May 2019

By Andrew J. Campa At the beginning of the 2020-21 school year, Roosevelt Middle School will be rebranded and open its doors as Roosevelt Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics, or STEAM, Academy Magnet. After years of talks and preparation, the Glendale Unified school board unanimously voted to make the change during its meeting on May 7. “We have had a wonderful faculty and staff at Roosevelt, committed to making sure our students are committed to the best,” Roosevelt principal Kyle Bruich said. “This project started with our former principal Mary Mason [now the district’s executive director of elementary education]….

By Andrew J. Campa A nationwide search that produced 21 candidates from nine states ultimately resulted in Glendale Unified school board members selecting someone from their own backyard. Vivian Ekchian, who has worked for the Los Angeles Unified School District for 34 years, was officially voted in 5-0 Tuesday as the first female and first Armenian American superintendent in the position’s 106-year history for a district that’s made up of 32 schools and 26,000 students. Ekchian, who has lived in Glendale for 20 years, was born in Armenia and will head a district with students of Armenian descent making up…

By Andrew J. Campa A nearly yearlong discussion about how to involve Glendale Unified students in the city’s annual Gay Pride Month festivities took the forms of art and literature featured at Crescenta Valley High School’s art gallery on Monday afternoon. Forty-five pieces of artwork — including sculptures, paintings, drawings, poetry, statements and mixed media — represented student voices from several of the district’s elementary, middle and high schools. The art showcases the district’s participation in “glendaleOUT,” defined by organizers as, “a multivenue LGBTQIA-based event in collaboration with local chapters of Gay Straight Alliance in the Glendale Unified School District.”…

By Andrew J. Campa Fiscal responsibility for students and parents during and after high school was the focus of a new financial literacy program offered by Glendale Unified at the Adult Recreation Center in Glendale late last month, with goals that range from saving for college to making future investments. “We’re very proud that we’ve been able to implement financial literacy curriculum for our students in the past year,” said Glendale Unified school board member Shant Sahakian. “As we’re on this journey, we wanted to make sure that we are also providing our parents and our community with access to…