My Kids' Favorite Summer Camp

My kids have been attending Silver Lake Beach Camp this past month. My eldest has been going for the past five years. The other two have a couple of seasons under their twin belts. I’m compelled to write about it because I’m just so happy to see my kids so happy. And it is soooo cool! 

Two times a week, the kids go to the beach. When was the last time you were at the beach, let alone twice in one week? Mondays they pool swim. The other two days are dedicated to exploring Los Angeles…all of Los Angeles. Today they went to the Special Olympics. Last Friday, they took the subway to Chinatown, went to a Buddhist Temple and grabbed some Chinese Food.  Did you know there was an LAX museum? Yep, they went there too.

Sign your kids up next year!
Silver Lake Camps

School Days

By now, I’m a Californian. I’ve been living here most of my life. But, I was born a Midwesterner. In the Midwest, you started school the day after Labor Day. Summer officially ended, you stopped wearing white, and you went back to school. LAUSD extended the Summer of 2015 by one week.  However, we’re still heading back mid-August…prime pool weather. While I won’t really be ready come August 18th, I do look incredibly forward to a very simple, neighborhood thing that harkens back to simpler times…walking to school. It is truly heartwarming to see all the kids and parents and four leggeds come rambling down the hills from every direction towards school. Our community coming together. It takes a village.

Will Our Public School Continue to Have Diversity?

I’m a public school kid. My kids go to public school, albeit one of the most highly rated public schools in the city. Ivanhoe Elementary is a neighborhood school, one that has become highly coveted. We strive for diversity in our community. That becomes more difficult as home prices rise within our school district and the neighborhood becomes more densely populated. Several developments, both large and small, have recently sprung up within the Ivanhoe district lines.  Thus, changes have been made to the district map. Housing along Riverside drive has been eliminated from the district. Most of this housing is multi-family, rentals. How will this affect the economic diversity of our beloved school?