating.”

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Unlike many overcrowded public schools in the Valley, the charter school has a grassy courtyard where children can picnic at lunch, as well as a field and playground area. Lemon trees surround the five-acre campus.

“I know the asphalt yards [at public schools] are practical for maintenance, but kids need trees and grass,” she said. “They need to learn to value nature.”

Parental involvement is also key, said Buonora, a mother of four. Already, parents have spent countless hours painting benches and playground equipment and helping to get the school ready for the first day.

Although the school staff is seeking donations of computers, library books and classroom furniture, Buonora said the first day should open with few glitches.

“We’re ready,” she said, “to make learning fun.”