Cirque du Soleil is sponsoring free admission to the marine science center during public hours, from 12:30 to 5 p.m. The internationally known circus is performing its ode to the insect “OVO, ”under the Grand Chapiteau in the parking lot adjacent to the Aquarium and the Santa Monica Pier.

OVO is described as “immersion into the teeming world of insects.” Aquarium visitors will be immersed in the underwater world, gaining knowledge about the creatures of the Santa Monica Bay through hands-on, interactive exhibits of more than 100 species native to the Bay.
The free Sundays will in particular celebrate crustaceans – the ocean’s counterpart to insects on land – and as always, strive to inspire environmental stewardship for the benefit of all marine life.

In addition to the variety of crustaceans on exhibit, touch tanks at the Aquarium offer an opportunity to get up close and personal with sea stars, anemones, sea cucumbers and urchins. Moray eels, octopus, sharks, rays and a diverse number of fish species – all from the Santa Monica Bay – are displayed in habitat-specific exhibits. Moon jellies – some as large as dinner plates – mesmerize as well as educate. The Aquarium has its own nursery to raise these majestic oceanic drifters.

The Aquarium is located beach level, beneath the Santa Monica Pier, at 1600 Ocean Front Walk. More information is available at www.healthebay.org/smpa, or by calling 310-393-6149.

WESTWOOD (CBS) — Authorities Sunday continued to search for a man suspected in a sexual assault on UCLA’s campus last week, City News Service reported.

Campus police say the attack occurred just after 2 a.m. Friday near the popular Saxon Trail.

According to authorities, a female student was approached by a man named “Claude.”

After a brief conversation, the victim was pulled down onto the grassy area and sexually assaulted, according to police.

She escaped without physical injury.

The suspect is described as a white male, 6 feet tall and 150 pounds, approximately 21 years old with short brown hair and blue eyes.

UCLA police issued a crime alert and safety warning to students Friday.

With no arrests yet, many female students are on guard while others are taking extra safety measures on the trail and even considering alternate foot routes.

It is still unclear whether this case is isolated or connected to other sexual assaults that have taken place in the last two years.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact UCLA campus police at (310) 825-1491.

RELATED POST:
» Alleged Sexual Predator On The Loose At UCLA Campus

Claudine Czerny and Benita Spector are both parents at Mar Vista Elementary School. They seem like your average busy parents, but start talking to them about their children’s school and you quickly realize they are a force for organizing and fundraising not to be underestimated.

Czerny and Spector are the co-presidents of the Mar Vista School Enrichment Group (MVSEG), the school’s booster club that raises money for all the programs that the Los Angeles Unified School District doesn’t fund.  The two sat down with Patch to share insights on how they raise money for the school.

The list of what MVSEG provides for the school is long and impressive: art, music, a computer lab, physical education, teachers’ aides in kindergarten and first grade, a part-time librarian, science lab and teachers supplies.

Czerny says that she got involved because when she arrived at the school as a new parent, “I saw a group of people doing everything and I thought, ‘oh my God, I’d bet in there and learn what they are doing because they won’t be here forever.’”

Spector and Czerny agreed that Mar Vista was already successful at fundraising when they arrived. Said Czerny, “It’s a well-oiled machine. I just have to keep it running.”

There’s no magic to their formula, the two women said. The MVSEG has raised $250,000 on average for the last several years. This year their goal is $300,000 because the group bought 30 new Macintosh laptop computers for the school.

They raise the money through a variety of annual events. The bulk of their funding comes from the MVSEG “Phon-a-thon,” an annual calling campaign where parents volunteer to work a phone bank at a local real estate office reaching out to every family in the school to ask for a pledge. Parents can give one time or in installments.

The group asks for $500 per child. The goal for the campaign is $90,000 and so far this year they’ve raised over $60,000. Last year their participation rate was almost 70 percent. Donations to the fund come in all sizes, some are $25, some are as much as $5,000, Czerny said.

“I think the reason we are successful with this drive is because people realize when they come to Mar Vista Elementary that they are getting an educational equal to private schools for a lot less,” says Spector.

After the direct pledge drive, the group relies on a silent auction and dinner event held every spring, this ear on March 3 at the Beverly Hills Country Club, called “Bids for Kids.” Auction items range from movie dates with a teacher, or being “principal for the day” to jewelry and other pricier items donated by parents, local businesses and community members. Czerny said last year a student who enjoys baking auctioned off one of his cakes for $70. The group raised $60,000 at the event last year.

The group’s next two events in terms of fundraising are a spring “Spellathon” and the Halloween “Big Boo” fair. Students get sponsors for the Spellathon who donate money for the kids successfully spelling a list of grade-appropriate words, spelling bee style. This raises $20,000 for the group. The Halloween festival raises money from carnival-style games and a craft fair.

Jumping on an idea they got from another local school, this year MVSEG has begun a “party book,” where parents volunteer to host different kinds of parties throughout the year, donating their time and the cost of hosting and guests buy tickets with all proceeds going to the booster club. Spector said one popular event was a dinner and cookie exchange, where everyone got a sampler of cookies along with recipes to take home. This year they hope to make $5000 on 20 such parties.

This year, the MVSEG is doing a big fundraising push that it does only every other year to add donors to the school’s “School of Fish Tile Wall.” Families at the school can get tiles with their names for $250. For the first time the group is inviting businesses to buy tiles for $5,000, less for businesses of school families. Spector said the tiles are sponsorships, not advertising. But, she points out they are a permanent testament to a business’ commitment to the school and the neighborhood. Finding sponsors willing to spend that much has been a challenge, the two women agree. Their goal is to raise $10,000 this year with the tiles.

The rest of the money MVSEG raises comes from small events and business rewards programs. “We do a lot of fundraising with a little bit here and a little bit there,” says Czerny. The group holds restaurant dine-out nights, participates in Whole Foods and Ralphs and Westside Pavilion scrip programs. They do a holiday photo fundraiser, a gift-wrap sale and a school emergency kit sale. The group’s grant writing committee is a new focus this year, and is working go a grant for yard improvements.

Czerny said she is confident they’ll reach their goal for this year. “If we have to let peple know at the silent auction or the Spellathon that we are a little short, we can push a little bit harder and I’m sure we’ll get to where we need to be.”

Asked if the core group of parent volunteers ever gets tired, Czerny says, “Yes, we all get burned out but we keep going anyway.” She said, “People are conscious of how much work it takes but I would really like to see more new parents show an interest.”

Spector said it’s critical for volunteer leaders to recruit new parents. “Make sure you can replace yourself,” she said. “Grab someone and say, ‘ just come and do this one thing with me.’” That, said Spector is how to get new parents engaged enough to realize they need to take over the reins to keep the booster club going as parents of older children leave the school.

ALSO:

Police officer fatally shoots a man outside Sun Valley home

Man shot to death fleeing bicycle traffic stop, authorities say

Body parts case: LAPD removes items, car from victim's apartment

-- Martha Groves

Photo: Koi fish swim in the main pool of the UCLA Hannah Carter Japanese Garden in Bel-Air. Credit: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times.

In a terse early Saturday announcement, LAUSD staff made public their recommendation that Ocean Charter School be allowed to lease land on the Walgrove Elementary campus so that it can build a school there to serve its kindergarten through eighth grade students at a unified site.

Ocean Charter now has two campuses with their fourth through eighth grade students at Walgrove and their younger students at a rented facility in Culver City.

The statement reads:

Los Angeles Unified School District is pleased to announce that the following charter operator has been selected, pending approval by the LAUSD Board of Education, and successful negotiation of a lease agreement for the construction, financing, and operation of a charter school on a portion of the Walgrove Elementary School campus.

The announcement did not indicate when the board will vote on the recommendation. 

The decison follows months of meetings and heated debate among parents, advocates for both Ocean Charter and Green Dot School's Animo Venice Middle school both of which were vying for the site, and neighbors who opposed any new school being built there.

Kristy Mack-Fett Ocean Charter's north campus director told Patch, "obviously, we're delighted." Mack-Fett said, "We're glad that the district put tis proces in place as an innovative solution to the facilities issues and we hope the district will contine to find innovative solutions to make facilites available for all their students."

Marco Petruzzi, CEO of Green Dot Schools, which was the other contender for the Walgrove site for its Animo Venice Middle School, told Patch, “you win some, you lose some.”

Petruzzi said he believed “the process was certainly transparent” although he does not yet “have any indication from the district on how they graded the proposals.” Petruzzi said he’d already sent his congratulations to Ocean Charter administrators.

Animo Venice Middle School will remain at Cowan Avenue Elementary in Westchester for next year, according to Petruzzi. Green Dot, he said, will “continue to work with distict” on finding a permanent home for the middle school, but will also look into private building options.

Ocean Charter will have to vacate the bungalows it is currently occupying on the Walgrove campus at the end of this school year. Mack-Fett said she assumes that there is "still a long process" ahead for the school before it can build on the Walgrove site. The school board has not announced when it will vote on the recommendation and there are environmental studies and other hurdels still for the school. 

Mack-Fett said Ocean Charter is "waiting on the district" to make them an offer of space for their students for next year under the requirements of Propostion 39, which requires the district to provide space to charter schools. She expects to get an offer for space by April 1, the tradtional deadline for such offers from the district. 

John Fischer, a parent and School Site Council president at Walgrove Elementary said, "It’s a tough scenario for folks in the area who are looking for a more traditional middle school.” Said Fischer, “I personally would be happier with no other school on the Walgrove campus.”

This story has been updated to include comments from Ocean Charter administration.

Don’t forget to like Mar Vista Patch on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Micheltorena Elementary in Silver Lake  will be starting an English-Spanish Dual Language Program later this year and is holding a meeting for interested parents on Jan. 18.  A recent Silver Lake Neighborhood Council newsletter had more details about the meeting and the school’s plans:

Silver Lake parents who would like to find out about the Mitcheltorena Spanish Dual Language Program that would be starting up in the Fall, are … invited on Wednesday, January 18th at 8:15 am and 5:00 pm in Room 7 for a information meeting. A District representative from the Dual Language office will conduct the meeting. Based on interest in the program, they will have either one or two kindergarten classrooms that will focus on developing [bilingualism] and biliteracy in English and Spanish. If you are interested, please contact Principal Susanna Furfari at Micheltorena at (323) 661-2125 or at susanna.furfari@lausd.net.

Schools in Echo Park and Highland Park have launched dual language programs in which students are taught in two languages.  The program will be offered to both English-learning and English-speaking students with the intention of producing students who are bilingual and able to read and write in both English and Spanish.

The bulldozers are set to move in shortly and tear down the entire structure that once housed the Culver Plaza Theater complex on Washington Boulevard and Hughes Avenue.

As Culver City residents bid farewell to the landmark theater and its array of surrounding restaurants including Choppe Choppe, Mezza Grill and Mrs Garcia’s to make way for NMS Properties mixed-use development, the city will also lose the vibrant, colorful artwork that stood proudly above the buildings.

Ed Massey’s ‘Syncopation’ mural, however, will be spared the bulldozers.  Instead, the painting - which stands at 241 feet long and 35 feet high - will be removed in sections to Del Rey’s Westside Neighborhood School and installed piecemeal on the campus over the next few weeks.

Massey created the bright, bold shapes specifically for the Culver Theater Plaza complex in 2004, using mops as giant paint brushes on all-weather material, according to a press release. The completed painting was then installed onto the building's curved exterior walls in 11 separate sections.

Massey said he was pleased with the choice of the mural’s new home.

“I hope that once the painting is installed at its new location that it will invigorate viewers and encourage a spirit in young and older students, campus visitors and passersby to think and act boldly, innovatively and creatively in everything they do,” he said.

Human Transit (the book)

If you’ve read The Source for a while, you may recognize the name of transit planner Jarrett Walker and his professional blog Human Transit. We’ve linked to Walker liberally in order to steer readers to some of his insightful posts on the nuts and bolts of public transit.

And last year Walker was kind enough to share with The Source his thoughts on the challenges and opportunities for improving public transit in greater Los Angeles. The entire interview is available here.

Good news for Human Transit fans like us: Walker recently published a book — also titled Human Transit — that elaborates on and synthesizes a number of the key concepts explored in his blog. The book’s garrulous subtitle really says it all: How clearer thinking about public transit can enrich our communities and our lives.

In other words, when we better understand some key transit fundamentals — like how branching a transit line is like a river or how grids are a key to transit mobility — we as a community can make more informed decisions about what we want transit to do for us. I’m about half-way through the book myself and find it to be insightful without being dense and it’s definitely accessible to a lay audience. Plus Walker’s frequent use of Los Angeles as a case study is a treat.

On a personal note, when I broke into the world of transit advocacy and writing, I found the Human Transit blog to be an invaluable compass for navigating a lot of new and sometimes counter-intuitive concepts.

So I’m thrilled to report that Walker is making a trip down to L.A. next week to hold a talk on Human Transit at UCLA in support of his book release*. The event is free and open to the public — plus complimentary refreshments! You can RSVP on Facebook and spread the word by clicking one of those social media icons at the top of the post.

Here are the key details:

• Thursday, January 19th
• 6:00pm until 8:00pm
• UCLA Public Affairs Building, Room 2343
• Accessible via Metro Rapid & Local, Big Blue Bus, Culver City Bus and others. (Google transit directions is your friend.)
• More event info via the UCLA Lewis Center website.

*Full disclosure: I’m helping organize the event as a UCLA urban planning student.